I’ve been sitting here for over an hour, wondering how and where to start this recap, but I have no idea. So, I’ll just say how awesome I thought it was that Hurley had Boone attack Shannon so that Sayid would save her and remember. It was a nice way to get Boone back into the story.

I think I’m going to start at the end. Once Desmond’s work was done and everyone remembered their lives and who they were to each other, they all congregated at the church where Christian’s funeral would be. Jack was the last one to remember, which he did by touching his father’s coffin. He then opened the coffin to find that his father wasn’t in it, but standing behind him. At this point, Christian explained to Jack that they were together because Jack was dead, and so was everyone else in the (multi-denominational) church. Christian explained that some died before him and some died well after him.

Up until this point I was thinking that maybe some of the things I’d read were correct, and perhaps the island WAS the Holy Grail. And maybe it is, but after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that the island and everything that occurred there was real, the alterna-sideways-verse was purgatory, and our Lost souls just needed to be reminded that it was time to go home to their gods, together, led by their christian shepherd.

On the island, Jack and Locke watched Desmond descend into the cavern toward the source of the light. Desmond saw that the light was coming from a hole in the middle of a pool of water, blocked by a huge wedge of stone. Desmond removed the stone and the light went out, harming Desmond but not killing him. This caused the island to start heaving and shearing into the ocean. It also caused both Jack and NotLocke to become mortal and able to kill each other. Which they did, but NotLocke died first.

Jack sent everyone to go find the plane that Lapidus, Miles and Richard repaired. Richard got his first grey hair, realized he was mortal and decided that he DID want to live out the rest of his life. Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Richard and Lapidus safely made it off the island, where presumably Kate would help Claire care for Aaron.

Hurley and Ben stayed behind. Jack insisted he go down into the cavern and try to reverse what Desmond had done, now that the MIB was dead and gone. He knew he wouldn’t survive this, so he made Hurley the island’s guardian. Once in the cavern, Jack found Desmond and tied him to the rope. He then put the giant stone back into its place in the centre of the pool and the light returned. Hurley and Ben, who assumed Desmond was dead, thought they were pulling Jack back up. When he realized what had happened, Hurley asked Ben to help him keep the island safe, which Ben was honoured to do. Ben then suggested that Desmond leave the island and return to his family. Hurley pointed out that people couldn’t leave the island and Ben told him that just because that’s how Jacob ran things, doesn’t mean that’s how Hurley had to run them. Presumably Desmond eventually makes it home to Penny and his son.

I loved the episode. I don’t know how I feel necessarily about their choices for how the story played out, but I really enjoyed the finale as it stood. I loved watching the last of the group make their purgatorial connections to each other, and I liked the way they all moved on to the next stage of existence with each other.

Thanks to Soosan for this link.

Answers were promised and answers were delivered! Our Final Four were granted a visit by Jacob via his own ashes. He had a limited time to explain himself to everyone…by the time the campfire burned out, a new guardian for the island needed to be established. Jacob explained that the MIB Smokey Locke Monster wanted to get off the island and if he did, it would be really, really bad. It was Jacob’s job to keep him from doing that but in case he failed, he needed to draw a replacement to the island. He chose his candidates because their lives weren’t going so well, he said, but how true is that? (We did see him putting Kate and Sawyer on the paths to ruin as children in a previous episode.)

Kate questioned why her name was crossed off The List and learned it was because she had become a mother. But then Jacob kind of made the whole selection process (at least, I assumed the entire season WAS a selection process) kind of moot by telling her it was just a chalk mark on a cave wall, that the job was hers if she wanted it. (She didn’t.)

The off-island story this week was fun as Desmond’s plan started bringing the Oceanic passengers together. First he called Jack and pretended to be the airline with news of Christian’s remains. He then got himself arrested after beating up – hence triggering – Ben, who triggered Locke, who triggered Jack, who was finding random wounds on his body before having breakfast with his son and his newfound pregnant sister, Claire. Desmond united with Kate and Sayid in jail just in time for the three of them to be transported. During the ride in the van, Desmond offered to set them free if they promised to do one thing for him, which Sayid thought was hilarious and Kate thought was just nuts. They both agreed anyway. Soon, the van stopped and Officer Ana Lucia let them out and unlocked their handcuffs. Super rich and awesome Hurley then arrived with the payoff for Ana Lucia who left because according to Desmond, she wasn’t quite ready yet.

On the island, Jack accepted Jacob’s request (although I thought it was going to be Sawyer) and the two of them went for a walk, to the “heart” of the island. Jacob perfomed a ritual at the edge of the creek and gave Jack a cup of water to drink to transform him into an immortal before they continued on, telling him that now Jack is like him and can reach parts of the island he couldn’t before.

