Lost : D.O.C.

Lost. 3.18. In the flashback, Sun is accosted by a woman who knows Jin’s parents are a fisherman and a hooker. She wants money to keep it quiet. When Sun asks Jin about his discrepancy with saying his father died when he was sixteen versus when he was in the army, he loses his temper. What a surprise. Rather than deal with his wrath, she tracks down his father. The mother, who apparently got around, left her baby with him. He’s not sure if he’s Jin’s father but felt he should raise him because no one else would care for him. Sun approaches her father for the blackmail money. He’ll only agree if Jin works for him personally. Sun, who’s aware what her father does, accepts the terms. Jin discovers the envelope of money. Sun lies and says it was for their furniture and honeymoon, wounding his pride. Sun later delivers the money to the woman who she’s already figured out is Jin’s mother.

On the island, Sun is creeped out by Jack checking on her condition. She mentions to Kate that Jack seems different. What if the Others want her baby and Jack is working with them? Instead it probably ties into the research Juliet is doing. Sun confronts her about what happens to pregnant women and is told they all die. But wait. Only if they conceived on the island. If Sun accompanies her to the medical hatch, they can do ultrasound to determine the D.O.C. Which Sun needs to do anyway to figure out if Jin is truly the father since he’s been diagnosed infertile and she had an affair. The good news: the baby was conceived on the island. The bad news: no other woman survived into the third trimester. While at the medical hatch, Juliet leaves a message for Ben that she’s working on getting samples from the other women.

Parachute Girl is bleeding to death from a branch puncturing her lung. Hurley mistakenly fires the flare gun. Oops. It brings Patch running to the campers. After a brief stare down, he runs. Jin chases and tackles him. Nice kick. Everyone’s confused because Patch “already died once this week.” Apparently on the island the “rules are a bit different.” He offers to help Parachute Girl if they let him go. When her lung is fixed, she says something in Portuguese that Patch translates as “thank you” even though it sure didn’t sound like it. Apparently she said she’s not alone. Patch tries to steal the fancy radio phone thingie but they catch him. He had to try. Parachute Girl tells the guys that the crashed Oceanic flight 815 was found and there were no survivors. What? Line of the episode: Juliet’s final words for Ben, “I hate you.”

24 : 12 - 1 a.m.

24. 6.19. Ricky “acquires” a car. Or steals one from some poor unknown. Attention would be car thieves: try the phrase “I’m a federal agent in pursuit. I need the vehicle.” Jack uses power lines as a shield while he removes his tracking signal. He calls Cheng and arranges to meet in an abandoned motel on highway 305. Just by looking at the tire tracks, Ricky figures this out and follows, calling for a field team. The writers seem to think we care about Karen and Bill and that one of them has to take the fall for Fayed. Since Bill had him in custody and released him and Karen’s closer to the president, she fires him.

Jack leaves a message on Bill’s voice mail saying he’s set an explosion to incinerate the circuitboard. Bill never hears the message. Morris and Chloe can’t work next to each other without bickering. He moves across the room. Oh the drama! Bill names Nadia as acting director until Division sends an interim director in a few hours. She tells the CTU gang before the news hits their internal forums. Internal forums? Ricky finds Jack’s truck outside the motel. Cheng pulls up in a limo, also containing Audrey. They go inside. Jack apologizes to Audrey. For what, I can’t imagine. She’s the one who went searching for him.

The field team’s too slow for Ricky. He starts shooting. Then everyone shoots. Cheng and some cohorts escape with the component out the back in three black hummers. A helicopter tries to follow but is shot down. Jack’s bummed that Ricky’s firefight ruined his plans. “Why didn’t you listen to me?” he asks as if anyone has ever listened to him so he should have expected it. Nadia has Jack arrested. Audrey’s traumatized. I’m traumatized myself from the VP and Lisa’s smooch. Line of the hour: Chloe’s annoyed, “Halfway – fifty percent – point five!”

Lost : Catch 22

Lost. 3.17. In the flashback, we learn why Desmond calls everyone “brother.” It’s from his time spent in a monastery preparing to become a monk. He and his Brothers made wine from the Moriah Vineyards, probably in Scotland since Main Brother also had the accent. One day some guy enters and punches Desmond. Turns out he’s Derek, the lower case brother of Ruth who couldn’t seem to decide whether she was Irish or Scottish. Desmond dated Ruth for six years and was engaged to marry her but left a week before the wedding. He claims to have had a “greater calling.” I didn’t buy it any more than Ruth did. Next time “just tell the girl you’re too bloody scared.” When Main Brother finds Desmond drunk on their expensive wine of a limited supply, he fires him. Desmond’s final act is to help pack up the wine crates in a customer’s van. Enter Penny.

