This summer, however…

‘Yay!’ for the fact that The Voice is on. Double ‘Yay! Yay!’ for the fact that the contestant that some are calling the frontrunner, Dia, is a Utah gal and friend of my oldest daughter, Megan. In this house, we’ve been fans of the music of sisters, Meg and Dia, for many years.

On Tuesday’s live episode of The Voice, Dia  performed a slowed down, soulful version of Kanye’s “Heartless.” The judges (Christina Aguilara, Cee Lo Green,  Adam Levine and Blake Shelton) loved her performance with Cee Lo calling it “the greatest rendition of a song I’ve ever heard” and Shelton and Levine both saying it was their favorite moment ever on The Voice.

Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say…

Dia was the evening’s clear winner, with an acoustic take on Kanye‘s “Heartless” that Cee Lo called “probably the greatest rendition of a song I’ve ever heard.” Is Cee Lo perhaps exaggerating a tad? Sure, but Dia was no slouch, and she deserves the top spot amidst the likes of our number two, Jared Blake, who sang well but indulged in weird anterior activities like throwing his guitar offstage and nearly kissing a stranger after going on about his enormous family. Xenia hits at number three, a shy talent made shyer by awkward dance moves, and Patrick Thomas ranks dead last for owning the terrible decision to sing, “I Hope You Dance.” ~Rolling Stone

So take a look for yourself. Here’s Dia’s performance of “Heartless” from Tuesday’s live episode of The Voice. If you like it (how could you not?!)  please vote for her by calling 1-855-864-2304*. Voting ends Monday morning.

Vote online at: The Voice – NBC Official Site

(10 votes per method)

For more on how to vote, go here.

~Kate

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Hi. My name is Liz. And Kate is a reality show junkie.

I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve heard reality show rumblings from Kate before. In fact, she’s followed a few of these shows in the past – right here on this website. I just didn’t realize how many shows Kate was watching.

And to think I feel guilty for watching American Idol every week. To think that I spent almost sleepless nights wondering what the rest of the world would say, should they discover that, every Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. sharp, I’m glued to the TV, listening to the voices of angels (well, sometimes) fill my living room with music..

All to find out that my dear bff Kate is not only watching American Idol, she’s watching every reality show known to man. And if I’m not mistaken, I think she may have named one that isn’t known to man! Heck, she’s probably plotting her own reality show while the rest of the world sleeps.

So many shows, Kate! So many scripted non-surprises. So much fake drama, Kate. Frankly, I’m worried.

I only watch one, Kate.

Well, I did watch several episodes of Worst Cooks in America. Oh, sure. Occasionally I’ll check out Dinner: Impossible.

Come to think of it, I really enjoy Restaurant: Impossible. I guess we are pretty fond of Cupcake Wars, too. Have you seen Ice Brigade? (How do they do that with frozen WATER?!?!).

Ya know what? Let’s just forget I said anything about Kate having a reality show problem, shall we?

-Liz

I freely admit that we watch A LOT of reality TV here at our house. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal until you stop and realize that the all those cooking shows and make-over shows are reality TV. I suppose if we wanted to get technical here, talk shows probably also count. Yikes!  ALSO, not to pull out my major math skills here, BUT, 19 shows divided by 7 people = 2.71 shows per person. 6 shows  divided by 2 people = 3 shows per person. Just sayin’.

Oh, puuuleeease, Kate. The real math here is apparently escaping you. You’ve got 19 shows at one hour each (I’m being my conservative self, here) times 7 people equals a horrifying 133 hours. My measly 6 shows, again at one hour each, times 2 people equals a respectable 12 hours. On that note, I renew my call for an intervention on your behalf. As for semantics, we’ll take those up later. T-minus 12 minutes until American Idol and I need my Steve Tyler fix. I could date him, ya know…

Maybe I need to clarify. We don’t ALL watch EVERY one of those 19 shows, just a couple of people here and there per show. But I will agree to call it a truce because I am also in need of a Steven Tyler fix. I could date him too, ya know…Just don’t tell my hubby.

