LOST Review: Recon

Last week was a transition episode for Jack, Ben, and the other LOSTies living back at the beach. Unfortunately, this week was merely transitional for Locke, Sawyer, and co, too. And just like Dave predicted in the last post, Recon was some weak tea.



WHAT WORKED:

• Winner by knockout: Smokey Locke, courtesy of an open-fisted haymaker on hysterical Claire. I nearly fell out of bed with laughter with this happened.
• Miles once again playing the loyal partner to Det. LaFleurrrrrrrrrrr
• Incorporating Indiana Jones into flirting is always a good idea.
  
• Charles Widmore setting up base camp on Hydra Island. Is it significant that we didn't see Widmore on the Island? What's in the locked hatch? Desmond and Penny? Eloise? Faraday?!? Something that has to do with the Black Rock or Jacob? Start your guessing...
• Evil Sayid indifferent to Kate getting her ass kicked.

WHAT DIDN'T:

• There is no way in hell that Kate's dress is still in that polar bear cage. With all the rain, wind, leaves, dirt, and stormy weather that the Island has had in the last THREE YEARS, that dress is probably buried in the mud, caught in the brush, or ripped to pieces. There's no way it's still sitting where Kate last left it.... absurd...
• Kate and Claire's creepy make-up hug.
• Kate getting caught... again...
  
• The predictability of the episode. We all correctly assumed that Sawyer was playing for both teams just like we all correctly assumed that Zoe wasn't an innocent lone survivor. And if you're really good, you also saw through his ruse at the beginning of the episode.
• The flashsideways story. The only cool thing to look forward each week is how they handle the "reflection in a mirror" scene (Det. Ford punched it). For Sawyer, not only is he a cop (and dates Charlotte.... lame), but more importantly, he probably won't kill Anthony Cooper like he did in real life.
• This was the first episode in a loooooooooooong time that didn't have a twist ending in the end that made you go "wowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!"
• Final grade: C-

Total Rankings for the Season:
1. the Substitute
2. Lighthouse
3. LAX
4. Dr. Linus
5. Sundown
6. Recon
7. What Kate Does

Since this episode was kind of a stinker, let's talk about a crazy theory that my sister brought up today in one of our LOST chats. Ready for a Jughead-sized LOST bomb to detonate in your mind?

JACOB IS THE SMOKE MONSTER!!!

Boom.

How is this possible? Let's consider the setup. The writers love drilling the idea of black vs. white and good vs. evil into our heads. The important thing is that they are two sides of the same coin, just like Jacob and Esau are two sides of the same personality... the Island. Never has this been more relevant than this season, when we get to see an alternate timelines based on the idea that our castaways are fundamentally the same person... except for one BIG difference. Sawyer was a con man looking to kill the real Sawyer, and is now a cop who will probably spare the real Sawyer. Jack had daddy issues, and is now a daddy with issues. Locke couldn't handle being paralyzed, and now he's cool with it. Sayid was a cold blooded killer, and... is still a cold blooded killer (I guess this theory isn't perfect). Nonetheless, we are seeing an interesting dichotomy between our castaways, and the same one exists among the heavyweights. I guess I kinda mislead you with my theory title, but whatever... it's still pretty cool.