Lost Season Five - there and back again

SPOILER ALERT! 

Number of episodes / Days it took me: 17 / 5 (...Haha. That season 6 boxset and all those unseen extras sure are motivating... Also, I have a week off from school so that helps too. Oh well. Excuses, excuses... I'm just no-life.)

What goes on on season 5: As Ben turned the wheel, he 'dislounged the island from time' (don't look at me, Daniel Faraday's words, not mine...), so the remaining Losties are now jumping there and back again in time. Fun, right? Well, not quite so. See, they start suffering from something that Dan calls 'like really bad jetlag', so their noses start to bleed and stuff. Luckily, Locke follows Ben's footsteps and turns the wheel again, thus leaving the island and stopping the time-jumps. The thing is, he left the island believing that he needs to bring everyone who previously left back there. So, after three years, when they actually do return, they only screw things up, as it turns out no one really needed rescuing - they had built good lives for themselves in the island, in the 1970s. The Dharma Initiative sure is a good employer! Meanwhile in the 21st century, Locke (who died off the island) seems to be alive and kicking again, but really it's just Jacob's evil (?) brother (who I'd like to call Flocke), who uses John's body for some evil (?) business that involves Jacob being killed. Back in the 1970s, Jack believes he is destined to detonate a hydrogen bomb, positive it'll prevent the crashing of Oceanic 815. So all five season would be in vain? Nice, Jack.

Coolest new characters: Pierre Chang, though he's not really new. And that's the coolest thing! That slightly creepy dude from the old Orientation tapes is back, and in a way no one would've guessed back when we watched him babble about the Swan Station in season two. Awesomeness, I say...

Coolest storylines: The time travelling, telling us a lot about the history of the island, the Others and good old Danielle Rousseau. + The Dharma times, because that was just so deliciously genious. It's awesome enough that we get to meet old buddies like Dr. Chang, Radzinzky (who's such an a-hole I'm only happy to know he'll end up blowing his own brains out) and little Ben face to face, but we also get to witness the constraction of our very own Hatch, meaning the Swan Station. And of course Jack the janitor wiping blackboards is something worth seeing. + After seeing the last season, it was also very enjoyable to watch the Man in Black (or Flocke or whatever you like to call him) work his magic and plot his evil schemes behind the face of John Locke.

Coolest foreshadowings: Faraday says that the rules don't apply to Desmond, that he's special. + It's not foreshadowing, per ce, but the church where they meet Eloise Hawking is the same church where they... hang out in season 6 finale. Cool! Never realised it before. + After Ben 'summons' the monster, he hears something moving in the forrest and he tells Sun to go inside, because "What's about to come out of that jungle is something I can't control." ... And Locke appears. I remember chuckling at it in the first time around, but actually, it was just spot-on. + The word 'candidate' is mentioned for the first time. + The battle between good and evil is ready to start for real. Only we're not sure who's good and who's bad.

Coolest character developments: Sawyer, I mean James, I mean LaFleur. In three years he did some serious growing up, worked his way to a position of a respected leader, and found himself some true love. I love the new, mature James, but I also love that the old chain-smoking jackass is still in there somewhere, ready to kick some ass when necessary. I also ADORE Miles this season! In Some Like It Hoth, we get to have a look behind that facade of awesome sarcastic comments, and I like what I see. I also get a kick out of Ken Leung's acting. The way Miles acts around Dr. Chang, avoiding eye contact, pretending to be respectfully indifferent, is fantastic. (Also Jack, going all man of faith, but I'll write about it more in the season 6 post, after the transformation is complete.)

The "...meh" moments of the season: Sayid says that the nine months he spent with Nadia before she died were the best of his life. NOT the two steamy weeks on the island. Guess the writers forgot this when working on the series finale... Meh. + Hurley witnesses the numbers being put on the hatch lid - which would've been totally cool, only the numbers weren't on the lid, you idiots! It's always so dull when they make such obvious errors. Like in season 6 they say Charlotte is an archeologist. NO SHE'S NOT, she's an anthropologist! This is serious business for us Lost geeks.

The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: Charles Widmore was an Other?? ... And so was Dan's mom?? ... And Widmore is Dan father?? Gee. + The end of The Little Prince, when we meet... a French-speaking science team and a French-speaking pregnant lady, who says her name is... well, we guessed it already. Oh and JIN! ALIVE! WHOO! + "This is your captain, Frank Lapidus..." OMG, YES! Everyone's favourite Yahoo is back! He won't be doing anything useful but dropping awesome comments, but I welcome him back with open arms! + Sayid shoots little Ben. That was a bit cruel... + Ben being judged. That's a very good scene, a bit OMG, a bit WTF and a bit snifsnif. The biggest OMG factor is that the CGI in this scene is amazing. Haha. No offence, but I didn't think they had it in them. And Michael Emerson rocks once again. + Eloise shoots her son, Daniel. And she knew it would happen before he was even born. Confusing, but so harsh.