A week or so ago, I was scrolling through the playlist of my recorded TV shows and noticed something that kind of surprised me; about 60% of the shows on our list were reality shows. Then I started paying attention to what shows were on our 3 TVs during the next week. Truthfully, it’s like ‘Reality Central’ around here. Sure, there was a spattering here and there of ‘real’ TV shows, you know, the ones with actors and scripts, but for the most part, reality TV is pretty dang big at our house.

I’m wondering what in the world this says about my family?

Sure, we watch the typical popular reality shows that it seems all of America is tuned into: American Idol (my fav is Casey Abrams) , Dancing with the Stars (I’m shocked that I don’t hate Kirstie Alley), Survivor (I’m liking Matt all by his lonesome over there on Redemption Island) , and Undercover Boss. Add to that list our regular viewing of Amazing Race (I’m secretly pulling for Kent and Vyxin) , The Apprentice (that Star Jones is a meanie), America’s Next Top Model (Jaclyn is so dang cute in all her southern innocence) , and Secret Millionaire.

But it doesn’t stop there. Between the seven of us in our home,  there was also an episode or two of Cupcake Wars, What Not to Wear, Teen Mom (I promise that wasn’t me!), Parking Wars, Punk’d, Say Yes to the Dress, Made, and Storage Wars,

Oh, wait! I almost forgot Pawn Stars, American Pickers and Antiques Roadshow.

Houston, I think we have a problem! Clearly, we watch A LOT of reality TV.  As a small consolation, I’m happy to say that as far as I know, there was no Jersey Shore, and nothing to do with any of the Kardashians . (Ah, Bruce Jenner. How did this even happen to you?)

It’s obviously not just the folks at my house that are addicted to reality TV. In fact, the top three Broadcast TV shows for the week of March 21, 2011, were reality shows, according the the Neilsen ratings. (Dancing, Idol and Idol.)

“Reality shows again dominated ratings this summer, especially among viewers whom the majority of networks consider most valuable, those 18 to 49. On broadcast television, 15 of the top 20 highest-rated programs among that younger adult group were reality or unscripted shows.New York Times (Sept. 2010)

Haha, I had to include that quote, if for no other reason than it places me within that younger adult group.

So why is it that we as a culture are so addicted to reality TV? Why are we so  interested in other people’s lives? Why is our escape from reality, really just an escape into someone else’s reality?

I’ll leave you to ponder these weighty issues. I’ve got some Dancing with the Stars to watch.

Are you addicted to reality TV, or do you avoid these shows at all costs? Any thoughts on the matter? Just leave  your two cents worth below.

Also, here’s a pretty comprehensive list of the hundreds upon hundreds of reality shows: All Reality TV Shows.

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

According to the ABC Bachelorette website,

Ali Fedotowsky is back and this time, love not work, is number one on her agenda. “I definitely have a lot of regret,” she says of her decision to leave Jake Pavelka to return to her job — one she’s now quit! “I’m ready to move forward,” she swears. “Bring on those boys. I’m excited.” She’s hoping her journey will end “with tears in my eyes and I’m looking at man down on one knee, asking me to be his wife.”

After meeting all the guys and going through the usual corny attempts to make  good first impression, Ali gives the first impression rose to Roberto. Ali tells Roberto he is “so handsome.” He tells her she is beautiful and teaches her a some salsa moves. “I am really, really digging Roberto,” she says.

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Then it was time for the guys to vote for who they thought was there for the wrong reasons. The unlucky winner was Justin (pro wrestler, a.k.a. “Rated R”.) Ali had the option of sending him home on the spot, however, she decided to give him a rose instead, and keep him.

