5x12 Pre-Thoughts

Despite avoiding spoilers assiduously, I have accidentally seen a couple for this week's episode, which has served to dampen my enthusiasm for blogging about it (although they make the episode sound pretty awesome). So this will be short.

I have been surprised at the reaction to "Whatever Happened, Happened". I thought it was easily, clearly, the second best episode of the season, trailing only the greatest non-premiere, non-finale episode in LOST history ("This Place is Death"). But it seems as if the community in general ranks it as below average within the season. Perhaps it is the fact that people don't like Kate (she's one of my favorites, and excuse the digression, but there's never been a better-looking woman on the show than Kate in this episode, in the future). It was character-driven to some extent, but I am a mythology-first fan and I loved it, so I'm not sure that's it. Besides, anytime the Temple shows up, I'm not going to lodge a mythological complaint.

A line from Kate and Jack's argument about whether he should save Ben or not that I overlooked: Kate tells Jack "We brought Sayid back, we caused this." Uh, Kate, I seem to recall Sayid being escorted onto the plane in handcuffs by Ilana.

Good thoughts on different meanings for lines based on our new knowledge that I've picked up from others:

1. Ben has said several times that he was born on the Island. We know that to be false. But maybe, as a result of his apparent Temple mindwipe, he believes that we was born on the island.

2. Widmore told Ben in their London scene in "The Shape of Things to Come" that he knew "what he was". Perhaps just meant to imply a lout, scoundrel, or mass-murderer; but perhaps to describe something inhuman, like an Island-possessed freak.

Rewatch of 1x08: "Confidence Man"; mostly a Sawyer-based character examination, so not a whole lot that stood out years later. It does have one of Sawyer's best speeches: "Baby, I'm tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery...I just got tortured by a damn spinal surgeon and a genuine Iraqi".