We're Not Going to Guam, Are We?

For those of you, like me, who haven't been completely sold on the fifth season of Lost, but have waited patiently for the show to finally (finally!) regain the narrative footing that made it so grand in previous years, this was the episode for you. To put it bluntly: "316" wasn't just the best episode of the entire season by far (suck on that "Jughead"!), but there is a strong chance it ranked as one of the five best episodes in the entire run of the series.

From the opening scene, a mirror image of the pilot episode, when Jack awoke in the jungle following the plane crash, to the ridiculously hilarious final moment showing Jin stepping out of a brand new Dharma-approved VW bus whilst decked out in a Dharma jumpsuit (two details basically confirming that both the time-travelers and the Oceanic Six have wound up right in the middle of the Dharma Initiative's heyday), "316" allowed audiences to revel in the best things that Lost has to offer: answers, questions, more questions, and amazing character interactions. (Oh, the character interactions, how I've missed you!) When we all look back on season five of Lost, we're going to realize that, like in season three, the early episodes were time-fillers composed mostly of nonsense. Sorry, but I don't care about Daniel and Charlotte, about Rousseau, about Sawyer's nosebleeds. But I do care about Jack and Kate. And Jack and Ben. And Jack and Locke. And any chance the show has to expound on those twisted and sorted relationships is a chance that should never be passed up.

By focusing on our favorite non-heroic heroes, "316" has now officially set the series back on its axis; like the Oceanic 6 needed to find a window back to the Island, Lost needed to find a pathway back to awesomeness. I think it is safe to say that when it comes to season five, we are now through the looking glass.

Some more observations on the best episode of any show I've watched on television in 2009. Spoilers, away!

1.) The man that Eloise Hawking called "a very clever fellow" and said built the pendulum inside The Lamp Post station? Dollars to donuts that man turns out to be her son, Daniel Faraday. Think I'm bananas? Well, to quote, Ms. Hawking, "I apologize if this is confusing, but let's pay attention, yes?" We already know that Daniel is hanging around the 70s-era Dharma Initiative, since he was there in the opening scene of the season premiere, awkwardly bumping into Dr. Pierre Chang at the Orchid Station. And we know he's got a way with time travel and a knack for trying to change the past (even though he said that couldn't happen). Why wouldn't he create a pendulum to help the Oceanic Six find the Island so that they could save him and everyone else?

1a.) Speaking of Eloise: Fionnula Flanagan, who up until "316" had done nothing on Lost besides look mysterious and speak with a posh accent, was amazing in her brief moments on screen. She managed to convey a teacher's warmth but wrapped in calculating evil. Plus Ms. Flanagan didn't bust out laughing when Jack told her that he couldn't give Locke anything that belonged to his dead (?) father because Locke is "in a coffin!"

1b.) One more Eloise thing: "Stop thinking how ridiculous it is! And start asking yourself whether or not you believe it's going to work. That's why it's called a leap of faith." Actually Eloise, that's called "the writers are talking to everyone who dares question what they've been doing with the first five episodes."

2.) Ben went to tie up a loose end; a promise that he made to an old friend. Is that old friend Charles Widmore? And was that promise to follow through on his threat to kill Penny? As of now, it's hard to say. But what I do know is that Ben got the crap beat out of him and called Jack from a dock. And we know Desmond likes boats and that Penny is with him, so...

3.) Speaking of gaps in the sequence: when we last saw Kate, she took Aaron and ran away from Ben and Jack. A few hours later she's lying in Jack's bed, looking strung out, begging him to never ever mention Aaron again and saying she wants to go back to the Island. Umm, okay. Something tells me that's going to end up being important (and awesome). Also, typical Jack; taking advantage of Kate in her diminished state and then seeming quite pleased with himself the next morning. "Still like milk and two sugars?" Jack, you sir, are a bastard.

4.) Meanwhile, Hurley was in jail on suspicion of multiple murders one night and the next day he's waiting in the airport? And Sayid is in the custody of a U.S. Marshall-looking type woman (who had a bit of Nadia in her)? How did all that happen? And was Charles Widmore involved? I'm thinking, yes.

5.) It's obvious that Zuleikha Robinson (the aforementioned U.S. Marshall) and Said Taghmaoui (the nefarious looking passenger Hurley told to buckle up) are in this for the long-ish haul; they're semi-famous guest stars who were announced as players before the season even started. What are they doing on the Ajira Airlines flight with the Oceanic Six? Since this is Lost, clearly that's not a coincidence. Early bet: they're the ones shooting at Sawyer and Juliet on the canoe... in the future.

6.) Frank Lapidus sighting! I always love when Jeff Fahey makes an appearance on Lost, as he brings a gruff demeanor to the whole proceeding that no other character can match. It was a treat to hear him unfurl the second best line of the episode: "We're not going to Guam, are we?"

6a.) But sorry Mr. Fahey, beard or no beard, you are no match for Michael Emerson. If I've learned one thing about this show, it's that no one tops Ben...

Jack: "The other people on this plane, what's going to happen to them?"
Ben: "Who cares."