The Last Recruit

Looks like we got another set up episode this week. Not quite as crazy as the last couple of weeks but still some interesting things happening.

Alternaverse – Fly Together, Die Alone?

Everyone was getting together in the Alternaverse this episode. Locke and Ben head to the hospital only to meet up with Jin and Sun while Desmond delicately pushes Claire into meeting her half brother Jack (as well as previously blown up Illenya) just before Jack is called to the very same hospital Locke, Ben, Sun, and Jin are at. Meanwhile Sawyer and Miles chill with Kate and then go apprehend Sayid. The only one missing from a fully fledged Oceanic get together was Hurley. Most likely because he was too busy getting’ it on with Libby.

On Island – What’s With All The Explosions?

Jack and Evil Locke have a little side conversation (lots of these side chats happening here…) and we find out that Evil Locke was in fact the Christian Sheppard people were seeing around the Island. And just like that another LOST mystery is solved. Why did he lead Jack to the caves and water? Cause he wanted to help. How nice!

Magically it is day again and Not-Tina Fey shows up and tells Locke to give her back Desmond. Then she has her people drop a mortar on his camp. Badass Evil Locke doesn’t even flinch when the shell goes boom. He has till the end of the day which given that we just went from night to day in like a second could mean he could have hours or seconds. Crazy Island.

The impending shelling makes Evil Locke move up his plans and he sends Sawyer and Kate to fetch his sweet sailboat, “Monkey Business”, while he takes the rest of the folks by land. “Large groups move slow” he says but his eyes say “plot device”. Sawyer, putting all his chips on this submarine hijacking scheme (and really who in their life hasn’t done the same?), side chats with Jack and tells him to double back and bring all his Oceanic buddies (minus Crazy Claire and Zombie Sayid) to a special beach where he’ll pick them up in the boat and then they’ll steal the sub and sail away to freedom. Evil Locke then has yet another side chat with Sayid telling him to go kill Desmond. The groups split.

Locke, worried about Sayid, goes back to look for him giving Jack & crew the perfect chance to escape. Unfortunately he abandons Claire. His half sister and girl he just had a 10 minute talk with about how everyone abandoned her on the Island…
Sayid is all totally read to kill a very serene Desmond until Desmond asks him what he’ll tell Nadia he did to bring her back. Apparently killing Dogen and John Lennon and a couple of Widmore dudes is cool but maybe Nadia might draw the line at killing a dude stuck in a well. Does he kill him? Does he not kill him? We don’t know but he tells Locke that he did.

True to his word Sawyer picks everyone up but ut-oh what is this? Abandoned Claire. Perhaps angry about being abandoned? Kate talks her down and their merry band grows by one but not before Claire ominously warns that Evil Locke will not be happy they left. You should have just shot Kate Claire.

As the Monkey Business sails across the water Jack looks pensively out at the ocean. He’s been doing a lot of that this season. Maybe since Evil Locke wants them to leave so bad maybe they should in fact NOT leave he reasons. Sawyer misunderstands him and thinks he said something anti-submarine and kicks him off the boat. A couple mile swim later Jack is back on the Island and at the feet of Locke. Just in time for the shelling of a life time courtesy of one Charles Elizabeth Widmore who, after a touching Jin/Sun reunion, altered the deal. Sawyer, pray that he doesn’t alter it any further or you could end up in carbonite buddy!
We end the episode with Locke telling Jack he’ll be alright, he’s with him now. And thus Jack becomes the titular character of this episode – The Last Recruit. Not to be confused with Bruce Willis, who was of course The Last Boy Scout.

Theoryland

- So my theory about Christian Sheppard being brought to life by the Man in Black and being a zombie henchman like Sayid proved to be false. He apparently was Christian the entire time. At least on the Island. Who was Christian off Island then!? Smokie can’t get off the Island! Evil Locke is lying, he wasn’t him! He resurrected him I tells ya! I refuse to let my theory die! If he was Christian than why is he stuck in Locke’s body and not Christians?

- Maybe Sayid isn’t irredeemable after all. Looks like Desmond got him thinking about something other than murderin’ people. And that saved his life. The question is…did he also get Sayid thinking about pulling poor Aussies out of wells?

- We’re right on track for Jack to fix Locke’s paralysis in the alternaverse. Bank on it.

- Speaking of alternaverse Locke – in the ambulance when he said “Helen, she’s the woman I was going to marry”. Did he say that cause he thought he was going to die before he could marry her or did he say that because he had tapped into his Island self. A self who was going to marry Helen but ended up alienating her with his crazy daddy obsession. I’m thinking he’s tapped in.

- Also what about Sun seeing him in the stretcher next to her say “It’s him!”. She’s also tapped in thanks to the bullet she took.

- I think if you’re a Candidate you have a certain immunity to Evil Locke’s voice. Yes, Sayid and Claire fell for it but none of the rest of the Candidates seem to be irrevocably tied to him. I don’t think we have to worry about Jack now that he’s the only Candidate left on the Island. In fact I believe Jack is going to step into the Jacob role – going full circle from Man of Science to Man of Faith. Additionally him taking the Jacob role will imprison Evil Locke on the Island once again. A certain poetic ending: Jack and Locke forever trapped on the Island battling against each other much like Jack and the real Locke were for most of the series.

- At some point Frank is going to fly that plane off the Island. That’s the only reason he’s been kept around. What we should wonder about is who will be on that plane when it takes off. I just said Jack won’t be there. Who else?

- Who the flip is David’s mother? Most people are probably saying Juliet but you know who I say? Nikki! Wouldn’t that be a kick to the nuts 

- I think the massive Oceanic reunion is going to happen at the hospital but what is going to bring Sawyer, Miles, Kate, and Sayid there? How will Desmond do it? There’s only so many problems you can solve by running your car into them…