LOST Recap Season 6 Episode 13 'The Last Recruit'

I've been writing LOST episode recap blogs on my own for years now. Posting them everywhere from my large email friend-base to Myspace, to Lost board websites, to Facebook, to the blog site's of other friendly 'Losties'. This season I am honored to be posting the remaining recaps EXCLUSIVELY for Cultural Compulsive Disorder!!! Join me here each week for my futile Lost TV show ramblings, but tune in daily, for an endless array of movie, TV, music, comic book, fashion, and general geekdom that Mr. Mike D and his staff provides. Take a moment right now to make C.C.D one of your favorites, and please become a follower of the blog. (Just click follow over on the right hand side, sign in using one of the accounts provided Google, Aol IM, Yahoo, etc and watch your picture pop up.) Comments are always appreciated. Let's try and keep the spoilers limited to no more than the title and centricity (if that's a word) of the following weeks episode.

Not a exactly a phenomenal episode in way of revelations, mysterious happenings or jaw dropping situations but this episode seemed to do a sturdy job setting the stage for the final showdown which will be happening in the final 4 episodes we have left. I did notice a couple of strange things and I will ponder them with you as we coast through another recap together.........

John Locke-X is being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance with Ben Linus-X accompanying him. We hear that John-X may have some internal bleeding and that he has no response in his lower extremities. Ben-X informs them that he was paralyzed BEFORE the hit & run near the school that they work at together. Ben-X has information about the assailant (whom we know to be Desmond) and the EMT instructs him to tell the cops that will, no doubt, be at the hospital. (Maybe Miles-X and James-X will be on THIS case as well.) As one EMT rushes John-X into the hospital ER, Sun-X is rushed in by another. (Sun-X, you'll recall, is suffering from abdominal gunshot wounds due to a shootout with Keamy-X and his goon Mikhail-X....and furthermore, she has been revealed to be carrying Jin-X's baby!) Sun-X recognizes John-X as 'HIM' as she is carted off. (I'm inferring from this sequence that the trauma has caused Sun-X to retain memories of John from Universe 1.0...possibly even knowledge of John being 'HIM'...the Smoke Monster!)

At the police precinct, Det. James Ford-X arrives at a desk where Kate-X is being processed, after her arrest, and offers her an apple (shades of the temptation of Adam & Eve by Satan, maybe?) which she refuses. James-X eats his though. (a clue? a red herring?) Ford-X reads aloud the laundry list of charges Kate-X has mounting against her. When he gets to 'murder' Kate-X insists she's not a murderer. Ford-X reveals to her that he remembers her from the airport, and she him. "Don't you think it's weird," he asks her. Kate-X wonders if he's hitting on her to which Ford-X suggests her being a murderer and he a cop may not be such a good look for them. That she should save her pleas of innocence for the Feds. Kate-X wonders why he didn't arrest her when he saw her in handcuffs on the airport elevator. James-X slyly remarks that he didn't SEE her handcuffs. Kate-X imagines that he may not have turned her in because he didn't want anyone to know he had been on a trip to Australia. She wonders what the 'Feds' would have to say about THAT. Miles-X, James-X's partner in this timeline, interrupts. They have a multiple homicide on their hands. Keamy-X and 3 goons (all dead). Korean 'GSW' (did I hear this correctly? What the hell is a GSW?) brought to the hospital with gunshot wounds..her 'boyfriend' is a witness. Miles-X, has surveillance footage of the perp leaving the scene of the crime. Sayid-X! "That's our bad guy," Ford-X exclaims.

