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Next week, we'll see if they hit the mark. And as for that dispiriting gulf of time that's about to separate us from a new season of Lost, Lindelof and Cuse have some suggested viewing to pass the hiatus; more on that next week, too.
THINGS I MISSED: ''THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME''
The downside of posting next-morning recaps is that no matter how hard you try, you can't digest an episode in three hours — especially when those three hours take place between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. I envy recappers who take a day or two to think through the episode, like J. Wood at Powells.com and Vozzek69 over at darkufo.blogspot.com. My cap doffed in respect, I launch this week ''Things I Missed.''
WOMEN ON TOP
Anyone else noticing that in the flash-forward future (soon to become ''the present''), the gender politics are dramatically reversed? On the Island, the men have the power. Jack. Locke. Ben. But off the Island, sisters are doing it for themselves. In her relationship with Jack, Kate is firmly in control; she sets the boundaries and terms of engagement. Meanwhile, Sun has staged a coup in her family culture, overthrowing her father in a hostile takeover of his company. The men? Weak, leveraged, spiritually neutered. Jack is on pills. Hurley is convinced he's dead. Sayid is stuck playing Ben's bitch. More on this next week when I give you my final Big Theory of the season.
THE KIDS ARE BECOMING THEIR FATHERS
It's ironic that Kate is now a fraudulent parent when she herself was raised amid confusing ''Who's my Daddy?'' circumstances. Sun seems set to morph into the same kind of ruthless godfather her father is — just call her Sunny Corleone. Jack is doing a pretty good imitation of his own boozy pop. Hurley? Last week, the lovably unlucky lug had a bonding moment with Cheech, but then abruptly sprinted away after seeing the Numbers on the speedometer of the rehabbed Camaro. But this mirrors the Camaro-set scene in ''Tricia Tanaka Is Dead,'' which ended with Hurley's troubled padre running away, albeit more figuratively. The show has never delved deeply into Sayid's childhood, so we can't pull him into this trend — but we can place him in another:
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
I have often entertained the theory that Lost is an analogy for addiction psychology. You have a bunch of people hooked on self-destructive behavior; we've seen how said behavior is a product of past damage; and they've all been given the chance to rehab on the Island. But the example of the Oceanic 6 proves yet again that old issues never die, they just fade away...and then come back hard when you least expect them.
Indeed, what we've seen so far is that the castaways are living new versions of their old lives:
JACK: workaholic surgeon; drives away woman he loves; father issues
SAYID: loses true love Nadia during war; manipulated into becoming a hideous kind of soldier by his former enemy
HURLEY: food; Numbers; mental institution; dead people guilt; seeing people who shouldn't exist
NEXT PAGE: And as for Kate and Sun...
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