Lost Episode 8, "LaFleur"

From the previews last week, I was concerned that this episode was going to be all about the Sawyer and Kate reunion and their undying love for each other and I was going to vomit. For the most part, it wasn't. But underneath, it was. And that makes me angry. But at least we only had 30 seconds of Kate face time, so I shouldn't be too upset.

This episode goes back and forth between two time periods. 1974 and 1977. 1974 is the time that the Losties have flashed to after Locke turns the wheel. 1977 is the time that the O6 have crashed to three years later. Let's start with 1974. I think it will be an easier story to tell if I just split them up.

We start off where we left the Losties on the island: Sawyer holding a rope going to nowhere and the realization that they are stuck in some unknown time and that Locke is gone, most likely dead, and they will never be saved. As they contemplate "when" they are, Miles sees something in the distance and realizes they've gone way way way way back....It's the top of the 4 toed statue!!! What an awesome sight to see! It looks kind of like Jar Jar Binks from the back. I'f I was more of a geek than I am, I'm sure I could go off on a tangent linking Star Wars and Lost, but luckily, I am not that much of a geek. But I do love Star Wars.

Then it was gone. Jar Jar got 5 seconds of screentime and then that was it. I know the writer's said the statue will be addressed this season, but I really hope that was not just it. But I don't know how we will see it again. Because....

We were suddenly flashed back with Locke in the hole turning the wheel and then I got nervous. Lost has been known to do this before. It will completely replay scenes from a previous episode from a "different perspective" and try to act like it's new. We had already seen the first part of Sawyer with the rope, and now we're watching Locke push the wheel...again. But, thankfully, that was it. Up above ground, the sky flashed again, Jar Jar disappeared and the well was back. Sawyer tried to jump in after his friend, but in this time period, the well had been filled in. Locke was still gone.

Everyone started to realize that their headaches have left them and their nosebleeds have stopped. Could it be that Locke survived and he did fix things? They are all relieved the flashes have stopped, but are unsure of what to do next. They decide to head back to the beach, but first they must pick up Daniel.

They find Daniel slumped over a clearing in the grass. Charlotte is nowhere. Daniel is crying. They try to get him to tell them what happened, but he seems to have gone a bit mad. He just keeps saying, "she's gone." He says that when the last flash happened, she went with it. Poor sad Daniel. Sawyer takes on the leadership role and says they should head to the beach. Miles wants to know why, what is the point. Sawyer knows that's where Locke will try to find them, so they should make camp there. Since no one had any better ideas, they head to the beach. I am constantly amazed that they can find their beach from any point on the island.

As they are walking to the beach and Sawyer and Juliette are bonding, they hear gunfire. They come across a couple who had been having a picnic and two armed men. One armed man shoots the picnic guy and the other armed man puts a bag over picnic lady's head...very reminiscent of when The Others caught Kate and put a bag over her head. Those were the days.

They debate on whether or not they should step in before the woman is killed. Sawyer goes for it and he and Juliette march up, guns drawn. Armed Man #1 is about to take a shot and Sawyer kills him. Armed Man #2 tries the same and Sawyer kills him. So, does that mean that they would have died out there anyway whether or not Sawyer killed them? Doesn't the island course correct? Can someone in the past die at an earlier time than they originally did? So many crazy time travel questions. I guess I just can't dwell on it.

They take the bag off the woman's head and it's Michelle Dressler from 24! Hi, Michelle and your crazy eyes and cabbage patch head! Okay, so her name is actually Amy. But she will always be Michelle to me. Remember when she was stuck in the building with the toxic gas back when 24 was good?

Anyway, she tells them that the dead picnic guy is her husband Paul and I can't believe we have another new character to get to know. She asks who they are and Sawyer lies and says they were on their way to Tahiti and their boat crashed. They were just out looking for some missing members of their crew. She freaks out and says they have to bury the armed men's bodies because they had a truce and this will ruin it. They tell her they will help her bury them and also bring Paul's body back to her camp.

