Thursday, February 5, 2009

LOST, Episode 5.04 - "The Little Prince"

First of all, thank you for your patience and for not spoiling anything for me! I was excited and impressed to be able to watch Lost the day after it aired without knowing an iota about what was going to happen.

Second, I am insane. Rather than enjoying a free afternoon outside by the pool in Palm Springs, I am inside my hotel room watching and writing about the show. Priorities, people!

Third...this entry is dedicated to Neal G. in NYC because it's his birthday. Neal once wrote me an epic email about why he reads this blog; it is printed out and hangs on my home office bulletin board to remind me exactly why I do this and love it. So happy birthday Neal, and thank you!

Fourth...wow. What an episode.

Below are some initial thoughts and questions. This is an abbreviated and preliminary post; I don't have time to go into great detail but will dedicate myself to it this weekend.

Obviously since this is a day later, many of my questions and theories will have been either answered or debunked. But I still wanted to get them out of my system immediately following a first viewing and before reading any other blogs and articles.

AJIRA AIRWAYS

I get that this is a tie-in to the Alternate Reality Game and experience, but I have to say that I find it distracting and not organic at all to the episode and show. Unless it relates to my crazy theory (posted at the end)...

BESIXDOUZE

This is a French word for asteroid and refers to the asteroid that "The Little Prince" lives on in the book. Of the myriad possibilities which might explain the crux of Lost, I will not be ascribing to the one which posits that the island is an asteroid. FYI. Then again, there are volcanoes on asteroids and we know of one in particular on the island...

I do find it fascinating that Besixdouze translates to B Six Twelve. It made me think about vitamins. And because everything on Lost is related, I had to research them. Vitamin B6 is essential for pregnant women...and pregnant Rousseau crashed on the Island of Infertility. Vitamin B12 plays a key role in the brain and nervous system...and those experiencing nosebleeds on the island are due to the neurological fluctuations caused by the time shifts.

It also can't be a coincidence that they chose a word which contains the word Six. Not only because of the Oceanic 6, but because there were six members in Rousseau's crew.

DARTS

The men who are after Sayid have used darts rather than guns; clearly they are not interested in killing him. Who has an interest in keeping him alive to use him? Abaddon? Widmore?

NOSEBLEEDS & "THE SICKNESS"

I was quite surprised to see Juliet experience a nosebleed. I assumed both Charlotte and Miles had them because they were born on the island, but Juliet has only been there for 3 years. Don't tell me she's a Dharma Daughter too...

Is there a correlation between the hemorrhaging that occurs during a time shift nosebleed and the hemorrhage that occurs when one enters the live sonic fence near the barracks?

Does Rousseau's crew actually die from a sickness or was it related to the time shifts? They weren't on the island for very long. In S1, Rousseau blamed the Others for infecting them. Will we see that happen?

AARON

Even though Jack told Kate that "Aaron is my family too," we still don't know if he told her that he's Aaron's uncle. She might think that he's referring to his feelings toward Aaron that developed when she and Jack were a couple.

CAROLE LITTLETON (Claire's mom)

Was she really in LA to receive her Oceanic settlement?

CLAIRE

In the time shift when Sawyer saw Kate deliver Claire's baby, why weren't Jin and Charlie there? In that S1 episode, both were right nearby watching.

DAN NORTON (Attorney)

Was he representing Oceanic or Claire's mom in her settlement? Given that he also represents Ben...it will be very interesting to find out either way.

DANIELLE ROUSSEAU

She and her crew crashed on the island 16 years ago. Rousseau gave birth to Alex a few days later, and Ben allegedly 'adopted' her shortly thereafter. So will Jin encounter a young Ben?

The voice repeating the iterations on the walkie talkie was male. Does Rousseau attempt to create a similar distress signal after her crew gets sick?

JACK

Note to women: when Jack Shephard says he can 'fix' something...run.

JIN

After he jumped or was blown off the freighter, his body wound up inside the radius.

Will he remain alive and eventually reunite with the Marooned 5?

KATE

Really, Kate? Of the men you mention who've died from Flight 815 on or because of the island, you care more about Michael than Boone? Does she forgive Michael for killing Libby & Ana Lucia because she would have done the same for Aaron?

MONTAND (French scientist/crew member)

So we finally meet the man who eventually loses an arm near the Dark Territory. Was it chopped off by one of the militant hostiles who wanted to lop off Juliet's hand?

Did he lose him arm in the same way or at the same time as Dr. Marvin Candle?

ROSE & BERNARD

Did they really take the Zodiac raft, and was Vincent with them?

SAYID

Who is after Sayid? The men who were working with Elsa (his German con girl), the men whom Ben was having Sayid assasinate from his mysterious list?

SUN

Is she after Ben or Jack?

Did Widmore provide the intel and gun?

DID YOU NOTICE...

The Rousseau Raft is shaped like a Dharma logo.

And I was unable to locate a screen capture of it, but I believe that there was only one wrapped red foil chocolate among the other chocolates in Sun's Gun Box. The use of red (at least in black and white films) is usually symbolic of impending danger or death.

CRAZY-ISH THEORY OF THE DAY

The Oceanic Six finally return to the island...on Ajira Airways. The fresh bottled water on the beach in the canoes is theirs. Using Ms. Hawking's coordinates, they are able to land/parachute/crash on the island during the event window that she calculated would occur after 70 hours from their present time off island.