On the island, Desmond has a puzzle flash thingie where Charlie is shot in the neck by an arrow and dies. This time, Desmond wants the flash to happen because he thinks it leads to Penny’s arrival. He enlists Hurley, Jin and Charlie to hunt down the cable. Despite the prospect of being “kabobed by one of Rousseau’s spiky death trap things,” they go. Their little camping trip includes a ghost story in Korean interrupted by sounds of a helicopter overhead. The chopper falls into the ocean, suggesting that there’s some magnetic field or similar that makes it impossible for any plane or boat to make it to or over this island. Since the guys see a beacon, the pilot seems to have bailed pre-crash. After some debate, they agree to search for her, as Desmond is sure it’s Penny, at daybreak.

Kate doesn’t know what to do with herself so she decides to do the dishes. Jack assures her not to worry. “I’m sure something will go wrong soon enough.” When he takes oatmeal to Juliet, Kate becomes jealous and turns to Sawyer who doesn’t mind being used but would rather she was honest about it so he didn’t have to make mix tapes. Or steal them from Bernard. The next day the campers start their hike. When Charlie steps on the trip wire, Desmond yells at him to duck, then pushes him out of the way, then worries he’s changed the future. Charlie’s not so happy Desmond planned on sacrificing him. They find the pilot hanging in her parachute from a tree. There’s a Portuguese copy of Catch 22 and a dead satellite phone in her bag. The book contains a picture of Desmond and Penny. The pilot isn’t Penny but she does know Desmond’s name. Line of the episode “You two arguing over who’s your favorite Other?” eclipsed by Hurley’s “This is future crap, innit?”

24 : 11 p.m. - 12 a.m.

24. 6.18. Ricky gives Jack some shot for pain. Yeah, can I have one of those? Jack gets back to Cheng who, in exchange for Audrey, wants some component from the nukes since it will give him access to Russian technology and defense codes, we guess. Jack calls Chloe for help in retrieving the circuit board, later called a subcircuit board. The info is in Morris’s report, on his computer. She sidles over and surreptitiously sends it to Jack’s phone. Morris notices someone accessed his files and downloaded the nukes schematics. Chloe admits it but excuses it away because Jack gave his word that he wouldn’t let Cheng have the board. Morris is prepared to tell Bill, so Chloe fesses up.

Wayne thinks there’s no need to hide in the bunker anymore. There’s also no need to work with the VP anymore. Wayne can’t lead effectively with him questioning everything he does. He asks for Daniels’ resignation. Since Wayne knows about the conspiracy to commit perjury, Daniels goes off to write it up. Jack tells the nuke guards the building has been compromised and he has a presidential order to confiscate the board and they believe him. Ricky bursts in with CTU thugs. He and Jack have a shouting match until Jack is “subdued.” Jack should have worked out a game plan with CTU. He goes crying to Wayne, offering to sacrifice himself if he has to.

It’s the guilt card that works. They were willing to hand Jack over sixteen hours ago and he went willingly. Jack asks for Ricky’s help in making sure Audrey is safe while he sees about killing Cheng. Ricky, like the rest of us, can’t believe Jack would compromise the world for some woman. Jack begs to differ. It isn’t about what he has with a woman. Audrey has served the country, bla bla. Huh? They put a tracking signal on the component. At a press conference, Wayne collapses from a cerebral hemorrhage. The VP pockets his resignation and makes CTU shut down the operation. Jack pulls a gun on Ricky. He shot Curtis earlier. He won’t hesitate now. He goes rogue, leaving Ricky behind. Quote of the hour: “I didn’t think you’d back me up. Obviously I was right.”

Lost : One of Us

Lost. 3.16. In the flashback, Juliet starts her new job. If Ethan’s such a great doctor, why is he retrieving and carrying her bags (and during the plane crash, seemingly fixing her house’s wiring?) Because he’s such a nice guy? They won’t tell her where she’s going, just that it’s “special” and that she’s “gonna want to be asleep for the trip” which can be “intense.” She willingly drinks the tranquilized OJ and wakes in the sub. Ben escorts her ashore. Soon she’s assisting in surgery, trying to save a woman possibly named Sabine who dies. Ben doesn’t seem sympathetic (what a surprise), figuring Sabine knew the risk and it was her choice to get pregnant. Juliet feels she can’t help anymore. She can’t figure out why pregnancy kills all the women. But Henry informs her that her sister Rachel’s cancer has returned and she’ll be dead in three months unless Juliet stays on the island. Then Jacob, whoever he is, will cure her.

