1. Let us know Widmore and gang is on the Hydra Island
2. Give us a glimpse of how Sawyer’s life might have turned out if he had made different choice
3. Give a terribly anti-climatic confrontation between Claire and Kate that absolutely did not live up to the build up.

Regardless, there’s still a little bit to think about, so let’s start with the Flash Sideways

Sawyer X

Honestly, the Sawyer X story did nothing for me this week. Perhaps it has the misfortune of coming off a really strong episode in “Dr Linus“, but really all it did was introduce cop Sawyer, except that he’s the same tormented soul still looking for Anthony Cooper. When I first saw Sawyer was a cop I wrote “wow this ain’t just Flash Sideways, it’s a Flash Upsidedown” but soon enough that just wasn’t true.

So we see Charlotte, Charlie’s brother and Miles who really don’t do much to add to the story, except the interesting nugget from Miles that his dad, Pierre Chang, is working at “the museum” which is interesting because I think that the Sideways universe isn’t an alternate one created by Jughead’s detonation at all because Pierre was standing right at the Swan when Jughead exploded. If Jughead’s detonation was what caused the Sideways (and the Island to be sunk) then Dr Chang should have been dead and Miles never born…

Finally we see Sawyer meet Kate much like how Sayid met Jin and at this point with only 9 episodes left, I’m really wondering what’s the point of the Flash Sideways. Sure, it’s nice to see throwbacks to previous seasons with “LaFleur” being the code word and such, but we’re halfway in and we need to see something a little more than that, and soon.

Sawyer, On-Island

Finally we see Sawyer and at least there’s half an explanation for why he’s been missing for two episodes since he was taking care of Jin.  The Man In Black sends Sawyer to the Hydra Island under the pretense of checking out the Ajira plans/passengers but you sense that the Man In Black knew that Charles Widmore was on the Island, and Sawyer is no fool either. I’m guessing Widmore and cronies are the “they” that Jacob referred to when he said “they’re coming” just before he died.

Essentially at this point Sawyer looks like he’s going to play both sides against each other and try to come up on top. I couldn’t help but feel that both Widmore and Man In Black knew what he was trying to do, which of course makes me worry about Sawyer all over again.

Widmore and Gang

Here’s where things get a little hazy. Whose side is Widmore on? He clearly knows that Locke isn’t Locke and accepts Sawyer’s offer to help kill him and has the sonar fence to fight Smokey, but at the same time this is the same guy who sent Keamy and the mercenaries two seasons ago to kill everyone on the Island. I can’t make a call right now, but there isn’t much time left for this to play out.

One question though: did they kill the Ajira passengers? If not, who did? Mighty courteous of them to leave the bodies in one place…

Claire and Kate

When I saw Claire schmoozing up to Kate and holding her hand early on, I just knew Crazy Claire was scheming to get Kate’s trust and then attack her when she wasn’t looking. Unfortunately the confrontation was less than stellar (loved that Sayid wouldn’t raise a finger to help) and hugging and making up later on just didn’t do it for me. Claire is batshit crazy! She has the Squirrel Baby! She should have killed Kate, or at least cut off an arm Star Wars style.

Man In Black

Interestingly enough, the Man In Black has mommy issues while practically everyone else (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Sun etc) has daddy issues. The writers take great pains to make sure we get the parallel between Locke and Aaron – so here’s what I think:

Rewind to Season One, we know that the psychic told Claire that she has to raise Aaron. Now this didn’t happen and Aaron was raised by Kate instead, leading to the parallel between Man In Black and Aaron. I interpreted this to mean that IF Claire had raised Aaron on the Island, he would have grown up to be the opposite of the Man In Black, ie Jacob. Let’s not forget that “Littleton” was a Candidate as well, and it could well have been Aaron Littleton instead of Claire Littleton. However, now that that didn’t happen, Aaron could well be the new Man In Black instead.

At this point I admit I’m probably reading a bit too much into this. While we do know that Aaron is “important”, he’s barely been seen and he’s still a child, but it would be a nice sight if the series ends (as some have suggested) with the new Jacob and new Man In Black having the same conversation on the Beach as in “The Incident” and the new Jacob is Jack and the new Man In Black is Aaron, his nephew. However I don’t see this happening because I can’t see two heavily Biblical names (Aaron and Jacob) being on opposite sides.