Claire-X enters an office building where she has a meeting with the 'Western Pacific Adoption Agency' and signs in at the front desk. The clerk instructs her to go to the 15th floor (THE numbers!!) Desmond sneaks up behind her.(creep!) (side note: I've now been referring to both Desmond-X and Desmond 1.0 as just 'Desmond' since I am convinced that he now has FULL conscious insight into his lives in both universes.) Desmond appears to be following her as he has done with other LOST island castaways in Universe-X. Apparently he's attempting to have them connect with their mirror selves from the other universe. He reads her name 'Claire Littleton' from the sign-in sheet but one might infer that he already knows full well who she is in order to have been following her all this time. (remember that it's safe to assume that his 'special' driver Minkowski-X had been asked by Desmond to fetch the flight manifest. By now he probably has and Desmond has probably been going over it with a fine toothed comb) Either way, he's acting a little too creepy for my blood. Claire-X remembers him from the plane and seems to think he's quite harmless, otherwise Claire-X is just in the habit of surrounding herself with creepy guys...putting her unborn baby in harms way. She informs him that he was correct about her baby. It IS a boy has Desmond 'predicted'. Desmond couldn't help but overhear that Claire-X is headed to an adoption agency without representation and, although he's not a lawyer, he's there to meet one who owes him a favor so Claire-X's monetary worries won't be an issue. He insists she speak with her before getting herself into an 'irreverable situation' (Ominous, very ominous, indeed!). Up on the 15th floor, the same floor for both the adoption agency and the lawyers office, Desmond and Claire-X enter the offices of Sweetzer and Verdansky ('Sweetzer' is also the name, you'll recall of the street on which Desmond meets Penny-X for coffee. Any significance?) Verdanksy is the surname of Universe-X lawyer Ilana-X. Ilana-X, the lawyer whom owes Desmond a favor, (Just what is this FAVOR? Has Desmond already 'awakened' his lawyer friend, and now she feels as though she owes him? Or is this all just a way of getting Claire-X to come with him and that this will all work out once Ilana-X realizes this is the woman she's been scouring the globe for? Am I wasting to much of my energy on this?) Illana-X arrives and is pleased to see Claire Littleton-X who she, 'coincidentally' has been looking for.

At the Jarrah home, where Nadia-X is married to Omar-X ....Sayid-X's brother, Sayid-X hurriedly packs his luggage. He's been staying there with his family since arriving in L.A.-X but, after the shootout at the restaurant which led to the deaths of underhanded Keamy-X and his men, Sayid-X will now have to flee and never return. He's shady about his reasons for leaving to Nadia-X as the doorbell rings and Sayid-X orders her to stall them. It's the L.A.P.D., specifically Det. Miles Straume who has questions for Nadia-X. As he notices partially packed luggage on the living room table, the cameras shoot to Sayid-X who makes his getaway out the back door of the house where Miles-X's partner, James-X trips him up using a garden hose and places him under arrest.

Jack-X and David, his son, arrive at the same office building where we know Desmond, Claire-X and Ilana-X to be meeting already.Jack-X takes a cellphone call from his Ex-wife, David's mother who still remains a mystery. He promises to have David home by 7pm after a look from David implies 5pm is too early. This banter, besides further teasing us about the identity of the boys mother, also seems to be geared up to show us how strong Jack-X's relationship has become with his son who wants to spend as much time with him now as possible. Jack-X is heading in for the reading of his father's Will. He informs his son that it will be a sad situation but David, who you'll recall only exists in Universe-X and not Universe 1.0, insists he'll only be sad for his father. The lawyer responsible for the will of Christian Shepherd-X is none other that Ilana-X who has a surprise for Jack-X. She introduces him to Claire Littleton-X who informs him she is mentioned in Christian-X's Will because, she too is his offspring. Jack-X's phone interrupts again, this time it's the hospital service informing him about an emergency. He tells them to 'prep him for surgery' and reschedules the reading of Will.

At the hospital, Sun-X awakens from her hospital bed to find her not-so-secret lover Jin-X asleep at her side, grasping her hand. Jin-X awakens and tells her that she will be fine and that their unborn baby will be fine as well. "It's over," he assures her in Korean. "We're all going to be OK," he adds. With all that has happened to these two, in both universes, I find myself hoping that Jin-X isn't just sugar coating the situation so that he doesn't stress Sun-X out and make her worse. Is their unborn child REALLY out of harms way?