Time goes by and Juliet discovers Ben’s tumor. If no one on the island’s ever had cancer, why does he now? Juliet wonders if he lied about Jacob’s miraculous ability to cure Rachel. Ben insists he didn’t and after the plane crashes, takes her to Patch’s place, making sure Patch hears him say “We’re approaching the house, don’t shoot us.” Why would Patch shoot at all? Only the Others and Danielle were at that time living on the island. Anyway, Ben orders Patch to get files on all the passengers, then shows Juliet a video of her sister and two year old nephew Julian. I found it chilling when Juliet said the “mothers keep dying” and Ben said “then we’ll find more mothers,” like he viewed women as expendable lab rats to experiment on. And look, here’s a plane with a bunch of women to use. So why didn’t they steal all the women? They seemed more focused on children and “good” people. At any rate, we learned Juliet and Goodwin were involved. And he did seem good, as did all the Others. So why are they all psycho killers?

On their way back to the beach, Sayid is full of questions. Juliet figures if she told him everything, he’d kill her. The island curing cancer but killing pregnant women isn’t anything to kill over, so what’s really going on there? Jack gets all protective of Juliet even though she’s never given him cause, other than being a pretty female. It’s especially odd because we’re clued in that Jack knows Juliet lied about being gassed. She dragged Kate into the jungle on purpose.

At the beach, Claire falls ill. The three men and a baby (Sawyer counted Hugo twice) don’t know what to do. Juliet explains Claire’s immune system is turning on her. Ethan kidnapped her to give her a drug designed to keep her alive in the late stages of pregnancy. (Did Danielle also have this drug?) Every pregnant woman on the island dies, which makes the future grim for Sun. (Is anyone going to tell Sun? Or all the other women? Shouldn’t they have been informed as soon as they crashed?) Juliet says she can use the serum in Ethan’s hidden medical supplies to cure Claire. The camp’s moral police (Sayid and Sawyer) are suspicious, but the case really does contain medical supplies and Juliet saves Claire. Or so it seems. Viewers learn that before the Others left, Ben and Juliet arranged to set it up so it looked like that so she’d be accepted into the Lostaway camp. They’ll meet up in a week. Quote of the episode: Ben re Carrie: “Boy is it depressing.”

Ain't that peculiar

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all menYou are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare is Your Personality?

24 : 10 - 11 p.m.

24. 6.17. Fayed’s Country’s ambassador calls Wayne because he’s not happy about nukes headed to his country. Oh, it’s his country now? Can we just name the place already? As they speak, a General Habib is arrested and interrogated. He was in contact with Fayed but doesn’t know the weapons whereabouts. Wayne’s patience isn’t gonna take that. He stops the missile but wants a dossier on Habib. He doesn’t mention the missile was unarmed anyway. Jack’s “interrogating” Fayed, although he hasn’t begun to enjoy himself. We know Ricky is a famous star and everything but I’d miss less lines laughing at his pronunciation if someone would correct him. This hour jihad was more like jee-had as if they were cowboys about to rustle up some cattle. We don’t know how long Jack’s been awake, but he nearly falls asleep at the wheel and hits a van. Armed terrorists stream out with machine guns and take down Ricky and Jack, then rescue Fayed.

Naw, they can’t fool us. Jack’s not dead. He’s faking it. Ricky too. The rescuers are really a cover team posing as terrorists. They have Fayed talk with Habib about rendezvousing with his men. At the barbaric suggestion of Wayne, the ambassador threatens Habib’s family so he’ll comply. Milo seems jealous Nadia asked how Ricky was. It’s a good thing they kept her on since she’s able to translate the ensuing Habib/Fayed conversation. The suitcases are in a safe house. Wayne’s blood pressure drops and then so does he. Nadia notices an inconsistency in the transcript. Habib mentioned a Samir who was killed two years ago. Jack warns the cover team but they disappear in a convenient tunnel.

Jack pursues and sees Fayed steal some hapless sanitation worker’s sandcrawler/garbage truck. So Jack does what anyone would do and grabs hold of the truck’s undercarriage. While holding on for dear life, he calls CTU to tell them Fayed’s headed east but there’s too much traffic noise for Bill to hear. When the truck stops, Jack goes in alone against the entire group and picks them off one by one until only he and Fayed remain. They both run out of bullets and resume the battle with lightsabres. Or a lead pipe. Nice head butt, Jack. He fashions a ceiling chain into a noose and strings up Fayed. The bombs are secure. Despite everything Jack’s been through these seventeen hours, he’s fine. Until Audrey calls. She’s not dead. She’s being held by some guy Jack is to call back in ten minutes on a secure line, or else.

