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- TV Series: Lost
- Episode: Whatever Happened, Happened
- Starring: Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Matthew Fox, Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel Dae Kim, Michael Emerson,
- Written By: Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof
- Directed By: Bobby Roth
- Network: ABC
- Series:
Lost: Whatever Happened, Happened
Joe's latest Lost thoughts. By Joe Oesterle
April 02, 2009
Source: JoeArtistWriter
Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is still trying to fix the mess in LOST: Whatever Happened, Happened(2009).
© Mania.com/Robert Trate
Ahoy, fellow LOST junkies, and a hale and hearty greeting to each and every one of you. I have to say, it does seem as if the writers looked at my review and subsequent reader comments from last week’s “He’s Our You,” and took it upon themselves to correct a couple of the problems that bothered at least half of us. How could they have done that when these scripts were written months beforehand you ask?
Ever hear of time travel?
They’re Listening To Us
Firstly they finally gave Roger Linus a second dimension, and it was about time. It really seemed to me like that guy did little more with his life than wake up, grab a beer, smack Lil Ben around a little, detest his job, come home, grab another beer, smack Lil Ben around again for good measure, and every three hundred and fifty sixth day out of the year, he’d forget the birth of the son he keeps smacking.
I also appreciated how they went out of their way to clarify the time traveling rules. Well, they didn’t exactly spell out the rules, but at least the two biggest schools of thought were represented. (Doc Brown’s Back to the Future theory, and Doc Faraday’s Whatever Happened, Happened hypothesis.) Even if they didn’t give us any absolutes, at least we know for sure that none of them knows for sure.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Here’s something I know; Way back in Season Three I remember thinking, during the season’s finale, “Through the Looking Glass,” how strange it was that a good Catholic boy like Charlie would make the sign of the cross with his left hand. Being a former Catholic school kid myself, I noticed this right away. My bet is had Charlie ever made a faux pas like that in school he would have experienced the swift and stinging fury of Sister Mary Castigation’s well-worn wooden ruler upon his tender knuckles. I even posted my findings on a number of LOST related message boards, and felt certain, based on the mirror-image title of the episode itself someone else would also find it suspicious, but most of the comments were along the lines of, “they probably flipped the picture, just a continuity flub.” I wasn’t assuaged then, and the shooting of Ben Linus has further convinced me the left-handed blessing wasn’t a production error.
When last we left Lil Ben, Sayid, a world-class assassin, just took aim at his trusting teenage heart, pulled the trigger, ran through the woods, leaving his young victim for dead. This is even recapped, with bullet hole very clearly to my eyes just below juvenile Linus’ ticker. When Jin turns the boy’s body over however, the same wound appears to have switched sides. There’s no way this is a blunder on the part of the continuity crew, as it’s more than possible these scenes were all shot during the same day. For some reason we are seeing mirror images at times. Now all we have to do is figure out why.
Horace? They Barely Even Touched Us
Meanwhile Horace calls an impromptu “burning van/escaped prisoner meeting” and manages to slap Jack down in the process. It seems old fix-it Jack almost popped up. Thankfully he quickly gave way to the new, Locke-inspired, go-with-the-flow Jack, but not before he made a negative appearance on Horace’s who-the-hell-is-the-new-guy radar.
Kate meanwhile is also on someone’s radar, and that someone is Ben’s dad. First Roger calls her out for being winch ignorant, but not soon after, it looks like they’re bonding over their lot in island life. Unless I’m mistaken, it seemed as if Roger was pitching a fair amount of woo Kate’s way. Now it’s easy to say Kate would have no interest in Roger, because Kate has never shown interest in men who wear Peter Tork wigs before, but in another time, ol’ Rog could have had a shot. Kate is a magnet for the wrong guy, and she has her share of Daddy Issues. Roger is a walking advertisement for Daddy Issues, but when Jin pulls out Roger’s injured son out of the van, a softer side of our favorite abusive parent is revealed.
Coffee Talk
Flashback to Kate and infant Aaron driving through a Pleasant Valley (yes, I’m a Monkees fan) neighborhood while Patsy Cline plaintively wails the painful conundrum of Kate’s off island existence. She will always have memories of both Aaron and Sawyer, but they will always belong to another woman. – “I’ve got your pictures, she’s got you.”
It’s Kate herself who provides the second song to this particular soundtrack however, as she sweetly sings to baby Aaron on her way to fulfill her pact with Sawyer. “Catch a Falling Star” was the same ditty Claire’s father, Christian Shephard sang to her as a newborn. Give Kate credit, she’s trying to raise this kid as best she can.
It took Cassidy a beat to recognize Kate, but Kate must have already realized she was going to be reunited with the Louise to her Thelma. After a bit of small talk, Cassidy quickly susses out the baby isn’t Kate’s, and follows that bit of detective work up with the correct assertion that the entire Oceanic Six story is a cover up. Now in my mind, Cassidy figures this out a little too quickly in my mind, but then again, there’s only so many minutes in a show, and the girl learned grifting from one of the best, so it’s possible she’s just that good at reading body language. Finally Kate has a gal pal to gab about recipes, teething, Polar bears, smoke monsters, blown-up freighters, button pushing, and nail polish.