Next, Jack-X and David arrive at the hospital, passing the Korean couples room as the do. (I laughed to myself because these two reminded me of Dr. Evil and his Mini Me) David finds it hard to believe that his grandfather was able to keep a secret of this magnitude. Jack-X insists that his father always kept a lot of things to himself. David suggests that this is his where Jack-X has gotten it from. I would suggest that this is where David has also gotten it from. Secrecy seems to be a huge Shepherd trait. David wishes his father good luck in surgery and Jack-X seems deeply grateful to have such a supportive son. David will wait for him outside. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this type of surgery take hours and hours? Nitpicking am I?) In the operating room, Jack-X is informed about the patient's stats. He was in a wheelchair before the hit and run incident and his dural sac has been 'obliterated'. They are over their heads and that is why Jack-X needed to be called in. "I got this," Jack-X insists. (I'm getting the impression that this.version of Jack is a much more successful surgeon. He's certainly more confident than his counterpart would be and Jack 1.0 only had to deal with a couple of dural sacks which he sliced open himself. This dural sac is 'obliterated' and the hospital staff was 'over their heads' until they called him.) Alpha male to the rescue. Jack-X glances down at the patient before surgery begins, a MIRROR placed in the path of both he and the patient reveals that John Locke-X is, of course the patient. "I think I know this guy," He eerily insists.

Back on the island in 2007...Universe 1.0, Smoke Monster/Locke is pleased that the remaining 'candidates'  Hurley, Sun, and Jack have come to their senses and joined his tribe. He was particularly hoping Jack would come. He immediately wants to play catch up with Jack so he asks him to accompany him further into the woods where they can speak privately as he has done with the other 'candidates'. (MIB isn't very big on speaking in front of large groups it seems. Divide and conquer perhaps?) Jack has let Hurley take the lead since Jack's enlightenment at the lighthouse, so he gets Hurley's permission before leaving with Smokey. Off in the secluded spot, Smoke/Locke begins his meet-and-greet by planting his torch in the ground at his feet where he sits regally on a boulder, very 'campfire ghost story' like. Jack is in no mood to waste time. He knows there's very few episodes left! "WHAT are you," Jack asks. He knows Smoke Thing isn't John Locke. John Locke was stupid enough to be manipulated, Smokey insists, so now he has taken his form in the event of his death. Jack figures out that since John Locke had to be dead first, before Smokey could assume his identity, there might be others among the island's dead that Smoke Thing has appeared as. You see where THIS is leading? Jack seems saddened at the realization that Smoke Monster has taken the form of his own dead father, Christian Shepherd, whose body had gone missing after the crash of Oceanic 815. Jack asks why he would do that to which Smokey nonchalantly remarks, "You needed to find water". All Smoke Thing has ever been interested in is helping them....helping them to leave. Since Jacob chose them they are trapped there. With Jacob gone, now they are free to leave but, it has to be ALL of them. Jack is puzzled when it comes to the manipulation of John Locke. Jack himself has been flirting with a similar belief system to the one that got John Locke killed. John was a 'believer' in the island's mysticism. If it weren't enough to hear Smokey refer to John Locke as being 'stupid'...now he says Locke was nothing but a 'sucker'...and NOT a believer as Jack submits. Smoke Thing senses the two are being watched and tells the voyeur to show themselves. Claire reveals herself and her dirt-hair blowout from behind some palms. Smoke Thing excuses himself to let the siblings speak to each other alone. (Tell me this didn't smell like a filthy-hair set up to you? Apparently MIB has nothing left to say to Jack, or perhaps he just thinks Claire can do a better job convincing Jack that, if he stays, he'll finally be on the appropriate team.) Jack wonders if Claire knows Smoke Thing once posed as their father, the deceased Christian Shepherd.  Claire is fully aware. (Reminder: Claire was chilling with Smoke Shepherd back in what we believed to be Jacob's cabin last we saw of her several seasons ago. Right after she was 'saved' by sawyer from an explosion in Dharmaville) Claire seems unfazed by the many faces of Smoke Thing. After all, IT was there for her when all her friends had abandoned her. (Keep rubbbbbbin' it in, filthy!) She's glad Jack's decided to join them, though. Jack notes that he hasn't really 'decided'. Claire insists that he decided the moment Jack let Smokey speak to him. "Like it or not you're with HIM, now." Claire predicts. (I'm getting the impression 'free will' goes out the window if you give either Smokey or Jacob a free forum to plead their cases before you press forward with your own agenda. Master manipulators are they. One might even say two peas in a pod....two sides of the same....coin.)

