The Package

Highlights:

Sun and Jin are not married, as I have been pointing out since the first episode of this season, and get separate rooms.

There was $25,000 in Jin's suitcase that was confiscated by customs. They arrive too late to do the business transaction, and Sun seduces Jin for what is not apparently the first time.


Keamy knocks on her door and demands the money, but can't understand Korean. He brings in a "Russian Cop" guy to interpret, and it turns out to be Mikhail!

Mikhail takes Sun to the bank to get some money from a secret account, and Keamy takes Jin to the restaurant to torture him.

Sun's bank account was emptied by her father, and Keamy tells Jin that it was money for Keamy to kill Jin. Paik knew about Jin and Sun's affair the whole time.

Sayid comes in and kills everyone, leaving Jin a razor to cut himself free, and kills Mikhail when he returns with Sun. He shoots him in the same eye he had a patch over. Oh irony.

Sun gets shot from a ricochete bullet, and tells Jin she is pregnant.

On the island, Widmore's team tranquilizes Smokey's camp after he leaves with Sayid. They take Jin, saying he's the one they need.

Jin wakes up in Room 23 and sees the Willy Wonka Jacob Others Brainwash Slideshow From Hell. Whoops.

Zoe asks him about the Dharma Initiative, and shows him a map of electromagnetic pockets on the island that was initialed by Jin Soo Kwon.

Jin demands to see Widmore, and Widmore uses the Daughter card by showing him a digital camera of Ji Yeon. He tells him he needs to keep Smokey here. He then says he needs to see the package that's on the sub.

On the island, Locke appears to Sun after she finds that all of the tomatoes in her garden are dead and she has a nervous breakdown in front of Jack. He tells her that Jin is waiting, and she runs away.

She hits her head and passes out. Ben wakes her up and brings her back to camp. She has Aphasia, and can understand English, but only speak Korean.

Jack diagnoses her and everyone complains. Richard comes back and tries to question her, but to no avail (dumbass).

Claire expresses her dislike for Kate, Locke tells her neither of their names were on the wall, and tells her that she could kill Kate after he is done with her.

Locke goes to Widmore's camp but is kept out by the fence. He and Widmore talk a bunch of shit, and declare war against each other. Anticlimactic.

Locke returns without Sayid, Sayid is swimming by the submarine and sees "The Package" come out of it.


It's Desmond. Duh. (I was hoping Aaron, but Desmond was my original guess.)

Special/Key Moments:

I liked that everyone from LOST who was in the movie Smokin' Aces was in this episode.

I liked seeing Sun get all sexual and insubordinate. You go, girl.

The exchange between Miles and Hurley when Richard returns was absolutely priceless.
Miles: "This is your fault, isn't it?"
Hurley: "Kinda."

I liked seeing Jack and Sun together like in Season 1 and 2. Him being the sweet, caring doctor again instead of being crazy-hot-mess-beard-man is always a plus on this show. When he came to her side and told her that she might be able to write out English instead of speaking it made me smile. It was one of those moments that reminded me why I was rooting for Jack for so long. Even though he is the main protagonist, let's be serious for a minute, he can get a little crazy sometimes.

You know what else I noticed? Jack had a new backpack when he approached her. Even though it could be from their old fort at the beach, would the Sharpie he found in it still work three years later? And how do people find all of these backpacks and bottles of water? None of them have Dharma symbols on them! Is there a Jansport station somewhere in the middle of the island where they also sell Sharpies? I mean, come on.

Ugh.

Sayid being emotionless and evil-looking was cool. It also seemed to carry over into the flash sideways when he didn't completely save Jin. Maybe that was intentional. Maybe it was my subconscious. Either way, he is evil and stoic. Too bad.

Richard is going to wear that necklace until he dies now, isn't he?

Jack said that it was one stubborn tomato, and that "No one told it it was supposed to die." Booyah. Man of faith, Jack. Carry that torch.

Ben was sweet and caring towards Sun. How weird.

Mikhail showing up as an interpreter was pretty badass. It was nice seeing him clean, and with two eyes.

That Zoe girl looks like a coked-out Tina Fey. Anyone else notice this?


The map signed by Jin was a nice touch. I never thought about how big their influence would be with the Dharma Initiative. Pretty big, I guess.

Are you sick of these V advertisements in the corner? I am.

Theories, Questions, and Speculations:

So Widmore obviously has plans for these pockets of electromagnetism. He knows about the Smoke Monster because he has those pylons surrounding his camp. He knows much more than he's letting on. This is obvious, especially since he told Ben that "Everything you have, you stole from me" in a flashback in Season 3. If Ben stole everything from him, he obviously learned from him, and they both must be masters of deception.

So what does he want to do with these pockets? Move the island again? Time travel where he can have another romp with young Eloise? No. He brought Desmond there for a purpose, and is clearly going to bring him to one of those pockets. Desmond has had premonitions before, and has traveled through time via his subconscious. These anomalies were put to a halt, however, after Charlie died and Desmond found his constant. Could there be more to see with Desmond's mental ability? Could he have some greater power that needs to merge with the electromagnetic pockets in order to defeat the Man In Black? I sure hope so, because if Sayid couldn't kill him by stabbing him in the chest, I don't know what will.

Speaking of stabbing him in the chest, what significance does this magical dagger have? it is clearly held sacred with Dogen at the Temple, but was originally in the hands of MIB when Richard arrived on the island. Was Dogen bad all along? Was he just trying to get Sayid killed without having to do it himself? Or did Jacob take the dagger from Richard and later give it to Dogen in the Temple?


Either way, I think it is a reference to the Spear of Destiny, which pierced Christ's side when he was crucified. The spear has been sought after more greatly than the Holy Grail, and is said to give whoever wields it the power to rule over the world. Hitler was one of the most famous people searching for this artifact, and became obsessed with it among other things. There is no character on this show comparable to Hitler, so it is hard to draw a conclusion concerning the desire for it. I just think it is something worth mentioning....