Discuss!

An open LOST thread until Maggie can put up her full recap. I loved this episode, by the way.

Last week’s reunion of Sun and Jin was literally short-lived, as was Sayid’s redemption. They, as well as Jack, Kate, Lapidus, Sawyer and Hurley made it to Widmore’s submarine only to find out that Locke had planted explosives (found by Locke in the Ajira plane) in Jack’s bag. Jack, recalling his experience with Richard in the Black Rock, insisted that the bomb would not kill them because Locke can’t kill them with his own hand. Sawyer yanked the wires out of the bomb which then started to count down even faster. Sayid grabbed the bomb, told Jack he was “the one” and that Desmond was down the well alive and probably very important. Then he ran to the other end of the submarine and blew himself into oblivion.

The explosion caused Sun to be pinned, the sub filled with water and in the end, Jin and Sun died together. The rest of the group was devastated. Claire, on the dock with Locke, freaked out when she realized the submarine had sunk. Locke assured her that not everyone was dead, and then walked away, saying he was going to finish what he started.

In our other timeline, Dr. Jack spoke with Locke and told him he thinks he can give him a chance to walk again. Locke insisted not but wouldn’t say why. Jack poked around for details but finally learned the truth from Locke himself: On his first flight with his new pilot’s license, Locke crashed his plane which resulted in his paralysis and the complete impairment of his passenger’s higher brain functions, the passenger being his father. Locke turned down Jack’s offer to help out of guilt.

Fantastic show last night! Listening to the Man in Black, while wearing Locke’s face, say that Locke was fool enough to believe he was there for a reason was like a huge slap in the face. I was stunned. Of course, I still believe Locke was there for a reason; he was touched by Jacob as a possible candidate, right? I thought back to the beginning of the show, when Locke seemed to be the only one who could commune with the Smoke Monster and live to tell about it. Perhaps the MIB had Locke marked from the beginning.

Sorry for the late recap, I know everyone is dying to discuss everything. So much happened, let’s see if I can cover the most important points. We were left off with an unconcious Sun, Jack deciding to trust Hurley, and Desmond horrifically mowing Locke down with his car.

Ben rode in the ambulance with Locke, saying he got a good look at the driver. Sun was also being rushed to the hospital, for her gunshot injury. It so happened that they were being pushed into the ER right next to each other, and Sun reacted immediately upon seeing Locke’s face. She started yelling, “No, no!”

On the island, Jack had his conversation with the Man. He learned that the MIB had repurposed Christian Sheppard’s body. The Man explained how he had acquired Locke’s body. Afterward, Jack spoke with Claire who was very glad to see him. They both know they’re related, so Claire was really happy Jack had decided to join them. When Jack insisted he’d made no choice yet, Claire responded with a very insightful, “You decided to join him the moment you let him speak to you. Just like the rest of us.” Whatever the laws of the island, both the MIB and Jacob had power over whomever they spoke to…Dogan knew this; when he gave Sayid the knife with which to kill the MIB in Locke’s body, he said, “If he speaks to you, it’s already too late.” The MIB said it himself when Richard was brought to the island, when he sent Richard to kill Jacob.

Zoe, under Widmore, approached notLocke’s camp and announced that notLocke had stolen something from them and if they don’t get it back, they will blow everyone to smithereens. This thing notLocke stole, he’d thrown down the well…it was Desmond, and Desmond was still alive. Once Zoe was gone, notLocke handed Zombie Sayid a gun and told him to go and make sure Desmond was dead. Sayid went to the well, had a brief conversation with Desmond where we learned that in return for his service, Sayid was told he would get Nadia back, alive. Desmond questioned him, and the scene ended. Later, when Sayid returned to camp, he told Locke he’d done the job, but I’m not sure he was telling the truth.

Desmond, in the alterna-verse, was still “showing” things to people. He found Claire about to enter an adoption agency and offered her some free legal advice from his lawyer friend, whose office was on the same floor as the adoption agency. The lawyer? Ilana. Apparently somone’s been looking for Claire, so Ilana took Claire into the office to explain. Jack and his son, who are starting to get along and bond, showed up at the office to meet Claire. He learned he was Claire’s brother, but then was immediately paged for emergency surgery. “Prep him,” he said on the phone. Locke.

Jack entered the operating area and, since in this reality he is a masterful surgeon, decided he’d be able to help Locke after looking at some images. In the OR, Jack saw Locke’s face and recognized him from the plane.

