It has been a week now and the dust has settled (mostly) from the mind-blowing Season 3 finale. Though we are undoubtedly left with many questions to keep us occupied until next February, we were provided some closure as well. In summary:
Charlie is dead
There was a lot of commentary associated with the finale post related to how Charlie died and exactly why he did not try to escape from the control panel room as it filled with water. Ultimately Charlie believed that for the Losties to be rescued from the Island, specifically Claire and Aaron, he had to die in the way that Desmond envisioned. Bringing finality to season-long foreshadowing and in truly heroic fashion, he initiated the catalyst that will inevitably cause some of the Losties to get off the Island.
So are 12 Others, Naomi, and (possibly) Mikhail
The action and body count in this episode was unbelievable. We saw the Others’ rank and file decimated throughout the finale, Naomi literally stabbed in the back by Locke, and Mikhail detonate himself via hand grenade. However, I am not going to make the silly assumption that Mikhail is dead; after all, we have now seen him bounce back from the sensor pylons and a spear to the chest. We will probably see him wash ashore in Season 4 alive, but missing his right hand.
Though I generally agreed with it, I thought that Sawyer’s execution of Tom was the foreshadowing of an even darker descent for the character that we will see next season.
“Not Penny’s Boat”
During Charlie’s brief commune with Penny, we are told that Penny does not know of Naomi, which basically begs the question “Who is Naomi with?”. My first guess would be Dharma, or the corporate entity that financed the Dharma Initiative. She obviously has access to sophisticated technology and knows enough about Desmond’s back story to use that as the means to convince the Losties of her motives. Widmore anyone? Hopefully Desmond can get back in time to save the Losties from whomever is on their way to “rescue” them.
Future Jack is Depressing
As Jack is one of my personal favorite characters, I am hoping the flash forward we saw represents a “possible” future for Jack, and not the absolute. If it is Jack’s future, I would hope he finds a way back to the Island to right the wrong he feels needs to be addressed, and to find some greater meaning for his life. J. Wood, whose blog I have read frequently this season, discussed the flash forward in his TTLG post and it is definitely worth reading:
I’m planting a flag here — when Des saved Charlie, he changed that past and present as well as the future. Charlie couldn’t swim in the first season, and he’s all of a sudden a swimming champion who makes an impressive dive in “Greatest Hits,” a dive that Mikhail needed scuba gear for. Like Charlie’s newfound innate swimming ability, perhaps in the re-made past/present/future, Christian Shepherd didn’t die. And maybe that’s why Kate seems to be conspicuously lacking her trademark freckles.
The flash forward itself implies an even greater question for next season, and that is, did the Season 3 finale represent a change in the narrative angle for the entire series? Was the flash forward a one-time episodic plot device, or is this what we can expect moving forward?
Is Ben a bad guy, or a morally-challenged good guy?
Seeing Jack in his current state of depression made me think that Ben is really the only one who has this whole thing figured out, and is ultimately doing whatever is necessary to protect the location of the Island from the people looking to exploit it. There was obviously some merit to his comments about the company that Naomi was keeping, and his dialogue related to Jack’s need to get back to civilization, though stinging, was the truth. Nevertheless, it was somewhat cathartic to see Jack pummel Ben. For those that haven’t seen it yet, there are some pretty good transcriptions of Ben’s diary out there.
Who was in the casket?
There has been a lot of speculation about this; it could be Locke, Sawyer, or Ben, or anyone else under the guise of a different name. In my opinion, it is probably either Ben or someone we have yet to meet on the series. Jack commented that the person was neither friend nor relative, and the reaction evoked from Kate would indicate it was somebody that there was a general level of contempt for.
Season 4 cannot get here quick enough, and I am excited to learn more about everything referenced above, as well as where Locke has migrated off to, where exactly is this temple that Ben has sent the remaining Others to, and did we really see Walt, or was that a reincarnation of Smokey? Could Walt have some tie to Jacob?
We will continue to try and keep things interesting on this blog, following any information released about the series, the actors, and making some changes along the way to prepare for a better Season 4 Lost Blog experience. We are working on initiating a theory-focused contest and will have more information on that in the coming weeks.
Until then, stay Lost.