Ab Aeterno

I thought this was going to be a short entry, since it was only about one character and contained no flash sideways. Guess I was wrong.

Highlights:

Richard freaks out and tells our friends that they are all dead and in Hell. He runs off into the jungle with a torch.

Hurley speaks Spanish to someone we can't see, and Jack asks if it is Jacob. Hurley tells him it is not Jacob, and that it has nothing to do with him. He follows Richard into the jungle

Ben tells everyone that Richard doesn't age, and we proceed into a flashback.

Richard is on a horse in the Canary Islands in 1867. He has a beard and long hair. He kind of looks like Sayid.

His wife is sick with what looks like tuberculosis, and he grabs together all of his money to get a doctor. Isabella (the wife) gives him her cross necklace to pay for the medicine. Ricardo (as he was called then) is hesitant, but takes it and rides.

He finds the doctor who is a huge dick, and accidentally kills him in a fight over payment of the medicine. He rushes back to Isabella with the medicine but is too late.

Ricardo is picked up by the authorities, learns English from the Bible in his cell, and gives a confession to an unforgiving priest. This priest sells him to some guy named Whitfield (sounds a lot like Widmore), and tells him that he is acting for a mister Hanso who needed a slave that spoke English. Thank God for that Bible.... no pun intended.

Richard's ship (The Black Rock) wrecks on the island. The waves were so high, it broke the statue of Tawahret, and landed them in the middle of the jungle.

The smoke monster kills everyone on his ship. Richard attempts to free himself until his dead wife appears to him. She tells him she has to free him before the bad man comes back. He tells her to leave so she will be safe and ends up getting swiftly killed.... again?

Richard passes out from malnutrition, dehydration, and I am guessing exhaustion. A man with a lantern comes up and rolls him over. He is gentle and you think it is going to be Jacob, but it is really the Man In Black!

He tells Richard that he is a friend, and will unlock him if he does whatever he says in return. Richard agrees. MIB tells Richard to kill the man living under the statue with the knife Dogen gave Sayid. He tells him the man there is the Devil, and if he wants to see his wife again, he has to kill him. He ends with the speech Dogen gave Sayid about not letting him speak.

Richard goes to the statue and gets the Jacob Beat-Down of the Century. Jacob beats him to a pulp and almost drowns him to prove that he is not dead, nor is he in Hell.


He brings him a bottle of wine and tells him that the island is a cork, holding the darkness, or hell, or evil, inside. His job is to keep him from leaving the island and corrupting the entire world. He confirms the conversation in The Incident by telling him that he brings people to the island to prove that they are inherently good, and will male the right choice. He says that MIB thinks that everyone is evil and corruptable.

He offers Richard a job, and asks him to be his intermediate. Richard wants his dead wife back in return. Jacob says he can't do that. He asks for absolution of his sins so he can go to Heaven. Jacob can't do that, either. He then asks to live forever, since he cannot be absolved of his worldly sins. Jacob grants him this wish and touches him.

Richard goes back to MIB and hands him a White Stone. MIB tells him that if he ever changes his mind, Richard could come back to him.

MIB and Jacob have a private conversation, and MIB tells him not to gloat. He says he just wants to leave, that he is mad Jacob "trapped him" here. He tells Jacob he wants to kill him to do so, and will be seeing him sooner than he thinks.

Richard buries his wife's necklace and it is time for the present day.

Richard digs up his wife's necklace, a broken man, and shouts to the heavens that he has changed his mind. He says that he was wrong and will follow MIB.


Hurley shows up and asks what he is talking about. He translates for his dead wife, and tells him that she is standing beside him. He speaks Spanish to Richard, and tells him not to follow the Man in Black, but to destroy him. "Or else we will all be in Hell."

Special/ Key Moments:

Richard episode. FINALLY.

Mostly Spanish was spoken this entire episode with subtitles. I love avoiding the bottom part of the screen and trying to translate what they are saying. That's what I like about the Spanish spoken in Dexter. It is never translated, you just assume they are going to tell you what is going on if it is important. It's kind of like hearing people speak Spanish in oh, say.... real life.

Richard on a horse, in the rain, speaking Spanish, being awesome.

I liked Hurley speaking Spanish and telling Jack to piss off.

I liked seeing Richard be romantic and vulnerable instead of so calm and distant. Isabella was beautiful, and their story is amazing. His love for her was so pure and passionate. It wasn't part of some lame love triangle with a red-neck con man and a spinal surgeon or.....

Seeing Jacob beat the shit out of Richard was both comical and sad. Richard has had the worst luck in the world, but still ended up being blessed on the island. His wife dies, he accidentally kills someone, he gets put in prison, gets sold as a slave, his shipmates are killed, his wife dies again, and he is ordered to kill some guy at a statue who lays the smack-down on him? Jesus.

I really liked the way Jacob described his interaction with the people he brings to the island. He describes it as Free Will is described in the Bible. He says that he shouldn't have to step in, that his people should know good from evil and make their own choices. It is beautiful the way he seems truly pained by this repetitious cycle. Just as the Lord is pained by our constant sin in our everyday life. Jacob is clearly not the devil.


The fact that all Richard wants besides his wife is to be absolved of his sins was a good touch. I always knew he was beautiful inside, just like Severus Snape. Although Snape killed Dumbledore, and that is a whole other ball game. Richard is no doubt a Catholic man, obsessing over forgiveness and the afterlife. It is nice to know that all of this has been because he has a guilty Latino Catholic conscience. Mine was bad when I was in highschool, and I didn't even do anything bad back then. I can only imagine what Richard thinks about!