Back to the island. Sawyer James LaFleur Ford approached Jack and explained to him the plan he had about getting away from the group and heading to the other island, to take Widmore’s sub home. He told Jack to bring Hurley, Sun and Lapidus, no one else. He insisted that if Jack tried to bring Claire, she would not be welcome, because she tried to kill Kate previously. Jack struggled with this, but followed the plan anyway. The group met Sawyer and Kate at the sailboat, but they were followed by Claire who mentioned earlier that she already had abandonment issues. She was angry, but then Kate convinced her to come on the boat regardless of Sawyer. They set sail but soon afterward, Jack decided things didn’t feel right and he wanted to go back. He thought that perhaps REFUSING to leave the island could be the right thing to do. Sawyer makes him get off the boat, so he swims to shore and is met immediately by Locke.

The sailboat made it to the shore of the other island, where Sun glimpsed Jin walking up on the hill. They ran to each other, I cried, then Jin said the worst piece of dialogue in the history of television and I wound up laughing hysterically. Soon after their reunion, Widmore’s people were informed that there’s been a change of plans, and our group is held at gunpoint again. Zoe then gave the order to bomb the crap out of the island, to kill Locke, I assume. Locke and Jack survive.

Okay, what’s left? Jim Ford of the local Po Po brought Kate in after recognizing her from the plane. After a bit of banter, Kate modifies her situation by letting Officer Jim Ford know that she thinks he’s trying to keep his trip to Aus. a secret…that it was something the he probably didn’t want the feds to know about. Soon after that, Jim and Miles captured Sayid as he was trying to escape from Nadia’s house.

Discuss! Oh wait! In the alterna-verse, after Sun’s surgery, Jin told her that she was okay and so was the baby. They were away from Sun’s father and free.

In the alterna-timeline, Desmond is looking people up from the Flight 815 manifest in order to “show them” what he and Daniel and Charlie have discovered…a sort of memory of another life. This week it was Hurley’s turn; to make a long story short, Desmond convinces Hurley to investigate a chance meeting with a girl from a mental home.

On the island, Hurley is mourning Libby and wondering why she doesn’t visit him as so many of the dead do. In his alternative reality, it’s Libby who has “remembered” her alternative life with Hurley, and up until now that belief has made her feel as though she’s crazy. Once they kiss, Hurley remembers her, too. Desmond, watching them from his car, happy and satisfied, goes off on his next (self-appointed, I’m assuming?) mission…he runs down John Locke in the street with his car, wheelchair and all.

In present island time, Iliana pulls an Arzt and blows herself up with dynamite from the Black Rock. Ghost Michael speaks to Hurley and tells him to prevent the group from destroying the Aljira plane, which he does by causing the entire Black Rock to explode. Next, Hurley fulfills the next step of Michael’s instructions, which were to go and see notLocke, so they do. Not suprisingly, notLocke is expecting them. In the meantime, notLocke pays a visit to Desmond, whom Sayid kidnapped from Widmore. NotLocke and Desmond go for a walk to a well, and have a conversation about the magnetic energy below the surface. Suddenly he grabs Desmond by the neck and throws him down into the well. I wasn’t expecting that, but then again I do keep forgetting that Locke is the Man in Black.

Okay, so…who’s the kid? Speculations?

Let’s get this party started.

I’m about to fail you all with my lack of recapping skills today. Yesterday’s episode blew my mind. For the first time this season there has been some communication between Island Life and the alternate reality, never-been-on-the-island experience. Because Desmond and Daniel still have their “constant” connection.

Last we saw Desmond, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but he was delivering his message to “Mrs. Faraday,” Daniel’s mother. She was expecting it, and when Desmond found out everyone was trying to get back to the island, he said some clean version of “Fuck this noise, I am outta here!” As it turns out, you can’t walk away from your destiny, oh no no no!

Again, I can’t quite recall if we ever actually saw Widmore kidnap Desmond. I recall a scene with poor Ben Linus at the docs, but his mission was to kill Penny and he failed. I just cannot remember. I’m going to have to read the whole Lostpedia now. Anyway, Desmond finds himself being treated at a makeshift infirmary and that Widmore is his captor. Apparently he is meant to take a “trip;” the other scientists (Widmore’s people) are setting up a procedure that doesn’t look like it was quite ready to test on humans considering the last guy caught in it fried to death. But what the hell…Desmond is special. Let’s have him have a go! But before he goes, let’s give him some serious pressure: If he doesn’t succeed in whatever he’s meant to do, the world as he, we, everyone knows it, will be gone. So, they lock Desmond in the Room That Might Kill You, and turn on The Machine That Might Kill You. Desmond made sounds that sounded like it was indeed killing him, but instead, his consciousness travelled to the Also-Place, the current alternate reality path everyone seems to be part of had the plane not crashed.

