Through the Completely Screwed Up, Cracked and Slightly Tinted Looking Glass

Holy freaking crap. How do I even begin to tackle this one? So much happened, and, truly, overall, I think that this was one of LOST's better episodes. And here's why: it was able to stay true to form, namely being an enigma shrouded in mystery, bubble wrapped in secrecy, and sent via super secret overnight mail to obscurity, ambiguity, and vagueness (thank you, thesaurus!), and still leave us wanting more. But what we got, oh, what we got.... it done good.

"Through the Looking Glass" was, what Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse surreptitiously dubbed "The Rattlesnake in the Mailbox," a complete game-changer. But, as always, we must start from the beginning.

The episode opens with a super-scraggly, haven't-seen-a-barber-in-years Jack flying on an Oceanic plane, shaking, claiming to be in dire need of yet another drink. When I first saw the scene, the first thing I noticed was that Sun and Jin appeared to be sitting behind Jack. But given the "game changer" that happened in the end, that wouldn't make any sense, now, would it? But, moving on. On the plane, Jack comes across the obituary of ... someone. (Um, so how many of you have been turning your laptops sideways and trying to glean something from that screencap? Guilty.) Now, even though we have no earthly (or otherworldly, for that matter) idea of who this person is, s/he is apparently significant enough to drive Jack to suicide after reading it. But, as luck (or fate) would have it, right before Jack is about to take the leap (literally), there is a car crash on the bridge upon which Jack is currently perched, and whammo, another thing for Jack to fix.

At this point, back on the ranch, the Survivors have begun their hike to the radio tower, leaving Sayid, Jin, and Bernard behind to deal with the intruding Others. At this point in the episode, I'm already going nuts because I swear I'm hearing music underlying the entire show so far. And, with the exception of The Cranberries "I'll Stand By You" underplaying during Jack's suicide endeavors, I can't make anything in particular out. But it's so definitely there. Whether or not this has any significance to the show still has yet to be determined. My husband (grrrrr, I'll get to him later) claims it must be a technical glitch, probably with local programming. I might buy this theory, except for the fact that NOTHING on this show is coincidental. I was, in fact, so distracted by this that I didn't notice Juliet kissing Jack (oh, no, she din't!!! Hell to the no!) until it was over (rewind!). So, I apologize in advance if there are things I didn't catch because I was so freaking distracted by the Crazy Music. (And I'm not even pregnant anymore!)

So, two ka-blooeys later, and things didn't quite work out the way the survivors had hoped: Jin missed his target (hmm, this has happened before has it not?), and as such, the three of them get captured by the Others who weren't blown to smithereens. Eventually, Hurley comes to the rescue (thank god, I was getting seriously pissed about all the fat jokes! Poor guy, just wants to help!!!) via his Dharma van, careening onto the beach and wiping out those who remained. Oh, and Sayid went all Republican Guard, and, with his arms tied behind his back snapped the other dude's neck. (So badass... just call him Jack Bauer.... or Sayid, whichever you like better.) Sawyer, who at this point is a forlorn, I-no-longer-have-a-purpose-now-that-I-have-fulfilled-my-life-goal-of-killing-the-guy-who-murdered-my-parents, gets the final dig, shooting Tom after he surrendered (bad form, Sawyer!) for "taking the kid off the raft." Done and done.

Speaking of "the kid," is it inappropriate of me to think that Walt is now hot? Um, probably, but even more disconcerting is this: the producers have made no effort whatsoever to disguise the aging of Malcom David Kelley (Waaaaaaaaaalt!!!) I mean, the funky camera angle, perhaps, to hide how freaking tall the kid is, but nothing to the voice, etc. Walt appears to a wounded (both physically and mentally) Johnny Locke, chillin' in the mass grave with the Dharma folks, himself contemplating suicide. Waaaaaaaaaalt nixes that idea, tells John to get off his pathetic bum, and get to work, whatever that means.

Well, apparently that means killing Naomi, who has finally been able to get that stupid phone working. Another standoff between the Man of Science and the Man of Faith ensues, with the former coming out the victor. Main of Faith retreats into the jungle, probably to go sulk to Jacob. Jack makes the call, talks to someone who promises to get on with the whole saving-the-survivors thing.

Now, we could just end it there, and it would have made for a pretty boring season finale. But, then you've got the whole "Rattlesnake in the Mailbox" thing, that promised to be such a game-changer, you'd end up leaving LOST for 7 months (& months!!) continually repeating ".... Whaaaaaa?!" Which would have been really great, except for the fact that freakishly insightful husband guy ruined the whole thing with over an hour left in the show. Yup, that's right, He figured out that the flashbacks were not, in fact, flashbacks, but flashforwards.

It appears that Jack, after having left the island, wants nothing more than to go back. In fact, as he tells Kate in the final scene, he uses his golden pass from Oceanic Airlines every Friday night, flying to Tokoyo, Singapore, Sydney, anywhere, pretty much. He wants to crash, prays to crash, longing to just go back. Which begs the question: WTF, man?

Throughout the episode, and in particular, the flashbac-- forwards, there is mention of Jack being a hero. "Twice over," apparently, as the new Chief of Surgery notes. Think back to the part of the show where Jack was trying to get his prescription refilled, and the guy behind him calls him a hero, citing what we think to be the car accident thing (P.S. Was that kid Zach, the infamous teddy-bear clutcher?!), but what is probably the whole "how they got off the island" thing.

So, as usual, I have no idea what happens with this show. Alls I know is that we have to wait until January or maybe even February until things get rolling again.

Finally, a moment of silence for The Hobbit. I must admit, with as much build-up as we got slapped in the face with "You're gonna die, Chahlie," "I can't save you this time, brotha," etc, I honestly didn't think they'd go through with it. But go through with it they did, and Charlie Pace bit the big one. Just when we thought it wouldn't happen, when Charlie entered the code (more code entering, sheesh! We can't get away from it!!) and started a nice little dialogue with Penny Widmore, ultimately finding out that Naomi is a liar-liar-pants-on-fire, and that it's not Penny's boat floating offshore, Patchy shows up, grenade in hand, and drowns Charlie. So... uh... did Mikhail die, too, since it would seem that he, too, was right there when the grenade exploded? You would think so, but since it seems that nothing, not even a sonic fence or an arrow straight to the heart, can kill that guy. So I don't really know if he's dead. Charlie, on the other hand, pushing up daisies. Now, I realize I've been demanding his death for pretty much the entire season now, but I have to admit, my heartstrings were tugged as I watched Charlie sacrifice himself for the greater good, and cross himself (with the wrong hand) before taking his last breath. So good.

Finally, (again, I know, but I mean it this time!) questions to ponder for the next 7 or 8 months:

• Who was in the casket, and why was s/he significant enough for Jack to want to commit suicide, but also someone for whom Kate had an obvious sense of hatred/disdain, etc?
• Who is the "he" that Kate had to get back to? Sawyer?
• Is Waaaaaaaaaalt still alive? Or is he another of the island's apparitions? (i.e. Yemi, Kate's horse, etc.) Is it Jacob in another form?
• If you had just seen your daughter for the first time in 16 years, would your first words be "Will you help me tie him up?"
• Was this, truly, a "game changer?" Will we begin to see "present day" in the future, and will the island be in flashback? (I'm so confused!)
• How will Charlie's death resonate throughout the camp, and will it come back to bite Desmond in the arse if Claire finds out he knew about it all along?
• What does Jack do that is s "heroic?"

Well, so long for now, dear readers. Please do check back here once in awhile, as I'll update whenever something intriguing comes along. So long, farewell, auf weidershcien, goodbye....