In season five, LOST began to dig in its heels about science fiction and the nature of destiny. Source.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated with the nature of time-travel, specifically paradoxes. In a much, much earlier post, I tried to explain what makes a paradox in my post entitled: “We have to go back!” “Back where?” “BACK, to the FUTURE!!”. So, you can imagine my joy when this came right to the forefront of LOST’s fifth season.

LOST – Views from a Veteran – Season Five: Episodes 1-7

“Time travel’s a bitch” – Sawyer in “The Little Prince”

While episode seven does not technically reach the “half of the season” reviews I have been writing, I decided that since it was such a large game-changer, I will factor it into the next post.

Now, to the first half of season five!

This season takes the science fiction aspect of Lost and amps it up to around 11. This turned many people off of the program, as Lost was more of a multi-genre style of show for its first four seasons. But, after season four’s “The Constant” aired and introduced of time-travel, Lost officially came out and said that it was a science fiction television show.

This season also was split into two very distinct parts – the survivors on the island slipping through time, and the Oceanic Six attempting to get back to the island. These “flash-sideways” that some poeple called it, are still considered a flash-forwards, as the Oceanic Six elements are taking place three years ahead of when the island was first moved. While it is possible the survivors time-skipped into the future, for the vast majority of the time, they remained in the past. Flash-sideways were not introduced until season 6.

When this season aired, I remember quite enjoying the sci-fi aspect becoming front and centre, and them addressing so many staples of science fiction. The main one that they address is the notion of a paradox. If you could go back in time, could you change the events to alter the course of the timeline?

Daniel Farraday, the absent-minded expert on time-travel, rightly says no in a very easy to understand way – “If it hasn’t happened, it can’t happen.” And Sawyer, who encounters a heart-breaking moment with seeing Kate delivering Claire’s baby, comes to the sudden realization that he can’t alter history. “What’s done is done,” he says, with such emotion that would not have been possible from Sawyer in the first few seasons.

Many of the characters have changed since we first saw them back in season one, and are slowly becoming the individuals that we see at the end of the series. The most obvious are Jack and Locke. Jack, whom was the rigid man of science, has slowly begun to shift to the man of faith he needs to be to accept Jacob’s offer and defend the island with his life. Locke, on the other hand, finally embraced his destiny to be a keeper of the island, only to be manipulated by forces beyond his control. Thankfully, that Locke reappears in season 6 in the flash-sideways reality.

It is interesting, especially in this season, knowing that Christian Sheppard is an avatar of the MiB, and how he manipulates Locke and other characters to meet their eventual fates. And, if he wouldn’t have done so, he never would have been destroyed.

So, in effect, he was the architect of his own destruction. But, that’s a discussion for season six, not five.

And now, because you demanded it, it’s time for the various “Lost-isms” for the beginning of season five!

There have now 27 fights, with Ben & Sawyer in the lead with three, and Jack & Ethan, Sawyer & Sayid and Sawyer & Pickett tied with the second place with two fights each.

Sawyer has said “Sonofabitch” 25 different times, while Ben has been beaten up five times. Meanwhile, Desmond has said “brother” an incredible 40 times!

Finally, as always, I will now end with the top “Sawyer-isms:

“Freckles” still maintains its commanding lead with Sawyer saying it 32 times, with “Doc” trailing behind with 27. Still tied for third are “Boss” and “Hoss” with five references, and “Chief,” “Sweetheart” and “Chewie” tied for fourth with four mentions each.

“I help people get to where they need to get to” – Matthew Abaddon in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”