505 Recap - This Place is Death

For me, the biggest and yet subtle revelation of the Ep was that the Losties still have no idea just how bad The Bad Guys really are/were/will be. I totally believe Ben when he tells Jack and Sun: "What I'm doing is helping you! And if you had any idea what I've had to do to keep you safe, to keep your friends safe, you'd never stop thanking me."
IMO, The Bad Guys shaped the pre-crash lives of our Losties in all their collective misery and loaded them onto Flight 815 in order to use them against Ben’s Good Guy team. Constrained by The Rules, Team Ben protected and rehabilitated the Losties as part of a huge effort to Save The World and 505 showed us a glimpse of the titanic antagonistic forces on and off the Island arrayed against Team Christian/Hawking/Linus.

Recap:
Before Sun and her Gun get out of her car at Slip 23, she gets a phone-call from her daughter and during this call, it suddenly struck me that Sun was already, by that point, ready to abandon Ji-Yeon in pursuit of Vengeance. She was ready to go to jail over the murder of Ben Linus. This explains (to me) why she’d be prepared, by the end of this Ep, to abandon Ji-Yeon and follow Ben back to the Island - back to Jin.
I’m amused at all the LOST-fan speculation that Sun’s real target was Jack. Some times things really are what they seem on this Show. Ben was her Vengeance Target and if Widmore really did send the Gun ‘n Chocolates to Sun in a bid to indirectly kill Ben, he failed again. For now.
As Sun lectures Ben about the three years she’s been nursing her Grudge, we see a boat in the background. The name on the boat is "Illusion". If this Show is a huge Illusion - such as ... "it’s all a dream", I’ll be more than a little, er, annoyed. And yet, the recycling of names, scenarios, sounds, spoken lines and "props" (like one single brand of Scotch) coupled with the Show’s constant references to Altered Mental States like Sleep, Sleep-deprivation, Unconsciousness, Insanity, Lucid Dreams plus Memory Issues ... there’s something that smells fishy to me.
Kate retrieves Aaron from Auntie Sun’s car and stalks off, muttering phrases like: " you guys (including "Jeremy Bentham") are crazy" and drives off in her Volvo - heading "home" no doubt, happy in the knowledge that Lawyer Dan was working for Ben and not Grandma Littleton. I think it’s time for her to meet the Real Bad Guys.
Sayid walks off, saying that he wants "no part in any of this". Except for the Rule about "Informed Consent", I’d say it was time for Team Ben to break out the Elephant Trank Darts. Is Sayid on his way to tell Hugo to stay in jail?
Sun agrees to defer her trigger-pulling until Ben shows her the "proof" that Jin’s alive. En route to St Eloise Church, Ben unleashes the above Honesty Torrent which shuts both Jack and Sun up for the rest of the ride.
Upon arrival at the Church, Ben gives Sun the ring that Jin had previously given to Locke and uses it to achieve the opposite of what Jin had wanted. Ben uses the ring to help persuade Sun to Go Back. That ‘s the problem with letting someone else do your work for you. So ... how did Ben know to have the ring in his pocket? Maybe Jack phoned him. Or maybe he knew telepathically. Or maybe he manifested the ring on the spot.
As they approach the Church, Desmond strolls up and asks: "What are you doing here?" Another priceless Jack/Desmond Miracle Moment.
Note that as soon as Desmond asked Ben: "You’re looking for Faraday’s mother too?" that Ben’s mood instantly became more grim. He knew that Widmore had sent Desmond to LA. Is Penny’s life in dire peril? Let us hope that Ben’s been able to "let go" of his desire for Vengeance.
As we enter the Church, Eloise seems to be prepared to do her magic (or at least start it off) on the Installment Plan. I hope she’s not as evil as she looks at that moment.
Meanwhile, back on the Island:
Jin confirms the date (11/88), but, like Marty McFly, is not thinking four-dimensionally. He somehow believes that "his camp" (complete with helicopter) might exist elsewhere on the Island in 1988. Nuh uh.