Tonight’s roses went to:

Chris H. Age: 27 Occupation: Real Estate Developer

Chris L. Age: 33 Occupation: Landscaper

Chris N. Age: 29 Occupation: Entrepreneur

Craig M. Age: 34 Occupation: Dental Sales

Craig R. Age: 27 Occupation: Lawyer

Frank Age: 31 Occupation: Retail Manager

Hunter Age: 28 Occupation: Internet Account Executive

Jonathan Age: 30 Occupation: Weatherman

John C. Age: 32 Occupation: Hotel Business Development

Justin Age: 26 Occupation: Entertainment Wrestler

Jesse Age: 24 Occupation: General Contractor

Kasey Age: 27 Occupation: Advertising Account Executive

Roberto Age: 26 Occupation: Insurance Agent

Steve Age: 28 Occupation: Sales Representative

Kirk Age: 27 Occupation: Sales Consultant

Ty Age: 31 Occupation: Medical Sales

Tyler V. Age: 25 Occupation: Online Advertising ------- Which means that Derek, Derrick, Jason, Jay, John N., Kyle, Phil, and Tyler M. are going home.

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I am having a great debate within myself.  The intellectual, grown-up side of me (quit laughing, Liz) is telling me to be strong and resist temptation.  The frivolous, immature side of me is telling to just give in. It’s just once a week. What will it hurt, after all?

What is the cause of this worrisome dilemma? Well, it’s the start of a new season of The Bachelorette, of course. I know. I know. Don’t even say it.

The commercials always begin a few weeks before the first episode. At my first glimpse of the commercial, I roll my eyes and say out loud  to whom ever is within earshot (in my best disgusted voice),”Oh geez. Not again! Another season of the stupid Bachelor/Bachelorette show! I hate how last season’s show ended. I vow to never watch it again!” And at that moment, I actually mean it.  At the next viewing of the promo commercial, I may just sneak a glance at who the “lucky”, and I use that term loosely,  bachelor/bachelorette is. By the next airing, I’m thinking about how it won’t do any harm really, to just get a peak at who the guys/girls are. That doesn’t actually mean I’m going to watch the show.

And then it happens. All of the sudden, I actually start to toy with the idea of giving the  show just one more shot. I know I shouldn’t do it. I’m fully aware that the show is ridiculous. I realize that we, as the audience, are much better at picking the right girl/guy than the actual bachelor/bachelorette is. I know that screaming “NO!” at the TV during the final proposal episode every year has absolutely no effect on the outcome of the show.

And yet, here I sit at my computer on a Monday afternoon in May, just hours away from the premier of the new season of “The Bachelorette”, still debating whether to watch it, or not. It’s a matter I must weigh carefully because I know…I KNOW…that if I dare to watch the first episode, I will once again be irrevocably, and forever-more,  sucked into the drama for yet another season.

Look at her, though! It’s Ali.

Ali Fedotowsky

Age:25

Occupation: Advertising Account Manager

Hometown: Williamstown, MA

Resides in: San Francisco, CA

The bachelorette is cute little Ali, who I picked to win the heart of Jake last season on The Bachelor. Ali who tearfully told Jake that she had to leave the show or she would be fired from her job. Ali who then realized the error of her decision, and asked Jake to take her back and give them one more try. Ali who got told no by Jake, who then went on to pick Vienna! What! Vienna?!?! I’m still reeling over that one!

I have a love/hate relationship with this show.

I realize that by the time you read this, my decision will have already been made. Either I will have succumbed to the pull of Ali finding her true love in front of all of America, or I will have remained a strong, intelligent and sensible woman, who found the strength to finally resist the urge to watch this silly show. I guess you’ll just have to stop back by Coffee Break tomorrow to see if I’ve written a “This week on the Bachelorette” update in the featured section, OR…if I have not!

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

*Just leave a comment on this post, or any other post for that matter, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

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Seems that is not the case with the Ukraine version of  “______ Got Talent”. Last season’s winner was a sand animator. What? A sand animator? What’s  sand animator? Her name is Kseniya Simonova and she creates her art in sand scattered on an illuminated table. As she is creating her sand art to music, it  is  projected onto a screen for the audience to see. Sounds weird, I know, and I was skeptical before I watched the video. How interesting could sand animation be, right?

