Welcome to Part 2 of the s04e01 recap! Read Part 1 of the recap here.
When we left off, Hugo had just stumbled upon the mysterious cabin, uttering an uh-oh. This was punctuated by a classic uh-oh face.
Now it’s Danielle and Jack with the torches, dragging tied-up Ben as they follow Naomi’s blood trail. “Blood trail ends here,” says Danielle. Jack asks her what she means. She means the blood trail ends here, Jack. Naomi must have doubled back. Ben takes the opportunity to chime in, “Better call the boat. Tell them she’s getting a REALLY big bundle of firewood.” Zing! Ben got jokes for Season 4, believe that.
Ha. And trust us, Ben’s just warming up.
Then Jack realizes the phone is gone. Ben says Kate took it when they hugged, and adds insult to injury by adding that Kate found the right trail. “But look on the bright side,” Ben deadpans, “At least SOMEBODY around here knows what the hell they’re doing.” Zing zing! I love it when Ben starts talking that ying-yang, don’t you? Talk that ying-yang, Ben. (Incidentally, did you know that Ben’s real-life wife played young Ben’s mother in his flashback? I thought that was gross/great. Michael Emerson talked about it on the CW11 Morning News last spring.)
Anyway, as Jack yanks Ben by his leash and gets on with his day, we catch up with Kate. She’s shining her trusty flashlight on a blood trail of her own when the phone rings.She looks down. The screen says “INCOMING CALL”, which gives Kate pause, like, “Hmm, incoming call, no caller ID. I don’t usually pick up if there’s no caller ID. Does that rule apply on the island?”
But what the heck, she picks up.
“Hello?”
“Who’s this?”
“Uh, this is Kate.”
“Are you with Jack?”
“No, no, he’s not here.”
“Where’s Naomi?”
“We’re looking for her.”
“What do you mean, you’re looking for her?”
Good question. But may I interject? Why does everyone get on the phone with this still-unidentified character and give up so many details? I don’t understand why Jack and Kate, of all people, are so forthcoming with a mysterious voice who claims to be part of a so-called rescue team, particularly in light of everything that’s happened on the island so far. I feel like when he asks who’s this, Kate should be more like, “Yo, check this out, who’s THIS?” And when he asks if she’s with Jack, she should be more like, “Don’t worry who I be with, son. Who YOU be with? Where the boat at? What’s really good with this rescue jumpoff?” More like that.
Anyway, as I’m obsessing over this point, Kate hangs up the phone, some blood drips on her arm, and guess who drops in? Naomi. She flies down, puts Kate in a headlock and has a knife at her throat before Kate can get her guard up.
Naomi wants the phone, but Kate’s not giving it up. Naomi seems caught up in the past, most notably the recent past, in which Kate’s people thanked her for coming by throwing a knife in her back. Kate says it wasn’t “us” and that “his name was John Locke.” Was it really necessary to say Locke’s name? I guess Kate doesn’t subscribe to Cam’ron’s philosophy on snitching.
Finally, Kate gives the ever-ringing phone to Naomi, who answers it. “George? It’s Naomi.” She goes on to explain that she’s hurt, but fudges the details, blaming her injury on a tree branch she hit parachuting onto the island. Then George asks her to change her tracking frequency so they can come get her. Naomi then delivers her second set of last words on the show: “I’m sorry, George. Tell my sister that I love her.” Then it’s faceplant time.
Kate reacts to Naomi’s death scene with the exact WTF face I did, because it Wasn’t That Funny.
On to bigger and better things, like Hugo at the cabin. “Hello?” The cabin does not respond.
He takes a gander through a broken window, eyeing such lush amenities as a dog painting, shadowy Jack’s dad in a rocking in a chair and, last but not least, a face that springs up and freaks him out.
Who’s that peeking through my window? Hard to say. Hugo runs. “Help, help!” He looks back, no cabin. He looks forward and – wait a second. Is that the cabin again? Neato.
“There’s nothing here, there’s nothing here, there’s nothing here.” Hurley’s reverse Candyman tactic makes the cabin go away, apparently. But then he opens his eyes and sees – Locke. And Hugo screams.