After admitting that he couldn’t find "his" camp by following the shoreline, Jin agreed that he could find it from the Radio Tower. Except that Jin was never at the RT, but whatever ...
En route to the Radio Tower, we learn a little more about The Monster. Its first victim of the day was Nadine who was quietly snatched, quietly executed and then placed into some tree branches (a la Seth Norris). After her body fell to the ground, the Monster’s next vic was Montand - who was dragged into a Cerberus Vent by Smokey - who had some new (to us) sounds - a "tapping/hammering" sound plus a roar we haven’t heard before. After dragging Montand into the hole (minus his left arm), we hear a voice - probably of the already-resurrected "Montand" - informing Team Danielle that he’s "hurt" [no shit, Sherlock] and that "it’s gone" [yeah, right]. Sounds like bait in a trap to me. Naturally, Robert plus both of his buddies climb into the hole shortly before the next Whiteout, after which Jin finds himself alone outside the Temple. Alone, except for Montand’s now-aged arm. The Temple is "decorated" by glyphs looking similar to those incised on Ben’s Secret Door, the FDW chamber and displayed on the Swan count-down timer.
The undeniably evil way in which Smokey ripped Montand’s body away from his friends reminded me that S1 Locke had looked into the beautiful white light "eye of The island" and that we’ve seen hints of "White Flashy" in previous Ep’s - such as when WF drove off Black Smokey while it was attacking Juliet and Kate in "Left Behind". It seems to me now as though The Island itself contained/contains two opposing forces - one light and one dark - and that these two opposing forces have similar powers - including the ability to send Lucid Dreams, the ability to resurrect, incarnate and reincarnate living, breathing beings as well as inanimate objects ... and that the Island’s Dark Side might very well be opposed to All Human Life. The fact that "Robert" - "changed" by the Dark Side of The Island - was "willing" to murder an innocent pregnant woman further persuades me that the Dark Side of The Island is evil. The fact that Ben could summon Smokey to harass Team Keamy suggests that Smokey is a tool to be used by either side.
After taking a drink from a jungle leaf, Jin spies a column of Black Smoke - described by 2004 Danielle as a precursor to a Visit from The Others. Jin then finds Danielle’s Beach Camp - which includes Brennan’s violin case, Danielle’s Music Box, a box marked "Explosive" (possibly from the Black Rock) and the fly-blown bodies of Lacombe and Brennan. He hears Danielle: "You're not Robert! You're someone else! That thing changed you!" I’m guessing that she came to the same conclusion about the two Beach Buddies.
from 109 ("Solitary") :
DANIELLE [to Sayid]: You just happened to hear my distress call? I know what you are ... I broadcast from somewhere else. But they control it now
SAYID: They?
DANIELLE: You... and the others like you [Island Changelings]
DANIELLE: Our vessel was 3 days out of Tahiti when our instruments malfunctioned... The ship slammed into rocks, ran aground, the hull breached beyond repair. So, we made camp, dug out this temporary shelter ... Temporary ... Nearly 2 months we survived here, 2 months before --
SAYID: Your distress signal? The message I heard, you said, "It killed them all."
DANIELLE: We were coming back from the Black Rock. It was them. They were the carriers...
DANIELLE: The firing pin has been removed. Robert didn't notice it was missing, either -- when I shot him. It took them, one after the other. I had no choice. They were already lost ... What would have happened if we were rescued? I couldn't let that happen.
from 123 ("Exodus, Part 1") :
DANIELLE: The Black Rock is not far. This is where it all began -- where my team got infected -- where Montand lost his arm.
So ... in Season 1, Danielle believed that her compatriots had been infected near the Black Rock, with a Personality-changing Sickness which they’d contracted from the Others who were "the [disease] carriers" and she believed that "The Monster" was no more than a Security System guarding the Island. In S1, Montand lost his arm near the Black Rock.
