Episode 508 "LaFleur" recap and comments

The Well - John is in the FDW chamber and Team James are up top. James has the rope in his hands and The Well hasn’t been built yet.

But The Statue has. From the back, it looks Egyptian. It may be a Lion-Man, possibly a Sphinx-Man - including four toes like The Sphinx. He has a crown on his head and in each dangling hand, he holds a large Ankh (one dark and one light?). Who knew that The Orchid was within a few hundred yards of the Island’s West Coast?
According to Lostpedia: "The Egyptian [Ankh] hieroglyph is a symbol of eternal life and fertility".
Eternal Life - something wealthy old men might like to enjoy
Fertility - or its opposite - seems to be an Island Issue - or at least a Ben Issue
So - what is it with the DI and Egypt? My best guess is that it has to do with the Egyptians’ obsession with death, resurrection and rebirth.

After the Whiteout Time Flash during which John worm-holed to Tunisia, Team James is sent to 1974, and The Well has reappeared. In a heroic effort to rescue Locke, James rushes over, grabs the rope and jumps in - but The Well has been filled in with rocks and dirt. Maybe the ancient Statue-era rope leading into the ground persuaded Someone to dig a somewhat less ancient Well in that location. And 1974 Daniel knows that something at its bottom controls Island Time Travel. The Orchid has not yet (1974) been built.
The Last Flash seemed "different" to the members of Team James - more intense ("like a volcano") and yet the headaches and the nosebleeds are gone. Note that by embracing his Destiny and Leaving the Island - even on pain of death - that John has saved the lives of the Left-Behinders. Note the "volcano" reference. I think we’re in for a Volcanic Eruption at some point in the future. Note that Ben’s dire warning about the "death of every single living person" has not occurred. Yet.

A few minutes later, they spot Daniel, mumbling to himself: "I’m not gonna do it. I’m not gonna tell her " [never to return] Daniel will once again Try to Change The Past/Present/Future. It seems that during the Final Flash, Charlotte’s body stayed behind in the Statue Era and Daniel announces that "whenever we are now, we’re here for good" So to speak.

After James decides to lead his friends back to Lostie Beach, he and Juliet share A Moment, during which James thanks Juliet for "getting his back". It’s another step on the way to Love. Awww.

A few moments later, we hear two gun-shots, followed by the screams and pleadings of a Woman: " Oh God ... no, no, no ... we didn’t mean anything." The woman is Amy. Her dead husband is Paul. It appears that they were picnicking in Hostile Territory, contrary to the Truce Terms. The two "Hostiles" are wearing Hillbilly clothes. One of them has tattoos on his upper arm. Having killed Paul, it appears they intend to capture Amy and bring her to Family Richard with a bag over her head looking very similar to the bags used by Family Ben 30 years later
Miles wants to avoid involvement, confirming with Daniel that "we don’t get involved, right?" and Daniel replies that it doesn’t matter, that "whatever happened, happened", which in this case includes Sawyer and Juliet’s TT-enabled intervention. Confirming that Juliet’s still got his back (answer: "absolutely"), J&J approach the picnic scene. When James yells at Hostile #1 to "drop the gun", he doesn’t. He aims it at James and is killed by Hawkeye Juliet before James can pull his trigger - which he does when Hostile #2 aims at him. At that point, "it’s over" and Amy is safe.

When Jin finds a walkie-talkie on one of the corpses, James announces that they "need to go". Amy, thinking that it might be possible to hide the evidence of her Transgression, insists that The Hostiles must be buried and that Paul’s body must be brought along - a task for which Jin volunteers.
When Amy mentioned The Truce, my first thought was the Truce between Mikhail and the group he called "The Hostiles". The Truce terms would appear to include a requirement whereby DI members must stay inside the Sonic Fence and within close proximity to their Stations and roads.
When she insisted that Paul’s body be brought back to The Barracks, my first thought was that dead bodies are important on the Island - fresh or not, the obvious implication being that there are lots of reanimated corpses running around the place.