“You got yourself good and lost out there,” says Locke as they return from a well-earned commercial break. Haha, good and LOST, yes. I love it when they use the name of a show during the show. Any show. I’m just a sucker for it. Remember the season 1 finale of One Tree Hill, the show about a town called Tree Hill, but with the name One Tree Hill? Remember in that finale when Karen tells Lucas, “There is only one Tree Hill”? Yeah. I love it when they do that, and I will cherish it forever.
Anyway, Locke goes on and on about Jack being wrong and Locke being right. I’ve heard that one before. “If we can’t talk him out of it, then Charlie died for nothing.” I don’t know, Locke. Your if-then statement lacks causality and, if I may be so bold, demonstrates a blatant disregard for antecedence. Even worse, it reminds me of that old Crystal Light jingle, “I believe in Crystal Light, ’cause I believe in me!” Really? So if I don’t believe in Crystal Light, do I not believe in myself? Or vice-versa? Either way, pretty tough choices coming from a sucralose-based drink mix. But I digress. I expect more from you, Crystal Locke.
Locke and Hurley catch up with the rest of the boys – Sawyer, Sayid, Bernard, Desmond, Juliet. Hurley tells Sawyer, “Sorry, I was just, uh…I got lost.” Locke asks the boys for their support on the mission du jour. Sayid says, yeah, sure, but first, tell me why you blew up the submarine, doggy!
Fortunately, everyone shows up, and I do mean everyone – Sun, an extra, Claire and the baby, another extra, Rose, another extra, Alex. Reunited and it feels so Lost! Reunited, violins and hugs!
“Hey,” Claire wonders with her eyes. “Can I get a hug? What? I look good.”
Sorry, Claire, you’re about to get some bad news. Hugo stays classy and tells Desmond to fall back while he handles his grown-man business. All the cannonballs and Apollo bars in the world can’t fix this situation. Well, maybe just half an Apollo Bar for strength? No, gotta talk to Claire, Hugo. “He’s dead. Charlie’s dead.” He goes in for a weepy, touching embrace with Claire, and everyone else is like, “God, you guys are downers.”
Enough with the island. We jump back into Hugo’s flash-something, where a fellow patient informs him that some guy is staring at him. And that guy is – Charlie!
Hello, Charlie! He’s got a new haircut and some shades, and gestures gracefully for Hurley to be cool about the whole thing. “Sit down, I wanna talk to you. Don’t do what you did in the store, okay? There’s no need to freak out.”
Hurley’s not feeling the pop-ins from beyond the grave. Can you blame him? “I’m trying to buy jerky and a Slushee, and suddenly you’re standing over there by the Ho-Hos!” Let no man, dead or alive, get in the way of such delicacies.
Charlie’s persistent, and he’s also a lot more intense than usual. “I am dead, but I’m also here.” When Hurley asks for proof, he gets a big ol’ slap in the face.
This seems to be enough for Hurley, who had some similar interactions with his is-he-or-isn’t-he-imaginary friend Dave. What’s the connection? Is this really Charlie, or some sort of Losty manifestation that’s come to get him? Hugo, for his part, drops that line of questioning to join Charlie for a sit-and-chat. Because, really, how often does he get here?
Charlie explains that he knew he would die on his final mission, and didn’t tell Hurley to spare him “all the drama.” Charlie continues, “Now you have to do something, and you’re hiding from it. That’s the real reason you ran when you saw me in the store. You know I was here to tell you…”
Hurley cuts him off. No more talking to dead Charlie, time to get his mind right. He covers his ears and counts to five. And with each new number, Charlie gets more intense. “Don’t do this. They need you. They need you, Hugo. You know they need you!”
And just like that, poof! Charlie’s gone.
We go right back to Hugo’s hug with Claire, who asks him about Charlie’s death in one of the more closely linked island-to-flash-something transitions we’ve seen on the show. What’s that about? Are the flash-forwards really just another form of flashback? Are we in the future? Are we in a…time warp? (Possibly underwater?)
No time to dwell on that point, because Danielle, hog-tied Ben and Jack show up, Jack making a forceful entrance by sucker-punching Locke. Weak! That was weak. What about the Hurley-Claire moment we’re having? They don’t care. Jack stands over Locke, takes his gun and holds him at point-blank range while Locke tells him why Jack won’t shoot him. Then what’s the point of all the gunplay between these two? I’m bored with it. Then Jack pulls the trigger.