That just about wraps things up on a relatively weak episode, but of course I’ll just have to mention the canoe that Sawyer used, which is probably the one that will get shot at by Juliet later in the season (as shown in the Time Flashes last season), and the locked room in Widmore’s sub, which everyone is probably going to guess holds Desmond. Come on give us some Desmond!!

How the season ranks so far:

1. The Substitute
2. Sundown
3. Dr. Linus
4. LA X
5. The Lighthouse
6. Recon
7. What Kate Does

This wasn’t even close and I didn’t have trouble deciding where to insert “Recon” at all. The gap between Recon and The Lighthouse is huge and hopefully the remainder of the season will be in the “better than The Lighthouse” territory and not “worse than Recon” territory. Next week is Richard Alpert-centric (hell yeah airing on a Lost date – 23rd March!). That better live up to the hype!

Oh on a final note, I’ve begun to cover the screen after the credits so I don’t see who’s guest starring – I find it adds to my enjoyment of not knowing Widmore or Charlotte were going to show up! Try it!

Ben (off-Island)

Ben’s alternate time line is perhaps the most pointed parallel we’ve had to a character besides Jack in The Lighthouse. In essence he’s given the same situation as in Season Four with Keamy and Alex and though we see the cutthroat side of Ben when he tries to take over Principal Reynold’s job, but eventually gives up the power for Alex. Of all the characters, Ben seems to have the happiest Flash Sideways. His dad, Roger, and him have a nice relationship, he enjoys his job and doesn’t seem to have his tumor. Also, apparently he and Roger did go to the Island with the Dharma folks, but they left, leaving us with a great quote:

“Imagine how different our lives would have been if we had stayed. Who knows what you’d have become”

What irony.

The Ben and Arzt scenes? Brilliant.

One big question – what’s the significance of the Island ELBA that Ben talks about in the beginning? It has to be a reference to the Island – can’t wait to see what it is. Also, how did Alex Rousseau get to LA X? Where did Danielle and the French Team land? I wonder if we’ll ever know.

Ben (on-Island)

When we saw Ben digging his grave I was really worried he was screwed. When the Man In Black came to him and offered him and out, I inwardly yelled “Don’t be fooled, Ben!”. But although he escapes Illana, we see perhaps the best acting of Michael Emerson ever and you get the feeling Ben has redeemed himself, both in this timeline and the Alternate one. As with Sawyer, this worries me because we know what happens when characters reach the end of their stories.

Illana, Miles, Frank and Sun

Aww the beach. I think it’s great we’re seeing all these Season One sets again. I really hate what they’ve done with Sun. For almost a full season now, she’s been reduced to asking “Where’s Jin?!” over and over with no real other purpose. I really hope the producers don’t screw her character up. I wonder if there’s some significance with Frank. Ben was extremely interested to hear that he was the original pilot of Oceanic 815 instead of Seth Norris. Perhaps the point was as simple as Ben said, that eventually the Island got Frank anyway, or maybe there is a deeper meaning. Other than that, not much really happened with the rest of them although we do know Miles found Nikki and Paulo to be jabronies just like the rest of us.

Richard, Jack and Hurley

Another nice Season One set in the Black Rock and it pretty much confirms that Richard was a slave on the Black Rock. For me, this was probably tied for the best scene together with Ben explaining himself to Illana. Finally, after six seasons, we see that Jack has made the full transition to being a Man of Faith and this transformation is nothing short of amazing. The absolute certainty with which he faces Richard knowing that Jacob brought him there for a reason and not to die with Richard is finally the Jack the Island (and Team Jacob) needs to lead them. Along the way Richard plants the seeds of doubt in our minds that the “Jacob” that Hurley was facing is not “Jacob” at all, but the Man In Black.

It could be said that MIB knew that he had to get Jack and Hurley out of the way so he could use Sayid to infiltrate the Temple, but I’m not buying it for two reasons. 1 – Dead Jacob has always seemed to be straight with Hurley and his actions in the Lighthouse points to him knowing what he’s goind. 2 – When Hurley sees Jacob in the Temple, he’s in the Temple. MIB couldn’t have possibly appeared within the Temple until after Sayid caused all hell to break loose.

