The LOST ending: Just wow. Not surprisingly, tomorrow we will have much more to say about the series finale, the final few scenes, and the meaning of Life itself, but for now, the LOST-themed Target commercials that snuck their way into the finale will have to do.

Now, some folks groused and snarked on Twitter during the finale about the Target/LOST commercial crossover (should Smokey really be selling fire alarms?), but the least you can say about them is that in a commercial-packed two-and-a-half hour finale, they definitely managed to stand out.

Check 'em out:

LOST is taking a break this week to give loyal viewers a chance to catch their breath before the final five episodes. Let's take this opportunity to recap the top eight (in true LOST fashion) most shocking/important/cool moments and reveals of this season (so far!).]]>

LOST is taking a break this week to give loyal viewers a chance to catch their breath before the final five episodes. Let’s take this opportunity to recap the top eight (in true LOST fashion) most shocking/important/cool moments and reveals of this season (so far!).

1. Alternate Off-Island Timeline Revealed – The biggest cliff-hanger of Season 5 was the question “Did the bomb work, or didn’t it?’. We still don’t know the answer, but the alternate timeline has brought plot twists and turns that few could have imagined before the Season 6 premiere. Hurley’s lucky, Jack’s a dad, John’s a substitute teacher engaged to Helen, Jin and Sun aren’t married but are pregnant, Sayid’s still a killer but his brother is married to Nadia, Ben is a high school history teacher with a PhD, Kate’s maybe a murder, Sawyer and Miles are cops, Claire’s trying to unload her unborn baby, Charlie’s a drug addicted musician, and Desmond is Widmore’s right hand man. Some things haven’t changed and others have changed drastically. Is the off-island action real? Is the on-island action real? Are they both real and connected somehow? Hopefully the next five episodes will give us some of these answers.

2. Flocke is the Man-In-Black is the Smoke Monster – The second major cliff-hanger of Season 5 left fans wondering “If John Locke’s body is laying dead on the beach, who the heck just convinced Ben to kill Jacob?”. Well, the answer came in the first two episodes of Season 6 (LA X, Parts 1 and 2). Flocke was the Man-In-Black, who was also the mysterious Smoke Monster that’s haunted the LOSTies since Season 1. I think the entire country gasped in unison when we discovered what, or who, Smokey was. The part of the mystery that does remain is whether or not Flocke is good or evil. Will we have a definitive answer at the end of the series?

3. Richard Alpert’s back-story – Undoubtedly one of the most mysterious characters in LOST history, fans have been dying to get a peek into Richard Alpert’s past. Well, the Richard-centric episode, Ab Aeterno, brought loyal viewers some serious answers. Richard was brought to the island in 1867 as a slave the Black Rock. He made a deal with Jacob that he would communicate with those who come to the island on Jacob’s behalf in return for immortality. Richard also has some interactions with the Man-In-Black, but chooses the side of Jacob. He may be fed up with Jacob, but his dead wife told him to make sure the Man-In-Black never leaves the island, so I’d expect that to be Richard’s mission till the end of the series.

4. Resurfacing of Claire Littleton - Our favorite island mother has been missing since Season 4, Episode 10 (Something Nice Back Home). After an absence of nearly three seasons, Claire reappeared in the island jungle in Episode 3 (What Kate Does) pointing a gun in Jin’s face. She’s obviously been through a lot (except a bath) over the past three years, but we’re not exactly sure what. She’s been running from the Others, searching for Aaron, rocking a strange skeleton-baby, and hanging out with Flocke. She tried to kill Kate, sang creepy lullabies, and is now on board with Sawyer’s team trying to get off the island back to Aaron. Is she really fit to be a mother? I’m not sure, but some shampoo could really help.

5. Sayid’s Creepy Side – Since he was dunked in the murky water in Episode 2 (LA X, Part 2) Sayid’s been acting a bit, well, weird. He was tortured and almost poisoned by Dogen, he tried (unsuccessfully) stab Flocke, he (successfully) murdered Dogen and Lennon, let Flocke into the temple to massacre the Others, watched Claire beat up Kate with a smirk on his face, kidnapped Desmond, and possibly shot him in cold blood. Needless to say, he’s had a busy season so far, and he’s done this all with a creepy blank-stare. Is this all in order to be reunited with Nadia as Flocke promised? This isn’t the Sayid we’ve come to known over the past five seasons, so what’s in store for our favorite torturer as the series comes to an end?

