Lost Rewatch: Three Minutes

 

Near the end of the final flashback in this episode, Michael is told that he has to bring four people with him back to the Others and if he does this, he and Walt will go free. Michael is completely and utterly shattered by now but he has enough sense to ask: “What do I tell them?” The women tells him it doesn’t matter “that they’ll be angry enough” to do whatever he says.

At this point in the series we know that we can’t trust anything the Others say as truthful, but they have enough self-awareness to know that their actions will provoke rage.  So when Michael comes back to the hatch after everything that happens, he doesn’t even have to work that hard to persuade Jack – who has been the king of unilateral decision making since he took the job as leader – to do exactly what he says. Some have argued that Jack is being more democratic in his leadership style at this point and while that may be the case, he is still ruled by his emotions. In the flashbacks we pretty much see several of the scenes from The Hunting Party before the Others showed up verbatim. The writers could have shown them in the Previously on Lost sequence but we saw them happen for a very clear reason.

Jack has not gotten over the scars of being humiliated by the Others two weeks ago. His self-righteousness has been leading him by the nose ever since in practically every major decision he’s made ever since then.  He’s supposed to be the rational one and there is no reason he wouldn’t normally try to reason with Michael about the right approach, particularly considering who he wants to bring on this ‘raid’.  He wants to get revenge as quickly as possible and since this is the quickest way to do it, he goes along with it.

Ironically Sawyer is thinking with a far clearer head than Jack is right now. When Sayid asks him what they were going to do, not only does he not deny it, but he also offers the man a gun and invites him along. When Jack argues against it, Sawyer’s response is the rational one. Furthermore when Michael challenged Jack, Jack rolled over but when Michael protests Sawyer’s decision, Sawyer puts up of the obvious question: if you’re going to war, you do need a soldier. Michael can’t come up with a rational argument and ends up going to Sayid directly.

Everyone is shattered by what has happened to Ana Lucia and Libby and they are more inclined to believe these are the actions of the Others. So almost no one doubts what Michael has told them. However, the more rational heads seem to have a clearer picture.

The scene between Eko and Michael in the hatch as Michael cleans up the blood is one of the more ambiguous one in the second season. Does Eko know that Michael is responsible for the deaths of his friends? When Michael asks the Eko if he believes in hell, Eko does not answer. Instead, he tells the kind of parable that Locke used to do throughout Season 1. Since he is a religious man, however, it is clearly more theological. Note the way he tells his story to Michael, calmly and serenely all the while cleaning up the blood of his friends and rinsing them off in the sink. When he finishes his story and tells why the boy in his parish really was worried about going to hell, he turns away and Michael, who has been able to hide his actions the last several hours, finally loses his façade and vomits outside. I believe that Eko knew what Michael did but because of his old life and his new mission, has decided to move past what has happened. (There might have been plans to follow through on this has Eko stayed, but it will never be followed up.)

Sayid, however, sees through Michael’s guise instantly. He is suspicious the moment Michael tells him not to come, but immediately after he goes quiet.  We remember he was an interrogator and part of the job is not only to ask questions but to listen.  Michael should have been suspicions when the frequently bellicose Sayid immediately backs down, but as we are very aware of, he’s dealing with his own problems.

It is ironic that, considering all the lies that Michael is telling us about how he found the Others camp, he’s fundamentally telling the truth about what he saw when they took them prisoner.  It was a two-day hike to their camp, we see them in ragged clothing and eating fish and they do have a hatch that they are guarding, probably 24-7.  In the last flashback, Michael believes he will be killed because he thinks he has found the Others camp and is now a threat to them.

We also get our first glimpse at some of the major players within the Others community, most of whom will have major roles in the next season. There is Miss Klugh, who at the moment seems to be the leader and appears to be the most scientific of the bunch. We get another glimpse of Mr. Friendly, who clearly seems to be taking orders from someone. There’s a brutal man named Pickett, who seems to be another soldier in this war. And most importantly, we get a glimpse of the teenage girl we saw in Maternity Leave – and confirmation that her name is Alex.  She maintains the level of compassion we saw her show Claire then: she asks after him, and clearly wants to know if the baby was safe.  She tries to reassure Michael that his friends won’t be hurt. And she clearly doesn’t seem entirely onboard with what’s going on: we now she didn’t take Kate out when she was ordered too and she genuinely seems unhappy before she knocks Michael unconscious.