Lost : Left behind

Lost. 3.15. In the flashback, Kate’s car breaks down in Iowa. At the nearest station, she runs into Sawyer’s ex, Cassidy, trying to sell fake necklaces and keeps a mark from calling the police. Helping a sister or avoiding the cops? Cassidy guesses the answer. Kate really wants to talk to her mother. In a fake wig, pretending to be selling Bibles, Cassidy approaches Mom’s house and is mobbed by feds lying in wait. Kate ends up confessing what she did. She wants to know why her mother betrayed her, choosing her step father over her. It is a good question, since the abusive man is dead. Why keep defending him? Cassidy arranges a ladies room meeting between the women and all Mom can say is she feels Kate murdered him for Kate, not her. Later Cassie mentions she’s pregnant with her own betrayer’s baby. Kate suggests she have him arrested.

On the island, Locke informs Kate he’s leaving with the Others, wherever they’re going. They told him what she did. “Forgiveness is not one of their strong suits.” Wouldn’t appear to be one of Locke’s either. The Others put on gas masks and throw a canister in Kate’s room. When she wakes, she and Juliet are inexplicably handcuffed together out in the jungle. Even weirder, the Others left a jackknife in Juliet’s pocket. On their way back to the village, it begins to rain. Kate takes offense at Juliet’s objection that she’s returning for Jack and they have a catfight, seemingly placed in the mud for the male viewers. Juliet says Jack saw Kate with Sawyer and it broke his heart. So he went out and played a spirited game of football with Tom? The smoke monster chases them, flashing a strange light at Juliet. They manage to keep it outside the village’s sonic fence, then find Jack and Sayid. Jack didn’t need Kate’s help and is now stuck there because of her. They decide to return to the beach but Sayid isn’t thrilled with Juliet tagging along, even though the Others left her too.

At the beach, Hurley mentions there’s been some chatter. More specifically, the Lostaways want to vote to banish Sawyer unless he makes amends. He doesn’t do amends. He tries to fish but quickly realizes amends would be easier than gutting fish. His way of sucking up to Claire is to tell her Aaron is “not as wrinkly as a couple weeks ago.” He hunts with Desmond and they shoot a boar. Hurley ends up telling him there was never going to be a vote, but “wasn’t it nice being nice?” Actually, without Jack, they need Sawyer as their temporary leader. “What the hell are you smoking?” Sawyer wonders. Line of the episode, Kate’s: “Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell’s going on.”

24 : 9 - 10 p.m.

24. 6.16. The best name the writers could think of for Fayed’s country was “Fayed’s Country.” They’ve completely given up, haven’t they? Just out of a coma, Wayne leaps into a suit and tie and hops over to the bunker (unless the medical facilities were already there) to hear the cabinet debate on whether he’s in possession of his faculties. The 25th amendment is purposely vague. They need a majority vote, not a split, which is what they get. The VP thinks one vote is invalid since Karen resigned. She was never formally reinstated and he doesn’t recognize her. Wayne refuses to allow him to steal the presidency. They’ll have to recall the Supreme Court into session to determine whether Karen is still employed.

The VP never questioned Karen before and treated her the same. His inaction suggests he accepted her. His secretary Lisa offers to perjure herself. But Tom once again stuns us by protecting the country. He’s planted a microtransmitter in the room and recorded the conversation. The VP must give up. Chloe appears to have spent the first half of the episode out to dinner or catching a cat nap. Ricky’s somewhat sorry he and Nadia got off to a bad start which she’s more likely to call assault. The wrong security parameters were logged on Milo’s computer. Nadia agrees to get evidence, or betray him for his own good. After looking at a few screens, she determines Milo forgot to refresh the parameters. Ricky fixes it so no one need know. They need Milo on board this sinking ship, he reasons.

Jack has Gredenko set up a meeting with Fayed. CTU places an isotope in Gredenko’s arm to track him. Fayed sends a text message. They’re to meet at some fairground’s Building J. I don’t know how Gredenko knew which building that was. Once there, he informs Fayed that he’s being tracked. Was there anyone who couldn’t guess his next move? That’s a lot more dedication to one’s job than seems necessary. Jack finds the hacked off arm and follows the blood trail, calling for a perimeter. In a nearby pub Gredenko strangely rats out Fayed who shoots until he runs out of bullets, whereupon the patrons start beating him up. Jack enters and orders them to back off. Gredenko sneaks out, staggers to a nearby pier and collapses. Wayne decides he won’t be seen as weak. He’s going ahead with the strike.