Meet Kevin Johnson

This is it for a few weeks, so enjoy . . .

First of all, I’m sure that Evan was quite disappointed that not once did Michael say, “where’s my boy?” or any variation of said phrase. I waited for it all night, but to no avail.

2. On the Island . . .
Ben is playing head games, and everyone is falling for it. Someone posted that they would be willing to make out with him . . . I think she (or he for all I know) is also under the spell of Mr. Linus.
Ben convinces Alex, his “daughter”, and Carl, and the infamous mom-jean-wearing Danielle that for Alex’s protection they need to head to “The Temple.” A great line occurs when Carl inquires why they don’t know about this; Ben replies, “It wouldn’t be a sanctuary if everyone knew about it, would it?” We’ll come back to these three later.

Another shout out to Mama Cass – Michael is listening to “It’s Getting Better” when he first attempts to kill himself. Mama Cass is also a favorite of Desmond, who plays “Make Your Own Kind of Music” when Kate and Locke first enter the hatch.

Mr. Friendly returns! Tom (who was killed (?) in the season finale last year, finds Michael in Manhattan and tells him all about his new duties. Mr. Friendly apparently enjoys a jaunt of the island once in a while to enjoy the finer things in life – like Arturro.

This week in Biblical Studies:
While most of us probably think of Michael the Angel when we think about Michaels in the Bible (Patron Saint of the Warriors, by the way), my research has led to an even better biblical reference: In the Bible, one of the Benjamites is named Michael – here’s what you need to know about the Benjamites (I think I am going to start calling myself a Benjamite):
Battle of Gibeah was a biblical battle that involved the Tribe of Benjamin of Israel against other tribes. According to the Book of Judges, an incident of gross inhospitality by part of the tribe resulted in hostility, in which the other tribes of Israel sought vengeance, and after which the surviving members of Benjamin were systematically slaughtered, including women and children; when Benjamin was nearly extinguished, it was decided that the tribe should be allowed to survive, and all the men from another town were slaughtered, so that their wives could be re-wed to the surviving men of Benjamin – Sound familiar?
· More about Benjamin in the Bible: The youngest of Jacob's sons. His mother Rachel died in giving him birth. As she felt death approaching she called him Benoni, "son of my sorrow." Fearing, probably, that this might bode evil for the child--for names have always preserved a peculiar significance in the East--Jacob called him Benjamin, "son of the fight hand"

Michael is being haunted by Libby – why not Ana Lucia? Is she too drunk and bitter to haunt him?
THE ISLAND WON’T LET YOU DIE: This is what Tom tells Michael and what appears to be true. So the big questions are:
does the Island pick and choose who it will let die? Or are all these folks we thought were dead really alive somewhere?
If Ben is one who cannot die, why did he need Jack to operate?
Is this why Locke is able to heal so quickly, because he is at one with the island?
Will Nikki and Paulo being crawling out of their graves soon to annoy the crap out of us?
Does the Island not letting one die depend on the acts of the person? It seems like a lot of people who have killed others are not allowed to die.

8. This week in Lost Literature:
The game show Michael watches while attempting to shoot himself makes reference to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, in which Billy Pilgrim time travels . . . hmmm . . .
Minkowski asks Michael if he is going “Jack Nicholson” on them, referring to “The Shining.” This story also parallels what is happening to folks on the boat who are going mad, as well as perhaps some on the Island.

9. Ben contacts Michael and tells him that he did not actually use a bomb because he doesn’t want to kill the “innocent” people on the boat. He claims he only kills when he is at war, and he doesn’t want to kill innocents because he is “one of the good guys” (a recurring phrase used by Ben when trying to convince Michael to do something bad). He claims that he has a “HIGHER PURPOSE” (this is all so biblical . . . )

10. Michael apparently really wants to be good but he is one weak m-fer! He told Walt what he did; who does that to a kid?!

11. All Things Boat:
In the flashback, Miles knows that Kevin Johnson isn’t really M’s name, but doesn’t seem too concerned
Frank reveals that he believes that 815 wreckage was staged. **He says Widmore believes him.** Is Widmore really responsible, then, for the staged bodies as Ben maintains?
Capt Gault beats one of the shippers, stating, “The rules of discretion still apply to everyone. Remember what happened to the last two men who left this ship?” Hmmmm. . . .

12. Best line of the night: “We kinda like knew that a million years ago” – Hurley

13. HOLY CRAP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT: Carl is shot, and then the real Holy Crap moment – Danielle is shot! You know who is responsible, right? . . .

13. BEN! HE IS AT WAR AND CARL AND DANIELLE ARE HIS ENEMIES . . . they had the balls to try and take Alex away from him.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll be back April 25th. Remember that ABC is being evil and moving LOST to 9:00 (that’s 10:00 for you Eastern Time Zoners!) That is going to be rough!

