*Spoilers from recent Lost episode ahead*
I don't care what the title of this episode is. I cannot buy into the notion that nothing that our favorite time travelin' Losties do will in any way change the future. If that's the case, that they can't change anything, then why was it so damned important for the Oceanic 6 (or most of them) to return to the island and, as best as possible, replicate the circumstances around their original crash? If them returning to the island wouldn't change the future, won't save anyone (which was the stated reason for returning) why do it? Why do anything?
A version of the Miles-Hurley conversation went on in my house last night when I paused the DVR and debated my husband, with him playing the role of Miles and me playing the role of the mental patient, Hurley. (Not the best character to be emulating, I know.) Maybe I'm being naive here, but I can't believe that nothing the time travelers do will have any impact on the future. If "whatever happened, happened" then there's no point to anything they do. Taking away the possibility of trying to help prevent bad things from happening in the future (like preventing The Purge and Ben's genocidal ascension) changes the dramatic frame of reference. And not in a good way.
When I wasn't arguing the impact/non-impact of our time travelers' actions with my spouse, I was sniffling while watching Kate's storyline unfold which explained that Kate had befriended Sawyer's baby mama off-island and that Kate had given Aaron to his grandmother before she returned to the island. I always wondered why she never told Aaron's grandmother about the child. One could argue that Kate couldn't tell Claire's mother the truth for fear that the intricate lies that the Oceanic 6 had contrived would unravel. But if Kate was willing to come clean to Sawyer's ex-gal pal, why not with Aaron's grandmother with whom some kind of a deal could potentially have been struck, particularly given the fact that Jack is Aaron's uncle.
The argument that Kate needed to keep Aaron in order to fill a void in her heart, well, I didn't really find that convincing. Don't know exactly why. And the idea that she returned to the island to find Claire? That suggestion left me flat as well. However the scenes where Kate lost Aaron in the supermarket and when she left him with his grandmother . . . tears. Tears and sniffling.
On the Jack-won't-save-Kid-Ben front: While pulling out my season two DVDs to see how Ben/Henry Gale reacted when he saw Sayid for the "first" time provided me no satisfaction, I was reminded that not only did Jack save Ben when he operated on his spinal tumor in season three, but he also saved him in season two when he successfully removed the arrow that Danielle Rousseau had shot through Ben's shoulder while saying over and over again to Sayid, "He's one of Them. He's one of Them."
Finally, the scene with Richard Alpert saying he could save the grievously wounded Kid Ben if he took him into the smoke monster's temple although Ben would lose all his innocence . . . that one I'm still trying to process. Need more caffeine to figure that one out, but I did have this thought: While everyone's blaming Jack for failing to save Kid Ben, had Kate not brought Kid Ben to Alpert, Kid Ben could've died with an innocent soul rather than grown up to be a soulless monster.
Meanwhile, the ABC folks released their latest Lost Untangled video and have added a few new touches: The original Losties who've time traveled are now wearing giant Dharma badges and tent-like jumpsuits. Additionally, the video makers inserted moving lips into character photos when mocking a conversation. I'm not a fan of the cartoonish lip bit. Reminds me of something from Conan O'Brien. These Lost Untangled videos are great when they're action figure/cardboard cut-out based. Much funnier.
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