I loved the final scene, such a throwback to Season One with the music montage and everyone (or at least Team Jacob) reuniting on the Beach. As Jack said

“We go back to where we started”

Besides the big theme of redemption (for Ben) in this episode, I think more than any episode we see the theme of Faith. Ben has had his faith tested with Jacob over power, and on the Island he failed though Ben X passed. Richard, having devoted his whole immortal life to Jacob also loses faith that Jacob never let him in on his plans, so much so that he wants to kill himself. Illana places faith in Ben, perhaps choosing to see the good man that Jacob once saw. And of course Jack, as mentioned, cements his place as the Man of Faith and the opposite to the Man In Black. The tension building up to the meeting of Team Jacob and Team Man In Black is building, and damn it’s going to be good.

Final questions: So we find out Charles Widmore finally is on the way but is it just him? Is it too much to hope Desmond is in the submarine as well? Why does the Man In Black want someone to take care of the Island, and why does he offer that spot specifically to Ben? Is there really a need for someone to be left behind, or is it all a ploy for the Man In Black to manipulate Ben into killing Illana? Questions questions.

How the season ranks so far:

1. The Substitute
2. Sundown
3. Dr. Linus
4. LA X
5. The Lighthouse
6. What Kate Does

Very close call because I think LA X was a really good episode, but this was such a good Ben episode that really turned his character around that it edges it out just slightly. Oh and Kate’s not in the episode, that has to be a good thing!

Before the match all the talk was about Arsenal losing the first leg in Portugal 2-1 and they’ve never won a second leg after losing the first in 30 years. Blahblahblah.

Truly amazing match today and one of those instances where it really was a team game:

Alumnia – On form and made a couple of good saves but honestly wasn’t tested much.

Clichy – Ran his heart out and was great on the left.

Campbell – Losing a bit of speed (well he IS 36) but really brought the experience, power and stature to the game.

Vermaelen – What can I say. This man has been an absolute revelation. No “first season to settle” rubbish – He is going to be a legend if he stays with us.

Sagna – Still appalling crossing but did well with Nasri on the right.

Song – Such an unsung hero. He’s like Gilberto but better.

Nasri – Man of the match for me. He’s always been good but this match he was brilliant. Fabregas has always been the “Bergkamp” kind of midfield player in that he thinks and orchestrates passes, Nasri is more the “Henry” kind who makes runs and does crazy things (like run past 4 Porto defenders and scores). Another future Arsenal legend.

Rosicky – Very much in the vein of Nasri. I think he has a good game.

Diaby – Solid. Kept the ball when he needed to and gave us a good spine in the middle of the park.

Arshavin – The Porto right-back must be pissing his pants everytime Arshavin ran at him. Excellent presence to set up two great goals with amazing pace.

Bendtner – Least favourite player but he semi-made up for the pathetic match over the weekend. I won’t say he deserved his hattrick because two of them were just tap in goals – but he’s gotta be much more consistent before I think he’s worthy of wearing the Arsenal shirt. Nevertheless, well done for tonight.

Honestly, tonight was men against boys as far as I’m concerned. Best performance I’ve seen since the Invincibles days and definitely an instant classic. Just hope for two things:

a) Arsenal can keep this momentum going in the Premier League given they have relatively easier matches and win the damn league. Do it for Aaron Ramsey. Do it to end the trophy drought. I don’t care, just do it!

b) Playing both in the Champion’s League and the League doesn’t overstretch them and get injuries. Wenger made great moves by bringing Nasri, Rosicky and Arshavin off to rest them – I think he knows what he’s doing.

Whatever it is, Arsenal has to win SOMETHING this year to keep the great players like Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky and even van Persie and Fabregas to stay. So let’s do it.

Great night and Let’s Go Gunners!!!

Everyone goes through times when they see their partners through less than adoring eyes for no particular reason. It comes out of weariness, boredom, or a bad mood. It erupts in times of personal doubt and change. You can make it into something big and scary, or you can face the fact that we’re all human and go from there.