When Miss Klugh interrogates Michael, it’s clear she trying to learn as much about Walt as possible, but there is an inconsistency that doesn’t make sense. Given the information we know the Others have about the survivors, you would think they would know that Michael was never in Walt’s life. And considering that this happened well before Henry ended up being taken prisoner, it strikes me as odd that they would use him as a tool to get him free.  Considering the Walt storyline is going to be abruptly closed after this season, it’s another puzzle we can’t undo.

Still, the scene between Walt and Michael at the end is absolutely devastating. Harold Perrineau is heartbreaking in this scene, as a man who has been held prisoner and certain his son is dead, now has to promise Walt he will get him out of there. Walt knows that they are lying that this will end badly but he never gets a chance to say so. Michael is absolutely devastated and determined to do whatever it takes to get off the island with his son.

Much of the action that is going on throughout the episode is preparation for the burial of Ana Lucia and Libby.  Sawyer, it’s worth noting, seems to be dealing with this and it shows very clearly in his scene with Jack. The scene between the two is one of the highlights as Sawyer confesses that he and Ana Lucia ‘got caught in a net’. When a baffled Jack asks him why he’s telling him this, Sawyer’s response is even sadder: “Because you’re the closest thing I’ve got to a friend.” Being Sawyer, he negates it by saying “at least we get to kill people” but when he looks into Ana’s grave, it’s clearly this has hit him in a way that very little on the island has so far.

Garcia continues to astonish throughout the episode. When the early discussion to mount the assault begins, Hurley shouts: “They’re dead!”. Hurley never shows anger, so this is stunning.  When Michael, in what is his lowest point in the episode, tries to manipulate Hurley to come with them by using Libby’s death, Hurley remains stoic in his refusal. And when he stands over Libby’s grave, weeping and in despair, his decision to come with them seems to surprise even Michael. I think Hurley’s doing this out of grief more than anything; he just doesn’t want to be alone right now.

It is interesting to consider the actions of the two men of faith in this episode, because they spent much of it in isolation. Locke does not utter a word during the episode and spends most of it looking at the water. Perhaps he is trying to find the peace he did when we first met him after the crash, hoping to find the right path. And maybe he does. When Charlie finishes throwing the Virgin Mary statues into the sea – finally renouncing his demons – he sees Locke on the beach. Neither man speaks, but there’s just the slightest sign of a smile on Locke’s face. And while everyone is preparing for the funerals, Locke seems to make sure everyone’s attention is diverted. Then he cuts away his cast, and rises to his feet, stepping on the crutches as he goes.  Locke should have seen this as a sign of the island, but rather than go join the mourners, he walks away. It’s telling that no one sees him go or notices him missing.

Eko’s faith is currently in the hatch, and it’s telling his attitude is similarly off-putting the way Locke’s often could be in Season 1. W    hen Charlie comes down to ask after him, it’s actually understandable why he’s upset. It’s clear he thought he and Eko had a purpose building the church and when Eko dismisses this as more important, and asks Charlie to bring him his things, it’s hard not to think he’s been rejected again. Jack has a similar problem with Eko when he comes back and finds him at the computer and doesn’t get an answer about where he and Locke were all night.  And he’s clearly annoyed that Eko does not want to attend the funeral of his friends but he has other things on his mind.

On the beach Sayid tells Jack that he thinks Michael has been compromised. He is clearly trying to find an advantage but he doesn’t know what it is. And then, in the last minute, one comes.

All this season it appears everyone has given up on rescue. And then a ship appears on the horizon. In a sense, this is not rescue – but the person on board is there to save them.

 

VHS Notes: This episode contains trailers for what would be the series finale of Alias which aired the following Monday.  Another trailer would be the sign of the end of a different era. We see ads in this episode for a TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Desperation. For more than fifteen years, ABC and King had collaborated on a series of TV mini-series adaptations of his work. The best included the 1993 adaptation of The Stand (which was one of the major influences for Lost) the original production Storm of The Century and the underrated mini-series adaptation of The Shining which he adapted because he did not like Stanley Kubrick’s version. When Desperation aired as a three hour movie, King was upset that his production had not gotten the traditional treatment. He and the network would break off their relationship soon after. It was the beginning of the end of the traditional mini-series format for broadcast television.