ABC/MARIO PEREZWelcome to the ultimate Lost flashback.
In season five, instead of us whooshing through time and space, time and space have whooshed to us. The spinning record finally stopped in 1977. The gang's back together, the past of the Island is now the present of our Lostaways, and things are as screwed up as ever...
If you missed last night's episode, stay put until we come back with pukka-shell necklaces and a submarine manifest. If you've seen it, stick a fork in your copilot (he's done), grab that outrigger canoe, and paddle on in to tonight's Lost Redux!
WHAT WE LEARNED
Sayid and the Swan: Waaaay back in the day, we learned that before Desmond shared "the hatch" with Inman, Inman shared the hatch with Radzinsky. Who's Radzinsky? For a long time all we knew about Radzinsky was that he eventually shot himself in the head and became a smear on the ceiling of the Swan, but in tonight's visit to 1977 we learned that Radzinsky designed the Swan station hatch in the first place. Oh, and we also learned that Radzinsky is a bit of a paranoid security freak, and because of his annoying attention to detail, Sayid is on a terrorist watchlist of sorts, pegged as a Hostile. Extralegal rendition, anyone? For us longtime viewers, it's nothing if not interesting to see the inversion of how Sayid once behaved with "Henry Gale" back before we knew he was Benjamin "He will lie a long time" Linus. Torture, anyone?
Pfft: Regarding the polygon, it's worth noting is that Sawyer called Kate Kate. Mr. As longtime fans know, Sawyer only uses Kate's given name when he's wound up.
Whammo! Sawyer's lecture to Jack about thinking and planning ahead was the verbal equivalent of a smack upside the head. I love it when those boys fight—it's just like the good ol' days! (Speaking of boys fighting, check out our Alpha Male Madness tournament if you haven't seen it yet.)
Is Sun the New Ben? Love Yunjin's line reading of "I lied" when Frank questioned her about hammering Ben in the back of the head with an outrigger oar. Sun is as wily and unknowable as Ben, and I do believe our favorite archnemesis has finally found a worthy adversary. Oh, and did you ever think you'd see Sun, Frank the Pilot and Christan Shephard sharing a scene on this show? Crazy. Still, poor Sun. She made it back to the right place (or at least close—she landed on Hydra Island, not "Our Island"), but she's sadly stuck in the wrong time!
Magical History Tour: Love that season five has become a fangirl's delight, as the show delves into all the nooks and crannies of the Island's history. When we first met Etham Rom (the Other Man) in season one, who could have imagined that we'd one day meet his parents and see his birth? For that matter, who could have imagined his psychotic stalker crush on Claire would eventually make a sick kind of sense? If you spent your whole life on "Mystery Friggin' Island," you might not be properly socialized on the modern means and methods for expressing infatuation either.
WHAT'S TO COME
The love polygon lives. Sawyer and Juliet appear to be settled down, domestic and altogether fuzzy-wuzzy, but they have some struggles ahead. And don't forget, as Sawyer announced in season one, "It's about bunnies," and the newly released Geronimo Jackson album cover agrees with him. And you know what bunnies like to do, right?
So, what did you think of "Namaste"? Is Frank the greatest or what? And how long has it been since we saw Desmond?! Post your comments, thoughts and Easter egg sightings in the comments!