Neither Charlie Pace nor the actor who plays him (i.e., Dominic Monaghan) has ever been my personal favorite. But I'll admit feeling more than a bit sentimental as I watched Charlie prepare to sacrifice himself for the greater good. It's testament to Dom's acting and the quality of the writing that Charlie's actions and emotions seemed so natural -- the episode could easily have slipped into the maudlin. I also loved the use of the list of his personal "greatest hits" to frame the flashbacks, something they've never done before. And even though I knew from Insider Scoop's synopsis that Charlie would make it through the Looking Glass, I still let out a breath of relief when he emerged from the diving pool to find the station miraculously unflooded.
The big plot point was obviously Desmond's vision of Claire and Aaron's rescue -- albeit at the cost of Charlie's life. I found it curious (not to mention frustrating) that we weren't privy to Desmond's flash of the future. My first thought was that seeing from Desmond's perspective would distract from Charlie's episode, though my friend MB suggests another disturbing possibility -- Des may not be telling the full truth about what he saw. Either way, I was struck by Desmond's suggestion that his taking Charlie's place might somehow break the cycle. My suspicion is that Desmond's suggestion was key, though not for the reason he thinks. Perhaps, like many of our Losties, Charlie makes his own luck and cannot be killed until he chooses.
Des seems to believe that he's the one defying fate every time Charlie is saved. But what if it's Charlie himself who has been affecting probability, spurring Desmond to intervene each time to save his life against all odds? Remember, Charlie survived a catastrophic plane crash and Ethan's hanging, all without Desmond's help. Perhaps, the only way for Charlie to seal his fate was for him to refuse Desmond's (improbable) offer to take his place. Anyway, here are some other comments/questions I had about last night's episode:
* Does this mean our Losties are finally going to get rescued from Craphole Island? And if so, what on (or off) Earth will the next three seasons be about?
* If they do get rescued, will some of our Losties (e.g., Locke) remain behind?
* And what of those who might make it off the Island? Don't forget Danielle's suggestion to Sayid way back in Season 1 that she killed her crew because she was concerned they might get rescued...
* Speaking of Danielle, when did she and Jack get together to talk about the dynamite? She went to the Black Rock back in Man From Tallahassee...
* What is the significance of Charlie's grandfather, Dexter Stratton? I've a hard time believing that name (and ring) won't figure again somehow in the story...
* How about that Looking Glass Station? Looked like something out of a Bond film -- e.g., The Spy Who Loved Me -- right down to the sexy female staffers who held poor Charlie at gunpoint. If ya gotta die, might as well be at the hands of someone hot...
Thursday, May 17, 2007
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As I was reading your post something crossed my mind....Ya, imagine that LOL
There has been many theories out there suggesting that the Island is an environment unto it's self. The snow globe theory is one of them.
The Looking Glass station just might add credence to these theories.
The Looking glass station is the true access to this closed environment or the one used while the ( for lack of better word) shielding is up. (like a snow globe) at the bottom of a snow glob is the access.
This would also go a long way explaining the sub.
Hummmmmm.....that makes me wounder
The if the Button kept the shielding operating is the snow globe now cracked open?
If so why has no one on Naomi's ship
sent out search parties? They must have known she crashed?
Me: I love it -- great thinking! I agree it's really odd that Naomi's crew hasn't sent out search parties. If she's telling the truth that Penny sent her to some random location in the ocean, the Island may indeed be inside said snowglobe. BUT...something about Naomi bothers me, though I can't quite put my finger on it. I speculated once that activation of the Fail Safe might operate as a summons for someone (much like Alien X's does in Walt's comic). Now I find myself wondering if she was sent by Dharma's backers to find out what happened to the project...
My questions are:
-- Does Ben know that the Looking Glass is still operational, ie was he lying to Juliet et al about their contact to outside world?
-- Are these people in the LG in fact allied with Ben and the Others?
-- Assuming they are, perhaps they've been stranded without the sub, which Locke either blew up or hid. What contact do they have with outside world? The Flame was used for communications. What communications capabilities are there at the LG?
-- How long has Ben been blocking the signal, if in fact he has?
-- We saw just two women in the LG. Is there a significance here, with respect to the Others and their preoccupation with female fertility?
-- Aaron
First off, I ~love~ your theory about Charlie! It makes sense to me, especially b/c out of everyone, he has had the most brushes with death (there's also the cave-in and what with all that available heroin)... ;)
and while Charlie has never been my favorite character, I agree that Dominic's acting was superb in conveying Charlie's emotions. When he (finally!) kissed Claire and walked away, I actually started to cry! All I could think was, "Charlie has gone through so much for Claire and here he is, willing to die for her, and he is finally rewarded with one chaste kiss. And he knows that this one small kiss will be enough to last him for the rest of eternity."
