Lost: Season Six

[Drake Tungsten]

Holy ****! I can't believe they just Arzted Ilana! Hahaha!

[Drake Tungsten]

Well, I think we can kiss Richard, Ben and Miles goodbye. Walking off into the jungle without any candidates? That doesn't seem smart...

[Drake Tungsten]

Now THAT was a great ****ing episode!

And a great ****ing preview for next week's episode, too.

[flash9286]

Bad episode, ties with Kate episode for worst of the season.

Hurley and Libby stuff fell flat.

[Felch]

It ties Libby in with the overall mythology. Before it just felt like season two wackiness.

Not the best episode, but I like that Desmond is on his mission and getting **** done.

[Drake Tungsten]

Jesus, you guys are retarded. This was the third best Sideways story of the season (out of three or four that were worth a ****) and a strong contender for best episode of the season.

Now watch this get a B+ at The AV Club...

[DaShi]

I could just imagine Desmond thinking as he hit Locke, "That's for throwing me down that well in the other universe, you bastard." Anyway, it should be interesting to see how Locke reacts to his near death as he didn't have a lover in the regular timeline, unless you count his legs.

[Drake Tungsten]

Dude, Locke is going to die in the Sideways world, which is going to have some effect on Smokey on the Island.

edit: Alternate theory: Des had to hit Sideways Locke with his car in order for Locke and Sideways Jack to meet and remember the Island together.

[flash9286]

Jesus, you guys are retarded. This was the third best Sideways story of the season (out of three or four that were worth a ****) and a strong contender for best episode of the season.

Now watch this get a B+ at The AV Club...

Last episode you were arguing that the sideways were boring and pointless. The whispers explanation was shoe-horned in.

[flash9286]

Dude, Locke is going to die in the Sideways world, which is going to have some effect on Smokey on the Island.

edit: Alternate theory: Des had to hit Sideways Locke with his car in order for Locke and Sideways Jack to meet and remember the Island together.

More like Locke goes to Jack and gets his legs fixed and everything is peachy. Des hit Locke to help Locke see the altuniverse, a la Charlie's method.

[DaShi]

Drake's edit is more romantic.

[Drake Tungsten]

Last episode you were arguing that the sideways were boring and pointless.

They were. The Sideways story in this week's episode was also mostly boring and pointless, but we got...

1. Hurley and Libby finally having their date, something which is impossible in the Island World.

2. Desmond hitting Sideways Locke with a ****ing car!

The whispers explanation was shoe-horned in.

Jesus, you ****ing people ***** about not getting enough answers and how characters on Lost never just talk to each other and confirm things, but then when the show does that you ***** about the answer you wanted being "shoe-horned in"...

[flash9286]

They were. The Sideways story in this week's episode was also mostly boring and pointless, but we got...

1. Hurley and Libby finally having their date, something which is impossible in the Island World.

2. Desmond hitting Sideways Locke with a ****ing car!

I'll give you 2, but 1 was boring and another lost love storyline. Why care about 1 if the sideways are pointless.

Jesus, you ****ing people ***** about not getting enough answers and how characters on Lost never just talk to each other and confirm things, but then when the show does that you ***** about the answer you wanted being "shoe-horned in"...

They have known the end date since season 3 or 4, it is really too much to ask for some consistent answers. I don't really care what the answers are as long as they are consistent and make sense.

[Drake Tungsten]

On the Sideways stories, I've really only thought three of them were worth a crap: Locke's Sideways story in "The Substitute", Ben's Sideways story in "Dr. Linus", and Hurley's Sideways story in "Everybody Loves Hugo". I also enjoyed Jin and Sun's Sideways story in "The Package", but that was more the result of (in order) Sun's breasts, a story I knew was going somewhere (how did Jin end up in that freezer?), and the presence of Keamy and Mikhail (two of Lost's best villains). It wasn't nearly as good as the first three Sideways stories, and here's why...

The Sideways characters aren't our characters. They may look the same, but they have very different histories and haven't experienced any of the on-Island events that our castaways have or grown in the same way our castaways have. As such, I would much rather see our castaways doing something and any time spent on the Sideways characters just seems like a waste of time that would be better spent moving the story of our real characters forward. This is one reason why the on-Island action has been so much more satisfying than the Sideways stories.

The exception to this general rule occurs when we want our characters to achieve something, but it's impossible for them to do so on the Island. In those cases, it seems worth our while to turn to the Sideways World as the only way we're going to be able to get the closure we want. We want to see Locke together with Helen, but both are dead in the Island world. We want to see Ben do the right thing for Alex, but she's already dead on the Island. And we want Hurley to find love and finally have his date with Libby, which is only possible in a world where Libby isn't dead. In these situations, the Sideways world doesn't seem like such a waste of time and allows us to have some very satisfying character moments that would otherwise be impossible.

For character moments that aren't impossible to achieve on the Island, however, the Sideways world provides a notably inferior means of presenting them. Why do I want to see Sideways Kate and Sideways Claire be there for each other? Why can't the real characters do that on the Island? Sideways Jack works out his daddy issues with some son we've never even seen before in the Sideways world? Why can't real Jack work out his daddy issues on the Island, where his own father is wandering around somewhere? Sideways Sayid wants to turn his back on his life of violence? Why not let real Sayid do that on the Island instead of turning him into a creepy zombie murderer? Sideways Desmond meets Penny for the first time? Dude, the real Desmond is already married to Penny and has a son with her! And I don't even know what the **** the point of Sideways Sawyer's story was, but I'm holding out hope that his Sideways story isn't over and he's going to get an amazing character moment with Sideways Juliet, which will actually be worth watching because our Juliet is dead and this is the only we're going to get it.

In short, the Sideways stories have had a few high points, but for the most part they've been an unsatisfying distraction from the continuing stories of the characters we really care about. It's only when they provide us with moving scenes that are otherwise impossible that they become worth our time.

[Guynemer]

Not sure what to think about that episode. I think it is one that is likely to grow on me the more I think about it, like "Lighthouse".

Things I really liked, in no particular order:
--Hugo finally getting his picnic on the beach with Libby
--The fact that Hugo was such a philanthropist
--The "I think I may need to change my shorts" look that Jack gave Bizarro Locke
--Dr. Pierre Chang, for no apparent reason whatsoever
--Hugo being the leader, especially blowing up the Black Rock
--The splitting of the beach team, right along the lines of people who have encountered Smokey in all his Smokey-ness
--Desmond playing his Morpheus role both benevolently and malevolently
--Sideways Ben trying to save the life of Sideways Locke



Things I didn't particularly care for:
--Ilana blowing herself the **** up
--The "whispers" explanation
--Hugo not asking Michael if Libby was trapped on the Island
--Michael not apologizing directly to Hugo


Things that have left my brain leaking from my ears:
--Bizarro Locke tossing Desmond down a well
--Sideways Desmond running Sideways Locke the **** over
--Sideways Hugo not having a mirror moment



I like flash's supposition that, in the Sideways World, Jack will not only save Locke's life, but restore his legs, triggering Sideways Locke (and possibly Jack as well) to "remember" the Island.

Rest assured, Drake--we will get that Sideways Sawyer and Juliet moment. Making Sawyer's red pill/blue pill choice that much more heartbreaking.