THOUGHTS & THEORIES

It seems we’ve met yet another pair of cons marooned on that island: Nikki and Paulo. They join Sawyer and Kate as those with mysterious and criminal pasts.

I may not be a forensic expert, but worrying about leaving behind cigarette ashes as evidence after killing a guy and then opening a safe without gloves is pretty damn stupid.

How close could Nikki & Paulo have really been if she wasn’t aware that he was stashing a bag of diamonds in his boxer briefs, and she never smelled the nicotine gum he was secretly chewing?

In Season One, Kate sent Sawyer into that same body of water to find the briefcase with the guns. Knowing how much Sawyer likes to pilfer through other people’s belongings and then claim them as his own, you would think that he would dive down there on many occasions in search of loot. How could he not have seen Nikki’s bag and found the diamonds?

After Boone & Shannon ran into Nikki & Paulo at the airport before boarding Flight 815, Shannon told Boone to stop flirting with random guys. Either she was just being bitchy Shannon, or that was the producers’ not-so-subtle way of informing us that Boone was indeed the island’s gay character (which would be kind of creepy, considering that he had slept with step-sister Shannon).

After the last scene on her show, Expose, Nikki made the comment that “you know what happens to guest stars.” Nice inside joke, now that she and Paulo have joined Boone, Shannon, Libby and Ana Lucia in that category.

After reading Nikki’s Expose script, Hurley said that the identity of the Cobra on that show, who was supposed to be a good guy, had been shrouded in mystery for 4 seasons. Duh. The producers are letting us know that either the identity of “Him” and/or “Jacob” will be revealed next season on LOST, or that one of our Losties is really a bad guy after all.

Poor Locke. You know he’d be bummed to find out that Nikki & Paulo discovered the Pearl Station and yellow plane before he did.

Last season, when Locke found the Pearl Station, there were recently smoked cigarette butts on the tables in front of the television monitors. Did Paulo find cigarettes while rummaging through the luggage in search of the diamonds, and then go to that hatch for secret smoke breaks??

Do you think that Paulo failed to mention that he saw Ben and Juliet in the Pearl Hatch on purpose, or that he really didn’t know who Shepard, Ford and Austen were (since he knew them as Jack, Sawyer and Kate)?

Did Paulo ever actually use the walkie-talkie he found in the Pearl? Did he communicate with the Others? He doesn’t seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer, so it’s quite possible that he was manipulated and/or tricked by the Others into providing information about his fellow survivors.

The infamous ‘monster’ sound appeared after Nikki threw the spider at Paulo, followed by the baby spiders that then bit her. Were the baby spiders this week’s Black Smoke Monster Manifestation? After all, right before dying at the hands of the Black Smoke Monster That Was His Brother Yemi, Eko told Locke that “they were next,” and Nikki & Paulo were there when that happened.

Before (apparently) dying, what do you think Nikki said to Hurley and Sawyer: a) Paulo Lies, b) Parallel Lives, c) Power Lines or d) Paralyzed? The answer is: Paralyzed. Which is quite an interesting term to use in light of the fact that last week’s episode was all about the formerly paralyzed Locke…

Did Vincent the dog remove the blanket that was covering Nikki & Paulo because he sensed that they were still alive?

Geez, Jack is nowhere to be found and folks get buried alive based on an assumption that they look dead. They need the Doc back, stat.

Are both Nikki and Paulo dead? No. Not yet, anyway. It was no secret that one character was being killed off of the show last night, and clearly that was Paulo. It didn’t help that Rodrigo Santoro, who plays Paulo, gave an interview a few months ago to the Brazil version of Rolling Stone Magazine that said his character was going to die this season. I’m sure the producers were less than thrilled when that tidbit hit the Internet…

FORESHADOWING

While opening the safe, in Nikki’s Anti-Smoking PSA Moment, she tells Paulo that they already poised Zuckerman, so they shouldn’t poison themselves. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Foreshadowing.

But wait, there’s more! After meeting Boone & Shannon at the airport, Paulo tells Nikki that he hopes they don’t turn out like them. Oops, you did. Bye-bye now.

AND…when Nikki tells Paulo to climb up to the small yellow plane and he refuses, she makes fun of him for preferring to go down into a dark tunnel instead. Our friend Locke did the exact same thing; he sent Boone up to the plane (and to his death) and didn’t even hesitate to blow the hatch door to explore the thing once he discovered it. 

FILE UNDER ‘RANDOM’

LOST creator JJ Abrams is a huge Star Wars geek. Thus, the Billy Dee Williams cameo.

Paulo is from Brazil, and the two men in Penny Widmore’s listening station were speaking Portuguese? Coincidence? I think not.

Dr. Artz discovered many new species of bugs on the island. More than likely, they were born or manufactured in the zoological station/hatch on the other island (with the empty aquarium tanked that housed Jack as a prisoner and the bear cages that held Kate and Sawyer).

Charlie is toast. You just know that Jin will find out about his abduction of Sun.

Let’s see…the late Mikhail was Russian and Nikki’s diamonds were hidden in Russian stacking dolls. Interesting.