Hory Sense is Tingling
Down in the security room, Sawyer is glued to the monitors and he doesn’t hear Kate sneak down the stairs. He’s annoyed with her assumption that her help is warranted or even wanted. Saywer’s spent three years without the assistance of this chick, and he’s done pretty well for himself thank you. All Kate can possibly do is get caught chatting with Sawyer, and suddenly Horace has someone else on his radar.
To their credit, Sawyer and Kate, based on a few intense past adventures together, prove they still have the old magic as they spin off a convincing enough lie, but Horace didn’t get to be in his position by being dumb. He’s playing things close to the vest. It’s a safe bet though, that Horace has now become apprehensive of not just Jack and Kate, but Saywer, Jin, Juliet, Miles and maybe even Hurley too.
Time Traveling Comedy Stylings
I have a question; Why does Sawyer sends Miles to gather Jack, Kate and Hurley and place them under house arrest when those three would probably be more comfortable with Jin as their warden?
I have an answer; Because Hurley and Jin are not nearly as entertaining as Hurley and Miles.
Easily the most amusing part of this episode was the tip-of-the-cap to blogs and messages boards such as this very one regarding time travel. It is hard to wrap your mind around whatever happened, happened, but here’s what I took away from that very funny exchange.
If Lil Ben can’t die because these events are Big Ben’s past, (but any one of the LOSTies could die because it’s their present, even though events are happening before much of their future) then why doesn’t Ben remember being shot by Sayid?
Miles doesn’t have the answer, but Richard later says Ben won’t remember any of this. How that will eventually make sense, I have no clue, but there’s still a big part of me that believes Ben has always remembered – Then again, I’m still under the impression Ben is a (very flawed) good guy. One thing I’m certain Miles is correct about though, is we, the viewing audience, better get used to being confused.
I’m the New You
Sawyer busts into the time travel paradox and into a whole new level of irony. Much like Season One Sawyer, who time after time refused to stick his neck out for anyone but himself, Jack is a little self-centered, and not entirely thrilled with the prospect of operating on Lil Ben.
Already much has been made of the parallels between this season and Season One, but I don’t think Jack is being selfish as much as he’s listening for his muse. Part of new Jack’s go-with-the-flow lifestyle is the belief that he probably made all the wrong moves (albeit with all the right intentions) during his last island stay, and he plans on doing things differently this time. Jack is trying to connect with his inner-Locke, and coupled with an acceptance of Miles’ explanation of Lil Ben’s fate, Jack is confident he can look the other way while the 14-year old version of the 45-year old man who screwed with his life at every turn will not die. Then again, if he does, Jack ain’t losing any sleep over it.
Confronted by in incredulous Kate, who now possesses all kinds of new mommy instinct, Jack lays it all on the line.
“I already saved Benjamin Linus, and I did it for you, Kate.” What he left out, but was clearly thinking was, “So you could have crazy caged monkey sex with Sawyer. Did you ever think I might want to have crazy caged monkey sex with you Kate? Because I would have enjoyed crazy caged monkey sex with you Kate. I’ve never had crazy caged monkey sex, and didn’t even know how hot crazy caged monkey sex could be, until I watched you and Sawyer having crazy caged monkey sex on the TV. And let me tell you Kate, televised crazy caged monkey sex looks really, really intense, but it also hurts like hell when one of the participants in the crazy caged monkey sex show is the woman I love, and the other guy isn’t me.”
Kate, oblivious to Jack’s inner crazy caged monkey sex dialogue counters with a phrase many of us have read in these very comment boxes, “I don’t like the new you, Jack. I like the old you.”
To which go-with-the-flow Jack retorts, “You didn’t like the old me Kate. Because if you did, you would have used some of that settlement money to build a cage in your backyard and we could have had crazy caged monkey sex when Aaron went down for his naps.” (Or something along those lines.)
With that, Jack is done fixing anything but lunch.
Mommy Issues
Three years of mothering sends Kate flying out of the door, in spite of the threat of a bullet in her leg, and directly into the infirmary. As a universal donor, Kate feels obligated to do what she can for little mischief-maker, Ben and then lets it slip to Juliet that she and Jack were engaged in the future for a brief period of time. This show had its share of door busting open minutes, and now it was Roger Linus’ turn to make his sudden and frantic entrance.
Roger it seems has felt guilty about his treatment of Ben for some time now, and it has taken an incident of this magnitude for him to not only realize what a rotten father he’s always been, but he also accepts the blame of his son releasing the prisoner. When Roger asks if Kate has kids, she swallows hard and admits she doesn’t, even though she obviously feels otherwise. While admitting his vast shortcomings as a parent, Roger sighs, “I guess a boy just needs his mother.”