In 505, Montand lost his arm under the Temple and Team Danielle did not dig out a Jungle Shelter where they survived for nearly 2 months; instead, Danielle (on her own after the deaths of Nadia and Montand) returned to the Beach after the disaster at The Temple (not the Black Rock)
In 505, Danielle shot Brennan and Lacombe who had "returned" from the Temple as "Changelings" and laid them out side by side but unburied on the beach. She subsequently killed "Robert" after "he" persuaded her to lower her rifle so that he could (try to) shoot her - which proved that she had been right about him too having been "changed" by The Monster.
In 505, Danielle firmly believed in The Monster as much more than a Security System. Judging by the state of Montand’s arm and the state of the two beach corpses, Danielle shot Robert about a month after the Temple Disaster - but before giving birth to Alex.
In the 505 Iteration, she took a few parting rifle shots (all "misses", natch) at Jin before he was snatched away by the Whiteout. Since these two Iterations of the Rousseau Saga are different, we don’t have to worry about whether S1-S4 Danielle "remembered" Jin.
So ... Danielle (after her child’s kidnapping) "goes crazy" and lives alone for 16 years? I doubt it - and hope we get to see a follow-up to the 505 Rousseau events soon.
After the joyful James/Jin reunion and immediately after James clues Jin in on the finer points of Whiteout Time-skipping, Jin bursts out with some Korean and asks Charlotte (who’s sitting beside Miles) to translate. James mistakenly thinks that Jin has addressed this request to Miles, who offers: "Uh, he’s Korean; I’m from Encino" Priceless.
In true Lostian fashion, it’s the red-haired white girl who speaks Korean. So ... why did she try to hide her Korean language skill? Some observers (more imaginative than me) have suggested that she was a Paik plant, but that seems now to have been a Red Herring.
As Team Locke marches toward the Orchid, Daniel drops back with Charlotte and asks her if she speaks any other languages. Instead of asking him: "How many languages are there?", she replies: "just Klingon" [yay Star Trek!!] Note that Locke has his Knife plus a Machete. Kinda like wearing a belt plus suspenders.
Shortly after, Daniel offers: "It does make empirical sense that if this started at The Orchid, then that's where it's got to stop. But as far as bringing back the people that left in order to stop these temporal shifts, that's where we leave Science behind." Exit Science, enter Voodoo (or Faith). Allrighty then.
The increasing frequency of the next few Whiteouts plus the increase in the number of nose-bleed victims convinces John, James, Jin, Miles and Juliet of the urgency to do ... something, and Locke’s Plan starts sounding less and less crazy, to the point where everyone but Daniel is willing to abandon Charlotte.
After her terrifying warning to Jin not to permit Sun’s return to the Island because This Place Is Death, she slips into Theresa mode: "Why can't Daddy come with us? ... You know what my mom would say about marrying an American ... I know more about ancient Carthage than Hannibal himself." So ... did Charlotte once consider marrying an American? Possibly an American Physicist?
It seems that Charlotte was a Geronimo Jackson fan like Officer Eddie’s Dad, Commune Mike and John Locke. She also offered an Orchid clue to John: "Look for the well. You’ll find it at The Well" Thanks for that, Red. [I wonder if we’ll ever find out how she knew about The Well]
After the departure of Team Locke, we learn from Charlotte that: "Daniel, I've been here before."
"You've been here before?"
"I grew up here, on the Island. There was this thing, the Dharma Initiative ... and then I moved away with my mom and I never saw my dad again. And when I got back (?) to England, I asked my mom about this place, but she would say that it wasn't real and that I made it up. That's why I became an anthropologist, to find this island again. It's what I've been searching for my whole life." So ... she grew up remembering her early Island life? Based on her joy at finding the Tunisia DI Polar Bear, I’d say yes. Note that her mom (Annie?) told her that her Island Life was an Illusion. Yikes.
So ... Charlotte was born in England, moved to the island for a few years and then moved back to England? Allrighty, then.
"Charlotte, why are you telling me this?"