Hurley Numbers Alert! The diamonds are worth $8 million and the spider bite paralyzes for 8 hours.

In an island flashback, they made a point to remind us that Jack used to have the key to the guns around his neck. Nikki took the key from around Zuckerman’s neck after killing him.

Last week in my LOST blog, I posted the above photo of what I thought was Sayid discovering an underwater cable. Yeah, I was wrong. It was Paulo diving for the diamond bag. Yawn.

Between Sun last night and the preview for next week’s episode…Women of LOST: 2, Men of LOST: 0. The island ladies are kicking some serious ass lately, and it’s about time.

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Queen, please!

My, my. Eddie Izzard has transformed himself once again.

Are you watching The Riches? It’s a strange and funny series about a family of Travellers (similar to gypsies) who pretend to live above their means by utilizing whatever methods are neccessary: lying, acting, squatting houses, etc. Minnie Driver plays white trash much better than I expected, and this role is a perfect foray onto the small screen. I haven’t decided if I’m committed to the entire season yet, but I will stick around for the time being.    

Check it out for yourselves:
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/theriches/

Kudos to FX for now offering some of the most innovative and original programming outside of HBO and Showtime, from Rescue Me to Dirt to The Riches. These shows break and explore more boundaries far more than most series on traditional networks, so grab your remote and set this channel as one of your favorites. You won’t be disappointed.

On to the next new show…

“Ellen!”

Remember that high-pitched shout out on Ellen? It certainly didn’t belong to Ellen DeGeneres, nor was Joely Fischer responsible for it. That yelp came from none other than Ellen’s friend Audrey, played by Clea Lewis.

Well, Lewis is back. And thankfully, that voice has changed. It might have even come down a decibel or two. She’s now appearing on Andy Barker, P.I. as Andy Richter’s wife.

I have watched the first 6 episodes online, and they were entertaining enough to earn a Season Pass. The comedy is subtle and the supporting cast is excellent. The show highlights the misadventures of Richter, an accountant who dabbles in the private investigator business with a surprising level of success.

Although I’m still mourning Arrested Development, it is really nice to see Tony Hale (a.k.a Buster Bluth) again on a regular basis.

And character actor Harve Presnell, who I’ll always think of as the curmudgeonly Wade Gustafson from Fargo, plays crabby just about better than anybody on television.

So give Andy Barker, P.I. a shot. It is currently in NBC’s Thursday night lineup, but who knows where it might wind up.  You can still watch the first six episodes for free online right now: http://www.nbc.com/Andy_Barker_PI/.

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For reasons I cannot explain, I have watched the entire first season of Dirt on FX. The show is a guilty pleasure; the characters are deplorable and yet I can’t turn away. The good news is that Courtney Cox is absolutely nothing like Monica on Friends, but the bad news is that she is surrounded by far less talented yet far more over-the-top actors. I doubt that the series will be renewed, but I would be curious to see what executive producers Cox and hubby David Arquette bring to the table in a second season.

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I, for one, am all for the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff. As a huge Kate Walsh fan, I am thrilled that she is the one being given the opportunity to shine as the lead on another show. They’ve lined up quite a cast: Tim Daly (from ABC’s recently deceased The Nine), Taye Diggs (from ABC’s recently deceased Day Break), Merrin Dungey (from ABC’s previously deceased Alias), and Amy Brenneman (from CBS’ long gone Judging Amy).

I look forward to the 2-hour season finale of Grey’s in May, which will introduce us to the new doctors in Dr. Addison Montgomery’s world.

In light of disappointing recent developments on Grey’s Anatomy (i.e. the non-fatal drowning and the George/Izzie drunken debacle), fresh characters and storylines will be a welcome change.

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Step 1: You hide Locke’s dad in a box.

Step 2: You let Locke look in that box.

Now that was an amazing episode.  Daddy Island, indeed.

Locke used to work for a box company…voilà! Look, there’s your dad in a box!

John’s dad, Anthony Cooper, is the man from Tallahassee. Kate was buying a bus ticket to Tallahassee in a Season 1 flashback. Sawyer mentioned catching a disease in Tallahassee in a Season 2 flashback.  Other Florida connections: Juliet used to live with her sister in Miami, and Kate lived with her cop husband in Miami too.

I think John’s dad is the real Sawyer, the con man that Island Sawyer (James Ford) has been chasing his whole life, the one who killed Ford’s parents. So it will be very interesting if Island Sawyer comes face to face with him…

When Peter Talbot came to Locke asking why he gave his kidney to his father, Talbot said Locke’s dad name was Adam Seward.

Together, ADAM SEWARD & ANTHONY COOPER form the anagram: ‘Sawyer, the con man, a poor dad.’

Before the Swan Hatch imploded a few weeks ago (in Lost time), the Others had contact with the outside world and the submarine was able to travel to and fro. I believe Ben brought Locke’s dad to the island after Michael helped him escape from the Swan. He knows everything about Locke, is mesmerized by the fact that Locke was healed by the island when he himself was not, etc. Ben knew firsthand how easy it was to manipulate Locke, and so he knew to bring Locke’s dad to the island to use as a pawn in his overall game plan.

