Lost - Jughead / The Little Prince**

When I watched Jughead, Desmond once again involved in Farraday business after experiencing childbirth with his beloved, Penny, and raising a little family away from the all-consuming clasp of Charles Widmore, I was quite excited. Back in time when Farraday told Desmond, still manning The Swan and punching the numbers in the computer, to find him in Oxford—instead only discovering an empty lab where he once worked, meeting a janitor of the school with loose lips regarding what Daniel did to a young woman during his time travel experiments—I was more than a bit curious as to how it would all play out. That Desmond instead goes to the hospital of the victim left behind by a rejected Farraday (later to be employed by Widmore) to see a victim of his handiwork, given the address to his mother in LA (location where the Oceanic Six converge coincidentally (or is it coincidence?)); further adventures involving him seem to be likely. Penny just accepts the mission although Desmond is willing to just let it all go. Not only this but Desmond bursting into Widmore’s office for the address to Farraday’s mother, unwilling to share Penny’s whereabouts or condition, seemingly without resistance is quite a development in and of itself, I thought. Widmore had denounced Desmond so viciously, emasculating him previously; the turnaround is quite a treat. Desmond has returned from the island, together with the woman he loves, and Widmore was unable to stop either of them from their commitment to each other. Widmore rarely is the one talked down to, and with Desmond not even giving him details of his daughter is quite an eyebrow-raiser.

The jughead warhead, an H-bomb brought to the island by the US Army (that took a moment to digest!), hanging in a platform, oozing from it cracks and in need of concrete coating, seems to serve as an excuse to reveal history of many visitors to the island. Widmore on the island under Alpert as a young man, pointing a gun into Locke’s back, dismissed once his behavior was recognized as a bit too highly aggressive, was yet another revelation worthy of high five.

There is just so much about this island yet to be revealed, and the opportunity to use time travel as a device for unveiling details certain to elicit shock and awe won’t be disregarded…sure hasn’t been disregarded so far! But I don’t consider this H-bomb to just be a minor plot device to be discarded by being buried in the ground, Farraday instructing Ellie (a young woman part of Alpert’s group) carefully to just do as he said; it obviously has relevance later to be explained when the island will “need its use”. Something tells me this won’t be the last of Ellie, either. She’s feisty and assertive when need-be (until Sawyer aims a gun at her from behind her), and Farraday trying to convince her that his instructions are correct isn’t particularly easy. Being from another time and telling someone that 50 years from then the island would still be intact is a lot to swallow. Ultimately Sawyer’s insistence that she drop her gun overrides any reservations Ellie has. That bomb needed to be buried but could still be used as a weapon later.

Daniel in love with Charlotte might have teeth if we didn't learn of what he did to a previous young woman, left in a hospital to be taken care of by staff funded by Widmore. Daniel admittedly in love with Charlotte, told aloud so he could be trusted with a solution to the Jughead gives the episode some dramatic tension. Alpert willing to give him a chance when young Widmore voices against it is so rife with irony. Miles walking over Army graves, feeling the presence and communicating this to Daniel further illustrates that he has purpose beyond remaining an annoyed wiseass often at odds with equally pissed Sawyer. This motley group remains a nifty collection of personalities, quite refreshing.

With Sun planning to assassinate Ben (yeah, good luck with that), her husband is actually *not* dead as she so felt. In fact he is found face down on a plank board, picked up fortunately by a French crew heading for the island. One of those among these castaways…a young, pregnant woman named Danielle Rousseau! Jin, obviously, is a bit perplexed. It is a delicious twist that summons up just how unpredictable and staggering these time hiccups can be. Jin has met Danielle many years in the future, and this sweet, friendly young woman he encounters from the past couldn’t be more different. It is one of those ironic (and tragic) comparisons that knock you for a loop. This is what staying on the island can do. 

This concludes The Little Prince as Sun, Aaron in the back seat of her car (having agreed to see after him while Kate pursued an attorney haranguing her in regards to turning over Aaron), gun in hand, eyeballs Ben. All of the Oceanic Six in one place seems almost improbable, really. Kate and Jack follow the attorney, soon learning he was hired by Ben (to get Hurley off and harass Kate), eventually to Claire’s mom’s hotel room, but she isn’t the one involved in Aaron’s recovery. Jack doesn’t realize he’s been fooled again by Ben (no surprise, Ben fools everybody), and Kate confronts him about it. Of course Ben reinforces the obvious…Kate *isn’t* Aaron’s mother. Hurley will need to be bailed out by Ben, but Sayid stays close out of concern…Ben has proven too many times he’s not to be trusted. Jack had been suspended from the hospital due to his addiction problem (his sweats and weariness doggedly follow him), but was able to recover Sayid after his near fatal tranquilizer dart incident. Sayid yet again, even in the hospital, must avoid another hired gun (address on a slip of paper from Kate’s home supposedly the one who hired him) before joining Jack and Ben to different places before eventually meeting at the end of the episode. Hurley purposely getting arrested so that he could get away from Ben, due to his being at the place where Sayid killed those hired guns after him, only to be eventually released thanks to fine attorney work; Ben typically gets what he wants, so escaping him if he wants to find you is nearly impossible. Ben was up against a small window of time, according to “the universe”, so he needed to hurry up the process with great haste and speed. Sun, with a gun, might be a monkey wrench Ben couldn’t anticipate…but rarely is he the one made a fool.