As Team James accompanied Amy back to The Barracks, James instructs his friends: "Alright, listen up. When we get there, there’s going to be a lot of questions. So just keep your mouth shut and let me to the talking."
Miles asks: "You really think that you can convince them we were in a boat wreck?"
"I'm a professional. I used to lie for a living." It is no coincidence that James is a Good Liar. And its no coincidence that The Island sent Team James into 1974. They have Work to do - and they’ve been "here" before - only this time, they remember the Future/Past.

By the time they reach the Sonic Fence, Amy has begun to suspect that Team James might be lying. Juliet warns Dan not to walk between the pylons - and James instructs Amy to turn the Fence off and to step through it first - which she does. We hear the "zing" of the stun-level frequency she’s set, but Team James does not. As they all stupidly cross together, James says: "Going forward, we should all do a better job of trusting ..." as they all fall down together, the Con-Man having been conned again.

As James wakes up, Horace asks him: "How’s your head?" James: "It hurts". Three years later, this exact same scene occurs, but with the roles reversed. After Horace thanks James for saving Amy’s life, he says:
"There are hostile indigenous people on this island and we don't get along with them. So, why don't you tell me who the hell you are."
"My name is James LaFleur. You can call me Jim."
"How'd you get to the island, Jim?"
"If my friends are safe, why are you asking me all the questions?"
"They told me I need to talk you. That you're the boat captain."
"We got caught in a storm and shipwrecked. We must have hit the reef. Thankfully, we washed up on shore."
"What kind of ship?"
"Salvage vessel. We were searching for a famous lost wreck. It's an old slaver out of Portsmouth, England, called The Black Rock. You ever heard of her?" How could James possibly have known that the Black Rock sailed out of Portsmouth? My best guess - a memory fragment from a Past Life.

Be that as it may, Horace doesn’t really believe James’ story, but concludes that his group is harmless and no more than a temporary problem, since he plans to ship them off the Island the next day. This situation sounds familiar.

While James is lying to Horace inside, Jin, Miles, Daniel and Juliet are outside, where Juliet explains that the Others took over the Barracks, wiped out most of the people living in them and brought her to the Island via the sub a long time after that.

Jin asks: "Daniel, no more flash?"
"No. The record is spinning again and we're just not on the song we want to be on."
They see a little girl with red hair. She asks her mom where her dad is. Daniel stares at her. She waves at him as he whispers "Charlotte" to himself. Note that it’s 1974 and "Charlotte" appears to be about 3, yielding a DOB around 1971 - which flatly contradicts Ben’s statement that she was born in 1979 - in England.

When Horace brings "Jim LaFleur" out to his "ship-mates", James informs them that LaFleur" is Creole, hinting that yet another Lostie speaks a Secret Language. As it happens, La Fleur is French for The Flower, but whatever. Note that Creole is the language of Voodoo.

A few minutes later - Hostile Attack Warning! Team James are hustled indoors where they watch Ageless Richard march up and plant a torch for a Parley. He is not wearing Hillbilly clothes, but he could use a shave:
Horace walks outside and approaches Richard. "Hello, Mr. Alpert."
"Hello, Mr. Goodspeed."
"I wish you would have told me you were coming, I would have turned the fence off for you." [Stupid comment, seeing as how, Richard bypassed it with ease]
"That fence may keep other things out, but not us [since we’re Non-Living Persons who can Teleport at will]. The only thing that does keep us out, Horace, is our Truce, which you've now broken."

I believe that Rose, Bernard, the surviving Red Shirts and Sayid are all in the custody of Family Richard. Note that it is Richard, and not Charles Widmore who represents "The Hostiles". It may be that 1974 Charles Widmore (aged 37) has not yet seized control of "his people". OR ... he is in Military Control but sends Richard as his ambassador. The brutality of the two dead Hostiles hints at the brutality of their Commander.

After Horace, having come inside to confer, hears James say that the bodies wouldn’t be very hard to find, he orders Phil: "Call the Arrow. Tell them we're at Condition 1. Take the heavy ordnance and make sure the fence is at maximum." The Arrow, it seems, may once have been a Weapons Depot.

James: "Let me talk to him"
"Excuse me?"
"Your buddy out there with the eyeliner, let me talk to him." [I smiled at his "eyeliner" crack - which was a nod to us Fans]
"We had a truce with these people. You don't understand."
"I understand that I'm the one that killed his men. And I'm the one that's going to go out there and tell him why I did it."
"I can't let you do that."
"Then it's a good thing I ain't asking your permission."