6. The Numbers = The Candidates –First appearing in Episode 18 of Season 1 (Numbers), 4-8-15-16-23-42 have been part of LOST folklore from the very beginning. They help Hurley win the lottery, they must be typed into the hatch computer every 108 minutes or the world will end, they appear on Danielle’s map, they are the serial number on the door of The Swan, and they drive Leonard crazy, and Episodes 4 and 5 (“The Substitute”/”Lighthouse”) brought us more information about this major piece of LOST lore. Each of the numbers aligns with one LOSTie that is a candidate to replace Jacob as protector of the island. The numbers are written on a cave wall and on a giant wheel in a lighthouse on the island. Many of the names and numbers are crossed out, except for 8-Reyes, 15- Ford, 16 – Jarrah, 23- Shephard, and 42-Kwon. (But which Kwon?)

7. Sun and Jin’s reunion – After being apart for 29 episodes, Sun and Jin were finally reunited in Episode 13 (The Last Recruit). Though the reunion was brief, it was sweet. Sun and Jin were separated in Season 4, Episode 14 (There’s No Place Like Home, Part 3) when Widmore’s freighter exploded, flinging Jin into the ocean while Sun flew away on a helicopter. I don’t think a single LOST fan has ever forgotten her gut-retching scream as she watched the freighter blow up. We thought that they’d be reunited when Sun came back to the island on Ajira 315, but alas, she was sent to 2007 while Jin was stuck in the 1970’s. They’ve been apart throughout Season 6, arriving at different parts of the island just in time to miss each other until Sun arrives at Widmore’s camp where Jin is waiting. Hopefully we’ll be seeing lots more of the couple together throughout the final episodes of the series.

8. Desmond – is he the key to it all? – Episode 10 (“The Package”) was a definitive turning point in the Season 6 plot. Desmond begins to connect his off-island life with his on-island life via his constant, Penny. At the end of the episode, he asks for the flight manifest from Oceanic 815 and over the course of the next three episodes, he begins to connect other LOSTies with their constants. It does seem that Desmond is the key to the entire LOST mythology, but what’s in store for Desmond’s (and the rest of the LOSTies) future if Sayid really did shoot him last week?

Katelyn is a graduate student at Michigan State University is East Lansing, MI. In her free time she loves to spend time watching and writing about LOST.

(images via Lostpedia)

What follows is a recap of LOST Season 6, Episode 8: “Recon.” Lots of spoilers ensue.

Check out the guest blogger's LOST-themed blog at thelostloophole.blogspot.com for daily LOST-related updates.

It’s been three long weeks since we last saw James “Sawyer” Ford, and he made his return in a big way this week. Both on-island and off-island action centered on everyone’s favorite bad boy during "Recon," the eighth episode in the final season of LOST. Let’s begin with the off-island action.

Many loyal LOST viewers aren’t fans of the new flash-sideways action this season. But tonight’s episode proved that the flash-sideways can be just as exciting and mind-bending as the on-island action:]]>

What follows is a recap of LOST Season 6, Episode 8: “Recon.” Lots of spoilers ensue.

Check out the guest blogger’s LOST-themed blog at thelostloophole.blogspot.com for daily LOST-related updates.

It’s been three long weeks since we last saw James “Sawyer” Ford, and he made his return in a big way this week. Both on-island and off-island action centered on everyone’s favorite bad boy during “Recon,” the eighth episode in the final season of LOST. Let’s begin with the off-island action.

Many loyal LOST viewers aren’t fans of the new flash-sideways action this season. But tonight’s episode proved that the flash-sideways can be just as exciting and mind-bending as the on-island action. We begin with Sawyer, who goes by his given name, James Ford. It appears that he’s up to his old tricks, conning pretty women with his good looks and smooth talk. But in the biggest flash-sideways twist of this season, we learn that James Ford isn’t a con man, but he’s a police officer. His partner is Miles Straume, who worked on DHARMA security with Sawyer when they were stuck in 1977 on the island during Season 5. Also, James’s safe word was LaFleur, the name he went by when he was a member of the DHARMA Initiative.

Miles sets up James on a date with a friend, who turns out to be Charlotte Lewis. She’s still an archaeologist, just as she was when she came to the island on the freighter in Season 4. She and James hit it off, until she discovers a folder in James’s dresser labeled “Sawyer” (she also noticed a battered copy of Watership Down, a book Sawyer read on the island). James is so enraged at Charlotte’s discovery that he kicks her out of the apartment at 3:00 am, essentially ending any chances he may have had for a relationship with the redhead.