By the light of day, James gets Hurley's attention and reveals his plan to double cross Smoke Thing. Kate does the same with Sun. Sayid won't be told because of his progression to the 'dark side'. "You can always bring people back from the Dark Side," Hurley offers...as he begins to explain the plight and redemption of Star Wars' Anakin Skywalker to a hasty James Ford. (Something tells me Hurley has more of a grasp on what's really going on here than most do, as per usual. Unlike me, Hurley always goes with the simplest line of reasoning when it comes to Lost's island happenings.) The Oceanic survivors and 'candidates' greet each other. "Hey...Claire...you look......great," Hurley lies, as he is reunited with the woman that was once Claire. Kate points out to Jack that Sayid is now 'different' to which Jack remarks that they ALL are....now. The reunion is cut short, however, by Zoe and the rest of Widmore's footloose soldiers. In the least imposing way ever, Zoe demands from Smokey the package that he confiscated from Widmore's camp. Smokey, of course, is unfazed by her idle threats...and also unfazed by her not so idle threats as she instructs her cohorts via walkie-talkie to "show them what we're capable of". (Need I say what you obviously were all thinking: 'Is this when Smokey is finally gonna rip this useless bitch into a million useless pieces?') Doh! Just than, The forest directly behind Smoke/Locke erupts in missile fire and Smoke Thing barely flinches. Regardless, they have until 'nightfall' to return what they took from them or next time the miss-iles won't miss. Zoe gives Smoke/Locke a two-way on which he can contact her. A two way Smokey quickly disposes of after Team Widmore's departure. (I wonder if Smokey has the same aversion to technology that his 'adversary' Jacob has? Remember no flashlights aloud in Jacob's Cabin...unless of course that WAS Smokey's Cabin. Tangent!) Smoke Thing addresses his people. He claims their hand has been forced, siting the 'lie' that they have something that belongs to Team Widmore. (We know this is an out-and-out lie since we know they do, in fact,  have custody of 'the package', Desmond Hume. Why do we ever begin to believe this THING when he obviously lies so easily, so effortlessly?) Anyhoo, the time is now! They will be be heading to Hydra island and boarding the Ajira plane for escapesville. Smoke Thing instructs James to split from the group and secure their boat. He may even take Kate along with him. Ford heads out, but not before he corners Jack and tells him to secure the others (Hurley, Sun, Frank) and double back to where James will be with the boat so that they can get the f*ck out of there. No Claire, though, since she tried to kill Kate and will inevitably try again. (I'm reminded that James probably doesn't know yet that Jack is Claire's brother otherwise he Wouldn't have made this request.) All I have to say is Great! James' is playing right into Smokey's hand.err...ummm...I mean, James' double-cross plan is working out just as he imagined it.

Locke prepares for the big move by sending Sayid to kill Desmond. Sayid doesn't HAVE TO of course. He could always just reneg on their agreement which would have resulted in Nadia's resurrection. (Just how long does Sayid have to do anything MIB asks of him? How open ended is this agreement?) Sayid's his bitch now, so he's immediatley peering  down the well gun drawn on the helpless Mr. Hume. Desmond appears to be very focused. As a dieing wish, he wants to know what 'Locke' offered Sayid to do his bidding. Sayid informs him that Smoke Monster has promised to return something he lost...the woman he loved. Desmond knows all about losing contact with the one you love but wonders how Sayid would explain himself. "What would you tell her when she asks what you did to be with her," Desmond implores him.

Kate and James are near the shoreline where their boat awaits them a few strokes out. James takes a moment to clue Kate in on the new plan. Hurley, Jack, Sun, Frank........yada yada yada..ditch Locke....blahzay blazhzay blah....No Claire! Claire's been drinking the Smoke-KoolAid, James insists. "Do you want HER around Aaron," James implores. Kate's not arguing and the two make their way to the boat.

As Team Smokey moves out, Jack makes some small talk with his sister Claire who's obviously having some issues with her grasp of reality. Jack seems to be feeling Claire out while also trying to get a better understanding of just what this Smoke Monster really is. Claire rubs it in again that Jack and crew left her alone on the island for 3 years and that she made due with the people that DID show they cared about her. (Boohoo, bitch. Take a shower! There's not enough water around you for one?) MIB asks Sun where Sayid is and confuses her loss of English for the silent treatment. Sun yells at him via her notepad but Smokey's got more pressing issues. He's going to make sure no one 'got left behind'. (Right) Disappearing again and leaving half of his precious 'candidates' to wander away. Jack does his bit for Sawyer, cluing his friends in on the rendezvous point with James & Kate. They hightail it out of there but not before Claire notices she's being abandoned again.

