Man, if someone could bottle the essence of Lost right now, it would put the coffee companies out of business. I get such an adrenaline rush from watching this show that even when I watched it after being awake for two days, I couldn’t go to sleep.
Our flashbacks this week focus on Charlie. Desmond tells him his latest vision that Charlie has to die in order for the Claire and Aaron to be rescued. Charlie realizes he can’t escape his destiny anymore and agrees to walk into his death and help the greater good. He decides that if he must go, it’s time to list the best five moments in his life, or as he calls them his “Greatest Hits”. We visit these moments with Charlie during his flashbacks as he counts them down:
5. “The first time I heard myself on the radio.” Charlie was ready to quit the music business when Driveshafts’s van broke down during a heavy rain storm. As they were trying to fix the car, their song came on the radio.
4. “Dad teaching me to swim at Butlins.” Charlie’s dad took him and Liam to a public pool as kids. Charlie was afraid to jump in the pool (Liam, of course, was teasing him about it) but his dad kept reassuring him he’ll catch him. Charlie jumped, his dad kept his word and Charlie started swimming.
3. “The Christmas Liam gave me the ring.” I would have thought that waking up in Helsinki with two groupies in bed is good enough, but then Lam gave him his “DS” (Dexter Stratton their grandfather) ring that was in their family for generations. Liam said Charlie should have the ring because he’s more likely to have kids and live to be over thirty. Kinda ironic, isn’t it?
2. “A woman outside Covent Garden calls me a hero.” That woman is Sayid’s Nadia, whom Charlie rescued from a mugger, again in the rain. Nadia thanked him and called him a hero, which uplifted his spirit, as he was playing in the streets for change at the time.
1. “The day I met you.” You refers to Claire, and it was their first night on the island, the day he first saw her, still pregnant and hoping to get rescued soon.
But does Charlie have to die? Because the Lostaways decide to take on The Others on battle, and in the mean time get a distress signal out. Juliet reveals that the reason Rousseau’s signal wasn’t picked up is that The Others are jamming it using an underwater Dharma station called “The Looking Glass”. Sayid believes that by destroying that station, he’ll be able to send a signal out using Naomi’s phone and he just so happens to have the schematics for the station, as he stole them from Mikhail. The problem is, the only way to get there is to dive in and swim (with no equipment) a long way until reaching it. Charlie realizes this is the death Desmond was talking about, so he volunteers to do it, despite some people asking him not to. Once the jam is disabled, Rousseau’s signal will leave the island and would be heard, perhaps bring a rescue team.
The main part of Jack’s plan of attack involves Rousseau and the dynamite she stole from The Black rock (Remember two weeks ago?). They’ll mark certain tents, supposed to contain the pregnant women but instead it will have nothing but dynamite. As The Others will enter those tents to grab the women, they will be blown up. Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it? Well, there’s just one problem. Karl (Alex’s boyfriend) shows up to inform the Lostaways that The Others are arriving right now and not in 24 hours. In a brief flashback from six hours ago we see Ben return to camp and getting his crew to go on the attack immediately, saying Jacob ordered it. Alex has Karl warn the Lostwaways, and we finally learn that she’s not sure Ben is her father.
This news spell trouble, as there’s not enough wire to booby-trap all the tens needed. They come up with a replacement idea to shoot the dynamite from afar. The sharpshooters will be Sayid, Jin and Bernard (Hey there, we haven’t seen you and Rose in a while!) as the rest of the Lostaways (Minus Charlie and Desmond who’ll go out to The Looking Glass) will go to the radio tower and wait for rescue, lead by Jack. Before leaving, Charlie has an awkward farewell from Hurly and he also hides his DS ring in Aaron’s crib, but it’s left behind when they leave camp.
Des and Charlie head off to the station. Des wants to take Charlie’s place but Charlie won’t have it. He gives Des his “Greatest Hits” list and asks him to give it Claire. Des once again wants to be the one who’ll swim to the station, but Charlie finally knocks him out with a paddle and dives down. He barely makes it to the station but he finally catches his breath as he steps onto the platform. He’s happy to be alive, until he realizes the station isn’t abandoned and two gorgeous women come out of nowhere, pointing their guns at him. THE END.
After this episode, some more things are unclear. Did Desmond really have a detailed vision of Charlie dying at the station while Claire and Aaron are rescued? In the past (not always) we’ve seen Des’s visions but not this week. And if he did have that vision, why would he try to stop it from coming true if it means they’ll get rescued? Also, Charlie claimed in the past he can’t swim – why?
The other issue is the station. Juliet said Ben said The Looking Glass is flooded and deserted. If Ben told the truth, then who are the two women? But was he telling the truth or did he lie to Juliet? Or perhaps, again, Juliet’s working with him (Sorry, I just can’t trust her)? What if Juliet and Ben decided all along to attack earlier, and the message he left her on the tape was a code? Perhaps Ben doesn’t trust the rest of The Others (and Locke) so he only planned this with Juliet and part of their plan includes sending someone to that station? And if not, did Jacob really tell him to move the attack forward one day or is he making it up?
And speaking of Ben, he’s different. Ever since the visit to Jacob’s cabin he’s not the same. He used to be calm and collected, always keeping his cool while others get angry and mad. But not anymore. He’s visibly shaken and nervous. He has no patience and is very jumpy. Why did the events at the cabin startle him so much? What was it about Locke that made him that way? Why is he suddenly so insecure?
Next week is the third season finale and it seems that Lost is at its best right now. Those who’ve seen the finale promise it will completely change the show and its course. I hope they’re not overhyping it but right now it seems like the show can do no wrong. Bring it on.
