Whirling in an arc of sadness…

(Obligatory obscure lyric title)

I managed to hand-edit another 35 pages of manuscript last night before the evening was given over to LOST. I haven’t been watching the rehash episodes, but I tuned in for last night’s and was glad that I did, because there was a little extra footage thrown in, particularly a scene during the press conference where Jack names the other three putative survivors of 815 who died before Oceanic Six were rescued. Of course, these three people were all 815 survivors who died on the island, lest they turn up at some point in the future. He couldn’t very well say one was Sawyer or Rose, because they might make it off some day.

As for the two-hour finale itself…

Whoa, what an ending. Just when I was sure it was Ben who would show up in the coffin, he showed up at the funeral parlor instead. And as for who was in the coffin, wow, I didn’t see that coming at all. There’s a whole lotta storytelling that will have to be done to get him from where we last saw him to there. And boy, did he ever look dead. Waxy and unnatural. Eeesh.

It’s almost too much to process. I sat there staring at the screen for a good minute after the credits started. I think I’ll have to watch it again. I’m pretty sure Michael is dead and gone for good. It seemed like Christian released him. His debt to the island is served. Great to see Penny and Des back together, though we know that Ben is going to come after Penny in the future, so all sorts of conflict possible there. It’s funny that Ben went from somewhere cold—the frozen donkey wheel—to somewhere hot: the desert where he wakes up, disoriented. That changed a lot for me. I thought that Ben was tripping off the island at will to wherever and whenever he wanted, instead of being granted a one-way ticket.

Lots of witty repartee involving Ben. The bit about Locke not knowing what the flowers looked like (but he’s too proud to ask). The bit where he says “good to see you again, too, Jack” with Jack pointing a gun in his face. Hurley feeding Sawyer the 15-year-old crackers. Thanks for coming back for me, dude.

Of course, there are lots of questions. Why is Charlotte looking for her birthplace and when was she on the island before? (Is she, perhaps, another Widmore?) I can understand why the other freighter dude would want to stay on the island. For someone with his relationship to the dead, it’s probably the most fascinating place on the planet. Did Daniel pick up Jin? Did Daniel make it back to the island before it went walkabout? Where was the island located when the Nigerian plane crashed? Will Sawyer and Juliet get it on? What terrible things could have happened on the island (as alluded to in Jack and Kate’s convo) after it moved? Are we to assume that Kate has decided to go back to the island with Aaron, given her apology to the sleeping boy?

My theory: Ben let the O6 go because they will ultimately provide his ticket back to the island. Getting them all back on the same page will be interesting, especially given Sun’s attitude toward Jack.

I might check out the new witness relocation drama on USA on Sunday night, In Plain Sight to see if it’s any good. USA has been doing decent crime dramas lately, primarily Burn Notice and L&O: CI.