The scene where Hurley translates for Isabella is beautiful. Although slightly reminiscent of the Swayze, Goldberg, Moore medium in Ghost, this moment was heartbreaking. Seeing Richard so broken, and sobbing at this point was enough. But having his wife tell him that they are always together and that she loves him made me well up. Hurley's often comical demeanor was soft, romantic, and understanding of Alpert's situation. Nestor Carbonell really brought out the big guns for this one. The fact that he couldn't see her? Ugh. Beautiful! I love it.

This episode also makes me wonder how Richard got here:
From here:
.........................................................................................................................................
Then I realized that there is a scene in Season 3 where Richard meets a 12 year old Ben. And he is in a weird transitional period with his fashion sense. This fills in the gap between Clean-Cut Mayor of Gotham City Look to Jim Caviezel's Random Hot Cousin Look.
I prefer the Mayor of Gotham City Look, but that's just me.

Seeing Jacob and MIB is always a delight, and seeing a softer side of MIB was interesting.

We finally got to see how the Black Rock got to be in the middle of the jungle, and how the statue was broken! The wreckage of Tawahret was epic and awesome in the background of Jacob drowning Richard.

My sister said that the Man In Black was kind of hot. That made me smile.

Theories/Questions/Speculations:

Tony brought up another thought-provoking question about the smoke monster that I haven't thought of. Richard clearly knows that the smoke monster is MIB and is bad. Richard is the one who is an intermediate for Jacob. Jacob is the one who gave Richard lists of potential leaders and candidates such as Benjamin Linus. Richard no doubt was the one who trained Benjamin to be the leader the island needed him to be.
In season 4, when Keamy and his men are approaching Ben's house, Ben summons the Smoke Monster from a hidden door in his house. If Richard is following Jacob, why would he teach Ben to summon the very being he is trying to encase? Wouldn't he be afraid of him? Or has Ben figured it out on his own, and used him for his own devices? Was this one of the many acts that triggered Richard to give John Locke Sawyer's file to kill his father, and therefore become his leader? I don't know.

Can Hurley learn any language the dead speak to him, or can he just speak Spanish because he is Latino?

Is Michael dead? Because I looked at Lost-Media.com, and everyone that was dead was listed. Their promotional pictures were as follows: Libby (died Season 2), Mr. Ecko (died Season 3),etc. Michael was not listed as dead, but only as leaving in Season 2 and coming back in Season 4 as Kevin Johnson. Was he touched by Jacob and we haven't seen it yet? Is there a difference between being kept alive because the Island needs you, and being touched by Jacob? Because I thought Michael died when Christian appeared to him and told him he could go. He could go because he started the bomb himself. He could kill himself, so that negates the Richard "I can't kill myself" theory, doesn't it? I know that Ben was beaten to a pulp every week, but never suffered major injuries because the island needed him, but I am really wondering about Michael. He seems to be a hot topic amongst a lot of my friends, and I can't be sure about his mortality.

I was listening to a podcast the other day (Darlton, not Jorge) and Carlton said that the volcano on the island that Olivia talks about in Ben's flashback will be very relevent. From what I know about volcanos, (which isn't much), is that when volcanos erupt, they often produce new islands as the magma reaches the cool ocean and hardens into igneous rock. I don't know how this will be relevant since the island is now underwater, but I guess I will see. Maybe Jacob will flood the island like God did after his first attempt of creation was a bust. Maybe the candidate and/or Richard will be Noah, and Jughead is a temporal ark. MaybeI'm just fishing....

Namaste

Recon

My brother hated this episode, but I really liked it. What does he know, anyways? Quite a bit, actually, but he doesn't even like Hurley, so he's not that important right now.

Highlights:

In this alternate universe, James seems to be con man still, but turns out to be an undercover cop!

His parents were still conned and murdered by the influence of Tom Sawyer, or Anthony Cooper, and he is still hunting him down. Only he has kept it a secret to his partner and everyone around him.

Oh yeah, and his partner is Miles! The two of them were co-workers and good friends in their days in the Dharma Initiative, and this universe is no different.

Miles sets James up on a date with Charlotte, an 'friend from a museum'. Nice.

Charlotte and James hook up, and she finds a file labeled "Sawyer" in his drawer while looking for a T-shirt. James freaks out and kicks her out. Real smooth, James.

Miles confronts James about his trip to "Palm Springs"and roughs him up in the locker room. He said he scanned his credit card and knows that he was in Sydney. He tells him that they need to trust each other because they are partners, and demands answers. James is stubborn and says its none of his business.

James goes home and gets some insight from Little House On the Prairie. He grabs a sunflowe (much like the one he gave Juliet in season 4) and apologizes to Charlotte. She slams the door in his face.

James brings his Sawyer file to Miles and comes clean to his partner. Miles is understanding, but advises him not to pursue it. They are then quickly hit by a rogue car, and someone runs out of it.

It's Kate. Shocker.

On the Island, Claire tries to slit Kate's throat, and Sayid just watched as it happens. Smokey comes in and tears Claire off of her, explaining that she took Aaron because she couldn't find Claire. Claire doesn't accept that answer, and Smokey bitch-slaps Claire! Looks like Daddy's home.

Smokey tells James to go to Hydra island and do recon on the people over there. James does, and meets a girl named Zoe who quickly reveals herself to be working for Widmore. She takes him to a submarine where Widmore is hanging out, and James makes a deal with him. He tells him he'll bring Smokey to him if he and his friends can leave on the sub. Clearly Widmore is not as evil as we all thought. Or is he?


Meanwhile, Smokey and Kate have a special moment. He tells her that his mother was crazy, and he might have turned out differently if she were better. He tells her that Aaron has a crazy mother, too.

Claire then cries, apologizes to Kate, and hugs her for a long and awkward period of time.

James returns and tells Smokey everything he told Widmore, and tells him they need to change their plan so Widmore is caught off guard.

He then tells Kate that they are getting off the island by submarine.


