Lost - Follow the Leader

*** / ****

Radzinsky has usurped Goodspeed’s control within the Dharma Initiative, more than okay with using violence in order to see The Swan constructed as planned despite the dangers proclaimed to him by Dr. Chang, completely convinced by Hurley, Miles, and Jin (earlier by Daniel in the previous episode) that breaking ground with a drill in that area will cause a cataclysm as told. Radzinsky will not, however, be so convinced and Goodspeed has no willpower to countermand him. That inevitability in them bringing the “purge” onto themselves seems to certainly come to a significant realization here with how Radzinsky just continues to go against everything the Dharma Initiative was supposed to stand for. Goodspeed not being able to control the situation, as Radzinsky, and Phil, feel perfectly fine with pummeling on Sawyer (and even popping Juliet once) in order to coerce the coordinates to where the Others are currently camped. Kate and Jack going to the Others (and Kate returning) has got in Radzinsky’s craw so he has special plans to be rid of them so that The Swan can be built with no problems from them. Phil is more than willing to assist Radzinsky even as Goodspeed disagrees with their attempted methods of persuasion. Sawyer is able to convince them to get the ladies and children in the sub and off the island (willing to draw Radzinsky a map if he and Juliet are allowed to leave on the sub as well). So this explains why Miles never knew his father and Charlotte had been on the island before. The fifth season does serve to tie up the loose ends through innovate ways like Sawyer being responsible for their departure. But you do get a lot of “this has to happen, so this can happen, and this has to happen so this can happen” which is par for the course when time travel is involved distinctively within the framework of a show. Jack gets through to Eloise that she must use the bomb to stop the cataclysm, and is made aware that she wants to use it just to wipe out the Dharma Initiative. But to “correct” the mistakes of the “incident”, helping to make sure the freed energy from The Swan that resulted in causing the Oceanic to go down (thanks to Desmond’s failure to “click the button”); Jack sees this as his opportunity to change everything so lives are saved and the plane lands without incident. But when Kate and Jack are in Eloise’s tent as she reads from Daniel’s journal, recognizing her handwriting, the two debates going this route. Kate doesn’t want a lot of what happened as a result of the plane crash to be erased, while Jack feels almost a majority of what they’ve been through is misery. Jack firmly believes that their purpose of being transported to the island in 1977 is for this very reason…to stop Dharma from drilling into that immense pocket of energy and causing the cataclysm. Kate runs off, of course, later to be carried into the sub just shortly after Sawyer and Juliet once again share their love for each other…it is loud and proud on Lost that Kate is the serrated instrument that refuses to allow Sawyer and Juliet to just have their relationship. Juliet’s eyes reveal she knows that Kate just won’t leave. Sawyer doesn’t even want to look at her because she’s a reminder of stirred up feelings he had put away for three years living within the Dharma community. So in the temple tunnels Jack, Alpert, Eloise, and Sayid (who had killed members of the hostiles when they threatened to shoot Kate for attempting to leave) swim, locating the Jughead. What to do now? When Jack and Kate were brought into the camp of the hostiles, Widmore soon followed with questions about them, but Eloise knew they weren’t Dharma. Despite his reservations, as Alpert even questions Eloise’s willingness to trust them, Jack is able to talk her into the mission of using the bomb as a weapon to destroy the energy that would eventually lead to his whole experience on the island.

Alpert’s “advisory” role, as Ben calls it, appears to be under serious jeopardy as Locke emerges with “knowledge from the island”, “requesting” his presence at the drug plane so that he would be in the right place at the right time to dislodge a bullet and pass on instructions…Locke, in essence, helps himself through Alpert’s assistance! Ben is at odds with Locke’s actions, especially when he wants Alpert to take him to Jacob’s whereabouts…because he plans to kill Jacob! Can Ben do as he was told in the underground of the temple and not interfere but follow Locke’s command? Alpert’s questioning Locke’s wanting to carry all the Others to confront this Jacob they were always adherent to, as Ben agrees he’s a potential “problem”, could eventually encourage further complications!