We learn that while James Ford is now a cop instead of a con man, his past is still the same. His father murdered his mother and killed himself because of a con man, who at the time was known as Sawyer, but now goes by the name Anthony Cooper. James is looking for him and eventually confides in Miles that he will kill Anthony Cooper when he finds him.

Two other previously viewed characters popped up in the flash-sideways: James runs down a hooded Kate, who is once again, running from the law, at the end of this episode. Another honorable mention goes out to Liam Pace, who was at the police station, inquiring about his brother, Charlie Pace. You’ll remember that in Season 6, Episodes 1 and 2 (“LA X”), Charlie was arrested on Oceanic 815 for drug possession. The alarm clock at the beginning of the episode was also notably set to the time 8:42 (two LOST numbers). This flash-sideways was stuffed full of on-island reminders!

Let’s take a minute to recap the flash-sideways twists we know about so far:

*Hurley is lucky, not cursed;

*Jack is a father;

*John Locke is engaged to Helen, and has a relationship with his father;

*Sayid is not with Nadia;

*Ben has a PhD in Modern European History;

*and Sawyer is a police officer, not a con man.

All of these are pretty meaningful changes for our LOSTies, except for Kate, who seems to be living a similar life to her original timeline.

Also, it appears that there is something going on with mirrors in the flash-sideways. Jack, Kate, John Locke, and James Ford all took very long looks into mirrors during their flash-sideways. This is also the second episode in a row featuring a microwave dinner. I’m guessing the mirrors are probably more important than the TV dinners, but you never know with LOST.

On the island, Sawyer and Kate are reunited when Flocke’s new set of followers from the Temple, including Kate and Sayid, meet up with Sawyer and Jin, who were camped out at Claire’s rustic home. Claire is still as creepy as ever, glancing longingly at her strange skeleton-baby and holding Kate’s hand just minutes prior to attacking her. Sayid, who seems to be in a strange trance-like state, just sits back while Claire beats on Kate. Flocke pulls Claire off of Kate and later admits to Kate that he had a crazy mother and knows how difficult that can make life. Aaron has a crazy mother too now, and it seems that Flocke thinks Aaron would be better off with Kate.

Flocke sends Sawyer to the Hydra Island, where he meets Charles Widmore’s people. They take Sawyer to the submarine to meet Widmore and Sawyer discovers a double-padlocked door. (What in the world could be behind that door!?)  Sawyer tells Widmore that he will bring Flocke to the submarine as long as Widmore will allow Sawyer and anyone he brings with him to leave the island. They shake on this deal and Sawyer returns to the island to meet with Flocke. Sawyer spills the beans, telling Flocke the plan to take him back to Widmore where they’ll change the plan and capture Widmore and his people. We’re not sure what Sawyer’s true plan is, because, as Flocke pointed out, Sawyer’s the best liar on this island (next to Ben, possibly?).

What we do know: Sawyer’s still (seemingly) loyal to Kate. On the Hydra Island, he comes across the Polar Bear cage where he and Kate consummated their relationship and said “I love you” for the first time during Season 3, Episode 6 (“I Do”). He finds Kate’s dress and holds on to it longingly for awhile. At the end of the episode he tells Kate that he’s getting her off the island: And the love-quadrangle continues.

So: the plot moved forward on the island, and we learned much more about one of our favorite LOSTies off the island, which made for a really solid episode. With only eight episodes to go until the end of the series, I’d say we’ve climbed to the top of the roller coaster hill and we should all brace ourselves for the free-fall down the hill that is about to ensue. Next week: Richard Alpert‘s story will (hopefully) all be revealed and make sense in “Ab Aeterno.”

Other LOST Season 6 recaps:

Episodes 1 & 2: “LAX Parts 1 & 2″

Episode 3: “What Kate Does”

Episode 4: “The Substitute”

Episode 5: “Lighthouse”

Episode 6: “Sundown”

Episode 7: “Dr. Linus”

Episode 9: “Ab Aeterno”

Episode 10: “The Package”

Episode 11: “Happily Ever After”

Episode 12: “Everybody Loves Hugo”

Episode 13: “The Last Recruit”

Episode 14: “The Candidate”

Episode 15: “Across the Sea”

Episode 16: “What They Died For”

Katelyn is a graduate student at Michigan State University is East Lansing, MI. In her free time she loves to spend time watching and writing about LOST. Check out her LOST-themed blog at thelostloophole.blogspot.com for daily LOST-related updates.