They bury two grown men's bodies in a record amount of time with no shovel and without getting themselves dirty and head to her camp. Sawyer and the gang do some schemeing on their way there. He tells them to let him do all the talking because he used to be a liar for a living. Eventually they come across the sonic fence that fries your brain. Juliette demands that Amy turns it off. Amy is confused about why Juliette thinks it's dangerous. She says it looks dangerous and Amy goes to turn it off...but does she? She walks through the fence just fine and then the Losties follow and ZAP! They are fried. Camera pans to Amy who pulls out some ear plugs. What a liar.

Sawyer comes to on a couch in a game room. A man is standing over him. It is Horace. I vaguely remember Horace from an earlier episode. Someone, I think it was Locke, was in the woods and Horace appeared chopping wood. He said some deep crap and then his nose started to bleed and then he was gone. I also recall that everyone on the internets was certain that Horace was Jacob because their profiles matched. Then no one spoke of Horace again. So now I don't really remember his significance. But either way, here he is.

Sawyer asks where his friends are and Horace explains they are fine and all said that Sawyer would give up their information. Sawyer says his name is Jim LaFleur and tells the Tahiti story. He says they were an exploration vessel looking for the remains of the Black Rock (!). He asks Horace if he has heard of it and Horace says no. Is he lying? How could Dharma not have come across the ship in the middle of the island yet? He tells Sawyer they have a submarine that is leaving in the morning and will take him and his friends to Tahiti. Sawyer begs him to let him stay and search for his "missing crew". Horace says, no way, yo, you will be leaving the island.

Sawyer reunites with his friends and Hey! It's Othersville! Actually, it's in a time where it was still Dharmaville and all the little Dharma hippy scientists are running around merrilly. Sawyer tells them, disappointgly, that they have to leave the next morning. Miles sees no problem with this. Daniel sees young Charlotte playing and he gets all emotional. Suddenly an alarm begins to sound. They are whisked away into one of the houses. Guns are drawn. In the middle of the courtyard walks Richard Alpert - and I got sidetracked for a minute, but do you think young Ben Linus is at camp already?.

Horace goes out to speak with Richard. Richard is pissed because Dharma broke the truce by killing two of The Hostiles. I'm pretty sure that Richard does not call his people Hostiles, but that is what Dharma calls them. Eventually they will all just become The Others and things will be more simple...or more complicated. I don't know.

Horace returns to the cabin and tells everyone Richard is, like, really pissed off. Sawyer says he'll go out and talk to Mr. Eyeliner since he's the one who actually killed them. Next, Sawyer does something that was so completely unexpected and that I was hoping he would do....he tells Richard the truth! He first tells him that he killed the Armed Men after they tried to take a shot at him and that it was self defense. Then he explains that he is not a part of Dharma. He asks Richard if they ever buried the bomb, the bomb Jughead. He tells him he knows that 20 years ago, a bald limping man stumbled into Richard's camp claiming to be their leader and that his name was John Locke and that now Sawyer is waiting for John to return. Richard looks blown away and asks just for some sort of retribution for the killing of his men.

Sawyer and Horace go to ask Amy for her husband's body to give to The Hostiles so that the truce will be held. She cries for a bit, take a necklace from around Paul's neck, and says okay. Horace thanks Sawyer for his help and tells him that the submarine will be back in two weeks and can leave then. Meanwhile, they can use that two weeks to search for their crew.

Sawyer runs off to tell Juliette that he bought them two weeks. Juliette says she is going to leave in the morning. After trying for 3 years to get off the island, she can't pass up the opportunity. Sawyer explains that all she wants to go back to doesn't exist yet and that John will be back and that she can't leave him with Daniel and the guy who talks to dead people. She looks at him lovingly and says she will give him the two weeks but that she will leave then.....

Three Years Later

Yep, that was just half the episode. Here is what is going on in the present...or the more recent past...or whatever.