"Hello, Richard."
Richard is sitting on a bench. "I'm sorry, do we know each other?"
"I'm the guy that killed your men. Heard some gunshots, saw two men throwing a bag over a woman's head, gave them a chance to throw their weapons down and walk away, but one of them took a shot at me and I defended myself."
"Your people know that you're telling me this?"
"Ain't my people, Hoss, so if you've got some kind of a truce with them, it ain't been broken."
"If you're not a member of the Dharma Initiative, then what are you?" ["what", not "who"]
Sawyer sits next to Richard. "Did you bury the bomb?"
"Excuse me?"
"The hydrogen bomb with "Jughead" written on the side. Did you bury it?"
"What?"
"Yeah, I know about it. I also know that 20 years ago some bald fella limped into your camp and fed you some mumbo jumbo about being your leader. And then "poof", he disappeared right in front of you. Any of this ringing a bell? That man's name is John Locke. I'm waiting for him to come back. So, still think I'm a member of the damn Dharma Initiative?"
"No. I guess I don't. But no matter who you are, two of my men are dead. And my people need some kind of justice. What are we going to do about that?"

The LaFleur Treaty includes leading Family Richard to the graves of his two men and handing over Paul’s body as well. This Treaty - plus maybe something else that James did over the next couple of weeks - earned him and his friends the privilege of becoming Dharmites.

So ... Ageless Richard meets Locke in 1954, witnesses his 1956 birth, gives him the Dalai Lama test a few years later and then a few years later still invites him to Science Camp. Meanwhile, back on the Island in 1974, he meets James the Time Traveller from 2008 who refers to Locke again. No wonder Locke’s 2004 Island Arrival is so eagerly anticipated by Family Richard. It will certainly be interesting to see how long Team James/Jack stays in 1977 onward and how their presence shapes the Past/Present/Future.

Before releasing Paul’s body, Amy removes a necklace from his neck. It’s an Ankh symbol. Yes indeed, the DI have embraced Ancient Egyptian (and Sumerian, Greek, Roman, Druidic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Voodoo) culture.

James approaches Juliet on the Submarine dock where she tells him she’s leaving on the Sub the next morning. We’ve heard this before. James talks her into staying for "two weeks - that’s all I’m asking"
Daniel obviously wants to stick around and learn what he can about the DI’s investigations into TT. Juliet’s becoming "invested" in James ... and it seems that Miles and Jin would rather stick around working in Security than to re-enter The World in 1974.

Three Years Later, it’s 1977 and Jerry is enjoying a Night-Shift Moment with Rosie - who’s brought some Brownies. She’s wearing a Geronimo Jackson shirt and the tunes on the open-reel tape recorder are groovy. They are in a Security Monitoring Room (which we have not previously seen) within the Barracks compound. Like the Infirmary, and the School, the windows are protected by steel mesh. This may be the room in which 2004 Ryan watched Kate enter Jack’s house to "rescue" him.

The Monitors at this Station include the Hydra Island Polar Bear cages and therefore presumably other Stations as well. While Jerry and his freshly-returned boss Phil argue, Rosie notices that Horace is out near the Sonic Fence drunk and blowing trees up. It’s 3 AM, but Jim LaFleur, Head of Security, takes his job seriously and rousts Miles to help him collect their boss Horace.

When I saw Horace blowing trees up, my first thought was that this action looked and sounded exactly like the "tree-exploder" aspect of Smokey. Did Future Smokey incorporate Exploding Trees into its repertoire because of Horace’s actions that night? Does Smokey dislike members of the DI (including Juliet in "Left Behind") because of Horace’s tree-destruction? Is Smokey a relative of Tolkien’s Ents?

When James brings (drunk) Horace home to (pregnant) Amy, he tells her that he was blowing up trees "by the Flame"? Huh? From what we saw, he was within sight of the Sonic Fence - nowhere near The Flame, but whatever.

It turns out that she and Horace had gotten into an argument over Paul, her 3-year-dead husband - and that the baby was coming sooner than expected!

