cine + octo = boo

LA X isn’t just a season premiere, it’s the beginning of the end. The ride we’ve all been enjoying since 2004 is gearing up for the last gasp, and expectations have been running high. For me, LA X needed to deliver in a way that added both shape and definition to all previous episodes while maintaining the mystery and illusiveness of the series. In some ways, what happened in LA X sets the tone and pacing for the rest of season 6, and prior to viewing I desperately wanted a balance between answering long-standing questions and offering more headscratch-inducing layers of labyrinthine confusion for the remaining 17 episodes. It succeeded.

Many are in this for the answers. They’ve come this far, they want to know what is going on. It’s admirable, but in a sick way that’s not my motivation. The part of LOST that compels me isn’t the promise of answers, although it’s nice to know that those will come in due time. But no, I’m in it for the sense of discovery and mystery. If season 6 were all answers and no journey it would cease to be as interesting and captivating as it has been for seasons past.

When Darlton (that’s Damon and Carlton) announced that time-travel was over with season 5, they opened a can of worms. How do you continue the narrative in a traditional LOST way without some sort of jump through time. We’ll they’ve figured it out. The opening of LA X presents us with a dual narrative — two distinct timelines that reflect two disparate outcomes following the Jughead incident. Let’s break them down.

Bizarro LOST timeline

The episode opens where the conclusion of The Incident left off, Juliet detonates Jughead and a flash of white fills the frame. Only this time we pull away from the white to reveal clouds through the cabin window of Ocean 815. We’re back on the flight that started it all. The implication is that somehow Faraday’s plan worked and that detonating Jughead diffused the pocket of energy at the construction site. What we are now witnessing is what would have happened had the crash never occurred in the first place. Only we’re not exactly. Things are different.

Jack’s hair is longer, Cindy gives him only one bottle of vodka, and Charlie doesn’t push his way down the aisle to the bathroom. Something is, off. Sort of like the title of the episode — there is an intentional space between the “A” and the “X” as if to say, “you’re supposed to notice that something is slightly off here.” These are intentional deviations from the Pilot episode, and we’re meant to take note. We’re not witnessing what would happen if the crash never occurred, we’re witnessing what happens in a timeline where the crash never needed to occur. We’ll discuss this more as the season progresses.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program…

The second timeline is somewhat more along the lines of what many of anticipated — Jughead succeeds in a limited capacity by jumping our heroes back to 2004, only they are still on the island. We follow along as Hurley and Jin attempt to save Sayid, Sawyer mourns the loss of Juliet, and Jack remains completely baffled. In a few interesting developments, Juliet made the jump along with Sawyer, Kate, Jack, and Miles. Additionally, Ben is coping with the post-Jacob slaughter, and several revelations begin to unfold regarding the Man in Black/Faux-Locke, the smoke monster, and the temple. More to come.

Here’s where the flash-sideways approach is brilliant. The Bizarro timeline will continue to raise questions throughout the final season, the overarching of which is, “What happens to [enter LOSTIE] in this timeline and how does this discovery help add definition to the main story arch?” On the other side, the main story arch of a post-Jughead FAIL will become the answers portion of the show, revealing the secrets of the island that have been nagging at our very souls for the past 6 years.

In their latest podcast Darlton adamantly rebuked the use of the term “Bizarro” in reference to the new LOST timeline, as it implies that these two timelines are unrelated, or even worse, that one is somehow “less real” than the other. Interesting. From now on I’ll refer to the two timelines as follows: Jughead FTW vs. Jughead FAIL.

The strengths of the episode are even-keeled between the revelatory and the question inspiring. We finally put to rest the nagging question, “What is the smoke monster?” albeit by answering a slightly different question, “Who is the smoke monster?” This ultimately opens up the next question in the logical progression, “What, exactly, is the Man in Black (or Jacob for that matter)?” We’re also given a clear answer regarding the smoky powder that surrounded Jacob’s cabin, and by infiltrating the temple we are given the first clues to Richard Alpert’s nagging agelessness.

Miles, Hurley, and Juliet — Communing with the dead 101

While the revelation of the smoke monster may have cracked the Internet in half, something else tucked away in LA X had much longer lasting appeal to me. For the first time it occurred to me that the events leading up to this season have offered a salient line of clues regarding the rules of communing with the dead. From the very beginning we’ve been offered scenarios in which someone encounters a dead character. Jack is visited by Christian (his father) when they first land on the island, Boone and Shannon have both made re-appearances after their individual death rattles. But all of these incidents take place on the island. So far, Hurley and Miles are the only two people who have exhibited the ability to actually communicate with the dead while living off the island. One could argue that Miles’ history with the island could be responsible for his ability, but what of Hurley?

My theory is that the Man in Black/Faux-Locke is able to embody anyone dead on the island, and he’s done so in the past to manipulate his pawns into place — appearing to Jack as Christian to motivate him in certain ways, etc. But Hurley has been visited off island, and I think that is something of significance. Another thing to chew on, why is it important that Juliet survive the Jughead detonation? As a character, her exit was interesting enough — a noble sacrifice for the rest of the group. But giving her a moment with Sawyer feels unnecessary for both characters, unless there is more to Juliet.

In case you hadn’t detected it, I believe there is. You see, re-watching her time spent pinned in the Swan station rubble revealed an interesting contradiction. Her first realization upon seeing Sawyer is that her efforts were for naught, “It didn’t work.” Yet when Miles is forced to communicate with Juliet, he delivers a totally different message altogether, “It worked, James.” So, did Juliet gain insight via death? Is Jughead FTW actually the new reality? Is Jughead FAIL just another plot point along the timeline leading to Jughead FTW? We’ll see.

What didn’t work

Typically I have no qualms with Michael Giacchino’s scoring for LOST, it’s appropriate mood-setting music that fits the tone of the show. Plus, I happen to like Giacchino’s work overall (“Up” for example, is such an amazing example). That said, LA X offers a brief lapse in his series of hits, score-wise. This comes immediately following the Jughead FTW reveal, we push through the window of Oceanic 815 and swoop downward towards the ocean, crash through the water, and race across the ocean floor to reveal the Dharma shark and the Tawaret. The entire scene is meant to communicate that in this timeline the island is buried underwater.

The mood called for “odd” and “WTF?!” mixed into a paste, and typically the score would help deliver the message via musical cues. Typically this is handled to perfection on LOST, Giacchino’s builds are typically slow for the show, and they expertly crescendo in a fashion that screams a subdued, “Ah-HA! Revelation!” or “Whoa! Yes, you just saw that!” However, this time around Giacchino eschews the slow build in exchange for an Elfman-esque clamor — a frenetic ramble that says, “Crazy! You’re mind is being blown right now!” throughout the entire sequence. No rise, no build, just full blown nuts. It didn’t work.

The other aspect that didn’t work here was some of the CG work. While I was happy to see the Dharma shark return, I’ve heard several complaints (one from someone working in the industry) that the CG used to create the shark was pretty terrible. The Tawaret has also taken some lumps as well. My defense, albeit not a strong one, is that the show has never been about mind-blowing CG — and it’s a TV show. But that’s a cop out. The truth is, the effects have always worked well when they count — the incident, the smoke monster, etc. They have also been embarrassingly bad where it counts as well. Anyone remember the submarine? Blech!

Minor quibbles, but ultimately these didn’t spoil the episode in the end.

Tonight is the second episode in the countdown to the end, so here is your homework:

• Watch this side-by-side comparison of the Oceanic 815 sequence:

• Place your bet: Who are Adam and Eve?
• Join me here for the liveblog of What Kate Did tonight.