In the tradition of "Greatest Hits" and "Follow the Leader", this was a set-up episode for the finale. It did a great job in that role, and it contained some mythological exposition that may be one of the last major doses of mythology we get. I expect an action-packed finale, more in the vein of "Through the Looking Glass" or "There's No Place Like Home" as opposed to the more mythologically-heavy "Live Together, Die Alone" and "The Incident".
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The episode opens with Jack's eye ("Pilot" also opened with his eye), but it's X-Jack waking up. He gazes in the mirror, where his cut is once again festering. He's interrupted by David, who has made breakfast (poured cereal, actually). He wants to know if Jack will be coming to his concert, and Jack wants to know if his mother will be there. This causes David to get concerned about Jack being weird, and Jack assures him he won't be. Claire shows up, and they all eat their cereal in a cute family scene until the phone rings. It's ostensibly Oceanic, telling Jack they've found his father's coffin, but we see that it is actually Desmond.
Locke arrives at school, back to work after his recovery. Desmond is there too, staring from behind the wheel. Ben spots him and makes a lame attempt at a citizen's arrest before Desmond gets out of the car and pummels him. Ben says he's not going to let him hurt Mr. Locke, but Desmond says he's not there to hurt him, he's there to help him let go. During the beatdown, Ben gets flashes of Island reality, as this mirrors their confrontation in "Dead is Dead". Desmond drives off.
Ben still is a little prickly, as he corrects the nurse that it's "Doctor", not "Mister" Linus. He looks at himself in the mirror, and Locke comes in to see him. He relates what happened, and just as Locke dials the cops, Ben tells him about what Desmond said about letting go, and that he believed him. It seems to hit Locke hard and he doesn't go through with his call.
It would have been wasted effort in any event, as Desmond shows up at the police station to turn himself in (as Sawyer and Miles discuss the benefit concert for his father's museum, and whether Sawyer will attend). He's extremely calm and confident as he's put in a cell with Sayid, next to Kate.
Ben is leaving school for the day when Alex spots him; she's concerned about his condition and insists that he allow her and her mother to give him a ride. And hello Danielle, as Ben is also invited for dinner. After dinner, Alex works on her homework (using a plain Bic mechanical pencil, the kind I swear by), and Ben inquires about her father. Danielle says he died when she was two, and that Ben is the closest thing to a father she ever had. Ben is touched by this, and chalks up his tears to the onions. Danielle promises to use less--next time. If you thought Sawyer/Juliet or Sawyer/Charlotte was the oddest coupling in LOST history, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Locke arrives at Jack's office, recounting the series of events, beginning with Oceanic 815, that have pushed them together. When he talks about Desmond's alleged mission, Jack thinks that he's accusing him of orchestrating the hit-and-run. That's not what Locke was going for, but he does think that these things might be happening for a reason. Jack says he's mistaking coincidence for fate, but Locke says that whatever the case may be (that's the only LOST catchphrase recounted in this paragraph that wasn't actually used in their conversation), he's ready to get out of his chair.
At the police station, the inmates are all about to be moved to county. Kate appeals to Sawyer to let her go, as she knows he believes she's innocent, but he says he's a cop and he can't do that. Kate says that he doesn't look like a cop to her.
As the three jailbirds ride in the van, Desmond says it seems like it's time to go. He asks if they will come with him when the van stops; they have to agree to do something, though. Both Sayid and a highly skeptical Kate take him up on his offer, and sure enough, the van stops. Ana-Lucia lets them out, and wants to know where her money is. They're at a large commercial dock (not the picturesque marina we came to know and love in Season Five), and Hurley rolls up in his Hummer to pay Ana Lucia $125,000. He says hi to her, but she doesn't know him. Desmond explains to Hurley that she's not coming with them as she's not ready yet (obviously at this point Hurley is fully with Desmond in the Island awareness camp). Sayid goes with Hurley, while Desmond has a slinky dress for Kate to wear--they're going to a concert.
Ben & Co.
Ben, Richard, and Miles are on their way to the Barracks to retrieve the C4. Ben and Miles trade barbs about their route, the length of time they lived in the Barracks, and how long it's been. Miles goes into his dead zone trance, and Richard explains that this is the spot where he buried Alex. The C4 is in Ben's secret room, where Miles sees the hieroglyphic door and asks, "What's this, a secreter room?" Ben explains that it's where he was told he could summon the Monster--before he realized the Monster was actually summoning him. Ben gets the C4, and asks Richard, the creator of the plan, how much they need. The consensus answer is "enough to blow the plane to hell".
They hear rustling, and go out to find Zoe going through the kitchen cabinets. Widmore emerges shortly as well. He orders Zoe back to the dock to scuttle their gear as Ben demands an explanation for why his nemesis is there. Widmore claims that he was visited by Jacob sometime after the Kahana blew up, and that Jacob convinced him of the error of his ways and tasked him with the mission he's in the process of executing, and that he wired the Ajira plane to blow a long time ago. Zoe walkies back that MiB has arrived on an outrigger, and Widmore orders her to hurry back--they all need to hide.