Simonova seemlessly moves from scene to scene sculpting and drizzling sand over a light table. This emotional performance is about World War II and the Germany invasion of the Soviet Union. I am not a native Ukrainian (although one of my great-grandmothers was) and cannot understand all of the symbolism or understand the lyrics to the accompanying music, but this performance moved me, just as it did the folks in the audience.

~Examiner.com

Also…Jake will be dancing on this season of Dancing with the Stars.

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And the new bachelorette is none other than fan fav, Ali.

Read a full recap of the episode here.

Read recaps of all the Bachelor episodes

by Evie

This Kate-centric episode shows her at the airport hijacking a cab occupied by Claire. Arzt is crossing the sidewalk and having a problem with his luggage so the cab driver stops for a moment. Kate looks out the window and sees Jack talking on his cell phone. She looks at him like she recognizes him but can’t quite place who he is. Not far from the airport, the cab driver jumps out of the cab, so Kate gets into the driver’s seat and kicks Claire out without her purse or suitcase. Kate finds a garage and the attendant helps her remove the handcuffs. I was expecting the man to be someone we’d seen in the past. It seems like the people our Losties meet have some connection to the island. Kate sees all of Claire’s baby items in the bag she swiped and she got back in the cab and returned to Claire. I’m not quite sure how she knew where she would be.

Kate takes Claire to the family that was to adopt Aaron. Again I thought it would be someone that we knew from a past episode. The woman was visibly upset and told Claire that her husband just left her and she won’t be adopting a baby. Who is the husband? Someone from the island? In any other season I would have said, “Of course”, but not this season. I couldn’t make out the woman’s last name. Claire starts having contractions and Kate takes her to the ER where she meets a doctor from the island. I thought it was going to be Juliet. Darn it!

On the island Sawyer is a very bitter, angry man. He tells sarcastically tells Kate that Sayid came back to life because he deserves another go at it, after all, Sayid is an Iraqi torturer who shoots kids. I wonder if he’s on to something. We still don’t know why some people live, or are healed, and others die. It takes me back to the Purgatory theory that they are all dead and need to work out their issues before they can move on. The people left on the island still have lots of issues. But I don’t think that’s going to be it. I am glad that Sawyer is doing all he can to ignore Kate. Kate, Kate, Kate. Always on the run, or in everyone else’s business, or doing exactly what she’s told not to do.

This is one of my least favorite episodes in a long time. I disliked it so much I didn’t even want to recap it. I kept starting to, then I just couldn’t finish.

Here’s why.

This is supposed to be the season of answers. But I have more questions. Opportunities to provide answers keep passing.

1. Why does the Asian leader of the “Others” have a typewriter and to whom is he writing?
2. Why is Sayid alive?
3. What do the “Others” think of Sayid coming back to life? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
4. Is Sayid’s wound healed because of the near-drowning in the magic spring water?
5. Why didn’t Miles tell us if he spoke to Sayid when he was dead?
6. Why do they torture Sayid and sprinkle ash on him?
7. Why did the Hippie tell Sayid that he passed the test then clarify to his leader that he lied? Then they try to poison Sayid? I guess Jacob isn’t inhabiting Sayid’s body like I originally thought.
8. Why do the “Others” not answer Jacks questions?
9. Why did Justin say the booby-trapped bag of rocks was one of Danielle’s, but the other “Other” told Justin to be quiet?
10. Why does the other “Other” tell Justin to shut up about where Sun’s plane landed?
11. Why don’t the “Others” tell us why the black smoke makes a ticka-ticka sound?
12. Why does Ethan introduce himself as Dr. Goodspeed? That is Horace’s last name.
13. Why are the “Others” so adamant about being in control, but as soon as Jack tells the guards to step aside, they immediately obey?
14. What is the infection the Hippie is talking about with Sayid? The same one Danielle spoke of after her group met the black smoke that goes ticka-ticka?
15. Why does the leader of the “Others” need to know how Sayid got shot?
16. Why do the “Others” continue to lie over and over?
17. Whose baseball was the leader playing with?
18. How was the leader brought to the island? He told Jack he uses a translator because he needs to separate himself from the people he’s in charge of, especially when they don’t like what decisions he makes for them. Jacks asks who he is and we find out that his name is Dogan and that he was brought to the island like everyone else. This would have been a great time to continue the conversation but Jack stands up Dogan changes the subject.
19. Why does Dogan keep Jack from swallowing the poisoned pill?
20. What does he know about Jack?
21. How does Dogan know about Jack’s sister, Claire, and why does he say she had a darkness growing in her just like Sayid?