Smokey has made it back near Sayid's assassination mission and it is clear that something has changed with our 'Anakin'. Sayid insists he did the job and that Desmond is dead but, that he just needed a moment after killing an 'unarmed man'. He suggests his boss go back and check if he doesn't believe him. (There's a moment where Smokey's reaction has me wondering if Smokey is more afraid to go find Desmond alive or to find him dead. Either way I think Smoke Thing is confident about the outcome of this little test of Sayid. What he wanted that test to reveal I couldn't tell you. What exactly is going on here?!)

 All the party people make it to the boat. Hurley, Jack, Frank, Sun and, oh yeah, Claire with a loaded rifle pointed right AT these traitors. Kate volunteers to alleviate the situation. She calms Claire down by insisting the only reason she came back to the island was to reunite Claire with Aaron and that she's not leaving without her. She reminds Claire that Kate was there when Aaron was born but she never should have raised him. To James' dismay, Kate announces that either Claire comes along or Kate doesn't. Claire's in but, that doesn't stop her from creating one more douche kill comment about how HE is going to be 'mad' when he finds out they're all gone. (...sure he is) At sea on the boat, Frank heads down below to get some viddles and Claire follows him. (Do dead people eat? Just wondering.) Sawyer refers to Frank as 'Chesty' and I chuckle. Jack strikes his 'looking out into enlightment' pose at the edge of the boat and James approaches him to make small talk. Worst thing he ever did. Jack starts spouting some last minute bullshit about how  they came back to the island for a reason and how the island 'isn't done with them yet'. I do agree with Jack, though, that Smoke Monster seems to want them to leave so badly because 'he's afraid of what'll happen if they stay'. We've been down this road, though, before  and we know how this all turns out. Maybe a Jack-xedo will fit snugger on smoke monster than that floppy baloney tit Lockesuit he's been wearing for two seasons. I like when James says 'get the hell off my damn boat' real Clint Eastwood-like (if dirty Harry drove around in a yacht.) 'Get the hell off my damn boat'...'Get the hell off my damn boat'. I could repeat that all day long. Jack apologizes for his role in getting Juliet killed and takes his 'leap of faith' which is significantly less dramatic than Sawyer's helicopter jump but reminiscent none the less. Kate demands that James turns back to fish him out, to which Clint replies "We're done going back, Kate."

Jack swims back to the beach where he is met by a surprisingly not so angry Smoke Lockester. "Sawyer took my boat, didn't he," Locke inquires knowingly. (C'mon! This was a Rebel Trap! Don'tchya think this boat trip was a trap like me? Don'tchya....Don'tchya??)

Hydra Island. The crew of the 'Elizabeth' lead by James Ford arrive Jackless.  Zoe (aka Princess Useless) steps up near the sonic barriers, with the rest of Widmore's crew, guns drawn, in a not-so-welcoming way. Jin appears from behind the tree line. He and Sun lock eyes. Three years have passed since they've last seen each other alive. They run toward each other.........and collapse. Ears bleeding, the result of the fully operational sonic barriers. Just kidding, that last part didn't happen because the sonic barriers are off again....but you know you were betting on it, you little sadomasochist, you! Seriously, though, their reunion was sweet and long awaited. Could have been a 9 on the 'Constant' meter but, instead was about a 4 or 4 1/2. Zoe and crew lower their guns when they see James 'Sawyer' Ford whom Widmore has made a deal with. When he confirms that Smoke Monster IS NOT with him  Zoe makes a walkie talkie call, presumably to Charles himself who orders her to treat them as hostiles. "On your knees. All of you" Zoe barks, "Deals off," She adds. (I don't wanna pick nits here but Zoe's right. James broke the deal. He promised to deliver Smoke E. Monster, himself, bound and gagged with an apple in his mouth..... and didn't. What had he expected turning up empty handed like this?)