Richard Alpert, the guy who tried to recruit Juliet back in Portland, was the guy who untied Locke and brought him to see his dad last night. Is he Ben’s henchman? Did he deliver Locke’s dad to the island? Did they actually try to recruit or lure Locke’s dad to the island, or was he more than willing to go since he was on the run from the police?

Then again…Locke’s dad is a con man. For all we know, he is working in cahoots with Ben and the Others. He may not have been taken against his will; they’re just making it look that way to lure Locke into Ben’s trap.

Then again…are we being duped? Is that really Locke’s dad in that box? Could it be that the smoke monster has once again manifested itself into the shape of someone from Locke’s past (like Eko’s black smoke, Kate’s horse, Jack’s dad, Hurley’s friend Dave and Sayid’s cat)?

If it really is Locke’s dad, who’s to say who else the Others brought to the island to torment the survivors…Jack’s ex-wife, Charlie’s brother, Sayid’s Nadia, Sun’s dad, Claire’s ex-boyfriend/baby daddy, etc.

Why was Locke dry when he entered the submarine but wet when he emerged from it on the dock?

   

Locke’s dad was drinking the same rare brand of MacCutcheon Whiskey that Mr. Widmore was drinking in his office while talking to Desmond.  Which, of course, means that the two are somehow connected.

Why were Jack and Juliet leaving the island on the submarine, when Michael and Walt were set free on a boat? We saw a few episodes ago that the Others still have Desmond’s sailboat and also a large boat that Jack and Juliet were taking from the Hydra Hatch island back to their own.  Was Ben planning to send them to whatever Twilight Zone locale that Michael and Walt are stuck in now?

I thought all communications, including sonar, were destroyed when Locke blew up the Flame Hatch. Why would the submarine still be able to operate? Ben must have known that it wasn’t operable…I’m sure had Locke not shown up, Ben would have sent Jack and Juliet to the sub and pretended to be surprised to find out that it couldn’t leave. But Juliet should have also known. I love that we have no idea whose side she’s really on.

Why is it that the security system that killed Mikhail last week isn’t in place near the water? It seems that anyone can access the dock, boats and submarine. Why wouldn’t the Others or Dharma protect their only methods of leaving the island? The map that Sayid took from Mikhail seems to show that there isn’t a security perimeter anywhere except around the barracks, a.k.a. Other Village.

I still have no idea what Ben told Kate that first morning on the beach over breakfast or if this is still part of the two very difficult weeks he referred to, but perhaps her attempted rescue of Jack was part of it.

Is Ben really Alex’s dad, or did he take her as an infant from Rousseau, just as the Others have taken children? Was Ben really born on the island, or is he really Rousseau’s husband and they’re both original Dharma folks?  The Others are clearly aware that Rousseau is still alive/around, because the man guarding Sayid hit him when he started to talk to Alex about her mom.

In the last few episodes, they’ve been purposefully showing us meat in Others’ refrigerators…the slabs of unknown animal in Mikhail’s and the chicken in Ben’s. Why?

Jack told Kate that they were watching him and we saw the camera in the piano room. Tom motioned to Jack that they were listening in the game room when he went to see Kate. Is Sheriff Isabel the one monitoring all of this? And does it seem like Tom is on Jack’s side all of a sudden? Perhaps he has a crush on the doc…

So now we’ve seen two men get pushed out of windows: the guy Sun was having an affair with (who died), and now Locke (who didn’t die).

And this is a stretch, but worth a try…I’m not sure why he’d be in Florida, but in Hurley’s very first flashback in Season 1, when he was at his accountant’s office, his accountant was trying to convince him that ‘the numbers’ weren’t a curse, and at that very moment a body flew down past their window outside. Could it have been Locke?!

Is it just me, or was it strange to see Locke in the hospital after his accident without so much as a back brace on or in traction? If he broke his back, would they really be picking him up and putting him in the wheelchair like that?

I love the role reversals of power in this episode: Ben in a wheelchair and Locke standing, and Kate as a prisoner being interrogated by Jack.

NEXT WEEK (SPOILER ALERT)
If I had to guess, I think Sun will find out that Charlie abducted her last season, and Jin will kill Charlie. OR…since Charlie knows he’s going to die anyway (thanks to Desmond’s accurate premonitions), he might confess to Sun. Maybe she kills him.

The episode will be a Nikki and Paulo flashback. You might be saying to yourself, ‘who?’ Exactly. They are the two annoying new characters who’ve apparently been living on the beach among our Losties but have only made random appearances this season with awkward dialogue. The producers swear that they’re important to the overall story, and that next week’s episode will be a “game changer.”

 
AND, we might finally get to see the underwater hatch that I’m convinced is attached to that large cord Sayid found on the beach in Season 1. I have a feeling we’re about to be introduced to an entire new colony of island folk; the subterranean/underwater Others. Is that where the Hostiles live, or where all of the kidnapped Tail Section survivors and children are being kept?

Now, aren’t you glad you haven’t given up on Lost?! It just keeps getting better. If you’re reading this, you’re one of the faithful. I appreciate it. Thanks for reading.

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