Posted by johnnysweeptheleg and Mike
The year is 1988. The Summer Olympics are being held in Seoul, South Korea. Super Mario Bros. 3 is released in Japan. And Jin is trying to figure out WTF he’s doing washed up on an island with a very pregnant and half-her-should-be-age Rousseau.
So “This Place is Death” isn’t about Cleveland, after all, huh? The island is death. Ok, now we get the title. Man, we love this show!
johnnysweeptheleg’s Lost in a Moment:
Thanks to earlier seasons of Lost, we all know that Rousseau’s team is wiped out, leaving Rousseau alone and crazy, eventually. The fun part about the time travel game is we’re afforded the opportunity to see the how. And the moment the Frenchies convince Jin to take them to the radio tower, we know this means all sorts of no good for the team. Speaking of the team, Hey Lost, what’s up with the Abercrombie-looking a-hole? He looks more 2008 than 1988.
Evidently, the smoke monster dislikes Abercrombie even more than us, and after throwing Nadine around, snatches the Abercrombie a-hole and attempts to drag him into, well, a hole. Rousseau’s baby daddy and Jin grab hold of him and attempt to keep the smoke monster from dragging him down beneath The Orchid, but to no avail. The smoke monster gets Abercrombie, minus one arm, which Jin and the babby daddy are left holding. And just like that, Def Leppard gets their drummer. Any coincidence that 1988 is also the year “Pour Some Sugar On Me” goes number one on Dial MTV for 73 days? I think not, my friends.
The first of many flashy lights this episode occurs, bouncing Jin into the near future. It can’t be too far, since the decomposing arm of Abercrombie is still outside The Orchid, and Rousseau is still preggers. But enough time has passed to find two other Frenchies collecting flies, and Rousseau with a gun pulled on her baby daddy. Rousseau is beginning that slow descent into madness and eventual non-use of makeup or hair product we’ll come to know and love. Well, at least know. She accuses her baby daddy of being sick since going down into The Orchid with the smoke monster. And while he claims he hasn’t changed, his cover gets blown when he tries to shoot Rousseau. The island steps in, and he fires a blank (I’m classier than to remark on this not being the case when they slept together nearly nine months ago), which forces Rousseau to shoot back and send her fully into a bowl full of crazy.
Lucky for Jin, another light flash propels him through time, keeping Rousseau from shooting him and reuniting with the rest of The Islanders. The celebration is short lived, however, when Jin discovers Sun is no longer on the island, and Locke is hell bent on carrying out his Dog The Bounty Hunter fantasy and wants to bring everyone back. A series of light flashes interrupt, however, and trigger mass nosebleeds from Charlotte, Miles, Juliet, and now Sawyer, as well. Charlotte’s reaction is so severe that she becomes (even more) pale and begins speaking Korean — imploring Jin not to let them bring Sun back … because “this place is death.”
This message doesn’t bode well for those off the island in present day L.A., where Ben is thinking he’d have an easier time reuniting The Beatles at this point. Sun has stormed the party, and threatened to shoot Ben. Kate isn’t having any part of this, so she leaves with Aaron. Sayid tells Jack and Ben that if he ever sees the two of them again, it’ll be an unpleasant encounter. Like the back of a Volkswagen? But ever the sweet talker, Ben convinces Sun to give him 30 minutes of her time and he can take her to a woman who can prove that Jin is still alive and can take them back to the island. Sun agrees, but only if Jack promises not to regrow the beard nor crank the Nirvana on the way there.
The island is still where all the drama’s at, though. The time travel has nearly incapacitated Charlotte at this point, and her consciousness — like that of Farraday’s rat (named Eloise) last season — has started time traveling, causing her to mutter sentences which reveal her consciousness skipping between being a child and adult. Farraday stays with Charlotte, as the rest of The Islanders continue their journey to The Orchid. Just as Team Locke gets to The Orchid, another time flash, and The Orchid disappears before their eyes. Luckily, Bat Crazy Charlotte gave them a heads-up to look for The Well, should that happen. How did Charlotte know this?
As she reveals to Farraday, she grew up on the island as a Dharma child, but left the island with her mom, for England. Shortly thereafter, her mom began denying that the island even existed. Wait. Her mom is from England? Farraday’s mom is from England. Is there any chance these two are actually related? Wait, that would be a little creepy.
Anyway, Charlotte explains that a “scary man” told her never to come back to the island or she’d die. And that the “scary man” was … Farraday. Farraday is shocked. He tries to tell her that he was a fan of The Wolf Man growing up, and that his look is an homage … he didn’t mean to come off as scary. He’s just misunderstood. Shortly after revealing this to Farraday, Charlotte dies in his arms. And this only means bad news for the other nose bleeders, who will be next if they don’t do something soon.
Lucky for them, Locke is ready to climb down the well in hopes of it taking him off the island. But not before Jin grabs a machete and makes Locke promise not to bring Sun back, no matter what he does. He gives Locke his wedding ring. Locke is flattered, but says he likes Jin more as a friend, and the long distance thing would never work. Jin tells him to keep the ring, and show it to Sun, telling her he washed up on shore, dead. Locke agrees, and just as he begins descending into the well, another light flash occurs, which seals up the well and cuts Locke and the rest of The Islanders from one another again.
But this is where it gets wild.
At the bottom of the well, Locke is greeted by Christian, who tells him he told Locke that he was to move the island, not Ben. We learn that the wheel slipped off its axis when Ben moved it, which is causing all of the time shifts. Locke must turn the wheel himself and go visit Eloise, who will show him how to get back to the island. Oh, and he must be sure to “Say hi to my son” for Christian. Locke obviously watched much more Wheel of Fortune than Ben, and does a much better job of spinning the wheel, causing what may be the final white flashy light for some time.
Back in Los Angeles, Ben, Jack, and Sun arrive to their destination, and Ben pulls out Jin’s ring for Sun. He explains that Locke gave it to him when he came back, and it’s proof that Jin is still alive on the island. Just then, Desmond appears and asks if they are there to see Farraday’s mother, as well. And for once, it seems like somebody knows something that Ben didn’t know — that Eloise is Farraday’s mother.
With half the team assembled, Eloise is about to explain how to get back to the island. And while all of the time travel and revelations made my nose explode like an 80s catwalk after-party, it made for one of the best episodes of the season, and what looks to be a set-up for one hell of an episode next week.
In the meantime, pull out a Geronimo Jackson LP if you’ve got one, and pour out a little liquor in memory of Charlotte.
Questions Answered:
Is Faraday’s theory of the correlation between the nosebleeds and time spent on island, true? Definitely. The death of Charlotte proved this. Miles should be scared next, with Juliet and then Sawyer, should the Oceanic 6 not return soon.
New Questions To Be Asked:
Are we crazy for thinking Farraday and Charlotte are related?
Are the time jumps finally over on the island now that Locke has moved the wheel?
Is Eloise playing both sides?
Will Desmond grow his beard back? Is he unable to grow a beard off the island?
Photo credit: ABC/MARIO PEREZ