We want answers, people! And it would be nice to get some along the way and not right at the very last second when you can’t possibly answer everything we need to know.

The attempts at humor in this episode failed as well. Hurley being in charge, zombies, food court, ugh.

Next Tuesday’s episode is titled “The Substitue”. The sneak peak shows “Evil-Locke” getting ready to show Sawyer what his purpose is for being on the island. Cross your fingers for answers.

Other Season 6 Episode Recaps

(For other Bachelor episode recaps…click here!)

The Bachelor roller coaster ride continued this week with more shocking and surprising developments.

It’s down to four girls (Gia, Ali, Tenley, and Vienna) and they all get to take Jake to their hometowns for for family time. Each tried to secure her place in Jake’s heart.

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Gia - 26, Swimsuit Model, NY

It’s hometown date time, and first off Jake heads to New York City, hometown of Gia. They shared a romantic boat ride where Gia told Jake about her past bad luck with finding a good man. Jake meets her mom and brother (who has a luke warm impression of Jake), and the mom seems a bit like a psycho with the whole tarot card reading at the end.

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fvfm

Ali - 25, Advertising, San Francisco

Next up is the hometown date with Ali in Williamstown, Massachusetts. They seem thoroughly excited to see each other and are beaming They talk about how Ali is ahead of the other girls because she gets two hometown dates (one earlier in San Fransisco where she currently resides.) Ali tells Jake, “If you asked me today, I would say yes.” Jake later says, “This absolutely could be the girl.”

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Tenley - 25, College Admissions, Newberg, OR.

The next date goes to Tenley in Oregon. It seems that Jake is the first guy Tenley’s brought home since her divorce. Her parents warn Jake that she will be carrying some emotional baggage from her break-up. Jake then surprises us and asks Tenley’s father for her hand in marriage and gets his blessing. (I just don’t see a spark between Jake and Tenley, myself…AND, I’m still waiting to see what the whole Tenley pregnancy clip from episode 2 is all about. Is this some more clever editing by the Bachelor producers?)

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Vienna - 23, Marketing, Geneva, FL.

And finally, it’s time for the hometown date in Florida with Vienna.Vienna tells Jake she is ready to get married once again and wants to know what her dad thinks of Jake. She tells us she is, “a daddy’s girl.” Vienna’s dad grills Jake thoroughly and decided he passes the test. He tells Jake he needs to treat her like a princess. Her dad then walks in on the two making out and says he’ll be waiting outside the door.

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After all four hometown dates, I would say that Ali and Jake definitely seem like the perfect couple. My second choice would be Gia, but they just don’t seem quite right for each other. Third place would have to go to Tenley, but I really se no spark between the two of them. And last, and certainly least, is Vienna. If Jake chooses Vienna he’s looking for some big trouble ahead.