In this reality, Desmond and Charles Widmore are best of friends and have a special professional relationship. They are really buddy-buddy. Desmond is loyal to Widmore, so he’s hired to babysit Charlie of Driveshaft because the band is supposed to play for his wife’s party. Yet, Mr. Heroin Man is a wee bit unpredictable and Desmond will be necessary to keep him in line until the show.

Charlie has been experiencing some things, seeing things, and wants to show Desmond what he means. He talks about finding love…and it sounds like he’s talking about Claire, from the other reality. So he grabs the wheel of Desmond’s car and drives them right into the drink. Desmond is reminded immediately of what happened at the Looking Glass Station. Charlie is sitting in the front seat of the car, completely submerged, and Desmond imagines/sees the words, “Not Penny’s Boat.” He’s confused, but he manages to save Charlie (ah, finally!). In the hospital after the crash, Desmond receives an MRI during which his mind is filled with memories and images of Penny…a woman he doesn’t know. However, it’s so powerful that he wants to see Charlie and learn more. The staff won’t help him but here comes Charlie, flying by like a banshee in a peek-a-boo hospital gown. Desmond tries to subdue him, but Charlie convinces him the important part of their experience is that they’ve “felt it,” and he suggests Desmond start looking for Penny.

Before he can do that, he has to report back to work. There Widmore is acting like a typical rich man, saying Desmond’s failed him. It was important for that band to play with their musician son, and now it’s Desmond that will have to deal with Mrs. Widmore’s disappointment. O hai! Eloise Faraday is now Mrs. Widmore. She forgives Desmond his inability to keep Charlie out of trouble, and says no matter. Desmond overhears the name Penny Milton and demands to see the guest list. Mrs. Widmore tells him it’s NOT TIME for him to see that.

Desmond is getting ready to leave the grounds when he’s approached by Daniel, uh, Widmore. They’re talking about love at first site, and Daniel describes Charlotte…he’d seen her at a museum a few weeks ago. He felt instantly in love with her. That night Daniel woke up and wrote something in his notebook, which he showed to a math-whiz friend who declared it to be so advanced that only a person with a lifetime background in physics could have come up with it. Daniel suspects that with these odd half-memories and feelings he’s been having, what if they had completely different lives and that they’ve changed things. Daniel actually suspects he may have set off a nuclear bomb. Daniel asks Desmond why he’s looking for Penny, and at this point Desmond has no idea what’s real or what’s memory until Daniel tells him that Penny is his half-sister, and will tell him exactly how to find her.

Desmond finds Penny working out by running stairs in a sports field. He approaches, meets her and shakes hands. Suddenly he’s awake and back on the island in that crazy machine Widmore put him in. Apparently he was only out for a few minutes. Widmore is apologizing for the force that is necessary, but that it’s so important…Desmond cuts him off. He decided to help as much as he can…because meeting Penny was so impactful for him. Walking back to camp, Sayid shows up and steals Desmond from the WIdmore group.

Desmond comes to, in the sports arena, after having fainted. He wastes no time and asks Penny to spend time with him. She agrees, and then Desmond tells his driver (as he’s still employed by Widmore), to take him to meet Penny later. He also asks if the driver could obtain the Oceanic flight manifest. He says he’s got something to “show them.” It seems as though Desmond is now operating with full consciousness in both realities.

Now I know you all have plenty to say!

Sun tried to fix the situation by going to the bank with one of Keamy’s men (Mikhail from the Dharma communications station) and learned her top secret account had been emptied and closed by her father. Jin wound up locked in the aforementioned restaurant’s freezer by Keamy. He escaped because Sayid found him in there after killing Keamy for his own reasons (his brother’s debt from Sayid’s episode earlier in the season). Jin then rescued Sun from Mikhail, but Sun was shot by Mikhail in the crossfire. She told him she’s pregnant, and that’s all we got.

On the island, Sun refused to follow Locke even though he said Jin was with him. Jin was not, in fact, with him; rather, he was kidnapped by Widmore at around the same time. Widmore told Jin that his plan was to stop Locke from leaving the island, because if he did, everyone they knew and loved would cease to exist. Widmore also showed Jin photos of his wife and daughter – his people had found Sun’s camera in the plane wreckage. He also told Jin that it was time for him to meet “the package…”

..who turns out to be DESMOND!

More stuff happened…discuss in the comments!