Don’t let the occasional dip in your feelings for your mate set you up for trouble. It’s important to remember that loving and liking are not always synonymous… When you take on a life partner, you accept a whole package, not just the adorable options. And sometimes, through no fault of your mate’s, the stuff you’re not so crazy about seems to be the most prominent.

When your partner is simply “getting on your nerves,” do what you least feel like doing. Instead of picking on the first annoyance that comes up and turning it into a complaint, find something specific for which you can genuinely thank or praise your mate.

When you’re tempted to pick a fight or actually find yourself in the process of doing do, turn it on its head by admitting that you’re at fault before the fight has time to develop. Apologise for taking out your funk in a way that is making your partner suffer. And move on.

… choose that moment to make a date with your partner. It can be as simple as a long walk on a beautiful day or as complicated as a weekend away. Don’t load the occasion with great expectations or false romance. Just act on the commitment you’ve made in love.

When a bad mood strikes, it can easily become self-sustaining. But when you can take responsibility for changing the direction in which you’re moving. By taking positive action toward your mate in response to negative emotions, you can actually turn the tide.

When those ill-defined lows strike, strike back. When in doubt about why you’re picking on your partner, make up.

[from: The Don't Sweat Guide for Couples]

I gotta admit even for someone who is pretty good at compartmentalising (I think), every now and then this happens and the relationship is the most convenient outlet.

February’s resolution was pretty okay. I managed 4 new dishes (and enjoyed all of them) though I did skip the last week, but I’ll make up for that in March.

What’re you doing for March?

You may allow a lot of small irritations to fester in your relationship when you choose to keep your pain – the “ouches” that arise in relation to your partner – to yourself. Maybe you’ve decided while licking your wounds that your mate’s ability to sense your injuries will be the test of whether he really loves you. However, it’s childish and unfair to expect a person to “just know”.

The only way to air out your wounds is to verbalise them. Choose your time to speak judiciously. Don’t broach the subject of hurt feelings or anger when you’re both tired or emotionally charged for some reason. Find a time when your resources are at their strongest and your mind at its clearest.

Choose your words carefully. If you frame your conversation in terms that sound like an attack, which is easy enough to do when you’re in pain, your partner is likely to throw up his defences…. If you want to be heard, you need to find ways to communicate that concentrate on your feelings.

Finally, give your partner the opportunity to think about what you’ve said and respond in his own time. Perhaps he will see justice in what you say and apologise. Regardless of the outcome, resolve to put the pain aside once you’ve aired it. Forgive and forget. Forgiving allows you to move beyond the hurtful realities in your life. Forgetting allows your wounds to heal

[from: The Don't Sweat Guide for Couples]

Sayid

First, Dogen is pretty badass. Thinking of all the people who have been killed at Sayid’s hands throughout the past seasons, few have been able to go toe to toe with Sayid (and won).

So after all the talky stuff in the Temple with Dogen, Sayid agrees to go meet (and supposedly, kill) Man In Black outside the Temple. This is where it gets interesting – Man In Black tells Sayid he could see Nadia again. This could be the first inkling we’ve gotten as to what purpose the flash-sideways are here to serve. I think ultimately it’s going to come down to choice.I think the irony in this is Jacob allowed Nadia to be killed with Sayid made it back to the real world, only for Sayid to come back to the Island, fall prey to Man In Black and go back to an alternate timeline with Nadia? Talk about gong in circles!

Will our Losties choose to be with the Man In Black and perhaps choose to “live” their flash-sideways lives? Or will they choose to follow their own (or Jacob’s) path and stick to their existing timeline?

Anyway Sayid heads back to the Temple (and it’s raining, sure sign bad things are going to happen) and tells the remaining other Others that they can join Man In Black, or they’ll die.

Sayid makes his final turn to the dark side and kills both Dogen and Lennon and I think that cements his place on Team MIB (at least for now).  Even Ben knows to leave him alone after seeing his crazy, creepy eyes. Speaking of Ben, where is he? Miles, Frank, Sun and Illana make it to the Temple (and do a piss poor job of saving anyone) but Ben is seemingly left behind, or at the very least missing.

So who’s with who?

