LOST: Season 5, Episode 2: "The Lie"... ***SPOILERS***

Hey guys,

I figured I'd better get on blogging about LOST while I'm still in the mood. This post will recap Episode 2 of Season 5 entitled "The Lie". I'll insert my theories and opinions within that recap. I'll also go on to explore something I love about the show: the cultural references. Those will include refernces to music, movies, books or any other pop culture gem that the creators of this great show may have touched upon. And who knows? I might even try a new feature... We'll see...

Please don't confuse my spoiler warning at the top. If you're like me, you like to stay away from spoilers about episodes that haven't aired yet. This post WILL NOT contain spoilers of that nature... My spoiler warning is for those who have interest in the show, but haven't seen the episode being reviewed in THIS POST. If you've seen this episode and would like to read a humble viewer's opinions about it, you needn't worry. I won't spoil any future episodes here.

Now then...

"The Lie" begins with a "Three Years Ago" screen similar to that which we saw in Episode 1. We see someone pulling beers from a fridge. (Does anyone know what kind of beer this is? We could start a LOST alcohol aficionado's club... Post a comment, if you know...)

Anyway, the beer-puller turns out to be Frank Lapidus. This is when he's on board the boat that rescues our Oceanic Six. He comes up onto the deck where they're all sitting discussing "THE LIE".

They're deciding on whether or not to tell the truth after they're rescued. Jack is trying to get everyone to go with the story that he's made up to keep everyone remaining back on the island safe from Widmore and whatever else. Hurley is not so keen on this idea. He doesn't want to spend the rest of his life lying. He asks Sayid to back him up. Sayid declines and says that it's better if they lie. Hurley is not happy and says that one day Sayid will need his help. "...I'm tellin' you right now. You're not gettin' it..." are Hurley's words...

We then go to present day off-island time. The first thing we see is Sayid passed out in the passenger seat of a car. We find that Hurley is driving and he's frantic, trying to wake Sayid up. He runs over a trash can at the side of the road and the police sirens go off and he's pulled over.

The cop is Ana Lucia.

She asks Hurley, "What are you doing?" She asks what if she were real? She tells Hurley he needs to pull himself together, get some new clothes, take Sayid to someone he trusts and she tells Hurley that whatever he does, DO NOT GET ARRESTED. She closes with a "Libby says, 'Hi.'". If Ana Lucia hadn't said "What if I were real?", we might assume that she had time-jumped. Could this be a way for the creators to bring deceased characters back to life? If a character could infinitely time-jump, could they ever really meet their demise?

Cut to LOST on-screen.

Alright, back from commercial break, we cut back to the beach where Bernard and Rose are trying to start a fire. Frogurt comes up and asks "Who cares about fire?" as Sawyer scores (finally, sorry ladies) a shirt.

Sawyer walks to Juliet. He says that he thought that they might have lost the raft that Juliet's fiddling with in the time-jump. She says that whatever was with them is along for the ride... Important statement? I guess we'll see...

Farraday comes walking back to the beach. After talking with Charlotte, Miles, Juliet and Sawyer, he takes some gadget out of his pack and says that he needs to determine a new bearing and he needs to figure out where they are... in time.

Miles walks off and says that he's going after food.

Back to Hurley and Sayid. He's still trying to wake Sayid saying that he can't do this on his own. After lifting some money from a zonked-out Sayid, Hurley promises that he'll pay him back and heads into a convenience store. This is where he buys the soon to be legendary "I *heart* my Shih-Tzu" T-shirt. (Anybody know where I can buy one of these?)

The girl behind the counter recognizes Hurley, but not as a killer, only as the lottery winner and the guy who crashed in the plane. She tries to get him to buy another ticket. He tells her to keep the change and hauls it out of there.

As Sayid and Hurley pull away, Kate and Goober, I mean Aaron, pull into the same gas station. Kate tries to quiet Aaron and pulls out her cell phone, contemplating calling Jack. (By the way, I tried the number. I don't think it reaches anyone. Verizon told me that my number could not be completed as dialed. Sorry, Jack fans...) She reconsiders and closes the phone. A second later it rings. It's a caller from an unknown number. She answers and talks to a friend. "I can't believe it's you," she says. She tells the friend that she'll meet them in a half-hour.

Back to Ben and Jack in the hotel room where Ben says that he's flushed Jack's pills. Jack thanks him and says that he had planned to do just that. Ben tells Jack that Jack's going home. He tells Jack that if there's anything he wants in life to pack it in a suitcase, because Jack's never coming back. "Good," Jack replies... Jack asks Ben where he'll be. He says that he needs to get Locke's body somewhere safe. Jack says something like "He's dead, isn't he?" Ben gives no reply and says that he'll see Jack in six hours.