Special/Key Moments:

I really loved that James is a cop. I love it even more that Miles is his partner. What I didn't notice until Tony pointed it out was that Miles and James were both Con Men in the past. Miles conned parents of dead children into giving him money when he couldn't speak to their ghosts, and James obviously ruined rich couples' lives. This universe seems to be an opposing parallel for almost all of our characters. Jack is a good father and faces the issues he had with his own father, Ben gives up power for Alex's happiness, and James and Miles are cops who serve the public. Amazing.

I always force myself to watch Sayid carefully. He told Kate that he was not alright, and just seemed zoned out while Claire attacked her. That being said, however, he looks like he is using a lot of self control to go along with Smokey's antics, and like he is thinking very hard how to turn all of this around.


Charlotte asks James why he wanted to be a cop, and he tells her that there is a moment where he had to decide to be a criminal or a cop. This time, James chose to be a cop.

I liked that Charlotte came back, and seeing her with James was kinf of cute. I just never imagined them together.

Does this mean that Faraday will come back in a Flash Sideways? We've already got Miles and Charlotte. Daniel has to be next... right?

I couldn't stop laughing when Locke bitch-slapped Claire. It was awesome.

That Widmore lady looked like an uglier Tina Fey.

I loved seeing Liam ask James if he knew where Charlie was. He seemed to be clean and off of the drugs in this universe.

I liked seeing Smokey talk to Kate as if he was her father and she was a child upset in her bedroom.

I'm sick of seeing James with his shirt off. We get it, ABC. We get it.

Kate was actually tolerable in this episode. Who saw that coming?

James called the real Anthony Cooper the first time. I could hear his voice on the other line. But how is he going to know who the real one is? I guess it's not really that important.

Theories/Questions:

As far as Sayid goes, I think he might be completely there. I think he might have a little darkness in him, but is fighting for total control. I think that he knows he has to act a certain way to earn Smokey and Claire's trust. I think he and James are doing the same thing, but going about it in different ways.

I think that Sawyer might indeed be the one to inherit the island. Or it will be down to him or Jack in the final showdown. What am I basing this on? Nothing really substantial, but bear with me. Or is it bare with me? Either way, just do it. I know that a few weeks ago, I talked about James wearing one of Richard's shirts as a joke. But in this episode, he pours tea int0 a mug that looks just like the one Richard is always drinking from. Coincidence? Or foreshadowing? Just saying.

(My) Top Ten Time Travelers

So I just watched The Time Traveler's Wife, and even though the premise of his travels were pretty cool, that character has not made it into my list of favorite time travelers. I really liked the graphics, and the combination of both LOST time-travel scenarios into one, but the film just ended up like the Notebook. The only highlights were the beginning of the film, and the fact that Eric Bana was nude 3/4 of the time. It wasn't even about the time-traveler's wife! It was about the time-traveler himself. What a tease. Needless to say, this film inspired me to think of all of the time travelers with more skill, purpose, and most of all, more clothes than the person in this movie.

10. Alexander Hartdegen from The Time Machine

I read this book when I was in the fourth grade, and was obsessed with time travel ever since. I like Alexander because he intentionally tries to time travel, and is smart enough to make that happen. I hope someday to be that awesome.

Alexander is a scientist in the early 1900s and constructs a time machine big enough for one person. He travels to the past and to the future. He travels so far into the future, in fact, that society has crumbled and rebuilt itself to the point of a basic utopia. Everyone wears the same outfit, and things like books and modern architecture are referred to as "ruins". Oh yeah, and there are frightening monsters that chase him throughout this new universe after he loses his time machine.

The movie has a few good aspects. Although they add a love story to the plot to fuel Alexander's need to travel back to the past, it proves a good point. He goes back a dozen times to change his fiance's death, but she ends up dying in a dozen different ways. This proves a common theory of Universe Course Correction, that you cannot change the past, and whatever happened, happened. I also like the way that they filmed Alexander's time travel. It is extreme time-lapse photography filled with thousands of sunrises and sunsets until all of the sudden he is surrounded by technology and a crumbling moon.

This book planted a nerdy seed in me early on, and it is a scholastic classic that can't be ignored. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest you do.


9. The Terminator from Terminator 2

Even though this time traveler isn't even a human being, he is still pretty amazing. A cyborg with a heart of gold as I like to call him, the Terminator is an amazing character in a classic film. He time travels from 2029, a year in which I will be 34 years old, and tries to protect John and Sara Conner. He is made of metal and technology, and can take a bullet like its nothing. He remembers cool phrases like Hasta La Vista, Baby, and can mimic Eddie Furlong's voice. He learns to care for, or fiercely protect his subjects, and sacrifices himself in a pool of liquid hot magma. He drives a cool motorcycle, is one hell of a shot, and like my opening time-traveler, arrives completely devoid of clothes.

I guess the premise of nude time travel actually makes sense. Depending on how you travel through time, whether it be a machine, your consciousness, or controlled teleportation, extraneous items like jewelry and clothes seem the least important items to bring along with you. Remember Jeff Goldblum in The Fly? I bet showing up in the other box completely naked would be the least of his worries. I don't know if they explain exactly how the T-1000 and the Terminator travel back in time to the 1990's, but I am kind of curious now that I've made the nude connection.


8. Evan from The Butterfly Effect

I didn't want to like this movie. I didn't want to like it at all. But once I saw it, I couldn't help it. I will call Evan my Time Travel Guilty Pleasure. Even though he was played by the awfully annoying Ashton Kutcher, this character was amazingly complex, and traveled through time in a way I had never seen before. Granted, I have not done a lot of scholarly research on time travel, so that isn't saying much, but I consider myself a considerable credible science fiction nerd.

Evan travels through time by reading his diary and focusing on that moment. This was one of the many examples of time travel viewed as a disease of the mind. Evan seems to spasm and seize right before he travels through time, and his brain develops damage and several clots that end up being irreversible. His father has passed away from a mental disease as well, and he believes that his condition is genetic.