Namaste,
Your Loyal Lost Loser

Ji Yeon

Talk about red herrings! That whole episode had you believin’ (but not me, of course) that Jin and Sun were living happily ever after w/ little Ji Yeon. Why do Jin and Sun always make me cry? Why?

1. Jin and Sun:
-- a flash forward and a flash back, but did you know it?
-- Sun is an Oceanic Six . . . which means if we believe that Aaron is also one, we know the whole set. But do we believe that Aaron is one? He wasn’t technically a survivor since he wasn’t born yet.
-- another possible red herring – did you all think the fact that Sun’s doctor was “at a conference” and her baby was delivered by a doctor she didn’t know was going to mean something? It didn’t seem to!
--Jin is dead set on buying a Panda, so we are led to believe there is some sort of “kharma” attached to having a panda for his baby’s birth. Lo and behold, he wants the Panda so he can get in good w/ a Chinese businessman.
--More to come . . .

2. Korean 101:
Jin = “jewel”
Sun = “goodness”
Ji Yeon = “postpone”

So why do you think Jin so badly wanted to have a girl and name her “Ji Yeon”?

3. The boat, “KHARMA”
-- rhymes with Dharma
-- We open seeing Frank. Mean ole Keamy who warns him not to be late. To what?
-- When Des and Sayid ask if there has been contact w/ the island, Frank lies and says no.
-- What was the deal w/ Des’ hair? He looked like a bad Head and Shoulders model.
-- Someone was banging on the pipes – I’m thinking it was morse code. Anyone fluid in morse code?
-- We finally meet the captain after Regina (the woman who has been answering the Sat phone) covers herself in heavy chains and throws herself overboard. Captain Gault doesn’t seem to care, but claims it is because he doesn’t want to lose any other men.
-- What Cpt Gault tells them:
· Kharma owned by Charles Widmore
· Black box from 815
· Wreckage found/staged (implies it was done by Ben)
· 324 bodies – where does someone get 324 bodies
--“Kevin Johnson” passes a note through the door to Des and Sayid – “Do not trust the captain” – but should we trust the note sender . . .
--KJ is Michael!! We all knew it, but now it is confirmed. And, hey, let’s not complain about it . . . we’re all always bitchin’ about the lack of answers . . .
-- So Michael is Ben’s man . . . what is he supposed to do and why? And where is Wily Walt?
--Whose blood was on the wall?

4. Juliet dogs out Sun. Cold but necessary.

5. Speaking of Juliet – how about those boobs? My god!

6. This week in Bible Studies: Jin and Bernard the fishermen –
Jesus made his disciples “fishers of men” – they were to “catch” people back from judgment and save their souls. Bernard helps Jin “do the right thing”

7. This week in Lost Literature:
--Captain Gault --is a fictional sea captain created by English writer William Hope Hodgson. A captain for hire - Gault is a morally ambiguous and mysterious character. A collection of his stories can be found in the book Captain Gault, Being the Exceedingly Private Log of a Sea-Captain, published in 1917.
--Atlas Shrugged: Alternately the name of the Kahana's captain may be a reference to a character in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel, which is a story about the producers, the movers and shakers in society who decide go on strike because they are not appreciated by the masses, and create a separate utopian world, a "village" hidden from view from people, planes and the world
--Survivors of the Chancellor: Regina was reading this novel by Jules Verne. The story is about the final voyage of a British sailing vessel, the Chancellor, told from the perspective of one of its passengers (in the form of a diary).

8. The best lines of the night came not from the episode but from my husband (but an honorable mention to Jin for “Where Sun goes, I go”):
--on baby Ji Yeon’s birth mess: “She has six clumps of goo on her head representing the Oceanic “
-- on Jin giving Sun dinner: “He’s giving her fish loaded with Mercury is what he’s doing.”

9. Why is Hurley the only one who comes to see cutie baby Ji Yeon?

10. Here’s the biggie . . . the tombstone:
-- Jin was born in 1974 (therefore a totally age appropriate match for most of us ladies)
-- There is a mystery date that maybe some of you can decipher – 3/20/1984
-- And here’s the big one – Jin’s date of death? – 9/22/2004 – the date of the crash. This leads to all kinds of complicated questions – how was Baby Ji Yeon conceived if her father was dead? Is he really dead or just on the island? Does this confirm that there is an alternate world? And, therefore, does that mean that the crash wreckage was actually real? My brain hurts . . .

11. If you’re bored or are trapped in your house w/ small children and looking for something to do, check out these links (shout out to Cyndi and Gabriella):
-- http://www.myspace.com/previouslyonlostmusic -- I especially like the Ben song
-- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/television/features/2007/lost-central/lost_madness.html
We are totally doing this!!!
n http://www.hamiltonselway.com/Monaghan1.html -- weird art stuff
n http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=nickname – get a Sawyer nickname


Ok, I guess I should go grade research papers, freshmen projects, or prep for one of my four freakin preps that I have next year (yes, people, I now teach every level – sweet ass!).