Soooo….of course, since Ali seems like the logical choice, we have to have some Bachelor drama.In LA, Ali goes to Jake and tells him that if she doesn’t leave the show immediately, she will loose her job. She flip flops back and forth and asks Jake to tell her what to do. Jake tells her he wants her to stay, but can’t promise she’ll end up being the final girl. She decided she has to go home and sobs in the limo about wondering if she made the right choice. Jake seems very hurt and shocked by her decision to leave. And then he seems to get angry that she didn’t have the guts to stick it out and stay for him.

True to Bachelor form, in next week’s promo we see Jake answering the phone and a voice says, “It’s Ali.”

Stay tuned for next week’s episode.

Other Bachelor recaps

by Evie

Wow! The producers of LOST did it again. In the first few minutes of the beginning of “LA X part I”, I found myself saying, “Whaaat?!”.  Apparently Juliet was successful in detonating Jughead and the white light transitioned to clouds out the small window of Oceanic flight 815, at least I assume it was Oceanic flight 815. Jack is staring out the window and when he turns around his facial expression is one of confusion. Jack and Rose have the same conversation (well almost the same) as the beginning of the series way back in Season 1. You remember Season 1, right? When we thought we were simply watching a show about the unfortunate survivors of a plane that crashed on an island, you know, Cast Away-style.

I watched Damon and Carlton (the producers who are affectionately called Darlton by their fans) on Jimmy Kimmel and they admitted that the differences in the Rose-Jack and Flight Attendant-Jack conversations were on purpose. Rose was the calm passenger this time, not Jack, and Cindy gave Jack one bottle of alcohol this time, not two. Was that because Jack wouldn’t need the second bottle to clean his post-plane crash wound?

The turbulence occurs but no falling from the sky. Bernard returns from the bathroom and takes his seat by Rose and that’s when I started thinking my worst-ending-ever fear is about to come true.

Jack takes a trip to the lav and takes a look at himself in the mirror. It’s hard to tell what is going on his mind. He notices a bloody spot on his neck. I’m not sure what that was about. When he returns to his seat, he finds a person sitting in the same row who wasn’t there before. It’s Desmond. “Whaaat?!” He’s supposed to be in a hatch pushing a button. Des looks familiar to Jack but he can’t quite place it. Maybe it’s because Des didn’t tell Jack he’d see him in another life, Brutha. Perhaps the island did not suck Des into its grasp while he was on his boat race and he made it to Australia after all.

Jack turns to look out the window again and I was definitely freaked out when the camera took us on a nosedive down into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean panning across an underwater Dharmaville, through the seaweed, past the Dharma logo-stamped shark, and eventually stopping at the statue of the foot with four toes. “Whaaat?!” But where else would an island go to after a hydrogen bomb exploded? They had the same funky music that sounded a lot like the season’s pilot episode. The score sometimes features percussion instruments made from pieces of the actual plane they used on the beach at the crash site.

The scene with Juliet hitting the bomb at the Swan construction site replays and Kate’s eye opens, but it’s nighttime. This surprised me because you can see an eye open at the end of the closing credits on last season’s finale. There was much debate about whose eye it was (Juliet’s, Jacob’s, Kate’s, Ben’s, or Locke’s) and I thought we would see the exact same eye. It wasn’t the same eye but it could have been Kate’s. It’s probably not important.

So Kate wakes up and discovers that she’s high up in a tree. That was hilarious (at least to our little party watching the show). Kate is such a tree-climbing, sonic wall-scaling, cage-escaping little monkey, it was perfect. She has that awful loss-of-hearing effect as she climbs down and is startled by Miles who also has ringing ears. They see the Swan site and Kate tells Miles that it’s not the construction site but the hatch after Desmond blew it up. We realize with them that they are no longer in the year 1977 but at least after 2004.

OK, time-out. If you saw JJ and Damon’s blockbuster movie Star Trek, you already know these guys love alternate reality stories. I think that’s where they’re taking us.

Kate notices Jack and Sawyer lying in the grass and she rouses Jack first. She tells Jack that they are at the Swan Hatch and he’s surprised that the Dharma people had still managed to build it. Hmmmm…so did Juliet detonate the bomb or not? After the shoot out what exactly happened? Isn’t that just like LOST; always more questions.