Evan sees problems in the lives of the people around him, and uses his powers to help them. He goes back to prevent his friend from being molested by her father, and a childhood friend from being killed by his girlfriend's brother. What this time traveler learns the hard way is that once you change one thing, everything else will become drastically different. This does not go along with the Universe Course Correction theory, but goes with the theory that titles the film, The Butterfly Effect. Because he prevents his friend from being killed, he loses his limbs and his girlfriend. Because he is in a wheelchair the rest of his life, his mother develops cancer and dies early. In the end, he makes the ultimate sacrifice, and kills himself as a baby in an alternate ending. In the theater version, he tells his girlfriend to stay away from him or he will kill her. None of the terrible things happen, and they run into each other in their late 20's. The end result sort of supports Universe Course Correction, but just barely.

I really like this movie, and how it was shot, but I mostly like the character's self-sacrificing and selfless personality. Anyone who uses time travel to better the world and the human condition has my stamp of approval.

7. Ash Williams from Army of Darkness
Another film my dad pushed on me at a young age, I will always love Army of Darkness. Not only is Ash a time-traveler, but he is a zombie-killer as well. Two of my favorite things. He has already been through a lot in the first two Evil Dead films, losing his arm and replacing it with a chainsaw, and losing his girlfriend to the darkness. He (and his car) travel through time in a portal after all of his friends get possessed. He ends up in Medieval times, and goes through a bunch of brutal tests of character and physical fitness.

The Army of Darkness is brought upon by his own inability to remember three Latin words, and he fights them off before running back to his new kingdom. He is one of my favorite time travelers because he has a chainsaw and a shotgun that strike fear into the hearts of Medieval commoners. He also has physics and chemistry text books sitting in the trunk of his car. He takes his simple knowledge of weapons from the future and develops dozens of machines and weapons to trump those of the opposing army. Plus, he says, "Gimme some sugar, baby."

6. Harry Potter in The Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter is the first "Good, clean fun" I've had since I was a child. Most of my other interests were dark and foreboding and.... okay so maybe he's not good clean fun after all. But he started off that way. Harry is a young wizard who is constantly fighting this Dark Lord who shall not be named and all of this other dramatic business. He is only thirteen years old in this section of the series, and that is saying something.

Harry's friend Hermione has been taking a lot of classes, and reveals to him that her teacher gave her a Time Turner at the beginning of the semester so that she can literally be in two places at once. When the plot gets crazy, and he needs to save his Godfather from incarceration and a pet from being beheaded, the Time Turner is brought out again. The Time Turner itself is a necklace with an hourglass in the middle surrounded by three metal rings with inscriptions on them. As you turn them, more and more time goes back. I, of course, have my own replica at home.

Why I like Harry Potter is quite evident, but what I like about his time traveling is that he not only saves his Godfather and his pet, but he saves himself. Only hours before, when he is close to death, he is saved by an image that looks like his father. He is so out of it, he thinks that it is his ghost, and tells everyone that his father came back to save him. In all reality, however, he watches himself almost die until he realizes that HE saved himself. He was the one with more power than he could ever imagine. Kind of like the wizard's equivalent to Magical Adrenaline.

5. Donnie Darko


What sets this character's story apart from everyone else's is that the viewer doesn't even know it's about time travel until the very end of the film. Another story that views the protagonist's gift as a disease, Donnie is taken to the psychiatrist and given a heavy dose of meds. He is docile because of them, but only takes them occasionally. His vulnerability makes him relateable to the audience, and makes us want him to succeed in his endeavors; even though we aren't really sure what they are.

Donnie's story starts out by being lured out of bed by a man in a bunny suit named Frank. Frank gives him an exact countdown until the day the world will end. He has episodes where he passes out and talks to Frank. Of course, no one else can see him. He leaves him clues about time travel, and Donnie begins to investigate. He sees the future in a way that people's destined paths are plotted out for them in a trippy, wavy entity.

He finds a book about time travel written by an old lady in his neighborhood, and asks his science teacher about it. Being knowledgeable, but still being on the payroll, his teacher can only tell him so much. Donnie tries hard to understand, and is still haunted by Frank and trippy episodes. he goes under hypnosis from his therapist to no avail, and finally meets up with Frank at a Halloween party. He now understands the bunny suit, but is too late when a chain of events with Frank ends up killing his girlfriend.

Donnie finishes the book, and without much explanation by the character, travels through a portal back in time to the night he was lured out of bed. He lays in his bed, knowing that a jet engine will crash into his bedroom and kill him. His act is the ultimate self-sacrifice, and therefore erases his girlfriend's death and relationship with him. I like this because it is a lot like the LOST episode The Incident. It proves that one can change the future if you step on the right butterfly.



4. Hiro Nakamura from Heroes
Hiro finds out that he can stop time by squinting really hard and shaking his head. He then turns time backwards and forwards, acting as a universal remote. As time goes by, he discovers his ability to travel back to different time periods, and even teleport instantaneously to different countries.

He has a best friend, Ando, and reveals his power to him by teleporting into the ladies' bathroom at a bar. He then gets so excited about his power that he references Star Trek, Back To The Future, and X-Men like any normal person would if they discovered this power within themselves. He then decides to go on a quest to help anyone he can, and lives by a Hero's Code. Not only is Hiro adorable and relateable, but he is noble as well.

Hiro travels to the future and runs into his future self, proving that (along with Back To The Future) it will not cause a rift in the time-space continuum. He buys comic books written by another character who can paint the future to get a clue for his next mission. He starts off as an innocent and laughable character, but ends up killing the main villain in season one, turning his drunken hero into a noble samurai in feudal Japan, and saving several lives.

Much like Evan in The Butterfly Effect, Hiro's several visits through times take a toll on his body. He passes out and finds that he has a growing tumor in his brain. For an entire season, he has fainting spells and even loses control of where or when he will travel to. A lot of the other characters on the show (3) are in the medical field, and it is nice to see a physiological effect to these extreme circumstances.

