Could it be? Is "LA X" the greatest non-finale episode of all-time, overtaking either "The Shape of Things to Come" or "This Place is Death"?
With such a sweeping episode to discuss, I'll look at each of four different major places of action separately:
Bizarro 2004, on Oceanic 815 and at LAX
JACK: His usual self--saving Charlie's life, offering to check out Locke, fretting over Christian's body being lost. Also, more notably, he seemingly recognizes people but being unable to place his finger on it, and possibly imagining Desmond being on the plane.
KATE: Like Ben, always with a plan, escaping from Mars in the bathroom and commandeering Claire's cab.
SAYID: He helps Jack saves Charlie and pines after Nadia.
ROSE & BERNARD: In love and still with bathroom drama.
CHARLIE: Why did he swallow his bag of heroin, rather than dropping it in the toilet?
JIN & SUN: Jin's still telling her to button up, and Sun is still too fearful to reveal she can speak English to save Jin from a customs nightmare. Also, Jin is delivering the watch as planned.
LOCKE: (Apparently) lies that he went on his walkabout, he lost his suitcase full of knives.
BOONE: Went to Australia and was unable to bring Shannon back.
SAWYER: Looks to be getting ready to con lotto winner Hurley, as his advice seems a trojan horse as it was with Munson in 3x4. Also seems to recognize that Kate is in cuffs and help her out on the elevator--who says there's no honor amongst thieves?
HURLEY: Owns Mr. Cluck's (and discusses chicken products over the phone), but now he's the self-proclaimed luckiest man alive.
DR. ARZT: Still desperately wanting to be one of the cool kids, he's visibly disappointed when he learns shlub Hurley didn't get to be a millionaire through some Horatio Alger story.
THE ISLAND: It's underwater, including the remnants of the statue.
I have to be honest; this portion of the episode was underwhelming. While I think an alternate timeline has the potential to be very cool, the set up of this episode didn't do it for me. Hopefully, if/when the stories get more character-centric, bizarro-2004 will reach its potential. Intriguing, though, is the notion that Desmond might serve as some sort of ghostly guide for Jack.
AT THE SWAN
The immediate effect of Jughead going off is apparently to put the Lostaways back in 2007 where they belong. Juliet is alive, but only long enough to tell Sawyer she needs to tell him something. Luckily, Miles is there to say that the message was "It worked".
Meanwhile, Jacob appears to Hurley; apparently only Hurley can see him as he is now dead, and instructs him to bring Sayid to the Temple.
AT THE STATUE
Black Robe (disguised as Locke, of course) wants to speak to Richard. When Bram and some other meatheads run in with guns, it is confirmed that Black Robe and the Monster are one in the same. The circle of ash keeps the Monster out, as Bram makes a circle around himself, but knocking down a column to force him out of the circle does the trick.
Black Robe tells Ben that he's a "who", not an "it", then displays his contempt for Locke and the rest of the Lostaways, but particularly Locke. I have to admit I agree with Smokey--Locke was weak, pathetic, and irrevocably broken, and it is fitting that his last thought was "I don't understand". Most importantly, Black Robe tells Ben that he wants to go home.
Outside, Black Robe kidnaps Richard after telling him "It's to see you out of those chains", to which Richard responds "You?!" Black Robe declares "I am very disappointed in all of you", namely Frank, Sun, Ilana, and the Others.
AT THE TEMPLE
It certainly appears as if the Whispers are related to the Temple and/or its inhabitants, as they are heard loud and clear before Kate vanishes. Plus we get to see blog namesake Montand, albeit minus arm. The Temple features an awesome pond, a high priest who apparently speaks gibberish as he hates English, and his John Lennon look-alive (ok, that's stretching it) sidekick. The guitar case Jacob gave to Hurley has a wooden ankh inside; when broken, it is seen to contain another of Jacob's infamous lists, which apparently includes the names of Hurley, Kate, Jack, Jin, and Sayid, as it saves them from getting capped. Sayid is taken to the spring, which has a nasty reddish color (perhaps because of Jacob's death?) The priest cuts his hand so it bleeds and dips it in, which reminds me of the Shi'a ritual in which men cut the top of their head.
John Lennon warns that Temple healing has risks--yeah, we've seen Ben. Then Sayid is held underwater until an hourglass runs out, at which point he appears to be dead. Jack tries to save him, as Kate begs him to stop, and I'm surprised that the name of Charlie was not invoked. When Hurley informs the High Priest that Jacob is dead, everyone goes into a defensive panic, shooting off fireworks, building barricades, and spreading ash to keep Black Robe out. Then Sayid, whose death would mean everyone was in a lot of trouble according to Lennon, awakes just as Jack is being dragged away for questioning.
Obviously there a lot of questions that could be asked. Let me share a few that have really captured my imagination:
* Where is home for Black Robe?
* Could Richard have been a slave on the Black Rock (hence the reference to chains)? It's long been a popular theory that Alpert came to the Island on the Black Rock.
* Which timeline is real? What does Juliet mean by "it worked"? Does that mean that both timelines are really happening, or will one eventually have to take precedence over the other?
Runaway train, never coming back.
