Lost 2x19 - "S.O.S."

Oooo, flashbacks on "new" characters. This was a nice change of pace with some interesting revelations.

• So, Bernard and Rose are newlyweds and were in Australia on their honeymoon.
• Bernard was a bachelor until he was 56? Man, a 56 year old bachelor dentist. That's almost frightening. I wonder what kept him single for so long.
  
• Ok, so they weren't there just for the honeymoon. Rose is (was?) apparently dying of cancer and Bernard decided on OZ for their honeymoon so he could get her in to see some sort of faith healer.
• Bernard has some control issues. He's one of those people who needs to be fixing something or at least working toward a fix or keeping busy. His idea to build a giant sign wasn't a bad one, his motivation was just a little out of focus.
• I mean, building a giant sign probably wouldn't have done much good. If a plane dropped those supplies, it would have been hard for them to not see the firelight from the camp on the beach. It's a pretty fair bet that the suppliers know that there are people stranded down there, but can either do nothing about it, or don't care. And the chances of a satellite happening along that one remote island in the middle of the Pacific are so small that it shouldn't even be a consideration. Sure, a keyhole satellite could easily see the sign and even count how many people are on the beach, but it has to know where to look. They are, after all, called "keyholes" for a reason.
• Oh, yeah, the reason that it wasn't necessarily a bad idea to build the sign is that these people really do need something to do. Even if it is an ultimately fruitless endeavor, it's gotta be hard to keep occupied. Cause really, what have these people been doing for the past two months?
• Is Jack the leader of the group? It certainly seems likely that he's the soft-of defacto leader of the main characters, but I hadn't really thought of how the rest of the survivors see him. A little less than half of them refused to move to the caves and he's always being challenged in front of everyone by Sawyer and some of the other heavies. Is Jack seen as the leader simply because he's usually the only one throwing out ideas?
• I bring this up because Bernard seemed (at the beginning, at least) to hold at least as much organizational power as Jack when he decided to organize the sign thing. With Rose being the only one to bring up the idea of consulting Jack (for her own reasons, as we find out later), it occurs to me that maybe there really isn't any clear chain of command amongst the group as a whole.
• A baby doll lying so conveniently close to a path in the middle of the creepy jungle? Kate, you're a fucking idiot.
• Being stuck in a net with you isn't an entirely unpleasant thought, though.
• Oh, and thanks for finally telling some one about the others and their costumes. I can see why you might have waited for so long, though. You know, cause it's not like that information could be, in any way, useful.
  
• Heh, I was right. Eko and Charlie are, in fact, building a church. Bernard seemed particularly upset by this. I wonder if that was just because he felt that they had given up on being rescued, or because he's got some problem with religion.
  
• Kinda split on that one. On the one hand, I can see Bernard being bitter and pissed at god for giving his wife, the woman it took him 56 years to find, cancer and cutting their time so short. But, on the other hand, he did shell out 10 grand and fly all the way to Australia to bring her to a faith healer.
  
• Eh, whatever the case, his comment about liking Eko better when all he did was hit people with his stick was quite entertaining. I dig Bernard as a character. His seemingly unique background and this cynical wit he seems to have make him fun to watch.
• Has the faith healer shown up on the show before? I recognize the actor from Farscape, but his familiarity seemed to be connected to the show, some how.
• And staying with the faith healer for a moment; Harnessing energy, huh? Magnetic fields, huh? Not the right place to cure her, huh? You hinting at something, guy?
  
• And speaking of such Bernard again, the scene where he proposed to Rose at Niagara Falls was done really well. I can't imagine that they actually flew all the way out from Hawaii to film on location, but it certainly did look like they were actually there.
• I think Jin is picking up more and more English everyday. Seemed like he understood pretty well that Bernard was only doing what he was doing and acting the way he was acting for Rose. I think Jin also understood that on an emotional level too, and his departing apology in English seemed to reinforce that.
• So Rose has been cured by the island. Big surprise there... Knowing that she had a terminal disease before the crash almost makes it a certainly that she has somehow been cured by the island. After Locke's legs, Charlie's amazingly easy and successful heroin withdrawal, and now Jin's apparently miraculous fertility, the island really seems to have a knack for healing old wounds. Too bad it doesn't work quite as well on the fresh ones. The marshall, Boone, Shannon, Scott, and the two others could have really used a little help.
• Oh, and Rose knows about Locke! I'm really surprised that she's the only one, but it really is nice to see that at least one of these losers was even moderately observant of their surroundings. I mean, Locke was sitting directly behind Rose and Bernard, Jack was across the isle from Rose, and Boone and Shannon were in the row behind Locke and only one of them noticed that the old bald guy in the blue checked shirt had to be carried to his seat by one of the air crew?
• And in keeping with Rose and Locke, it's nice to see that these two characters have acknowledged their mutual view of the island. Even if Locke doesn't remember picking up Rose's medication or know that the island seems to have cured her, it seemed pretty obvious that two of them had an understanding.
• And another thing about Locke; he really does heal pretty fast. I seem to remember him being gorged by a boar in one of the early episodes. Here it is, only a month and a half later, maybe, and that may as well have never even happened for all the trouble it's been causing him.
• Ah, and what discussion of Locke would be complete without mention of the button. He seems to have lost the will to press it, needing a nudge from Jack after nearly letting the timer hit zero and then later up and disappearing from the hatch, leaving the job to Anna Lucia. I think he really does believe that Henry didn't enter the numbers, but is too consumed with fear [that the island might rescind its gifts] to actually let it go.
• And I really don't think the button does anything. Henry was obviously enjoying the fact that Locke was seeking reassurance about the thing. I think it's just an experiment of some sort; just to see if (and for how long) they can get people to keep pressing this thing.
• So Jack and Kate sat in the jungle for a while waiting for a sign from the others. Then, all of a sudden, Michael pops out of the middle of nowhere after being gone for so long that I was starting to think he was off the show. I've got two theories here; either the others have acknowledged and accepted the idea of a prisoner exchange without feeling the need to so explicitly state it, or Michael is part of some sort of trap. His participation could be willing, though even in that regard, there's still a little murkiness (e.g. Henry Gale is obviously a willing Other that seems to be in on at least part of their plan, but his enthusiasm seems to be aimed more at pleasing the higher-ups than in any real belief in their cause). Or, he could be participating under some form of duress. The first thing that comes to mind in this regard is that they're holding Walt over his head.
  

I guess we'll just have to see. Feel free to comment. I'm sure I missed something, but I'm getting tired of typing.

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