We are not Lost anymore

I forgot for 24 hours that my favorite show was on.  Exquisite writing, touching character development, and excellent plot premise--each propelling the series forward, just like the good ol' days.

I'll say it with even more emphasis than I did last week.  Wow.

**SPOILER ALERT!** Read no further if you have not seen Season 5, episode 11.

The fact that the two most humor-driven characters were in the same room arguing in parallel to my own conversation with Aaron about the nature of time had me in hysterics.  When they cut to the scene and you hear Hurley say, "Now let me get this straight..." (God, what a classic line), I jizzed in my pants.

Kate's goodbye moment with Aaron had tears dropping from my eyes, and not just because of the sappy music.  Such an excellent job of building up to it, then going exactly where it always had to, ending just-so.  Answering the question, "Um... if Kate's here, where the hell is Aaron?" that we all knew the answer to, but just couldn't say.

Jack severing the ties to everyone that matters, folding into himself and breaking all of our givens about his character.  I'm really interested to see where he will go from here, and how long he can hold onto being a loveless shell.  He desperately needs a new purpose (which, of course, Juliette clues us in on) and I can't wait to see what it is.

And then there's a quote of mine from an e-mail I sent last week:

And if you think that's a fun spin on things, now start contemplating that Jack is a surgeon, and it's quite possible the most suited to save Ben's life (...again?...).  Now, it means that Ben's motivation for getting Jack back to the island (in order to drop him off during Dharma 1978) is a big fucking deal for Ben, and a VERY calculated move.  It would also explain why he was so blasé about the others coming or not.  It may also mean that Whitmore hasn't got a fucking prayer, because if Ben can remember that much and put all this together, he is quite possibly the "baddest motherfucker in the world".

So close, and yet, so far.

Alpert is some Faustian incarnate of Martha Stewart:  just shove the boy in the temple of fucking doom, crank the dial to "11", and wait for the egg-timer to go off or he has a nice sheen of malevolence about him.  At first, my mind screamed, "Shenanigans!" at such a murderously clever plot clean-up, sealing up all of the cracks in the foundation of the mythos with mystical caulk.  But Alpert's actor pulls it off marvelously with his soft baritone and fierce eyes, letting us know that some shit just got real.

And lastly, Locke watching over the bed like some damned angel of darkness, and speaking to Ben with a smug confidence we have seen in a certain someone before.  The tables have turned, and someone else will now be dealing the cards.

*applauds*

Comments

[Aaron Welsher]

My thoughts exactly, on all counts. So super-awesome.