Lloyd theory insert: Though I'm not alone in this by any means, I don't think Locke is dead. I discussed what I think might be going on in last episode's post. I think Locke is suspended in some way. His body not active while his consciousness is active somewhere else. C'mon, can Locke really be dead? After all we've been through with the character: The miraculous recovery of his legs, the whole (and multiple) ordeal(s) with his father... Can he really just be dead now? Ben's lack of a reply almost confirms this.

Cut to Hurley's dad making a bizarre sort of sandwich and tuning in to Expose (remember Nikki and Paolo?). Hurley knocks on the door with an unconscious Sayid draped over his shoulders. "Hey, Dad..."

Hurley recounts the ambush of himself and Sayid to his father. The phone rings. It's the police. They're looking for Hurley in connection with the murder at the mental institution where he's fled from. Hurley's dad agrees to cover for him, but says that afterwards Hurley better tell him the truth. Hurley's dad pulls off the cover to the police. He asks Hurley if he's killed three people, as the police said. Hruley says that Sayid did it. His dad says that they need to get Sayid to a hospital (Sayid's still passed out from the tranquilizer darts in the ambush). Hurley says that they can't do that. They're being chased. After some more discussion Hurley says that he knows what to do.

We go to Kate and Aaron. She lets "Goober" (Aaron) press 3-1 in an elevator to go to the top floor. The friend she got the call from turns out to be Sun.

We go back to Ben. He's entering a butcher shop. The woman behind the counter greets Ben. He calls her "Jill" and they talk about what we assume is Locke's body and keeping it safe. Ben asks if Gabriel and Jeffrey have checked in yet. (WHO?)Jill says that everything's moving right on schedule. Jill asks about Jack and makes a snide comment about Jack using pills. AND THEN: We actually see Ben sticking up for Jack, telling Jill to cut him some slack. He's been through a lot.

My, how things have changed! The Ben we used to know would have never vouched for Jack! Or has he really had the survivors' best interests at heart the whole time and been forced to play another role? Hmmmm...

Ben tells Jill she needs to keep Locke's body safe or everything that they're about to do won't matter at all.

Back to the beach with Rose, Bernard, and Frogurt. They're still trying to make fire.

Farraday and Charlotte share some fruit. She says she can't shake the headache that she has. Farraday says that he's sure she'll be OK. She says it's not just the headache. She's been trying to remember her mom's maiden name and she can't. She asks Farraday if he knows what's happening to her. Right on cue, someone yells, "DINNER!"

Miles has returned with a boar for supper. When asked he says that he just found it. He needs a knife. Frogurt says something like "Oh yeah, the knife's over there. Right next to the Cuisinart!" (HA! At least he got a good line in before he dies.)

Then it happens. Just as Frogurt is complaining that they can't even make fire, he gets a flaming arrow to the chest. This is the beginning of an all out flaming arrow attack on those at the beach. Sawyer, Juliet, Charlotte, Farraday, Rose, Bernard and the log-carrying guys all run in terror as Frogurt meets death by heartburn... Several minor characters (nameless extras, log-carrying guys) also meet their demise by flaming arrow.

Back to Hurley's parents' house. He peers out the window at the police stake-out. Hurley's dad asks if he's crazy. He says he has a really good reason for lying to his father. Hurley's mom comes in and asks why there is a dead Pakistani on her couch. Hurley says that he (Sayid) is not dead, just unconscious. Hurley's mom says that he's not breathing. We find that Sayid is not dead, but very knocked out. Barely breathing. Hurley's mom scolds him and asks if he knows what they are saying about him on the news. He tells her he knows as Hurley's dad departs in a vehicle with Sayid's body hidden in the back.

Back to Kate and Sun. They talk about Sun's daughter and Aaron. Kate tells Sun about the lawyers from last episode asking about the relationship between her and Aaron. Sun says that Kate needs to "take care" of the lawyers. Kate asks, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

Does Kate really have the nerve to ask that after killing her "father", some guys at a bank for toy plane, and some others that she's snuffed out along the way? C'mon, KATE!

Sun says that she thinks Kate is the kind of person who can make the tough decisions, you know: like when she left Sun's husband to die on the freighter? She says she doesn't blame Kate for the whole Jin thing and asks how Jack is...

We then go off to Hurley's dad and Jack walking through a parking garage. After some squabbling, Jack says he's going to take Sayid to a hospital, despite Hurley's dad relaying his son's cornecern for Sayid's safety. Jack says he's going to do what's best for Sayid. Hurley's dad makes Jack promise to stay away from Hurley after this exchange is done.