The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: Through most of the season, Sayid is wearing ladies' clothes. That purple blouse and a tank top with a plunging neckline. I could wear that. WTF, costume designer? (Er, okay, I don't have enough WTF moments. Had to write something here. But seriously, that outfit is ridiculous.) + (Okay, one real WTF thingy.) When we were led to believe that John came back from the dead, I was very WTF and confused. Also, I didn't like it at all. That was just too... freakish. And I didn't like the 'new John'. (Terrific work by Terry O'Quinn, by the way, the way he played Flocke... Still a bit like John, but something was... off. He was just too sure, too confident.) So when it was revealed that he actually was dead and there was just some other dude playing around with his appearance, I was quite relieved.

The "snifsnif" moments of the season: Kate tells Claire's mum the truth and hands Aaron over to her. It was quite touching though Kate seldom makes me feel anything at all. Maybe it's because Aaron is so damn cute. + In the end of Some Like It Hoth, Miles sees his dad and his baby-self and he realises his dad actually cared about him. Aw, poor Miles. + The 'first death' of Juliet. God, that's just heartbreaking every time. Great acting.

The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Hugo, when talking about Jeremy Bentham: "I need a cool code name." + John (who apparently wants even more mystery in his life): "What is it?" Richard: "It's a compass." J: "What does it do?" R: "It points north, John." + Carmen Reyes: "Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?" She shows up once a season and sweeps the board clean! + Ben: "Hello, Hugo." Hugo: "Yaaaaargh!" I've watched this video like ten times in a row now. + James, Juliet and co. are being shot (by whom??) while they're canoeing, then they feel a flash coming on and James goes: "Thank you Lord!" They travel in time and end up in the middle of a storm... "I take that back!" + Jack to Ben, in the plane when they're going back and waiting for something to happen: "How can you read?" Ben: "My mother taught me." Coolest thing is that he lies even when he's joking like that - his mother died when he was born. Another example comes later when Flocke says: "Mind if I ask you a question?" And Ben goes: "I'm a pisces." Bet his not. + Hurley and Miles discuss time travel. + Hurley: "We car-pool, help global warming, which hasn't happened yet, so maybe we can prevent it." + Hurley to Miles, about the ability to talk to the dead: " You're just jealous because my power is better than yours." + Dr. Chang's quiz show and Hurley, who just never learns how to lie. Brilliant!

The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Hugo's I <3 my Shih-Tzu t-shirt. + Hurley tells his mom the truth, in a very Hurley-ish way. ("...Well is was never really clear on that.") + Des and Pen named their son Charlie! And he's cute, with those blond curls and all. + When they are jumping in time, James sees Kate in the jungle, delivering Claire's baby. Then he tells about it to Juliet and they bond. Aww. + Reunion in the beginning of Namaste - James, when hugged by Hugo: "Easy on the ribs, Kong." Hurley: "'Kong'... I actually missed that." And when Jin says something he goes: "Dude, your English is awesome." + Rose, Bernard, Vincent and the peaceful, 'don't get involved' way of life. + Sun finds Charlie's ring! Shame it ends up in the bottom of the ocean after all.

The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moment of the season: This isn't literal ass-kicking, but it makes me go HA HA. Young Charles Widmore, after escaping John and co: "Their leader is some sodding old man. You think he can track? You think he knows this island better than I do?" Well, Charles... ha ha!

The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Locke by the Beechcraft, both times. Wonderfully complex. Flocke told Richard to tell Locke that the others have to come back and that he needs to die. And Richard told Locke what Flocke had told him to tell him, because he thought Flocke was Locke. + Hurley gets tips from Ana Lucia. "Libby says hi." Aww. + Jack & John destiny talk vol. 3, as John is brought to Jack's hospital and John says that they have to go back. He doesn't get Jack convinced (though he plants a seed of doubt), which leads to... the suicide-turned-murder of John Locke. What a great scene. Ben did it once again, took us totally by surprise. + Hurley making suggestive conversation with Miles and Miles' dad, who doesn't know the adult version of his 3-month old son is sitting next to him. Later on the episode, there's this awesome chat between Hugo and Miles, spiced up with a little Star Wars. (Like Miles says: "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." And yet, somehow it works just splendidly.) + All the flashback in The Incident, Jacob visiting Kate (it's almost freaky how much the little girl looks like Evangeline Lilly), James (the letter! Poor little boy), Sayid, Jack (the true 'count to five' story revealed... It was a lot more humiliating that he let Kate believe) and John. + Ben kills Jacob. It's cool how Jacob lets Flocke to manipulate Ben and has short of accepted that he will die. "What about ME?" "What ABOUT you?"

