After last week Michael came back, under the name Kevin Johnson, this week’s episode is going to focus on him. The “previously” takes us back to his history, from the season 1 finale when The Others took Walt until his departure from the island and series (Until last week). The “previously” also includes Ben’s classic “We’re the good guys” quote, which even today, after all we’ve learned, is still creepy as hell.
On the island: Everyone’s in Locke’s camp are together room as a siren is heard. They’re waiting for something. This looks like Locke’s “State of the Camp” address and he promises to reveal everything, including Miles’s mission to get Ben. They are surprised though to hear that Locke will not turn Ben in and that he’s “one of them”. Finally, Ben tells them who his spy on the boat is. Michael! That really shocks them as Sawyer delivers the exposition of Michael’s history.
On the Boat: Something bad is happening on the boat as two more crewmen tried to get away, only they chose a more traditional method and tried to take a lifeboat instead of just jumping over. The captain beats the crap out of them. This boat gets creepier and creepier.
WTF “I’m here to die.” That’s Michael’s answer when Sayid asks him about his presence on the boat. “I’m here to die”. As simple as that. So can we rule him out from the Oceanic Six list? And what did Ben do to get Michael to work for him? In the past Ben has been known to keep his word. But during the “previously” they reminded us that when Ben set Michael and Walt free, he told them they would find rescue, not that they’ll get home. So now I’m assuming that this rescue was more of The Others?
On the island: Sawyer confronts Locke about Miles’s demand for three million bucks. Miles tells them Ben can get the money if he wants, which is pretty obvious, but somehow, after all this time on the island, Locke still hasn’t thought about this himself. Or perhaps he did and was hiding it from the camp. Either way, my growing dislike for Locke is slowly turning into hatred.
Yes! The rest of The Others are still on the island! Ben wants Danielle, Alex and Carl (not really, but Carl comes with Alex) to go to a sanctuary where everyone else is waiting, but he and the Lostaways will stay behind. So they leave.
On the Boat: Again Sayid confronts Michael, this time using a little more physical persuasion, so this leads into this week’s flashback.
Flashback: The timeframe is not known, but Michael’s in a bad shape, and it appears that he’s about to kill himself in his car. If this happens after he left the island (Assuming he did), this could be some sort of throwback to Jack and Hurly. However this can also take place before the crash and mean nothing.
Thank god the suicide attempt failed. The nurse at the hospital calls him “Mr. Wilson”. Interesting. HOLY SH!T!!!!!! IT’S LIBBY! Damn, it’s not. It was just a nightmare. But judging by his reaction, at least we now know that it takes place after he left the island. He doesn’t want the (real) nurse to call Walt. He also appeared to be living alone and the only picture he had was from when Walt was a baby. What’s up with that?
It’s answer time! That was quick. Here it is in a nutshell. Michael and Walt came back two months after the crash but kept it a secret. Michael dropped Walt off with his mother who raises him and he changed his name. Their return is a secret and he didn’t tell his mom anything about what happened to him, and his mom won’t let him see Walt, who’s still traumatized. All Michael and Walt get is an exchange of looks through the window. They appear to have recast Walt. That was one big and welcomed dose of answers. Nice. And I like Michael’s mom.
Damn it, now Michael pawns Jin’s watch in exchange for a gun and some bullets. Another suicide attempt? HEY HEY!!! Just as he’s about to pull the trigger Tom stops him! Hi Tom! This is already an excellent episode.
And it’s fisticuffs between these two. Can’t blame Michael. Wow. The things that Tom says to Michael, while asking for his help, are so awesome. When Michael calls him out for kidnapping Walt he answers that The Others gave him back in one piece and Michael’s the one who lost him. We also learn that Michael told Walt he killed Ana Lucia and Libby. Tom is so awesome confronting Michael like that. And finally Tom tells him that the island will not let him kill himself. The island itself is watching over Michael until he finishes his work. That was one of the best scenes this season, hands down.
Again Michael tries to kill himself with the gun, but Tom was right. The gun is loaded but won’t fire. The island will not allow this. But then Michael sees the report about the wreckage of 815 found in the ocean. No more trying to kill himself.
Tom and a guy named Arturo share really nice hotel suite. I’m guessing Tom is the butch and Arturo is the bitch. Again we learn that Charles Whitmore faked the wreckage. Tom even has the documentation to prove it. But why are we supposed to believe that Tom’s telling the truth rather than faking the wreckage and documents himself?
Anyway, Tom tells Michael (tells, not asks) to board Whitmore’s boat in Fiji and work undercover. Tom provided him with his new identity and told him this is how he’ll redeem himself. And the way for Michael’s redemption is killing everyone on board. SO he’ll pay back for killing two people by killing a lot more. That’s classic Others’ logic.
Michael boards the boat and he meets George and Naomi. Both of them dead now, if you remember. Tom already hooked Michael up with a care package containing everything he needs to kill the crewmembers. He’s efficient that way. He also provides some last minute moral support to Michael as he’s about to embark on his killing spree. I like Tom. Still, Michael’s not sure about his mission but changes his mind after seeing some games that involve automatic weapons.
LIBBY!!!!!!!!!!!! Again Libby!!!!! She (or actually a mental image of her) tries to stop Michael from blowing up the boat. But he goes through with it.
WTF????????? NOT YET? The clocks reaches zero but nothing happens, just a notes that reads “not yet” pops up. This was like that old Raw when Stone Cold kidnapped Vince McMahon and threatened to shoot him, causing Vince to wet himself. Only his gun was a fake. So it’s like that, only bigger.
Ben is such a dirty bastard. Damn him! Pretending to be Walt on the phone. Creep. Okay, Ben’s talk with Michael is even better that Tom’s. And it turns out Ben never told Michael to kill anyone! He wasn’t asked to kill Ana Lucia. Ben’s pushing hard the “We’re the good guys” schtick that I might actually start believing him (And no, the fact that he’s going up against evil in the form of Charles Whitmore doesn’t automatically makes him a good guy). He wants Michael to give him the crewmembers names so Ben will decide who lives and who dies. God complex anyone?
On the boat, current time: Sayid and Desmond are completely shocked to find out that Michael is working for Ben. Forget shocked. Sayid is pissed! I love angry Sayid. WTF? Sayid’s turning him in? I don’t like that! This could be because Sayid’s still hasn’t gotten over Ana Lucia and he wants to get revenge on Michael, but in the past he’s been known to think more rationally, even when he was angry.
On the island: Danielle, Alex and Carl are headed to the sanctuary. Alex trusts Ben intentions, despite Carl’s reservations. And after having these reservations, Carl is now DEAD!!! Yes, he’s shot with a dart. And then Danielle is shot! Only Alex is left, she calls out to whoever is shooting that she’s Ben’s daughter! AND WE’RE OUT!
As good as the rest of the episodes this season were, this one was even better. The extended flashback that occupied the bulk of this episode was excellent and provided some much needed answers, without raising too many new questions.
When the WGA was on strike, ABC’s plan was to go for a short 8 episodes season, and this was supposed to be the season finale. When the strike ended the plans changed, but this still felt, for most of the episode, like a finale of some sort, with everything we learned about Michael. I think is the first flashback presented as a story that someone is telling, so while in the past we the viewers were the only one who knew what happened in the past, here for the first time, other characters also know that. They also managed to turn it into a regular episode with Sayid’s outburst and the shooting at Danielle and Carl. I still fell the adrenaline rush and like I say every week, can’t wait for the next one.