There are many parallels between the title of this episode and the book itself; I believe that Aaron is the Little Prince who finally returns home. On Ajira. To the island.
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I have so much more to discuss, but not enough time to do so today. Please stay tuned for further analysis sooner than later.

And I am thrilled to be able to watch next week's episode and then blog about it while in Maui. A few days later, I will be embarking upon the 8 hour Lost tour on Oahu and providing many updates and photos!

14 comments:

1Miletogo said...

Wow, so much going on. Thanks again for the little prince, the book is great and parts of it feel so much like LOST. I had forgotten that Charlie & Jin were nearby during the birth. Now, I'm going to have to go back and rewatch that episode.

There are a lot of things to theorize about during this episode, next week's should be excellent! I would love to do the LOST tour in HI. Have a great time!

Anonymous said...

He Jojo! Great summary.

Just one little nit-pick heh. Kate was with Jack at the funeral when Carole Littleton told Jack about Claire, so yep she knows Jack is Aaron's uncle.

Keep up the awesome work!!

Deyve

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I fully agree with the O6 getting back to the Island and that's their stuff from them landing. Considered it myself then read this and was like YES!!!!!

Deyve

Aunt J-ha said...

I loved the episode, especially the last 15 minutes or so. I thought the same thing about Kate's speech for keeping baby Aaron. Have fun in Oahu!

Trina said...

I really love your recaps. Very concise and thorough.

I am excited to see your post regarding the LOST tour! How cool!

Barry Wallace said...

I think it's still unknown whether Kate heard Claire's mother tell Jack about Claire. She was standing nearby, but not that close so if she heard, she would have had to overhear, and that wasn't clear.

I admit I expected Kate to express confusion when Jack admitted that Aaron was family, too, and Jack would provide that revelation. But since she didn't I can only conclude that either a) she took it to mean something in the context that all the O6 survivors were "family" or, b) she did overhear the conversation with Claire's mom. Or possibly Jack told her in between then and now, but I don't think that would've been off-screen.

Christian said...

"DARTS

The men who are after Sayid have used darts rather than guns; clearly they are not interested in killing him. Who has an interest in keeping him alive to use him? Abaddon? Widmore?"

I think it's Ben's men actually. He probably figures that he needs to tranquilize Sayid and possibly even Kate in order to get him to come.

The others he probably figures he can manipulate in some way.

The Four Week Vegan said...

Love the comment about Jack and running - lol.

You see so much more than I do and make so many connections. It is a pleasure to come here and hear your theories without the threat of spoilers.

Have a super trip to Hawaii and I look forward to hearing about the LOST tour.

Anonymous said...

About Rose & Bernard--and Vince: On the latest Podcast our writers confirmed that they did survive the burning missle attack. And, Vincent, they guarantee, will survive till the very end of the series. LOL, but they won't go that far with ANYone else.

Capcom said...

Have fun on your trip!!!!

Good post! I'm wondering if anyone after Sayid can't kill him anyway, if the island won't let anyone necessary to saving the island be killed. So dopey-darts are the next best thing?

I thought that Kate hadn't heard Mrs.Littleton tell Jack about Claire in the church.

That's exactly what I said when Jack said, "I can fix this". Boo hisssssss.

Ew, I never thought that the chop-happy Hostiles could have taken Montand's arm off, interesting!

And good catch on the shape of the raft!

Interesting crazy theory too! Will Aaron have to die to make it home, like the Little Prince did? Is this a hint from TPTB of what's going to happen to him ultimately? :-o

Anonymous said...

Okay, so I just recently started reading your blog, and I have to say I am pretty much amazed. You make it like 10x more enjoyable to watch each week with all your crazy theories!

Speaking of theories, I have a slightly random/crazy theory of my own: is Claire's mom also Penny's mom?
...don't worry, I know this is a stretch and probably doesn't make any sense. But I just thought of it because she and Penny look so similar, and I know LOST is all for common relationships.

But anyway, thank you for putting so much time into this for our enjoyment! I can't wait to read more :)

whiterabbita said...

Wow! I didn't notice the shape of the raft! Cool!

Smeggy05 said...

Ive only just discovered your Blog - Great work. I think your last Crazy Theory is great and not so crazy.
Im not sure if you have touched on the "Charlies" - we have Widmore,Crash Survivor and Son of Desmond. Are they all the same Charlie ?

1miletogo said...

Hey Jo, I wanted to see what you think about what I've been throwing around about the "Little Prince" title for the episode.

If you haven't read the Little Prince, there are spoilers about the book below.

I think that the Little Prince was a reference to Locke.. We are thought to believe that it is aaron because he is a young boy. But There are so many things that point to Locke. I've only read the book once, so I'm probably missing alot, it is a great read.

Now some of this might be a little out there, but here goes.
1) The story starts off with the Little Prince wanting the pilot to draw a sheep, the pilot ends up putting the sheep in a box. I think maybe Locke understands the "magic box" now.
2) his search for 6 people, Just like Lockes trip to get the O6 to return.
geographer - Hurley
businessman - Sun -
Lamplighter - Sayed -
drunkard - Jack
King - Ben
Conceited Man - Kate

3) The Little Prince is always asking questions and will not give up until he gets his answer. Sounds a lot like Locke

4) On Earth the Prince meets a Fox, he tells him about taming things. I think the fox is either the island itself or smokey.

5) And of course the snake says that the Little Prince must die to return home. Sounds like the advice that Richard gave Locke...

Doesn't it look like there is a well in next weeks promo, similar to the well the little prince finds in the story...

I'm sure there is a lot more in the story, and I need to re-read it.