MiB notes Widmore's gear as he steps onto the dock. Meanwhile, Ben refuses to go in the secret room with Widmore, instead staying outside. Miles goes in, and Alpert stays out, hoping to talk to MiB (given their past relationship), thinking that if he goes with him, he can buy everyone else some time. He ambles out to the center of New Otherton and promptly gets tossed aside by the Monster (presumably killed, but this is not made explicit). MiB (as Locke) sits down with Ben and recruits him to kill some people for him (obviously the candidates, although not spoken). Ben gives up the location of Widmore.
MiB approaches the room, and tells Ben to wait outside--"You don't need to see this". Ben says "I want to see this". MiB confronts Zoe and Widmore (Miles is nowhere to be found), and when MiB asks who Zoe is, Widmore orders her not to talk. MiB promptly slashes her throat, saying that she wasn't of any use if she wasn't going to talk. He says that it's nice to be able to talk without a fence barrier, and demands to know why Widmore came back to the Island. The carrot he offers is that he will not kill Penny when he gets off the Island--otherwise, it's the first thing he'll do. Widmore explains that he brought Desmond back to the Island as a measure of last resort because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism. He won't say any more in the presence of Ben, so MiB asks him to whisper. As he does, he is shot multiple times by Ben, who says "He doesn't get to save his daughter", but no matter--MiB already got the information he needed.
Ben and MiB walk through the jungle. Ben asks why, if he can transform into black smoke when he pleases, does he walk. MiB says he likes to feel his feet on the ground as it reminds him that he was once human. They arrive at the well, and Desmond is gone--there's a rope thrown over the side. Ben says "someone helped him get out", but MiB replies that "someone helped me out". He explains that Widmore told him that Desmond was a failsafe in case all of the candidates were killed, but now he's going to serve as a failsafe for MiB. If MiB cannot kill all of the candidates, Desmond will help him do something he could never do himself--destroy the Island.
The Jacobians
Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley sit on the beach the morning after the sub catastrophe. Jack is stitching up Kate in a reverse scene right out of "Pilot". Kate is thinking about Jin and Sun, particularly about Ji Yeon, and she's taking it hard. She insists that they have to kill Locke, and Jack agrees. Later, the three other than Jack are staring out at the water as debris comes ashore (and the music from the haunting post-crash scene from "Pilot" is reprised). Jack says they need to get going to find Desmond.
As they trek, Sawyer and Jack talk about the rules, with Jack saying that he doesn't think MiB could kill Desmond himself, with the caveat that "I've been wrong before". Sawyer says, "I killed them, didn't I?". Jack insists that "he killed them", but it doesn't seem to ease Sawyer's mind.
Hurley freezes, seeing young Jacob in the jungle. Kate apparently can't see him, as she asks what he's doing. As she continues on, young Jacob appears right behind Hurley and demands the ashes he took from Ilana's bag--they're his. Hurley forks them over, and the rascal runs away. Hurley gives chase, finding adult Jacob sitting by a fire. Hurley wonders where he was before, but Jacob says he's hear now. The ashes are in the fire, and when they burn up he won't see him again. He suggests that Hurley get his friends, because the end is near.
So all four of them come to see Jacob. Hurley is surprised that the others can see him, but they all confirm that they can. Kate demands answers about why Sayid, Jin, and Sun died--she wants assurance that they didn't die for nothing. Jacob invites them to sit down, and says that one of them needs to take the job by the time the fire burns out.
Jacob explains that he brought them all to the Island to atone for a mistake he made a longtime ago--he's responsible for the Monster. Sawyer is indignant, asking what made him think that he could mess with his life--he was doing just fine. Jacob lays the righteous smackdown, saying "No, you weren't"...in fact, none of you were. They were all flawed like him, searching for something they couldn't find, and they needed this place as much as it needed them. Kate asks why her name was crossed off the cave, and Jacob explains that it was because she became a mother, but she still can choose to take the job if she wishes.
The job is to protect the light at the heart of the Island from the Monster, and do what Jacob couldn't. It was a matter of time before MiB figured out how to kill Jacob, and he's also going to try to kill the remaining candidates. Jacob hopes it's possible to kill him (apparently he doesn't know), and says that this will all end very badly if someone doesn't take the job--everyone will die.
Jack stands up and says that this is what he came to the Island to do. Jacob asks if that was a question, and Jack says no. Jacob's response--"Good...it's time".
Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley watch as Jacob leads Jack to a stream. Sawyer snarks "I thought he had a god complex before", and Hurley says that he's glad it's not him. Jacob tells Jack that the heart of the Island lies beyond the bamboo field where he woke up after the crash. Jack insists there's nothing out there, but Jacob says he'll be able to get there now. Jacob asks Jack for a cup (and for some reason he has one in his bag), says something in Latin, and fills the cup up from the stream. Jack takes the cup and asks how long he has to do this job. Jacob replies--"as long as you can". Jack drinks up, and Jacob says "Now you are like me."
There is a lot to be said about this episode, but I'll save it for my pre-Finale post as I want to get this up and I need some time to ponder. Important chess piece questions are whether Richard is actually dead or not and the whereabouts of Claire, Miles, and Desmond.
It's also worth noting that the final scene of the episode, in which MiB reveals his plan to destroy the Island, very much mirrors the final revelations of the last two penultimate episodes. In "Cabin Fever", Locke announces that Jacob (actually MiB as we now know) told him he has to move the Island. In "Follow the Leader", Locke informs Ben that Ben is going to have to kill Jacob. In all three of these scenes, Locke or the entity using his body makes a dramatic announcement to Ben.
