Lost's fifth season started this week with the airing of the first two episodes titled Because You Left and The Lie. I've watched the premier twice now and thought I'd write up some of my thoughts. I'll get my review out of the way quickly by saying that I thought these first two episodes were awesome. I did enjoy the first half of the two hour block a little bit more because it dealt more with the mystery of the island and those who were left behind when the Oceanic Six flew away. I'm not going to bother recapping the entirety of these two episodes but I am going to hit the high points.I'd thought we'd pick up right where we left off last season and that's more of less what happened. The first scene of season five doesn't put us right back into the swing of things. It's reminiscent of season two's opening when we see Desmond in the hatch doing his morning routine. This time, we see Pierre Chang (aka Edgar Halliwax, Marvin Candle, etc) going through his morning ritual before heading to the set of the Arrow Station Orientation film. It's here that we learn the Arrow isn't a supply depot as we've been lead to believe but really a military installation where strategists plan out how best to deal with the hostiles. The filming in interrupted by a worker who says that there is a problem at the Orchid. When we arrive at the Orchid station it seems to be under construction and workers are nearing a pocket of energy around the frozen donkey wheel Ben used to move the island last year. Chang has a discussion with the foreman and lays out the framework for this season. We now know that Dharma had time travel projects at the Orchid which were made possible because of the properties of the island as manifested at the site of the Orchid. As the scene wraps up we see Faraday dressed as a Dharma worker in the tunnel below the station. What isn't clear is whether Faraday used to be Dharma back in the day or if there is another explanation. This become more clear as the episode unfolds.
When we last saw Locke he was being welcomed into the Others' group. I think we all knew Locke wouldn't be allowed to live happily ever after with the Others, but I didn't foresee Locke being booted through time right at the moment when he's reached the point he's been working toward for most of the series. Locke does seem to come to terms with what is happening fairly quickly. He sees the AirYemi's beechcraft crash shortly after the Other's disappear when the island moves and yet he isn't hysterical or freaking out. Locke seems more or less aware that he's seeing events reoccur as he reaches the still smoldering plane and is shot by Ethan who nothing of Locke. Could Richard have forewarned Locke before the flash sent Locke back in time? After Locke is shot and flashes forward, Richard shows up with a medical kit to help Locke and it would seem that Locke had told Richard in the past/future what was going on. Richard fills in a few of the important gaps for Locke and sends him on his way (through time) with a compass that Locke is to give back to Richard when they run into each other in another time. I enjoyed the way Locke's story is told, though there are a few points which weren't entirely clear...
If it didn't happen, then it can't happen
Locke and Ethan meet before Ethan and Locke met in season one, does this mean that it DID happen before season one? If so, does Ethan relay this info to Ben and Richard? Did Ethan shrug off this encounter as the island toying with him? I mean, Locke says Ben sent him to be the leader of the Others just before he disappears... who knows.One thing worth noting about Locke and Ethan's encounter is that Locke can hear the flash coming while Ethan don't seem to notice it at all. I think is significant because Desmond seems to acknowledge the flash when Faraday is telling him to go to Oxford. Before Faraday disappears he tells Desmond that the rules don't apply to him, which is confirmed in part by Desmond being able to hear the flash coming while Ethan does not. This all ties in with what we already know about Desmond based on the flashes he has regarding Charlie's death and the displacement of his consciousness after the implosion of the hatch.
But back to Faraday's visit to the hatch... We know this scene takes place after the crash of the smuggler's plane but before the Losties discover the hatch. It's likely that this takes place before the crash of 815, because Desmond put on the HAZMAT suit when he opened the door to the hatch. If 815 had already crashed, Desmond would have already ventured out and killed Kelvin. It's assumed that there is only one yellow suit because Kelvin never allowed Desmond to go outside with him, and if there were two suits I'm sure Desmond would have made the logical argument that he should be allowed to join Kelvin even if it's for less than 108 minutes. So where is Kelvin? Possibly asleep or drunk? Maybe Desmond was just the first one who was able to make it to the door. I guess it doesn't REALLY matter, just making the point that it's possible this took place before Kelvin died. I think these scenes were from 2002 or 2003.
I think this is important because of Locke's flashes. If Locke is jumping through time in parallel with Sawyer, Juliet and the others then everything seems to jive. If Locke and others are in sync it'd mean that the plane crash and Faraday's visit with Desmond happened at the same time, so about 2002ish, that'd give Yemi and the others on the beechcraft about two and a half years to decay, which seems about right to me. But enough about me trying to justify the timeline...
Next time you see me I won't recognize you
I think it's important that Richard gives Locke the compass in order to pass it along to Richard at a later (earlier) time. Richard does this because he knows that Locke eventually meets up with Richard earlier in the island's timeline, at a point when Richard won't recognize Locke. Why wouldn't Richard recognize Locke? Because they haven't met yet... I think this is out indication that Richard isn't some immortal character who shows up at important points in Ben and Locke's lives and then bides his time until he's supposed to show up later. I think this is a clear clue that Richard Alpert is, or will be, able to travel through time in a similar fashion as Locke.Think about it... Sawyer can't meet Desmond because it'd create a paradox under normal (read: Back to the Future) rules. Meeting in the past would change the course of future events (Desmond's future) which are already set because they are past events to those in Sawyer's group. Faraday has already met Desmond in 1996 when Desmond flashed back during The Constant. It's curious why Desmond doesn't really remember Faraday because you'd think he'd remember the guy who explained the concept of constants... I could understand Desmond not remembering meeting Jack at the stadium at first... but Faraday would have been more memorable even after five or six years. Hopefully there will be more explanation coming. Maybe this has something to do with Desmond being special and how the rules don't apply to him. Perhaps his consciousness has a separate timeline is follows which is linear to the events we see in the show, literally, and not linear in the sense of time. So think of Desmond's consciousness traveling along a path from episode one to episode two and so on, rather than traveling from 1996 to 1997 and so on. This would mean the Desmond that spoke with Faraday in this week's episode wouldn't know Dan Faraday directly because he hasn't triggered the failsafe and flown off the island which means no flashes yet and no constant. If Desmond had a standard episodic consciousness stream he would have remembered Faraday from 1996 when he came knocking on the hatch door. Desmond would have also remembered Faraday's hatch visit as soon as he saw Faraday last season before hopping on the helicopter. If you buy that Desmond's consciousness is episodically linear rather than traditionally linear, you can understand how his dream was really a memory. Again, if Desmond had a normal consciousness, why would it have taken him three plus years to remember Faraday telling him to go to Oxford?
Back to Richard Alpert. I think Richard is similar to Desmond in the sense that the rules don't necessarily apply to him either. If Alpert understands the rules that seem to dictate time in Lost, he's know that Locke couldn't meet anyone he previously didn't meet in our 'regular' timeline. There are a couple possibilities I can think of which would explain this.
First: Richard, like Desmond, is able to "meet new people" at earlier points in time.
Second: Richard really IS immortal and met Locke as a boy, which we saw last season.
The truth about Richard Alpert is probably somewhere in the middle. I don't think the rules apply to Alpert but perhaps his consciousness isn't episodically linear like Desmond but closer to what we traditionally accept. By that I mean, if Locke flashes to the Dharma era, a time when Richard wouldn't know Locke, and then the two of them meet; Alpert's character would then know Locke going forward. So when we saw Alpert in season three, he had memories of meeting Locke even though Locke hadn't gone back in time yet. I'm not sure which explanation is less confusing, but I'm intrigued either way.
You sad, sad little man.