Hiro is adorable, hilarious and extremely memorable. He will always be my favorite character from that show, even if it does get cancelled next year :(.

3. Desmond Hume from LOST
Brotha!

Now for something completely different. Our Scottish friend on LOST did not build a time machine, or concentrate hard and teleport into the past. Nor did his body ever leave the present time in his travels. Desmond Hume, my friends, is a temporal anomaly.

Due to his exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the hatch, his consciousness seems to... slip away from him. He has extreme headaches before waking up in a different time and place, only his physical body appears to have passed out. Much like The Time Traveler's Wife, he cannot control where he goes, or when he will travel there. It was almost as if someone had watched LOST and was like "Hey, I can make a chick flick out of this..."

Desmond goes through the motions of what he always did, and some episodes last longer than others. He goes back to an auction to talk to his girlfriend's father, he meets Charlie again, he tries to explain what is happening to an old friend, and then quickly wakes up in the present time, not remembering who his friends are. The episodes happen at shorter intervals at an exponential rate, much like contractions before a woman goes into labor.

Desmond makes contact with a scientist who has studied such time travel at Oxford, and tells him to visit his past self. The scientist acts much like the modern-day Doc Brown to Desmond's Marty McFly. He tells him that the stress of such time travel will cause an aneurysm in his brain, and he will most likely die if he can't find a Constant. (The sad pattern of time travelers seems to be that they will all die a terrible cerebral death.)

The Constant is a part of this scientist's equation on how a conscious time traveler must stay alive. They need to find someone who is present in both time lines and stay in contact with them. Desmond contacts his girlfriend, Penny, after asking her not to change her phone number in a flash that sent him 8 years into the past. 8 years go by for her, two seconds for him. He makes contact, regains his brain cells, and stops time traveling. It was the best episode of television I have ever seen.

2. Daniel Faraday from LOST
Well it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes...

And now for the Scientist who helped out dear old Des.... Daniel Faraday. Daniel did research on Consious Time Travel at Oxford, and was the youngest one there with a doctorate. Although he tested on rats, his now-vegetable girlfriend Teresa, and even himself, his mode of time travel has nothing to do with Desmond or his rats.

Daniel goes to the island to be healed of his memory loss from his own experiments. Although he gets better, he gets more than what he bargained for. He talks to Desmond and tells him to find himself, because he remembers having conversations with him at Oxford. In his diary, we find out that in his experiments, Desmond Hume was his own Constant, and now the both of them are safe from Time Traveling Doom.

Daniel then begins time traveling along with the rest of the characters still on the island as the island moves from place to place. he consults his diary before he does anything, and it makes one wonder if he had traveled to a different time sub-consciously when he was time traveling physically as well. Ugh. I haven't thought of that before. I just hurt myself.

Ayways, Daniel is my almost favorite because he is so knowledgeable. Much like Doc Brown, he has equations and answers for everything. He knows what will happen next, and uses their permanent move to 1977 to his advantage. He coined the theory of "Whatever Happened, Happened" (basic course correction theory), and then changed his mind to put in motion the events of "The Incident", and change history.

The only thing is that he gets shot and killed by his own mother who gave him the journal and pushed him to be a scientist in the first place. Had he known she would do this? Was it in the journal, and he had to flesh it out? It is tragic that Daniel died so early, because even though he gave us so many answers we were searching for on this show, he left us so many more questions. I can only hope his diary will live on and play a dramatic part in the end of this series.

Rest In Peace, Dear Daniel.


1. Marty McFly from Back To The Future
I had to top the list with a classic. Even though I read The Time Machine in the fourth grade, I watched this movie trilogy growing up. I mean, the first movie was released the same year I was born. We were destined for each other.

Marty McFly is your average teenager who just so happens to hang out with an old scientist. Doc Brown creates dozens of inventions that don't work, until he makes a time machine out of a Delorean. It is fueled by nutrients, requires plutonium to work, and travels to any time you punch in when you reach 88 miles per hour.

Throughout the three movies, Marty travels back to the fifties and almost prevents his own existence by attracting his teenage mother to him. He goes back a second time after his rival Biff steals the time machine and alters history, and then finally goes to the Old West where Doc Brown gets stuck after the second film.

What is great about Marty and Doc is that all ofthe films were shot so close together, that they are so consistent with each other. I once had a Back To The Future marathon with my brother, and it was like watching one long, consistent movie. The actors all wear make up to look aged, they use some of the same actors to play their children in the future (yes, this includes Michael J. Fox in drag), and everthing is flawless.

Like I mentioned before, Marty's girlfriend runs into her future self, and they both faint. The time-space continuum does not rupture or explode in any way, shape or form. So on that note, Heroes, Star Trek, and this trilogy are all consistent in their theories. Another theory that coincides with this film is that of the butterfly effect. Evan kept stepping on all of the wrong butterflies in his endeavors, but once Marty finally gets his parents together, something different happens. Marty must have stepped on some ugly butterflies because the time he spent with his teenage father made him a more confident, fit, and financially stable father.

Time travel is a fickle and dangerous thing. I am only half glad that it isn't possible... yet.

Shalom.

Dr. Linus

Highlights:

In L.A., Ben leads a history club and tutors Alex. She reveals to him that her mother is single and struggles to make ends meet. She needs a recommendation from someone who went to Yale to even be considered for a scholarship. That person is the principle.

John Locke tells Ben that he would follow him in a leadership position at the school. Ben takes information from Alex about the principle cheating on his wife to get his job. The principle counters his attack with the fate of Alex Rousseau's college career.

Ben exchanges a recommendation letter and Alex's happiness for his pride and a chance to run the school.

Ben is taking care of his dying father, Roger. Roger wonders if things would have been different if they had never left the Dharma Initiative. Whaaaattt?

On the island, Miles reads Jacob's ashes and tells Ilana that Ben killed Jacob. Ilana chains Ben to a tree and forces him to dig his own grave.