Looking forward to your insightful comments!

Namaste,
Your Loyal Lost Loser
aka “The Professor”

The Other Woman

Are you starting to agree that I am brilliant? I’m callin’ ‘em left and right . . . but my dear Christopher called one last night (teaser alert).

1. First of all, let me just say that the Island apparently has a really bad plastic surgeon. Harper Stanhope has some serious botox flaws and collagen overinjections. She looks a little like the infamous Cat Woman of New York. No wonder Goodwin sleeps on the couch!

2. The title of the episode has three meanings:
-- Juliet is the other woman in Goodwin and Harper’s marriage
-- Juliet is the other woman in Jack and Kate’s relationship (vomiting thinking about it . . . come on, Jules, you can do better)
-- Juliet is the “Other” woman

3. Juliet –
-- Is her name a reference to Will Shake’s Romeo and Juliet? Her love life seems to be a pattern of doomed relationships.
-- she looks good in a bikini (I have a little girl crush on Juliet. There, I said it!)
-- Reveals that “the immune system turns on the fetus” in pregnant women.
-- Ben is in love/obsessed with her. According to Harper, she “looks just like her.” Who is “her”?
-- Ben tells her “You’re mine.” Apparently her mad doc skills weren’t the only reason Ben brought her to the island.
-- Would you want to make out with Ben? I’m thinking he doesn’t get much play on the Island, or in the real world for that matter.
-- Ben refers to “the list” again. He talks about the children from the plane, Zach and Emma.

4. Who is Harper Stanhope?
-- Goodwin’s wife
-- Island shrink
-- SHE TRIED TO HAVE A BABY! The question is IS SHE DEAD? If so, why can Jack see her, too?
-- Is she really mean and spiteful or just a woman spurned?

5. Our continuing course in Lost Literature:
-- The Tempest by William Shakespeare: It tells the story of the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda, who are stranded on a mysterious desert island that has mystical properties. Prospero raises a storm, or tempest, which causes a passing ship containing his enemies to run aground. Using magic, spirits and a man-beast creature named Caliban, he separates and manipulate the survivors of the wreck for his own purposes. The play ends with Prospero restored to his former glory. Ben would then be Prospero and he is using the survivors to restore himself to glory and defeat C.W.
-- (This one I did not recognize on my own) Empty Cradle: The name of Harper Stanhope could be a reference to the book Empty Cradle by Karen Harper. In it, a woman wanting a baby heads to a fertility clinic in New Mexico run by a Dr. Stanhope, a feminist embryologist who is stealing the eggs of her patients and using them in experiments with drugs that can cause birth defects.
--VALIS – will somebody please read this book?!

6. Poor Goodwin – was bringing down the plane done partly to get rid of him? Ben is one twisted MFer!

7. Juliet and Jack heard the same voices that Hurley did . . . the only words I can understand are “Somebody’s comin . . .”

8. For some reason, I really like Daniel Ferraday. He is like a little puppy dog. A really smart one.

9. I wish that Charlotte had killed Kate, and that Kate had killed Charlotte.

10. Are Charlotte and Daniel good or bad?

11. I told you so! Charles Widmore is the man trying to find the island and he is key to the final mystery.
--Who was he holding captive, by the way?
-- Ben tells Locke that thousands of people will come to the island . . . because of miracles like Locke walking.

12. What are they doing to my boy Locke?!! Seriously, are they just going to ruin that character?! I’m so angry by his portrayal this season. Or does he know something we don’t?

13. Which leads me to Chris’ call for the night . . . BEN’S MAN ON THE BOAT IS MICHAEL.

14. This week in Bible Studies: King David (Ben) tries to seduce Bathsheba (Juliet) away from her true love Uriah (Goodwin). King David sends Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite, into battle so "that he might be struck down, and die" just as Ben sent Juliet's lover, Goodwin, in harms way for an extended period of time among the tail section survivors to die

15. Though this wasn’t my favorite episode so far, it did have some of the best lines all season:
--“It [the rabbit Locke is serving for dinner] didn’t have a number on it, did it?” - Ben
--“Don’t you understand, You’re mine . . . Take all the time you need.” - Ben
-- “I taped over the game.” – Ben
-- “She’s mean and spiteful.” “She’s my wife.” – Juliet and Goodwin
--“There’s going to be a battle. And Ben’s going to win.” -- Juliet
And in a tie for best lines of the night . . .
n “It’s hard being an Other, Jack” – Juliet
n “See you guys at dinner.” -- Ben

So if 5000 people will go to Florida to see mold that looks like the Virgin Mary . . .

Namaste,
Your Loyal Lost Loser