Except the gun’s not loaded. Oh well.
As Sayid and Sawyer pry Jack away from his special love-hate relationship, they’re clearly concerned about Jack’s willingness to shoot Locke in the face, particularly at a distance that would lead to a lot of nasty splatter and face guts everywhere.
Locke says, “All I did, all I have ever done, has been in the best interests of all of us.” That’s a little much. Have you also tried to be both a mother and a father to us?
Jack replies, “Are you insane?” This from the guy who just shot Locke in the face.I’m bored with their ongoing struggle for leadership. Does that make me a bad Lost fan? Sorry.
Locke’s had enough. “I’m going to the barracks. The Others abandoned them, it’s the only place with security,” so on and so forth.
Jack says no one will go with him because Locke is crazy, but Hurley takes his stand. He’s riding with Charlie, who warned them about the people in the boat, and died delivering the message. “So I’m not listening to you!” says Hurley. “I’m listening to my friend. I’m listening to Charlie.”
And just like that, the predictable sides emerge, and another lame (although, I’m sure, highly significant) Jack-Locke conflict is over.
Well, almost. Ben wants to go with Locke. Cute! “He’s all yours,” says Jack. Again, I’m sure this is all very relevant for what’s coming up, but we’ve seen them pick teams before. I’m bored. Am I the only one who gets bored when it turns into Jack versus Locke? Like, hey everyone, it’s another opportunity to pick Jack, or to pick Locke, and in doing so, you put your life in that guy’s hands. So what’ll it be? Would you like to chug a glass of leftover alfredo sauce, or a hot mug of Hunt’s ketchup? What do you say, folks? Do you want to jump off a building tied to a bookshelf, or glued to a long section of wainscoting? What’s it gonna be? The choice is yours.
Anyway, they pick sides, and Locke politely invites Jack’s crew to join him if they change their mind.
Back to the Futureworld, suit-and-tie Jack visits Hurley for some H-O-R-S-E in the sanitarium gymnasium. You know, hang time, hanging together, sharing a dream so fine. I’ll always remember, me and my friends and Hang Time!
Let’s hit the court.
So they hang. But it’s not just about the competitive shooting, is it? Hurley knows he’s checking on him. “You’re checking to see if i went nuts, if I was gonna tell.”
“Are you?”
Hugo takes a long pause without indicating if, or what, he might tell. “You’re up.”
“Nah, you win. I gotta run,” says Jack. “Great seeing you, Hurley.”
Hurley calls out to Jack. “Sorry.”
Jack turns.
Hurley continues, “I’m sorry for going with Locke. I should have stayed with you.”
This is supposed to give more weight to the Jack versus Locke decision, but you already know how I feel about that. Anyway, Jack says it’s water under the bridge.
Hurley is almost pleading with Jack at this point. “I don’t think we did the right thing, Jack. I think it wants us to come back. And I think it’s going to do whatever it can to – “
Jack cuts him off, forceful yet unconvincing. “We’re never going back!”
Hurley knows better. “Never say never, dude.”
And then, this very ominous Hugo face.
That’s just classic Lost right there. Great scene, great dialogue and a great way to finish Hugohurley’s performance.
Back on the island, Jack and Kate commiserate about their newfound unpopularity. “How did this happen?”
Then Jack identifies some not-thunder in the sky. It’s a helicopter! Remember the helicopters we thought were coming last season? They finally made it. One, at least. We watch its pilot parachute out.
Jack and Kate run to where it’s landed, and come upon the pilot removing his helmet. And what do you know? It’s Jeremy Davies!
He asks, “Are you Jack?”
Jack looks at Kate, then at the new guy.
And you know what comes next.
*BWHHONNGGHGGNGG*
Wow, a lot happened in one episode. Where do you think it’s going? Let’s take this discussion to the comments section.
And stay tuned as we expand our near-daily Lost coverage throughout the season! If the strike ends soon, we might be getting more episodes than we bargained for, which makes us all very happy.
See you soon, Lost fans.
Every time Jack and Kate talk and inevitably hug she throws him the F’ Me eyes.. I mean, jeez woman, you’re stranded on an island fighting for your lives, so show some restraint for pete’s sake.. plus, you no doubt stink, as does Jack, as does everyone..