This is one of those episodes that doesn't open up a lot of new possibilities and actually answers a question or two. Let's start at the beginning.
The title of the episode is "The Little Prince" which is a translation of the title of a classic French novel. The main theme of The Little Prince points out that once grown, adults lose the ability to accept and understand the world around them, preferring facts and figures over gut instinct and intuition. It's a novel about finding lost innocence and rejecting modern conveniences that take away from experiencing life. Hmm...now, where might one return to that sort of innocence?
On Penny's boat, Jack and Kate discuss what they're going to do about Aaron. Kate wants to pretend he's hers, which of course we know she does. Her reasons for this have always been a bit of a mystery, but we learn that she simply doesn't want to lose anyone else after all they've been through.
"Sawyer's not dead."
"No, but he's gone."
As she heads back to her cabin, Jack tells her about his conviction that the gang is going to have to lie to protect those they left behind. He asks if she's with him and she tells him she's always been with him. Well, except for that time in the polar bear cage.
In Sun's hotel, Kate is getting ready for a big meeting. She leaves Aaron with Sun and as she leaves a package arrives for Sun. Inside are some pictures of Jack meeting with Ben and a box of chocolates. But this is no ordinary box of chocolates. This is the kind of box of chocolates that most guys wouldn't be comfortable giving their wives, since under the first layer of yummy chocolate there's a second layer of yummy firearm.
In the jungle, Daniel and Juliet are trying to revive Charlotte. Juliet shoos an annoyed and annoying Sawyer away and then asks Faraday if he knew that the time travel would cause trouble. He figures that the flashes throw off the brain's internal clock, like "really bad jet lag".
Kate meets with the lawyer looking for blood samples from her and Aaron, offering him a deal whereby she will give up the blood samples as long as she can meet with the mystery client. The lawyer warns her that she's in no position to make deals and reminds her that he has a court order and could force her to give the samples any time he wants, except for the fact that his client wants to keep the matter quiet.
"It is time that you prepare yourself, Ms. Austin. You are going to lose the boy."
Out in the jungle, Locke suggests that their best course of action is to go back to where this all started, the Orchid station.
He convinces Sawyer that despite the distance, the fact that Ben left the island from the Orchid means that it's the best place for them to go. He also convinces him that the solution to their problem is to bring the group that left back, even if it kills him.
"Don't you want them to come back? Don't you want her to come back?"
"Doesn't matter what I want."
Just then, Charlotte starts to come around. She seems alright despite not knowing who Daniel was for a moment.
The group heads back to the beach to get the Zodiac raft to shave some time off the trip.
In the hospital, Jack tries to convince Sayid that Ben is on their side and that they don't need to worry about him hurting Hurley. Before the conversation can get very far, a doctor in charge of clinical services pulls Jack out of the room for a word. While she's dressing him down for bringing in a patient while he's under suspension was a breach of protocol, his phone rings. It's Hurley.
Was I the only one who thought of the Kool-Aid mascot when they panned to Hurley in the orange jumpsuit?
Hurley's in lockup, safe from Ben and hangs up before Jack can get any more information from him. Just then, Ben shows up, asking about Sayid.
Alone in the examination room, Sayid is wary when a male nurse comes in to give him his meds. When the man turns and fires two tranquilizer darts at him, Sayid is already moving. A few crazy ninja moves later, Sayid has his I.V. wrapped around the man's throat and demands to know who sent him. The assailant tells him he has an address in his pocket and Sayid releases him, grabs the tranquilizer gun and puts two nighty-nites into him. A quick rifle of his pockets reveals an address on a piece of paper.
When Ben and Jack return, Sayid takes Ben's appearance in stride and simply asks if they know anyone who lives at 42 Panorama Crest?
That's Kate's address!
Jack frantically phones her as Sayid and Ben bicker over their next move. He convinces her to let him meet her.
Ben wants to deal with Hugo, but Sayid won't let Ben get near Hurley.
"You have friends in trouble. Let's get them to safety and save the dirty linen for later."
Sayid and Ben saddle up and Jack heads off to meet Kate. Ben gives him his instructions as he leaves.
"After you get Kate, meet us at the Long Beach Marina, Slip 23. And Jack? Hurry. We're running out of time."
42 Panorama Crest, Slip 23. Those numbers again. They just won't stay gone.
Out in the jungle. Sawyer and Locke are discussing what John is going to tell the group to get them to come back. Sawyer recalls that Kate was pretty fired up to get off the island in the chopper and might not be real enthusiastic about coming back.
As they walk, Miles sees something odd in the jungle. It's a steady, obviously artificial light shooting up into the sky. John steers them clear of the light, making Faraday wonder if Locke knows when they are. Miles sees that Charlotte isn't the only one with a nosebleed, but keeps it to himself. As they trek on, they hear screaming in the jungle and Sawyer rushes off to investigate.
It's Kate! She's delivering Aaron. Sawyer watches the two minute Hollywood delivery with rapt attention. When the sky flashes and they're once again elsewhen, he doesn't share what he saw when Locke asks.
"It don't matter. It's gone now."
Kate's playing stake-out when Jack arrives. They make smalltalk about his beard and then she tries to shoo him away. He stubbornly refuses to go, asking her to tell him what's going on. She fills him in about the lawyer and the change of custody that she's trying to stop. Just then the lawyer drives out of the parking lot and she and Jack are off in hot pursuit.