Hurley and Jack run into Richard in the jungle. He tells them the Temple was ransacked, and leads them to the Black Rock. Jack asks him why they are there, and Richard tells them he wants to die.

He tells them that he can't kill himself even if he wanted to because Jacob touched him. He says that it is a blessing and a curse, and that he no longer has a purpose in life. He says that Jack or Hurley can kill him, and asks them to do so.

Jack lights the dynamite and tells Richard about the lighthouse. He tells him that he is important and won't die either. He asks for answers from Richard, but he just gives him a pathetic pitty party instead. He seems to have turned into the new Benjamin Linus, the doubter. Jack seems to have turned into the new John Locke, the faithful man looking for answers. The fuse fizzles out on its own, and no one dies.


Smokey Locke visits Ben while he is digging. He tells him to run to a gun he planted by a tree and shoot Ilana. He tells him to come and join him.

Ben sees that his chains are broken, and runs for the gun. Ilana sees him and chases after him. Why she doesn't shoot him while he is running beats me, but he reaches the gun and makes her drop her own.

He makes her listen to him. He explains to her that he killed Jacob because he sacrificed Alex for the island, for Jacob, and he didn't even care. He says he wants to go with Locke because he is the only one that will have him.

Her having lost her father figure, she sheds a tear and says "I'll have you."

Ben seems to see a little bit of Alex in her, and goes with her. He follows her back to camp and lays his gun on the ground. He approaches Sun and asks her if she needs any help. She lets him help with her tent. Ben seems to be a changed man.

Hurley, Jack, and Richard come across the beach and reunite with their allies. Sun runs into Hurley's arms, reminiscing on the time when he traveled all the way to Korea to see Ji Yeon after they got off of the island. The Good Team is finally assembled.

Lapidus, Miles, and Ilana also greet Jack and Hurley. Everyone hugs and shakes hands, and a scope from a submarine comes out of the water. A sailor tells Widmore that there are people alive on the beach. What. The Fuck.

Special/Key Moments:

Ben tries to bribe Miles one last time with te 3.2 million dollars he wanted in Season 4. Miles laughs and says that he could just take the loot of diamonds Nikki and Paulo died with right next to them. Good point, I almost forgot about them. Or maybe I just wanted to.

I liked seeing Arnzt and Locke on the staff with Ben at the school. It was nice to see that the school was an analogy for the Island, and that Locke had the same esteem for Ben in both universes.

Seeing Alex was fantastic. I saw Tanya Raymonde's name on the bottom of the screen and immediately knew what was going to happen. Having her be one of his "brightest students" was a nice touch. The fact that he chose her life and future over his own power trip was beautiful and moving. The fact that he takes care of his father also proves evidence to his upstanding character in the alternate universe. This Ben has the same urges as the old Ben, he just chooses to ignore them.

The exchange between Ben and Ilana was epic. His need to explain himself to her was something we have never seen with him before. His vulnerability and need for acceptance and understanding was so wonderfully portrayed, it left me speechless. No doubt he sees Alex in Ilana, and wants to make up for his deeds in the past. Just look at his face here.

The fact that Richard is still being aloof as all-get-out is really pissing me off. The fact that he wants to die is also making me mad. He has lost it. He is scared and lost, and tells Jack that he is the one with all of the answers. He seems like he is jealous of him, and just wants to give up.

The Richard Alpert I know would find out everything about this situation, and do his best to help everyone out. He would talk with Jack like a man instead of crying like a big pussy about how he was let down. I mean, I understand that he feels left out. If Jacob told me that he would share his master plan with me in the end (especially after a possible 500 year-span of time), and died before he could do so, I would be pissed too. I would be upset and start a revolution against the Smoke Monster with all of his enemies. I would take those candidates and shove them all up his ass.

Be the man I always dreamed you to be, Richard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miles tells Ben that Jacob did not want to die after Ben tries to defend himself. He says that he was hoping that he was wrong about Ben until the very instant he was stabbed in the heart. He tells Ben that he guesses Jacob was wrong. I think this was the key moment that leads Ben to ask for Ilana's forgiveness, to help Sun, and to put his weapon down. I think that this was a big moment for one of my favorite characters, and I can't wait to see what part he will play in the end.

There is a beautiful and symbolic shot at the end where Miles, Sun, Jack, Lapidus, and Hurley are all hugging each other. The camera pans out, and Richard and Ben are both standing alone, on opposite sides of the huddle. Their loyalty to the island has isolated them against all people in their lives... even each other.

Oh yeah, and I liked that Miles took the diamonds from Nikki and Paulo's dead bodies.

Theories/Questions/Speculations:

When Ilana finds out about Ben killing Jacob, she says that he was "like a father to me." What the hell does that mean? I knew they seemed to be close when he visited her in that foreign hospital, but like a father? Was she born on the island? Has Jacob spent a lot of time off of the island to spend copious amounts of time with young Ilana? This explains why she knows so much about everything on the island. It makes sense why she knows about Richard, but not what he looks like. But if she is so important, why would she not be a candidate herself?

Richard says that he is ageless and cannot take his own life because "Jacob touched me". Does this mean that the Oceanic 6 are now ageless like Richard? Can they not die, or can they just not take their own lives? Do they need to be ageless in order to take Jacob's place? Will I get any damn straight answers from Richard? Come on, episode 9!

Roger Linus mentioned joining the Dharma Initiative and then leaving. Did he leave before The Incident when Chang ordered the evacuation of the island? Or did he just simply leave for another reason? If he did leave because of the evacuation procedures, this means that Ben still got shot by Sayid, still met Richard looking for his mom, and still got healed in the Temple and "lost his innocence". Is this Ben in the alternate universe still working for Richard/Jacob? Or.... what? This kind of throws a lot of elements in a lot of my theories off, so I am at a loss for words.

