"Lost" Season Six, Episode Twelve: "The Last Recruit": Television Review

Television Review

"Lost" Season Six, Episode Twelve: "The Last Recruit"

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"The Last Recruit" is a stepping stone. It's not really a definitive episode for any character, nor does it have an overarching plot all its own, but it provides the final season a transition from the second act in which every character had to choose a side, and this final act where the sides have been taken and the last stand is at hand. Not a classic episode by any means, but it's extremely well-written and features an interesting setup.

Spoilers herein.

First of all, this was the second multi-centric episode of the season. Now that we've seen the flash-sideways of the majority of the characters, we can see where their stories all connect or resolve. Last we saw Sun and Jin, Sun had been accidentally shot. Last we saw Locke, Desmond slammed into him with his car. Now, they're all on their way to the hospital, and as Sun and Locke are rolled through the doors right next to each other, Sun looks at Locke and panics. "It's him," she says. So, now that she's been badly hurt, Sun's on-island self is bleeding through, seeing Locke as the Man in Black instead of Locke.

As they enter the hospital, we leave them for Sawyer, just returning to the police station with Kate. The two chat, Kate claims to not be a murderer yet again, and then Miles shows up and tells Sayid they've got a killer on the loose, who turns out to be none other than Sayid, fresh off his attack on Keamey and Omar. Sawyer leaves Kate for the Feds and he and Miles arrest Sayid at Nadia's house.

And finally, Claire and Jack, both completely unaware of the other, are on their way to a lawyer for the reading of Christian's will. The lawyer happens to be Ilana, all in one piece and now without the accent. Seems as if they weren't quite done with her after all.

The flashes here don't really have any resolution, as they seem to be setting up for the crossover of all these characters in an upcoming episode. Still, there are some great moments. Desmond is still crusading to bring everyone together, and his attack on Locke seems to have been his way to bring the wheelchair-bound substitute and the good doctor together, as the flash-sideways end with Jack heading into work and needing to help Locke. The two are finally together again.

And here is where the major parallels with the island storyline arrive. As Hurley and his camp arrive at Flocke's, tensions are high and Flocke feels it would be best if he and Jack had a little talk. So, Jack and the Man in Black come face to face for the first time--it's kind of a frustrating moment, of course, because as a viewer, there are a million questions we would ask if we were in Jack's shoes. "How do you look like Locke? How do you turn to smoke? Why are you on this island? Do you plan on killing every single one of us?" Instead, we have to settle on the simple question of whether this impostor is responsible for Jack's visions of Christian all the way back in season one. Finally, after years of wondering, the answer is yes. The apparition of Christian was the Man in Black. Seems kind of inconsistent, I have to say, but it'll do for now.

Jack then gets an opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with his half sister. He hasn't seen Claire since leaving the island, and the scene between the two is pretty sweet.

In fact, that seems to be what the majority of this episode is about. As Flocke says early on, "It's good to have everyone together again." Characters reconnect, plots are discovered, questions are answered and more are asked, and most importantly, the characters must decide once and for all whether they are with or against the Man in Black. Sawyer intends to go through with his plot to double-cross Smokey and take the sub out of there, and most of the Losties are with him--even Claire has a change of heart and goes with the group when they steal a boat and head over to the Hydra. But Jack isn't quite convinced. Before reaching the other island, he and Sawyer have a conversation in which Jack asks if it's a good idea to leave the island. For the first time, the question is asked if Smokey actually has no intention of killing them and just wants them off the island for some reason. But Sawyer's not having it--he sends Jack overboard and Jack is forced to go back and side with Flocke. Quite an interesting development.

Meanwhile, Widmore plots to get Desmond back from Flocke, but before he can go through with his attack, Flocke sends Sayid to the well to "take care of" poor Des. This leads to one of the best moments of the episode, where Sayid looks down on Des in the well and prepares to kill him, but Des asks if this is really what Nadia would want Sayid to do, even to bring her back to life. It's a heart-wrenching scene, but we don't get a resolution quite yet--it cuts away and the next we see Sayid he claims to have shot Desmond, but he has a distinct look of doubt in his eyes. It appears Desmond may be bringing Sayid back from the dark side.

As interesting as these little moments in the episode are, though, nothing compares to the last five minutes or so, which are among the most intense I've seen this whole season. Sawyer and his group approach Hydra from the water. Zoe and Widmore's group stop them from coming all the way up the beach, but before anything goes wrong Sun sees Jin through the trees. In a very unexpected turn, the two are finally reunited, and it's an unbelievably touching moment. It doesn't last long, though--Sawyer's group is held at gunpoint and Widmore orders a strike on the opposite beach, where Jack is just arriving to Locke and his Others. They don't get a chance to talk--a rocket comes sailing across the ocean and crashes onto the beach, killing various Others and sending Jack flying. As rockets continue crashing onto the beach, Flocke grabs Jack and carries him away. The episode ends with one ominous line--"It's OK. You're with me, now, Jack." And so there Jack becomes the Man in Black's last recruit.

As a transition episode, this was a shockingly great one. Plenty of great moments for every character (except Richard, Ben and Miles, who are still off on their own and didn't make an appearance), awesome developments on and off the island, intriguing answers, and a really exciting and stakes-raising plot. Unfortunately, this excellent set-up has come right before a two week break from new episodes, so there's going to be a little bit of a wait before the final four episodes commence, but I can't think of a better way to increase the tension than this episode.

Grade: B+