We see an ambulance pulling into the hospital and Jack driving in beside it. A little trick, because we know that Jack's got Sayid in the back of his Jeep (sneaky!). Jack speaks with Ben on the phone and tells him that he's got Sayid.

We go back to Hurley's parents' house and Hurley's mom is questioning him about Sayid. She asks him what has happened. Why would anyone want to hurt him? What's going on? Hurley then recaps basically the first four seasons of LOST from his point-of-view. His mother says that she believes him. She doesn't understand him, but she believes him. Hurley says that bad stuff is happening to them now because they should not have lied.

We go to Sawyer and Juliet walking through the jungle. Sawyer runs something into his foot while walking. He removes it. They commence. They notice people walking through the jungle. They hide, but are found. A man screams, "What are you doing on our island?"

Cut to Jack working on Sayid in a hospital. Sayid finally violently awakes and asks where Hurley is. Jack says that he's at his parents' house. Sayid asks, "Does anyone else know he's there?"

Cut back to Hurley's parents house where he is preparing a Hot Pocket. Ben comes up behind and startles Hurley. Hurley throws the Hot Pocket at him (Instant classic!). Ben tries to convince Hurley to come with him, but Hurley remembers that Sayid told him (last episode) to do the opposite of whatever Ben says. The police are still staking out Hurley's parents' house. He runs outside and screams, "I'm a murderer! I killed four people. Three people. However many people are dead, I killed 'em." He does this to escape Ben. Ben stands on the front porch of Hurley's parents house bewildered. The police take Hurley into custody.

Back to Sawyer and Juliet. "I'm going to make this quite simple for you," the man holding the rifle says. "You're going to tell me what you're doing, how many of you there are and how you got here." After threating by the men on Juliet's hands being cut off and a scuffle, the men are taken out by an unseen force... A knife finds its way into the back of the last attacker. It's the knife of John Locke. He greets Sawyer and Juliet. "Nice to see ya."

Who were these attackers? Were they the same people who launched the flaming arrow attack? They have on what look to be old school military uniforms. Are they the Dharma Initiative time-jumped to now? Are they Rousseau's crew? Are they the Others from the past? The future?

I think I've got to place my wager on the orignal Dharma Initiative. For them to be Rousseau's crew doesn't seen quite right and the Others always have such a homely, rag-tag look about them. Not at all like these fellows who are decked out in uniforms...

Cut to a strange room with a person in a cloak writing on a huge chalkboard, looking all druid-like. The person appears to be doing calculations. Pendulums are scathing lines on map laid out on the floor and this person walks to a very old computer (similar to the one in the original hatch, Apple II-like) and punches some keys. The person ascends a staircase up to a room where Benjamin Linus is lighting candles. He asks, "Any luck?" She says, "Yes." Ben says that he's having difficulties. The woman turns out to be Mrs. Hawking. Remember the lady who wouldn't sell Desmond the ring all those episodes ago?

She tells Ben that he's "only got seventy hours". He says that he's lost [Hurley]. He needs more time. She tells him that seventy hours is it. Ben asks her "What if I can't get them all to come back?" Mrs. Hawking says, "Then God help us all..."

THUD.

That's the end.

There it is. My recap sprinked with my theories and opinions... Now on to the other part...

CULTURAL REFERENCES

Among multiple cultural references in this episode, I'm only going to focus on a few. The others are either a stretch or refer to things other than music, movies, and books (which is what I get off on). Anyway...

-"Dream Police" by Cheap Trick is playing in the convenience store where Hurley buys the "I *HEART* my Shih-Tzu" shirt.

-Neil Frogurt wearing a red shirt may be a reference to Star Trek. The red shirted crew on Star Trek were usually expendable characters and we all saw what happened to poor Frogurt.

-Hurley references "The Godfather" (book or film, take your pick) whan he's talking with his dad about taking Sayid to the hospital.



There you go, guys. Another one in the books. I've got to again thank Ryan and Jen from "The Transmission", Jay and Jack from "The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack", and Ralph and Ben from "The Dharmalars". They are there for us LOST fans each week and they give us a sounding board to what our fellow LOST fans all over the globe are thinking.

Also, thanks again to Lostpedia. Another invaluable LOST resource.

It's getting late and I'm beginning not to be able to focus on the screen, so I'll see you guys after next episode for more LOST stuff and any ol' time for anything else I might Llog. (That's right, it's a verb now).

In the meantime, be good to each other...

As always: Thanks for reading... and peace...