A few more random but ever so awesome quotes: Jack, when his putting his dad's shoes on dead John, like Ms Hawking told him to: "Wherever you are, John, you must be laughing your ass off that I'm actually doing this." I hope he is. I hope he's like HA HA. + Frank: "We're not going to Guam, are we?" That comment was born to be a legend. + Ben: "You're a killer, Sayid." & "You were right about me. I am a killer." + "Hello, Ben. Welcome back to the land of the living." A killer line, definitely. + Flocke as Locke: "I was hoping we could talk about the elephant in the room." Ben, quite matter-of-factly: "I assume you're referring to the fact that I killed you." + "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" + Sayid about Jack's hydrogen bomb plan: "If this works, you might just save us all. And if it doesn't? At least you'll put us out of our misery." That's the spirit, Sayid...

Dumbest Jack moment of the season: Refusing to save little Ben. And thus causing Ben to 'lose his innocence' or whatever and making him the wonderful evil Ben we've all grown to hate and love. Tables turned, jackass...

Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: Plato, referring to Daniel. Because well, he was even more difficult to follow this season. To quote James and Miles: "Is he still crazy?" "It's on a whole new level, man."

Best openings: The season opening (though it doesn't quite reach the coolness level of the openings of seasons 1, 2 or 3. Or 6.) - we see Pierre Chang get up at 8:15, feed little Miles, go to work, talk fancy science stuff. When his gone, this guy says "Time-travel? How stupid does that guy think we are?" to another guy, who turns out to be Daniel. Yeah, pretty stupid... + 316 - it begins pretty much like The Pilot, which is always cool. And it's also cool how they first show us that they got back to the island, and only after tell us how. They do that a lot. I like it. + And of course The Incident - the introduction of Jacob. Again, they first show us the answer and only afterwards tell us what the question was. Who knew they'd show us Jacob just like that? That's so typical of Lost. (Just like the mystery of the hatch in the season two opening.) The scene is the main key to the last season. It's as close to perfect as it can get.

Best endings: LaFleur - after convincing Horace that three years is definitely enough time to get over someone, he gets to test his claim as he meets Kate (and Jack and Hurley) again. And most of all, The Incident. When I watched it for the first time and that screen turned white instead of black, I just freaked out - jumped around, banged my head against the wall numerous times, ran a few circles on our backyard, possible screaming a little. Now that's what you call a cliffhanger.

Best special features: Making up for LOST time. It sums up quite nicely what's so cool about season five. And why time travel rocks.

Best of the Blooper Reel: Kate and the horn. Jack and Hurley and romantic comedy. Sayid's head.  Ethan: "Where are you?" Charlotte and Dan dancing. Hurley's dad, sweep sweep. Haha.

Best episodes: LaFleur (because that's where the season really gets going), Dead Is Dead (because Ben is awesome), Some Like It Hoth (because Miles is awesome), The Incident (because... because).

The questions I wanted aswered but they never were: I always wanted to see those 'Others 101' lessons - as Juliet called them - where they are thought Latin and Kung Fu (or whatever) and how to not leave tracks and move gracefully in the jungle and general badass-ness.

The quote to summarize season 5: "Three years, no burning cars. You're here one day... Get on that hose!" or maybe Richard's "I'm starting to think John Locke is gonna be trouble." (Followed by Ben's :"Why do you think I tried to kill him?") "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?" kind of summarizes the whole series, in a way...

Overall how it felt like to watch season 5 again: During the first watch of season 5, I remember feeling quite nostalgic about the early seasons. As awesome as the storylines now were, I couldn't help missing all those little character moments that I'm so very fond of, and that I was now getting less and less. But true as this might be, I like season 5 a lot. In addition to all the praise I've already given, there are a few more things.

As I've mentioned before, I love Juliet and James together. I was rooting for Kate/Sawyer before, but after LaFleur, it was bye bye Skate and hello Suliet! But I still like the scenes between Kate and James, because the chemistry is still there. For example there's that one scene where they discuss Clementine, James' daughter Kate looked up for him, and how their (Kate and Sawyer's) relationship would've never worked.

The Lamp Post is such a cool station! I wanted to see more of it. The pendulum swinging eerily on the background and the map on the floor... Also, I almost added a new category, 'The coolest intertextual reference of the season'... Narnia, anyone?

One more Ben-related thought, then I promise I'm done. There was a time during this rewatch, when I felt sorry for Ben. There is that cool moment when Ben looses his temper, because no one appreciates the work his doing for them to get back to the island. I thought, "Yeah! And no one ever thanks him." I didn't remember anyone ever thanking him. Then, my memory was refreshed. In The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham, John thanks Ben for talking him out of killing himself. A minute later Ben strangles him. Hmm, I wonder why no one ever thanks him...

I was supposed to make this post shorter than the previous ones, but oh well. I tried, okay?

What's next: My next week looks unpleasantly busy, with various deadlines (which I soon have to stop ignoring...), baby-sitting duties, extra lectures, and party preparations, so I don't know when I'll be able to start with the final season. But as soon as I do, it won't take long till I'm done. The end (/The End) is near...