Island number 1, Jack steps out of the water as Smoke Lockester approaches. Just than, the beach is bombarded by similar missile explosions to the one Zoe ordered fired upon Team Smokey's camp earlier.....decimating Smokey's followers at the beach and sending Jack hurdling toward the camera. Jack lays motionless, ears ringing, eyes open on the beach. Smoke Locke scoops him up and carries him to a nearby tree where he props him up in a seated position against it. "Jack, you all right" he asks. "Don't worry, every thing's going to be OK," he adds in a menacing yet nurturing way. "You're WITH ME now!"
BwooHoohahaha.....(I added that menacing wizard laugh myself...scary......ain't it.)

Things I'm Pondering:

• I am being told, however, that the timeline in which both Locke-X and Sun-X are being rushed to the hospital is super-fucked-up! Sun-X was shot the DAY AFTER Oceanic Flight 815 landed in L.A. in Universe-X. John Locke-X was hit by Desmond at least A FEW DAYS, IF NOT A WEEK, after the flight landed once you take into account the day his baggage went missing, his firing from the box company, his visit to the job placement center, his days of work as a substitute teacher. Is this another continuity error or is the timeline in this universe truncated somehow?!? This stuff makes me mental! Can you figure out how these two events could piece together better given what we know?
• Last week I predicted that the 'candidates' all seem to be heading to the hospital in Universe-X. This week it seems as though 1/3 of them are making their way to the hospital while the another 1/3 make their way to the police precinct....the final 1/3 are all congregating at the law office building. I wonder if one of these buildings will be the stage for a climactic scene involving all of our 'candidates'? Either way, these scenarios make for a few giant instances of Deja Vu for our cast.
• I know the storyline about Christian Shepherd's Will has been devised to have Claire-X and Jack-X become acquainted with each other but, is it possible the contents of the Will, itself, will reveal something shocking to us!? Just what might that be? Is there another Shepherd? Snap out of it JB!
• Did anyone else notice that Jack and the Smoke Monster began their 5 minute conversation by torch fire in the DARK of night, yet returned from that very same discussion in DAYLIGHT. WHATSUPWITDAT?
• Why is Smoke Thing always so supportive of splitting the 'candidates' up at the drop of a hat when he insists they all need to leave together? Sending Sayid on a solo mission. Letting James and Kate secure their inter-island shuttle boat. Allowing Jin to be kept prisoner by team Widmore. Seems to me that if he needed them all to leave the island TOGETHER he'd make sure they were all always herded around TOGETHER like sheep. Makes me wonder if he even needs all of them to escape at all, or if he even wants to escape to begin with. Get your bitches in pocket Pimp Thing! What's really going on here? Please she some light on this my disciples. Please?
• The boat James and his crew secured was none other than 'The Elizabeth'. A boat rich in LOST history. Memory would serve you if you remember that it was the boat used by Desmond in the race to win the respect of his lover's father, Charles Widmore. The boat named after it's mysterious owner's wife Elizabeth (aka Crazy 'Libby'...yep...Hurley's Libby) and donated to him to prove his mirth. A boat repaired and kept hidden by Desmond's hatch mate Kelvin, unbeknownst to him, as Kelvin prepared to ditch Desmond and leave him to his button pushing on the solo tip. This boat's kind of like the R2-D2 or C-3P0 of Lost...always around! It garners a larger Lostpedia entry than Nikki and Paolo.
• Upon second viewing, when I saw Smokey propping Jack up against the tree at the end I couldn't help but think "OMG Jack's paralyzed!...4 episodes left and Jack's paralyzed!!" than I calmed myself down and rewound it, rewatched it and said to myself "OMG Jack's dead! Jack fuckin' dead. He died in that explosion with 4 episodes left and Smokey infected him with that sickness and now he's WITH HIM like Claire and Sayid are WITH HIM." I had to shut the show off, I don't know what I'd diagnose Jack with next. OMG...just OMG!

I have no idea what's in store for us next week. The promo seemed pretty vague, yet centered around Smoke/Locke. they made is seem Pre-tty scary, though. Can't wait for this one...whatever it holds. After this two week stretch it has become abundantly clear that I've lost my patience, lost my sense of direction and completely lost my marbles. In any rate, these are all good indications that I'm still quite.......LOST!

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