Gah! I'm such a gurl! ;D Oh, and I ~definately~ think Desmond was not telling Charlie the whole truth about his vision. Besides, according to the psychic in Season 1, Claire is ~supposed~ to stay on that island, right?
Your observation about Jack,Danielle & the dynamite reminded me about something that bugged me about last week's ep...
Lemme splain.
J&J return to the camp just as Sawyer is "burning her at the stake" and she tells Sawyer to flip the tape over. That's when we all hear Ben's reply to her... but that's when ~everyone~ hears Ben's reply to her for the first time as well because he had recorded the message, then Locke stole the tape player and gave it to Sawyer! So how could Jack had known that the Other's were coming?
Also, I wasn't surprised at all to see that the Looking Glass wasn't flooded. Everyone knows that Ben is a manipulative liar. I mean, he told Locke that he needed the Sub to provide the illusion that people could leave... but I don't necessarily believe that Juliette was being truthful either? If the looking glass was of no concern to her or her "work" on the island, why tell her about it at all?
...and lastly, I'm really starting to wonder about Danielle. How did she change the message signal on the beacon? How much later after the purge did she lose Alex to Ben? What are the possibilities that she killed her "crew members" at the same time of the Purge?
Thanks for another great blog! :)
they will think they are being rescued by the helicopter but they are actually being captured
i like the idea the looking glass station has a stargate and/or teleport system
desmond is involved with the "rescue" (capture) of claire and aaron
Sorry for the delay in replying -- been a bit occupied of late. Keep those great comments coming!
Aaron: Regarding Ben's knowledge of the Looking Glass, do you mean since the Fail-Safe EMP or generally? I say the latter is likely despite his apparent lack of knowledge about the Swan. Don't know about since the EMP -- Tom did say their communications were down. On that last point, does anyone else find it odd that the Radio Tower is still interfering with transmissions despite the Fail-Safe?
I'm guessing the foxy Looking Glass staffers were Others, though anything is possible at this point. Like I said, I'm increasingly suspicious of Naomi, who may be working for Dharma's funders (e.g., Paik and Widmore). That reminds me, could Mikhail's original intention have been to do something similar? I'm still intrigued by his apparent interest in Naomi -- it's almost like he knew she'd have sat. phone. What if Mikhail and Kelvin were originally part of the same team?
Aha -- love this suggestion of the Looking Glass staffers being stranded by Locke's demolition of the sub!
I'd bet Ben has been blocking the signal since Danielle's crew overheard the Numbers broadcast.
Same-sex staffers to prevent potentially fatal temptations? That's brilliant!
Lolagrrl: LOL -- I'll admit getting a little misty-eyed myself and I'm a guy!
How do you figure regarding Claire's psychic? As I recall, he said simply that danger surrounds Aaron, who must not be raised by anOther. Of course, I've always wondered if he put Claire on Oceanic 815 because he saw the crash as an opportunity to prevent Aaron's adoption. But does the psychic say anything that would preclude their rescue?
Regarding Jack, I wondered the same thing. Then it hit me -- Juliet presumably told him about the plan some time ago.
I'm guessing that Danielle arrived after the Purge, though, like you, I'm beginning to wonder about aspects of her story. I still think she's basically telling the truth about her arrival and her murder of her crew. But I believe she's omitting large chunks of the story, and fudging the truth about Alex's kidnapping. I still wonder if Danielle gave up her baby in Caduceus much as Claire was about to do with Aaron.
SM: Interesting suggestion! Any thoughts on who their new captors will be? My own feeling is that there's now a race between two factions, one of which is Dharma's original backers and the other Penny Widmore's people. Each knows of the other -- or at least the former knows of the latter, which is why Naomi has a copy of the picture. The difference is that the Dharma people have no intention of allowing the survivors of Oceanic 815 to be found alive...
Love your suggestion that the Looking Glass has some kind of inter-dimensional transport. At the very least, there's metaphorical significance in the White Rabbit symbol. Also, a poster on the Fuselage named Briolette analogizes the pressurized diving pool therein to whatever portal connects the Island to the outside world. I really dig this comparison -- captures well the dynamic of controlled access to another world. Provided, of course, that the point of access remains pressurized. Could THAT be what the Looking Glass does?
Greg: Hmmm...so you're suggesting that their capture is a price of sorts that will have to be paid for him to be reunited with Penny? Interesting! Could guilt then
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