Lost - Exodus Part 2

So the science teacher goes KABOOM! Yep, while trying to teach Hurley, Kate, Jack, and Locke the ways of handling dynamite sticks with leaky nitroglycerin, Artz (Daniel Roebuck) must not have heeded his own advice…because while in mid-speech he explodes all over them! I think his casting was more or less a joke. The scene where Hurley tells Jack he has some “Artz oh him” (a piece of flesh on his back!) is the punchline. Before this Artz was going on and on to a distracted Hurley about how the principles weren’t the only ones in the camp although they appeared to be some clique. He spoke up for the nameless extras that make up the 40. All that said, it provides a joke and also establishes how dangerous the dynamite is. Besides removing the sticks, stocking the sticks, and carrying them to the hatch, the danger is obviously much more emphasized seeing Roebuck blow up.

Rousseau, it had appeared, was an ally of the camp. The black smoke and the others she warned them about, all it took was a brief space of time to once  again shatter Claire’s life…Rousseau took her child. Sayid is sure the baby will be offered by Rousseau in exchange for the child she herself lost. Charlie follows Sayid as the two head for the black smoke, hoping to encounter Rousseau and get the baby back to Claire. So “Exodus Part 2” introduces that disturbing subplot while Michael, Walt, Sawyer, and Jin are further on the ocean away from the island. The fear of losing parts off the raft-boat is established. And the heroin in the little statuettes of the Virgin Mary that Locke kept mum about (along with the plane) is noticed by recovering addict Charlie. The episode holds on Charlie’s seduced gaze down at the baggies on the ground, contemplating the high they could bring. If he will once again fall prey to heroin is left for another episode. That question as to why Locke didn’t say anything about the plane to the camp might just have something to do with the drugs. Locke knew of Charlie’s past addiction issues, a key in helping him kick heroin. Sayid and Charlie are to continue on to the black smoke.

Jin encounters an American who can speak Korean and works for his father-in-law in an airport flashback. Warning Jin to deliver the watch in LA is told to him, as is the ability to never leave Sun’s father. There is no freedom Jin is told. Cut to Jin taking in the wind and sun while on the raft-boat, temporarily content and happy. But how long?

Shannon has luggaged up all Boone’s things. She endures continued suffering after his death. Sayid tries, bless his heart he does, but Shannon has remained in a state of mourning, nothing to heal her aching heart. The dog now hers and returning to the caverns wondering how long before the camp is attacked, Shannon is not sure how much more she can withstand while Sayid tries to encourage her to be strong. Sun does ask her if they all suffer for past mistakes, lies, and sins. Claire doesn’t believe that. I guess, to Claire, things just happen. Shitty things just happen. The bleak status of all on the island sure leaves a somber tone while watching Lost as the end of the first season draws close. Claire losing her baby to Rousseau, Shannon losing Boone, Sun losing Jin, the possibility of danger from “the others”, the lure of the heroin for Charlie, Sayid unable to reach Shannon, the danger of the dynamite, Hurley reliving Artz blowing up in front of them over and over, and just not much light fighting through all the darkness that exists towards the end of the first season.

In a flashback, we see what heroin does to junkies. Charlie is in a hotel room trying to hide a baggie from a “fan” needing a fix herself. A fight ensues and Charlie has a death grip hiding the baggie in the palm of his hand as she flees with a bottle of champagne more than a bit miffed. It did appear Charlie had kicked the habit and cleared that hurdle in his life but being re-introduced to heroin could complicate matters. And in an airport flashback, Michael wasn’t sure he could parent Walt, calling his mom to see if she could take care of him, with his son right behind him hearing it all. Taking us to the raft-boat, Michael is allowing his son to pilot for a bit. There has been some disagreements and struggles to come together but it seems they have went through the rough patch. But what will they encounter the longer they are on the water? Sawyer reading from the little “messages” in the bottle collected from those on the island once again proving to be a dick, Walt calls him out on it but no shame to guilt him away from continuing to do it.

Deciding to draw straws, Locke and Kate are the ones to carry the dynamite while Jack is a bit annoyed it came down to that. Locke quips about the game, Operation, when plucking the driest dynamite sticks from the box found on the Black Rock (they find the skeletal remains of slaves latched to the wall!). Before exploding, Artz proposes that a storm of some sort was responsible for the boat winding up so deep into the jungle. With Rousseau proving to be a bit mad, Sayid knows he’ll need to be the one who tries to get the baby back, reluctantly providing Charlie with a gun. In the previous episode, “Exodus Part 1”, Rousseau had mentioned that the roaring of the jungle “polar bears” were a type of “security system for the island”. Made in passing almost, Jack failed to further question Rousseau about that statement. There are secrets on the island Rousseau just might know that she is not willing to share unless pressed or willing to reveal them. The location of the ship and dynamite Rousseau provided. What else does she know?