Back in the jungle, Locke pushes Sawyer to tell him what he saw, but Sawyer shifts the subject to how John knew when they were. Locke relates his encounter with the hatch the night that Boone died.
"I was confused, scared, babbling like an idiot, asking why all this was happening to me."
"Did you get an answer?"
"Light came on, shot up into the sky. At the time I thought it meant something."
"Did it?"
"No. It was just a light." Hear that? That's the sound of 2 million pissed off fans throwing popcorn at their televisions as they realize that more than half the time the so-called "connections" and "signs" on this show mean nothing.
Sawyer wonders why Locke didn't take the opportunity to change things, to give himself a chance to avoid all the pain he's been through by telling his past self to take another path.
"I needed that pain, to get to where I am now."
Miles shares his nosebleed problem with Faraday, keeping it from the others. He wants to know what Faraday knows about why he and Charlotte are donating blood the hard way and not the others.
"I think it has something to do with duration of exposure. You know, the amount of time spent on the island?"
"Doesn't make any sense. Those yahoos have been here for months. I never been here before two weeks ago."
"Are you sure about that?"
Yeah, he's a Candle in the wind. Obvious answers, folks. Obvious answers.
They arrive at the beach, where they find their camp, somewhat worse for wear. No one is around and all the provisions are gone. They find Vincent's lead, but not the rest of the dog. The Zodiac raft is also gone.
They speculate that perhaps the group took the raft to get away from the folks who hit the beach in two outrigger canoes. Despite their apparent age, the canoes are relatively modern, since inside one is a plastic water bottle from an Indian Airline.
The gang decide not to look a gift canoe in the mouth and launch one of the canoes into the ocean.
Out on the water, they're a few hours from their destination. Sawyer starts to tell Juliet about his encounter with Kate, but before he can go all blubbery about how much he misses Freckles, someone starts shooting at them. It's the second outrigger and some very unhappy canoeists.
Just as the pursuers are about to get close enough to be in effective rifle range, Deus ex Flachina.
"Thank you Lord!" yells a relieved Sawyer.
When they materialize in the middle of a downpour at night, he's not so impressed.
"I take that back!"
In the parking lot of a hotel, Jack and Kate see the lawyer meet with none other than Aaron's grandmother, Claire's mom. Kate wants to confront her, but Jack convinces her to let him fix it for her.
A drenched Sheppard knocks on the hotel door and tries to explain how he knew she was there. He explains that he followed her lawyer and that he wants her to know that everything he and Kate have done was to benefit Aaron.
It turns out that Mrs. Littleton doesn't even know that Aaron exists. The lawyer was there to bring her a check from her lawsuit against Oceanic Airlines, not to deliver Kate's offer of a deal. She isn't the one trying to take Aaron.
"Then who is it?"
As always, the first person seen after an important question is asked at the end of a scene is indeed the answer to that question.
Ben and Sayid drive to an underground parking lot where they meet...Ben's lawyer! So much for my Sun did it theory. Win some, lose some.
The lawyer passes on information that Hurley will almost assuredly be free by morning, since the evidence against him won't stand up in court. They don't mention Kate, but when Ben tells Sayid that the man is his lawyer, we all know that he's the one behind the blood tests.
The gang manage to reach shore in the storm, but even John can't tell where they are in the dark. Juliet and Sawyer talk a little more about how it felt for Sawyer to see Kate again and fans everywhere realize that Sawyer's best chance to get over Kate is going to be to get over Juliet instead. Unless that nosebleed turns him off.
Charlotte finds some wreckage, some of which is labeled in French. It appears to be the name of the wrecked ship, Besixdouze. Besixdouze, I am reliably informed, is the name of the asteroid from whence the Little Prince (B612) comes in The Little Prince. For the non-French speakers, that's B, six (pronounced "seece" in French), douze (douze is French for twelve), Besixdouze.
Out on the water, a group of French speakers float in a life raft in the rain. My French is pretty rusty and I didn't catch it all, but I think that one is blaming another for the wreck and the one guy is trying to explain that their radar or sonar stopped working. I could be way off on that.
They spot a man floating on a piece of wreckage and drag him into their raft. It's Jin!
Kate and Jack pull up to Slip 23, and Kate wants to know what prompted Jack to call today, right in the middle of her crisis. He explains about the guy who jumped Sayid and that had her address in his pocket. He wants to get her and Aaron someplace safe.
"Safe from who?"
Just then Ben pulls up. No scene change, so Ben isn't necessarily the answer to that question.
Jack explains that Ben is on their side now and that they all need to be together again. Kate figures out that Ben is behind the lawyer and Ben confirms her suspicions.
"Why don't you just leave me and my son alone?"
"Because he's not your son, Kate."
Speaking of Sun...er, son...er...
Sun sits watching from her car as Ben, Sayid, Jack and Kate gather at the slip. She glances at Aaron, pulls out the chocolate scented gun and gets out of the car...
On the beach, the French group revive Jin. While the men listen to a voice on the radio intoning "4, 8, 15, 16, 23...", one of the women tries to help Jin and find out who he is.
They figure out that they all speak enough English for ABC audiences to understand them and the men try to find out what boat Jin was on and how he wound up in the water. The girl points out that Jin is in shock (in French, but "Choc" and "Shock" sound the same in both languages. To no one's (except Jin's) surprise, the pregnant French chick's name is Danielle Rousseau.
No comments:
Post a Comment