The episode really started with two people we don't know in one of the hatches (the one that the Nigerian plane landed on top of - the question mark). It's a couple straight out of the 1970s. They're getting down to some groovy tunes. The man is dressed in Dharma gear. Another man in Dharma gear bursts in and starts yelling at the guy that she is not supposed to be there and he is not doing his job. He says that the people he is watching are doing the same old thing and it's boring. The woman then sees something on one of the monitors. It's a man out by the sonic fence. He is obviously drunk. He starts throwing dynamite! The two Dharma dudes freak out and argue about whether or not to tell Jim. The one guy wins and they head over to Jim's barracks. Jim comes to the door. It's Sawyer! He throws on his Dharma gear (labeled Head of Security) and goes to get his partner. It's Miles! They head out to the fence.
The drunk man turns out to be Horace. They have to keep his drunkness a secret because he seems to be the head of the Dharma group. They bring him back home to his very pregnant wife. It's Michelle Dressler! I mean Amy! Turns out she and Horace hooked up after Paul died. She tells Sawyer that she and Horace got in a fight because of Paul. Then...she goes into labor!!!! Oh noes! Will she live? Can she have a baby on the island?

This is where my memory gets a little shady because the episode kept flipping back and forth between the times and I can't quite remember if I'm forgetting something or not.

They bring her to the "hospital" and the doctor there says that the baby is breached. She will need a ceasarean that he can't give because he's not a surgeon. It seems all women are sent off the island to give birth. But, Sawyer knows one woman who can do it. He runs off to find Juliette.
Juliette is now a mechanic. Surgeon/Mechanic. They're kind of the same, right? She tells Sawyer that all the time she's been there, she has never been able to deliver a baby with any survivors. I know this was true in the past - I mean future - but is she talking about now, as well? Sawyer talks her into giving it a shot. She heads to the "hospital" and Sawyer waits outside.

Jin shows up. His english is darn near perfect. He tells Sawyer they've screened area 133 and found nothing. Sawyer says to move on to 134. Jin asks how long they will have to look.

Juliette comes outside and all went well. Amy and baby are fine. She had a boy. (They never say the baby's name and I'm left to wonder if the baby is someone we already know.) So does this mean that whatever stops women from having a baby hasn't happened yet? Does this have to do with the bomb that was buried? Remember the "incident" that was referred to in one of the orientation videos between Dharma and The Hostiles. Does that cause it? I want to know!!!!

Sawyer goes to tell Horace he has a boy. He asks what they were fighting about. Horace tells him he found Paul's necklace in her sock drawer and was pissed because she never let him go. Sawyer then goes on about how he loved a girl once (Kate) and that he never thought he would get over her, but now he doesn't even remember her face. This makes me so happy. But it is so obviously forshadowing.

Later on, Sawyer come home from a long day of Dharma work with a flower. For who? For Juliette! It looks like these two have shacked up. I don't really buy it, but whatever. There chemisty is all off. It seems really forced. Actually, she seems kind of repulsed by him. It turns out they're in love. Awwww....

They wake up the next morning to the phone ringing. It's Jin. He needs Sawyer to come right away. We all know why, but he doesn't tell Juliette.

He takes off in his Dharma car and meets Jin in his Dharma van on some random beach. Out comes Hurley, Jack, and the most wonderfully beautiful, but forgettable, woman in the world....Kate. Amazingly, she is not crying. But she does look buffed up and a bit like Linda Hamilton fromTerminator 2. We get another minutes worth of Sawyer Drool as her stares at Kate and then that's it.

Show over.

My main question that was brought up from this episode, of course, deals with time travel. When does this start to happen for Dharma and The Hostiles? Richard still seems confused by the very thought of it. Dharma is still free to come and go from the island in thier submarine. And up until Jack blows it up, this was still an option. But Ben has all that money from different time periods - or was it just different places? - so it seems that he was able to travel through time already. And Richard never ages, yet doesn't travel through time. Is there a Foutain of Youth thing here? We know, from this season't first episode, that at some point soon Daniel will help to build the Orchid where the Frozen Donkey Wheel is. Does this start the time travel? The last Orientation video seemed to indicate this, right? With the rabbits?

I hate time travel.