So at the end of the on-Island story, the Others seem to be decimated and Team MIB looks to have a few other Others (red shirts), Cindy, Zack and Emma, Sayid and Claire. I still think Sawyer has an agenda so I won’t say he’s squarely on that team, Jin isn’t there by choice, and Kate looks to be following blindly so I won’t include them either. I still think a Claire/Kate showdown is going to occur and someone is going to die because of it. Not necessarily one of them, but someone will die (maybe Sawyer when he tries to intervene).

In the other corner of the ring, we have a severely depleted Team Jacob – no more Others, Illana, Frank, Miles, Sun, Jack and Hurley. I presume Richard will meet up with them in the end, and probably so will Ben. Of course they do have a secret weapon, which I believe to be Desmond.

This episode definitely moved all the chess pieces into play (which we usually see only towards the end of the season) and hopefully, it’s going to be breakneck speed from here.

The Man In Black aka Flocke aka SmokeLocke aka Smokey aka Anti-Jacob aka Nemesis

Let’s talk a little about the Man In Black. Dogen essentially confirms that everytime we’ve seen someone who’s dead, he’s been the Man In Black (or Smokey). So we’ve seen that happen and end in tragedy (with Eko and Yemi) but also end in good (with Jack following Christian and finding water to save them in Season One). So what is Man In Black’s deal? Why did Locke see Smokey back in Season One and find it beautiful (I forget his exact wordings now)? The writers have said they’ve known all along what was going to happen, so I hope all this fits in somewhere.

Off-Island fun with Sayid

Okay now the off-Island stuff. We’ve begun to have a hint at the purpose of showing us their sideways lives and Sayid’s isn’t all that different. He’s still a hard core killer, though it seems he didn’t torture Nadia, but neither does he have a happy ending with her (as yet). I could care less about his “Oh I’m a bad man I don’t deserve you” nonsense though. When we say Keamy X I thought “Oh looks like his sideways life is better – like at least he has a life” but of course, Sayid took care of that quickly before finding…. Jin?!

So if indeed the Man In Black and choices theory plays out, I’m going to find it a little weird. So only our Losties are given a “better” life? How about the other 6 billion people in the world? Do the just exist for the sake of molding reality to fit our Losties? For example Claire, who has seemingly taken Man In Black’s offer and is indeed still with Aaron in the sideways-life. She chose that so that’s fine. How about the others who she met (say, Ethan) or even others like Arzt? Or for Sayid’s sideways-life, how about Nadia? What choices did she make? Or do only our Losties matter?

Great episode, here’s how I’m ranking the season so far:

1. The Substitute
2. Sundown
3. LA X
4. The Lighthouse
5. What Kate Does

Or to rationalise things (ie dig up additional stuff to justify the reason)

Or to bring up stuff that was bad (as if to remind oneself that getting out of it is good)

Or tell oneself they were lies or they didn’t matter.

Personally? I hate that.

However things ended, however long (or short) things lasted – that was time shared together. Good and bad.

Life – shared together.

Does breaking up invalidate that? Negate every “I love you” that was said? Does it bastardise feelings that were once held? Does it cheapen past interactions?

I don’t think it does – and I certainly don’t believe it does.

I’m not a 100% guilt-free of this though, but I do try to keep it to a minimum.

I just think life’s too short to be bitter. It is what it is.

The mountain goat climbs daily upon the highest ground, far above the cares and concerns of the average critter. It travels on sure feet over terrain that looks impossible. It roots out vegetation and uses it for nourishment. It discovers rivulets fed by melting snow and quenches its thirst. It accomplishes this through small, individual decisions, making only one move until it can seek out another.

…

The more you try to take giant steps forward, the more you may trip over your own strides… Learn from the mountain goat. Rather than trying to take a giant leap over the minor irritations and frustrations of daily living, stop and deliberate. Think about our possible next steps. Remember that it takes only a small increment to move you forward. Find that step and take it.

…

When you feel as though you no longer have the energy to take the next step, remember that life almost always offers sources of replenishment along the way… Looking for the great leap only gets you in trouble. Slow and steady progress, with regular pauses to refresh yourself, can carry you to new heights.

[from: The Don't Sweat Guide for Couples]