"The Little Prince"

Thirty minutes into last night's episode, I felt mildly sick to my stomach. I came thisclose to texting my brother-in-law, lamenting, "Lame. This is weak." But I didn't want to whine 'cause he was already threatening to stop watching. Like me, Robbie finds Jack and Kate b-o-o-oring. Our expectations were low, and by that point in the show we were not disappointed.

Lost always proves me wrong, which I love. Lost always brings the unexpected, which I love. What I thought was going to be a weak hour suddenly became rather powerful. It got strong. Really strong. So strong that I actually uttered an expletive, which prompted me to text Kristen and tell her, "I just uttered a 4-letter naughty word. A kinda slow episode just got good!" Thankfully Kristen loves me through my admission. And admit it--if y'all didn't utter a choice word or two, you were at least thinking it in your head.

We all know both Locke and Sawyer had crap-for-fathers. Let's just keep it real here. Both have had daddy issues in the extreme. While watching "The Little Prince" last night, I found significance in Locke's referring to Sawyer by his given name, "James." From the very first time we learned Sawyer's true identity was actually that of James Ford, no other character on the island (even Kate) has continually called Sawyer who he really is. Locke has been consistent in this manner. That little fact never meant much to me until last night. Our Man of Faith seems to be much like a father figure to Sawyer now. I think both are rising to their island leadership roles, and while I don't see either of them becoming cuddly, warm, & fuzzy in their relationship with each other, I do see somewhat of a father/son respect building between these two. I. Love. It.

Did you catch Locke's line to Sawyer? "I needed the pain of the past to get to where I am now." My heart lurched at this, because not only is this true in Locke's case (again--Daddy issues--Anthony Cooper, you sorry excuse for a human being), but it could well be the title of Sawyer's autobiography. I mentioned in my season 4 finale recap that no other islander has grown as an individual more than James Ford. His redemption has been found in loving someone more than himself and he is continually playing out his reluctant hero status.

My proof is in the pudding with this scene, which served two purposes:
I wish Saywer didn't love Kate, because she is unworthy. (More on that later.) Yet love her he does, as evidenced by his restraint at not revealing himself to in-the-past Kate and Claire.

I also think this particular scene answers the four season-long mystery of the whispers. It's been hinted at the past couple of weeks but I now believe we can say with certainty that all those eerie, ghostly voices we've been hearing over the previous four years are indeed the remnants of our people flashing back and forth through time. Awesomeness.

Let's discuss Kate. I don't want to, especially after this:
These two make me tired. The only reason we had to endure this rehashing of their "we have to lie" scene was for Kate to tell Jack, "I am always with you." I wanted to smack her. Again, she is unworthy of Sawyer's helicopter sacrifice, as well as his love. Go be with Jack always, Kate. I don't care.

Let me backtrack and state that I do not watch Lost for the romantic aspect of it. I'm not a big shipper (big into the love relationships, that is) by any means, but I have said, since the season 4 finale, that I am digging the potential union of Sawyer and Juliet. They've both been jilted by the people they care for (Juliet, of course, had/has feelings for Jack, which she admitted to him last season...right before he planted a big smooch on her). They are both strong, physically and mentally, and I believe these two are worthy and deserving of each other. The scene with Sawyer and Juliet (whom I also want to add has also referred to him as "James" from their first introduction) on the beach, after being attacked (again) in the water (this time with guns, rather than flaming arrows or trip-wire bombs), was poignant. Juliet forced James to be forthcoming about his feelings, and we all know Sawyer is not a big one for revealing emotion. That scene was brilliantly played. Yeah, Josh Holloway is a vision to behold, but beyond his fabulousness he is a mighty fine actor. Amen.

Speaking of the canoe/beach scene, what happened before the ocean hijinks puzzled me all night long. The gang finds their camp destroyed, a big ol' canoe, and water bottle from an Indian airline? Perplexing. I couldn't even begin to sort that one out.

Until I found the above screencap and came to the realization that maybe this particular scene took place in the near future. Perhaps the Oceanic 6 flew on the Ajira Airline, once escaping Los Angeles. Perhaps they are now on the island, in this point in time. Perhaps I'm completely wrong, but it's the direction I'm leaning toward. Over the next few days DarkUfo, Doc Jensen over at EW, and LongLiveLocke will have their theories posted. We'll see...smarter minds will possibly prevail.

A few more observations:
I knew, the minute scrub-wearing dude sauntered through the door, that Sayid was gonna get his ninja on. He never disappoints. I say it again, as always--he is so badass. But who wanted to harm our former torturer? Ben? Widmore? Ben?

What about this?

Ben and Sayid's getaway van, which they took to meet with the lawyer Ben hired to harrass Kate. "Canton-Rainier." It's been pointed out over on DarkUfo that Canton-Rainier is an anagram for "Reincarnation." Chew on that one a while. 'Cause yeah, I cannot even go there without getting a headache.

Charlotte is probably not long for this world. But let's not discuss Juliet's brief bleed ('cause I refuse to believe she's going anywhere--she's been my favorite female character since season 2, and she has to make beautiful babies--that survive--with James.) and instead, let's discuss Miles' red-running nose.

Daniel explains the nosebleeds could be due to "overexposure of the island." Let's think that theory through. Juliet's been there three years, which seems like a long time, and she bleeds, but not before Miles. (And I will not discuss her nose again.) Then we have Charlotte's sniffer, which has been bleeding almost from the inception of the time flashes. Miles is feelin' the flow now. Witness this exchange:

Miles: Those yahoos have been here for months. I've never been here before two weeks ago.
Daniel: Are you sure about that?

Methinks Miles just answered the "mystery baby" question posed in Season 5's very first episode. It's looking like Mr. Ghost Whisperer is Chang's (et. al.) son. I think. Probably.

Moving on...

The instant I heard French being spoken, I knew...Danielle & crew are in the house! Er, island. Whatever.

Because the Lost world is fully populated with truly intelligent and investigative geeks, I know a translation will soon be posted on the net, and we will learn what Danielle, Montand, and the rest were shouting while surviving the storm. Anyone out there fluent in French? Give us a heads up!

A few final tidbits...

I'm glad we got to see Claire, even if it was only in a photograph.

I bestow my badass status upon Sun, because receiving a gun in a box of Godiva is completely hardcore.

I'm unable to determine if Sun is really after Ben and in cahoots with Widmore, or if she's really wanting Widmore's head on a platter and this is all a big act to protect Ben. It's delicious, though, regardless of her motives. We learned in season 1 that Sun has an evil streak in her (remember she lied to her father and blamed the broken ballerina on the maid?), and her pursuit of vengeance over Jin's death is building to a big showdown. I cannot wait.

Finally...who was thrilled to see Jin? Alive? But alive in the past? This opens a whole new can of worms, indeed. I love it. I love this show. Let's discuss...

p.s. I get my pictures from DarkUfo's screencaps page, and just found this:

The episode's title has nothing to do with little Aaron. Lost's writers have once again thrown in an Easter egg I'd never catch if it weren't for the uber-geeks who watch this show. I have no idea what any of this means, and I've never read The Little Prince. Looks like I'll be heading over to Wikipedia to do some sussing.