Sawyer comes flying out of nowhere and his foot reaches Jack’s head causing him to fall down into the Swan pit. I knew this was going to be ugly. As much as Juliet totally annoyed me up to this point, I felt horrible that she and Sawyer were ripped apart from each other. They seemed genuinely happy together. Sawyer is understandably furious that Jack (and perhaps, Faraday) were wrong and now Juliet is dead.

Back we go to the airplane. We’re used to flashbacks and flash forwards, now we have to keep up with these sideways flashes.  So back on the airplane we see Kate’s Federal Marshall waiting for her outside the lav.  Jack approaches and Kate stumbles out the door and runs into Jack grabbing his pocket pen in the process. It’s not obvious but you’ll see the pen show up later in Kate’s possession. Jack must have been in bad shape because this is the second trip he’s made to the bathroom already.

The Marshall guy and Kate are back in their seats and Sawyer bumps the Marshall as he walks by. Sawyer sees her handcuffs before she can hide them under her meal tray. It’s weird picturing the characters completely erasing all memories of the past 3 years of their lives; everything they’ve been through together on and off the island. Sawyer is seated across the aisle from Hurley. Dr. Arzt is begging Hurley to do his Australian accent that he used on his Mr. Clucks commercials. Remember the teaser commercial on TV last year featuring Hurley bragging about his never-ending good luck and promoting his Outback Roaster Combos. This would be a good time to remind you of the other teaser commercial put out by LOST producers for Oceanic Airlines and their “30-year perfect safety record”.

So Hurley does his (very bad) accent and he tells Arzt that he was able to buy the chicken franchise because he won the lottery. Sawyer warns Hurley against telling people he won the lottery to which Hurley replies that nothing bad ever happens to him – he’s the luckiest guy alive. Did adorable Hurley just become arrogant?

I can’t wait to find out why Hurley went to Australia this time. Did the number actually turn out to be lucky and not cursed?

Back at the Swan site, Kate hears Juliet calling out from under the rubble and Hurley and Jin are with Sayid who continues to bleed from the wounds Ben’s dad shot into his stomach. How long has he been bleeding now? It feels like months. Jin leaves the two at the Dharma van to ask for Jack’s help with Sayid. Hurley is completely grossed out by Sayid’s condition, but he didn’t faint like he did in the pilot episode. Sayid asks Hurley where he thinks a torturer like himself will go after he dies. Hurley hears some rustling in the grass and as he struggles with his gun’s firing mechanism, calls out that he has a gun and knows how to shoot it.

Hurley turns around and sees his dead acquaintance, Jacob. Hurley follows Jacob back to the van and Jacob tells him that since he died an hour ago he’s the only one who will be able to see him. Jacob seems very sad, but he must have known all this was going to happen, right? He tells Hurley that he has to save Sayid and tells him to take Sayid to the temple. Finally! We’ve been waiting to hook up with the “others” at the temple for a very long time! Jacob tells Hurley to take the guitar case with him. Hurley asks who he is and when he tells him that he’s Jacob, I wanted him to say, “Remember that time I saw your cabin and Claire was in there and then I turned to run but the cabin jumped in front of me again?! What’s the deal with that dude?!” but he didn’t.

Jin returns for the van and they put Sayid back inside and drive to the Swan Station where they hook up some chains to pull all the debris off of Juliet. Sawyer finally makes it to Juliet and something very important happens. Juliet tells Sawyer that she hit the bomb but it didn’t work; they’re still on the island. Sawyer frees Juliet’s legs and holds her and she says, “We could get coffee sometime; we can go Dutch”. Sawyer realizes she’s losing it, but right before she dies, she says, “James, I have to tell you something very important.” Later Miles tells Sawyer that she was going to say, “It worked.”