I really really liked this episode. Not only because it was a Ben episode, but because there were a lot of questions raised and dreams shattered along with beautiful character development and role reversal. Keep it coming, Darlton.

Sundown

Highlights:

In the alterna-universe, Nadia is married to Sayid's brother!

Sayid still cares for her, but tells her he is a broken man, and doesn't deserve her.

Sayid's brother borrowed money from the wrong people, and asks Sayid to take care of it. He refuses, and then his brother is put in the hospital.

Sayid is taken for a car ride and watches Keamy eat some poached eggs. Sayid brings back his Bad-assness and kills Keamy and his men.

Sayid finds Jin locked up in a closet by Keamy's men!


On the island, Sayid demands answers from Dogen and gets into a Battle Royale with him. It's a stalemate, and Dogen tells him to leave.

Dogen gives Sayid a dagger to kill the smoke monster with, telling him that he will appear as a friend who is dead. He says that if he allows him to speak, then it is too late.

Sayid leaves and stabs the smoke monster in the chest, but it was after he already spoke the words "Hello, Sayid." Sayid forgets this apparently, and appears to be conned into his bidding in exchange for an un-dead Nadia?

Sayid goes back to the Temple and tells everyone that at sundown, Smokey will come and kill all in the Temple. If they follow him, they will be spared.

He kills Dogen and Lennon, and is quite happy about it.


Kate finds Claire in a hole and tells her about Aaron.

Now that Dogen is dead, Smokey wreaks havok on the Temple and its people. Miles and Kate run off, but get separated.

Ilana, Lapidus, Sun, and Ben find Miles. Miles tells Sun that her husband is still alive, and Sun is excited. Kate sticks with Claire. The rest of the people, I assume, are dead for simplicity reasons.


Special/Key Moments:

Ben walks up to Sayid in the middle of the chaos at the Temple, and seems to 'recognize' the evil inside of him. Like Richard, I have never seen Ben this scared before. He just backs away and leaves Sayid to smile over his kills. If Ben is that scared of him, then I am scared of him.



I liked seeing Keamy as the person collecting from Sayid's brother. It was also nice to see that he is a good cook.

It was nice to see Sayid kick everyone's ass in this episode; both on the island and in the real world. That's right, I said the real world.

I liked hearing how Dogen came to the island. I also liked that he died. He was kind of bland.

I miss Richard per usual.

I liked that Claire heard about Aaron from Kate's lips. I am interested in seeing what will happen to her, now that she is with Smokey.

I liked seeing Jin in Sayid's timeline!

I really enjoyed that Sayid was a big man about his feelings for Nadia, although pawning her off on his brother was a little extreme.

I liked that Miles told Kate that Claire was still hot. He must be sexually frustrated.

I like that everyone has chosen a side to follow (whether by default or choice), and the showdown between good and evil will begin.

Theories/Speculations:

Where are Jin and Sawyer? When Claire went into the Temple and did what Smokey asked her, she asked him why Jin or Sawyer couldn't do it. Does this mean that Jin is converted wholeheartedly? Are he and Sawyer planning a con together? Where are they hanging out right now?


Also, where the hell is Richard Alpert?! I mean, we could use a little help right about now!


If Sayid stabbed Smokey in the chest before he spoke to him, would he have actually died? Or was Dogen actually setting him up to be killed like he thinks? Does Smokey have a silver tongue quality about him? He seemed to be very Satanic in the way that he spoke to Sayid, promising him whatever he wanted. It seemed to be remeniscient of the tempation in the desert, where the devil offers Jesus food and water, and all of the kingdoms in the world if he followed him. But, unlike Sayid, Jesus said no. Clearly Sayid is evil, having failed this biblically-referenced test. I understand that we are not all as strong as Jesus was, but Sayid then quickly killed two men who were protecting his friends. I think it is safe to say that he has been inhabited by something bad.

That something bad being... The Whispers! Yes, this is a new theory I am trying out. Thanks to Heather influencing me to read the Whisper Transcripts on Lostpedia.com, I have come to believe that the Whispers are dead people's spirits on the island. How does that make any sense, you might ask? I will tell you. While I only read up to Season 2, the whispers have a similar theme about them. They all seem to be omniscient, and trying to influence objects or circumstances around the main characters. Sure, they only occur right before the Other show up, but they also occur in the hatch when Ben and Locke are fighting. The whispers are often afraid that the main characters will see them, and find out about their "Plans" for them. Often the main characters ruin what they had in mind, so when Ben comes along, they change their tone. The whispers all of the sudden talk about "controlling" Ben, and making him do what they want. No one else on the show has been able to be "taken over" by these whispers... whatever they are.

I also think that the Others' insistance on burning dead bodies (Season 3) in a funeral pyre immediately after they die supports my theory. If nothing happened to empty dead bodies, then there would be no need to burn them. I also think that burying them might prevent a body from being inhabited, because Juliet, Ecko, Shannon, Nikki, Paulo, Libby, etc. were not inhabited. Only Claire (who was blown up) and Sayid were infected with someone else... something evil.

The way that Ben looked at Sayid after his evil spirit had taken over also proves my theory. He tells Sayid that there is still time, and then Sayid smiles that evil, self-satisfied smile. Ben turns white and walks away backwards. Does he recognize this spirit like I mentioned before? Is the person inhabiting him truly evil, or does evilness just take over a person's soul? Is Sayid extra evil because the water wasn't clear? Or did that have anything to do with it? Miles told him that he was dead for two hours, and it was a surprise even to the Temple people when he woke up.


If Keamy was the henchman collecting money from Sayid's brother, it makes me wonder who he worked for. Could it still be Widmore? If Jin was being held captive by these people too, Widmore could very well be responsible. As far as we know, Jin is still working for Sun's father, and he could have killed one of Widmore's men in the name of Paik. Keamy could be the Widmore equivalent to Paik's Jin in this universe. Just a thought...