The local medic - who’s a Resident and not an Obstetrician - is unsure of his C-Section skills. It seems that Island women "always deliver on the Mainland" and that Amy’s slightly premature breech-birth could end up fatal for both her and her baby. If only there were a trained Fertility/OB somewhere at hand.

James marches over to the Auto Hospital where Juliet the Wrench is performing cosmetic surgery on a metal patient when James tells her Amy’s Tale. I’m not 100% sure, but I think Juliet’s job title is "Motor Rx"
It seems that she and James had an agreement whereby Juliet would not resume her Fertility Practice. However, the Island has other plans for Dr Juliet and she decides to try to deliver Amy’s baby, despite her fear that Amy, like every other Island Woman patient Juliet has treated, would die at her hands. The support and confidence that James has for her help settle her mind - and Dr J, Medicine Woman succeeds in helping bring a new baby boy (Karl?) into the World. James was right - the Island Fertility Problem hasn’t cropped up yet - and Dr Juliet, having chosen to stay on the Island, might just be able to learn what caused/will cause it - which just happens to be Ben’s Obsession.

While waiting outside the Infirmary, James is met by Jin, who informs him that he and his team finished searching Grid 133 today - with no sign of their people. Tomorrow’s assignment will be to search Grid 134. I wonder if all this Grid-searching will lead to further Truce breaches.

On his way home that day (while Horace sleeps through the birth of his son), James stops to pick a flower. There’s a bottle of DI Merlot and some salad on the kitchen table. When Jim LaFleur shows Juliet The Flower, I thought about his name and I also thought about how Jin used to do that for Sun - bring her one flower. Juliet is grateful that James "believed in" her ... "believed" ... that word again.

When James told Juliet that he loved her, I thought about the fact that it was mostly Ben and his harsh manipulations that led James to finally let down his defences and self-loathing enough to permit himself to love Kate. Ben the Good Guy helped James evolve into a Good Person (with a little help from the Light Aspect of the Island).

After dinner, James wakes Horace up and History repeats itself - only role-reversed: "How’s your head"? "It hurts" We now learn that the Horace/Amy fight was sparked by the possibility that Amy hadn’t "gotten over" Paul, since he’d only been dead for three years.

James: "I had a thing for a girl once. And I had a shot at her. But I didn't take it. [Yeah, right] For a little while, I'd lay in bed every night and wonder if that was a mistake, wondering if I'd ever stop thinking about her. But now I can barely remember what she looks like. I mean her face ... she's just gone. And she ain't never coming back. So, is three years long enough to get over someone? Absolutely." Little does James know that this conviction of his is about to be sorely tested.

The very next morning, snuggled up in bed with a naked Juliet, James gets a phone-call from Jin. He’s found Jack, Hugo and Kate - should he bring them to New Otherton? The right thing for James to have done at this point would have been to say "yes", tell Juliet exactly what’s just happened - and meet them holding hands together.

But that’s not what James does. He instructs Jin to meet him in the North Valley. Why, oh why, would James lie to the woman he now loves - and who loves him back - presumably much more steadfastly than Kate the Fickle Bitch ever did or will do? Is it because "you can’t help who you love?"

Note that the "Three Years" referenced in this Ep (1974 to 1977) mirror the "Three Years" (2005 to 2008) that the O6 were "away". For both sets of Losties, it’s been three years since they’ve seen each other.
According to Lostpedia, Young Ben and Roger arrived on the Island around 1976/77. So ... it’s barely possible that Team James/Jack will get to witness the arrival of Young Ben.

Note, however, that Olivia is nowhere to be seen - which completely contradicts what we saw in "The Man Behind The Curtain" - and which therefore suggests that this Iteration of 1974 - 1977 Island Events is Different. It may be that in this Version, Ben doesn’t come to the Island. Maybe Ben doesn’t even survive childbirth!

Horace - Mathematician seems to be in charge of The Barracks as Chief of Security. In this Ep, we do not see any Scientists - not even Pierre Chang. I suppose that he and his fellow Scientists would have been working at/in their Stations. We do see folks riding bicycles and playing chess, though. I’m guessing that Daniel’s been working at the Orchid since 1974.

Note also that Ben and John have both (unlike Charles Widmore) found a way to Return to The Island.