This soul-searched declaration hits Kate hard – but not in an entirely bad way. Kate has always been conflicted by the method in which she assumed motherhood of Aaron. Feeling at times the lie was the only way to live a guilt-free life, while at other times, the shame of “stealing” this child and passing him off as her own was almost too much to endure.
The Welfare of Claire’s Heir
Kate’s fear of eventually losing Aaron is illustrated nicely by her panic in the supermarket when she thought the little Turnip Head had been kidnapped from her.
Hysterical, Kate searches the grocery aisles only to find what could only be her biggest anxiety; Claire has come back for her baby. We soon discover there was no reason to beware; the woman there couldn’t be Claire, for Claire is elsewhere– this would-be nightmare was actually an answer to Kate’s prayer. Not someone to lair little Aar into a snare, just a concerned shopper who dares to have the flair to wear her hair like Claire. (Apologies to the late, great George Carlin)
Juliet, realizing Ben may be currently stable, but will definitely die if not treated soon, cooks up a plan to allow Ben to be treated by the Hostiles. Kate jumps in the van refusing further assistance from Juliet, and hightails it to the sonic fences hoping to be discovered by the enemy. Not far behind is Sawyer, who must realize he’s going to be caught on surveillance by Phil or Horace. (There’s no way he had time to mess with the cameras.)
Sawyer must have been feeling some of the old heat he once shared with Kate, (he even called her Freckles) but he’s no longer the bad boy with whom she used to have crazy caged monkey sex. This Sawyer has grown up. He then hit Kate with the reason for helping Lil Ben. He did it because Juliet asked. A beautiful equivalent to why Jack helped Ben 30 years in the future. Maybe Kate will see Jack was always the man for her before it’s too late.
Ever Hear of Knocking?
Speaking of Jack, he’s fresh out of the shower wearing nothing but his new attitude, and yet Juliet still manages to give him a very thorough dressing down. Of course this is new Jack we’re dealing with, and like the beads of water on his back, this reprimand is dripping right off him. Jack doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do, but he knows what he isn’t supposed to do. Jack is listening to the island, and he has faith that when the time is right, the island will tell him what to do.
Alpert’s Admonition
So Richard Alpert outgrew the long--haired look way before his Hostile buddies. I’d love to know if that hairstyle was a clue to something, or just a brief fashion choice, but anyway, Richard appears from nowhere, and warns Sawyer and Kate with this ominous caveat, “If I take him, he’s not ever going to be the same again. He’ll forget this ever happened.”
Alpert then goes on to mention Ben’s innocence will be lost forever. We’re left to wonder if this cure is some sort of Garden of Eden allegory – after eating from the tree of knowledge, or will Ben be forever changed, is this some dark, irreversible vampiric spell, or is this just a cheap trap door from which the writers will extricate themselves from the “How come Ben doesn’t remember Sayid” contradiction?
Given the go-ahead by Kate and Sawyer, Alpert takes Lil Ben in his arms, walks off to the temple, and then like Dracula in the burning sunlight, vanishes into his cave.
How many people are giving more credence to the “Richard is Smokey” theory?
Raised By a (grand)Mother
Flashback to Claire’s mum, it appears she knows full well who Aaron is. I confess I never understood how she couldn’t have at least heard of the kid. The Oceanic Six were worldwide celebrities not too long ago, and Kate was O.J. Simpson famous during her recent court case, so Aaron was a name that should have been familiar to a mother who lost her pregnant daughter in the same plane crash that the Oceanic 6 miraculously survived.
Kate, following Cassidy’s observation about her true need to raise Aaron, finally not only came clean with Mrs. Littleton, but also gave up custody of the tiny tyke with a tearful, ‘goodbye my baby.”
And Then There’s Ben
Yeah, yeah, and then there’s Big Ben, who finally stirs from his oar induced nap, only to find himself staring at the last man he had the pleasure of murdering – John Locke.
Ben looks genuinely surprised to see Locke staring back down at him, but is he shocked because a man he strangled to death is welcoming him to the “Land of the Living,” or is he just a little stunned to learn his strategy is all working according to plan. (Ben always has a plan you know.)
So until next week, fire up your Hi-Def TV, (Imperative if you’re expecting to make out which side the bullet originally entered the body of a teenage monster in the making.) make sure you hit the record function on your TiVo, (For multiple viewings, and freeze framing purposes immediately after watching the show the first time.) keep your laptop nearby, (You’ll never know when you might need to Google if you own the record for the most mentions of “crazy caged monkey sex” in one article– and I do.) load up that bong, (For some of us, LOST isn’t our only drug of choice.) and get ready to get LOST.
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the writers of Lost are masters at their craft. This episode was shot in January and they already knew what we would all be asking regarding time travel.
Sweet episode and I'm not even a big Kate fan.
bit of spoilerish info: Next week's ep is called "Dead is dead" & they apparently casted the guy who will be playing Jacob.