It's the time of the television season that I both love and hate the most. Of course I love the fact that when it gets closer to season finale week, the episodes in almost any show get juicier and even more entertaining. Sadly, when the finale is over it is a long wait before we get another new episode, and in the case of my beloved 'Lost' we will be embarking on the final season of the series after the current season is over. Talk about being 'lost' after next week...what will I do this time next year? I dont even want to think about that just yet, I would rather focus on this season and last nights episode. It was my favorite of this season so far and ranks up there with one of my favorites of all time. I still think that the finale of season 3 can't be matched, I still get goosebumps when I think about the ending and how I felt when I saw it for the first time. But thats beside the point, last nights episode was a great way to lead into this seasons two-hour finale next week. We got alot of info, a few reveals, but mainly ALOT of setup to what will be a culmination of the past 4 seasons combined. Everything that has happened ever since episode one has been building to next weeks episode.
It's crazy to even think that you can watch an episode in season two, absorb the information and think that you have it sort of figured out, only to find that some of the things that they talked about in episodes from 3 years ago are coming back in a huge way. For example: We saw Dr. Chang for the first time in the swan station orientation film that dated back to the 70's. In this orientation film he explains the process of pressing the button every 108 minutes, and that it is of crucial importance that this is done ever since 'the incident' occured. The incident was not explained at the time, but it was made clear in the film that this was the reason why the button needed to be pressed. Jack and Locke busted into the mysterious hatch looking for shelter, and had a confrontation with a man named Desmond. Desmond winds up fleeing the hatch and Locke takes over the duty of pressing the button every 108 minutes to save the world. Jack of course wasnt convinced that the world needed saving via this button, but here we are three years later and not only is Jack a believer, but he's part of the reason that it happened in the first place. I dont want to say 'I told you so' but once the Oceanic 6 wound up in the 1970's I knew that they (at least some of them) would be the cause of this mysterious 'incident'. Technically that remains to be seen, but I am pumped because it is primed to go down next week and its going to be awesome! I'm glad I told a few people this theory very early on, but I could definitely be wrong about how it all pans out.
It is risky to think you know whats going to happen in any given episode of Lost because theyve been so good at leading you in one direction and then pushing you in another at the last minute, but I am almost sure about this one. Despite the fact that Jack (and company) thinks he can change the past, I am fairly certain that he cant. And in trying, I believe he will be a major contributing factor in 'the incident'. Another example to back up this theory and another call back to season two: was a Desmond flashback in which we learn his story and how he came to be the button pusher on the island. Turns out he was training for a sailboat race when he lost control of his boat and ended up shipwrecked on the island. He awoke on the beach to find that he was being dragged into the jungle by a man in a quarantine suit. This man was also seen in prior episodes as a US military official, only to wind up being the man who pressed the button for the past few years.
He had hoped that Desmond was his replacement, and even though Desmond wasnt sent to the island to be his official replacement, he winds up helping this man press the button in alternating shifts. While all very confusing at first, it was explained to him that there has been someone pressing a button in this station for nearly 30 years and if it wasnt pushed the world was in danger. Desmond asks the man about his former shift partner, to which the man explains was a guy named Radzinsky. A man who would eventually put a shotgun in his mouth and end his own life because he could no longer take the stress and lifestyle of having to press a button every 108 minutes. The only thing about Radzinksy that was ever seen prior to the current season was a blood stain on the ceiling of the hatch from when he committed suicide.
This season, we have gotten to know Radzinsky live and in person since our main characters have wound up living back in the 70's and have since become members of the DHARMA Initiative. I knew that Radzinsky's name sounded familiar, but it finally dawned on me that this was the same guy that they briefly touched on in season 2! Last night he was insisting that the DHARMA Initiative proceed with their scheduled drilling at the swan station. This drilling is believed to be the other main contributing factor of the 'incident'. So if all goes as history says it will, I am assuming that the drilling somehow goes awry (cue Jack and company) and Radzinsky is then banished to the swan station to press the button for the rest of his life as punishment for insisting that they drill. Pretty cool stuff. Obviously this is jibberish to anyone who is not current in 'Lost' episodes, but I think that it speaks volumes of a show to be able to plan so far ahead and still move the plot along smoothly and accurately. It also lends serious credence to the show's underlying theme 'Everything happens for a reason'.
Maybe this is why I was destined to work at Motivators, if I had never worked here, I probably wouldnt have taken notice of all of the custom imprinted promotional products that the DHARMA Initiative has printed. I also might not have realized how easy and inexpensive it is to get us our own version of DHARMA imprinted items. I'm thinking something like this on the left breast for the next batch of IT shirts...
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