"Because I remember something now. When I was little, living here, there was this man, this crazy man. He really scared me. He said that if I ever came back I would die." This sounds like a "repressed memory", that she only remembered "now".
"Charlotte, I don't understand."
"Daniel, I think that man was you." Hmmm ... Daniel does/did get around - and he doesn’t "remember" this warning. Yet. Maybe it’s in his journal.
Just before she dies, Daniel tells Charlotte that his mother can help them.
Her Work finally Done, Charlotte dies, and Daniel weeps as he did before being recruited by MA. How did that man know whom to call?
So ... can Mummy resurrect Charlotte?
Meanwhile, back at The Well, James asks what John expects to find at its bottom - a subway? Priceless. Jin extracts a promise from John not to bring Sun back to the Island. He promises. Sun will Come Back anyway. No wonder John had to die.
John kept his word and did not contact Sun. But Ben contacted Locke - who gave him Jin’s ring. Note that the Very Bad Things that John told Jack about include some Red-shirt deaths, the disappearance of Bernard and Rose and some nose-bleeds ... a far cry from the Death of Every Single Living Person.
Note that The Well pre-dates the 1970's DI, that the FDW chamber is at its bottom, that the Whiteout Time Skip Flashes emanate from the bottom of the Well, propagating "upwards", that The Well disappeared at some point before the Orchid construction and that it appears to have a tunnel connection to ... somewhere/somewhen else.
Shortly after John falls a good distance (again), lands on his back (again) and injures his R leg (again), "Christian" strides into view, lights a "Jacob lamp" and tells John that he’s there to help him the rest of the way:
"When you came to see me [Christian = Jacob?] in the cabin, you asked me how to save the island and I told you you had to move it. I said that you had to move it, John."
"But Ben said he knew how to do it. He told me that I had to stay here and lead his people."
"And since when did listening to him get you anywhere worth a damn? [valid point] The good thing is that you're here now. You ready to go?" The implication is that John should have insisted that he be the one to Move The Island. But we all know that Ben had to leave first to Prepare The Way. "Christian" is still manipulating John (in a Good way, I think)
"I don't know what to do once I get there."
"There's a woman living in Los Angeles. Once you get all of your friends together, and it must be all of them, everyone who left [does Ji-Yeon count?] and once you've persuaded them to join you, this woman will tell you exactly how to come back."
"Who is she?"
"Her name is Eloise Hawking." Jacob/Christian/The Island/Richard/Ben and maybe Widmore are all on the Same Team.
"What if I can only convince some of them to come back?"
"I believe in you, John. You can do this." It’s all about Motivation.
"Richard said I was going to die."
"I suppose that's why they call it a sacrifice."
"Alright. I'm ready." This Messianic willingness to die for the Greater Good marks John as a worthy Leader AND (I think) marks Team Jacob/Hawking/Linus as Good Guys.
"Good. Now on the other side of this column, here, is a wheel that's slipped off its axis. And all you have to do is give it a little push."
Locke tries to get up. "Can you help me up?"
"No. Sorry, I can't." [John Locke = A Moth]
Locke uses the wall to pull himself up. He sees the wheel oscillating - the Time Skipping Effect of which is presumably "magnified" Outside - plus some flashes coming from behind the wall. It would appear that the other side of the wall is the Cold Side.
"Good luck, John," Christian says.
Locke goes to the wheel and pulls it. As the flash of light comes, Christian says, "Say hello to my son."
"Who's your son?" Locke says.
Cut to Christian’s son, with Sun.
So ... after John "stabilised" the Unfrozen Donkey Wheel, I’m guessing that the Island Flashes stopped (?) while Team Ford and Family Richard and the Other Others await the return of The Six ++ (?)
Note that John failed to convince any of The Six to Go Back. Did he actually commit suicide (all depressed over his failure?) as reported in the newspaper? Or was he murdered by The Bad Guys? For St John to qualify for legitimate membership in the Messiah Club, it would have to be Murder, I think.