I think this is very important to the alternate reality theory and at some point we’re going to see Juliet and James have a random conversation in their future life that begins with Juliet proposing the idea of coffee to Sawyer. At least I hope that’s what happens.

Jack tells Hurley that there is nothing he can do to save Sayid’s life so Hurley tells him that they’ll have to do what Jacob said to do and head for the temple.

Back on the flight Sun is watching Rose and Bernard flirting with each other and tells Jin how cute they look. Jin tells her to button the top button on her sweater. Oh great! Now we have to deal with mean, non-English speaking Jin and timid, sad Sun again?! In the center row of seats Locke is seated on one aisle, Boone on the other, and sleeping Frogurt in between. Boone tells Locke that he was in Australia to save his sister from a bad relationship but Shannon is not on the plane because she didn’t want to be saved. (On Jimmy Kimmel, Darlton tells us that there’s a reason for that and we’ll probably see Shannon again). Locke tells Boone that he went on a walk-about and slept under the stars for 10 days with nothing but their packs and their knives. So did Locke talk the guide into letting him go, or is it just Locke being pathetic again?

Flash sideways to the statue where Ben seems shocked that he murdered Jacob.  Evil-Locke tells Ben to go tell Richard to come inside and have a talk.

Outside the statue Lapidus and Sun are talking about Ilana’s group. Lapidus tells Sun about them burning the cabin and that they claim to be the good guys. Richard stops members of Ilana’s group and tells them that they cannot go inside the statue unless Jacob invites them. Ilana calmly explains to Richard that’s why they are there – because Jacob invited them. Richard grows much more agitated and tells Ilana that just because she asked him what’s in the shadow of the statue doesn’t mean she’s in charge. Just then Ben interrupts and while covering his bloody shirt tells Richard that John Locke wants to speak with him. Ilana asks Ben if Jacob is OK and, well, we all know lying is what Ben does best. Then came one of my favorite scenes of the episode. Richard, who is obviously becoming more aware of the seriousness of the situation grabs Ben by the arm and tells him that he’s happy to talk to John but Ben should talk to him first, and he shoves him down into the sand by the large silver box and Locke’s dead body. Ben, Ben, Ben. What have you done? Ilana’s main guy, I can’t remember his name, takes a few of his men with Ben into the statue. Evil-Locke tells them that Jacob is dead and that they wasted their time coming to the island. Essentially he’s telling them to go home; he has granted them their freedom. They’ll have none of that and Jacob’s bodyguards start shooting at Evil-Locke who disappears and/or changes into the black smoke monster and kills all of them except Ben. We see the main body guard guy spread a circle of ash around himself and this seems to keep Smokey away until Smokey figures out how to make him lose his balance and fall out of the ash circle. We haven’t seen that kind of impaling since Goodwin.

So was the ash around Jacob’s cabin to keep Smokey out or to keep the man in black in? I’ll have to address questions about the cabin later.

Back on the plane, Cindy, the flight attendant, asks if there is a doctor on board and Jack makes his 3^rd trip to the lav. I knew it was going to be Charlie but I thought he was just going to be in there snorting some coke. Instead we see Charlie, after Sayid kicked in the door, very pale and not breathing. So Doctor Jack and Sayid start using a breathing bag but Jack discovers something caught in Charlie’s throat. When he asked Cindy for something sharp Jack realizes his pen is missing from his jacket pocket.  Jack pulls a bag of drugs from Charlie’s mouth and Charlie tells Jack that he shouldn’t have saved him because he was supposed to die. Charlie is handcuffed and taken back to his seat. When Jack gets back to his seat he sees that Desmond is gone but after a brief look-around just sits down. Was Des really on the plane? Did he just go back to his regular seat? And will we see him back on the island again, true to Eloise Hawking’s words that the island isn’t through with him?

The plane lands at LAX and the soft music soothed me into believing that it will all work out.

(Want to read about other LOST Season 6 recaps? Click here!)

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