LOST Rewind: "S.O.S."

[CrimsonRabbit]

Welcome to the LOST Rewind for episode 2x19, "S.O.S."

*This episode serves as the calm before the storm, transitioning us into the final act of Season 2 involving Michael's return and beytrayal of the Losties. Within that calm this episode subtly acts as a microcosm of the entire series. While this is considered a Rose and Bernard-centric episode, the journey that propels the story is really Bernard's and his Jack-esque quest to fix Rose at all costs.

BERNARD: What is the matter with you, Rose? I am just trying to do something.

ROSE: That's right. You're always trying to do. Why can't you just let things be?

Letting thing be, in general, seems to be an overriding theme of the show: characters accepting what is and what can't be changed, accepting themselves and their neighbors for who they are, and accepting what can be freely done within the larger contexts of history, free will and chance.

The episode ends with Rose and Bernard together on the beach, at last content and at peace. Might every Lostie finally acheive such peace if they only "let things be"?

*Isaac makes the interesting comment that Rose can be healed, just not by Ayers Rock.

There are certain places with great energy -- spots on the Earth like the one we're above now. Perhaps this energy is geological -- magnetic. Or perhaps it's something else.

After this episode aired many, including myself, talked about this quote in the context of Vile Vortice theory and the healing power of vortexes. Check some stuff out here in this post by WaltIsFuture. This map indicates vortexes appears to be around where the Island could be located in the South Pacific... other notable ones are the Bermuda Triangle and one off the southeast coast of Africa.

*Men of Science, Men of Faith -- The dominant theme of Season 2 pits faith versus science. Locke loses and regains his faith in the Button over the course of the episode, mirroring the episode's structure as a microcosm of the entire series. How does this set-up his eventual loss of faith in the Button in episode 2x21, "?"

*Notice the unfinished S.O.S. sign looks exactly like the computer prompt of The Button. Coincidence... or fate?

Special Note: They'll be new Rewinders taking over the next two weeks and giving me a little break. Enjoy!

[Save The Humans]

Best scene in this eppy was Rose and Locke on the beach. He's opining that Jack said it'd be weeks before his leg healed. Rose: "But we both know it's going to be sooner than that." Intercut with Rose and Locke's FB meeting at the airport, when he picked up her vial of medicine (for her cancer) from his wheelchair.

THAT might've been the inter-connection of the season between two characters!

[Liplocked]

I just noticed rewinding that Ben has a mute moment like Eko, John, and the no one to talk to Des: 2 days (48hours?) without food, water or speaking – what was that about I wonder?

And as I’ve mentioned a number – though not one of The Numbers – I saw a prominent 6 on an awning where Rose’s car got stuck. Pilot: “6 hours in - the radio went out”
Does anyone else think of Marilyn Monroe when they see Niagra? …just me then. lol

The episode ends with Rose and Bernard together on the beach, at last content and at peace. Might every Lostie finally acheive such peace if they only "let things be"?

Some things are worth fighting for, but learning to appreciate what you already have is invaluable. When to settle is a question for individual taste and conscience; and for ‘doers’ like Jack – who need something to fix – it’s likely to be an uncomfortable lesson.

The poor bugger may not have anything worth a damn. Where’s he to go from there? A ‘best of’ Jack episode this one for me: he’s smart, funny, and doesn’t behave like a jerk. But that spinning camera work does ring alarm bells for his mental state.

Isaac makes the interesting comment that Rose can be healed, just not by Ayers Rock.

And starts in the same manner Malkin did when he got Claire’s vibe. Did they attend the same School for Charlatans drama course or is there something in it d’ya think? I get a more trustworthy vibe off of Isaac myself – but then maybe he graduated top of his class.

Quote:
There are certain places with great energy -- spots on the Earth like the one we're above now. Perhaps this energy is geological -- magnetic. Or perhaps it's something else.

After this episode aired many, including myself, talked about this quote in the context of Vile Vortice theory and the healing power of vortexes. Check some stuff out here in this post by WaltIsFuture. This map indicates vortexes appears to be around where the Island could be located in the South Pacific... other notable ones are the Bermuda Triangle and one off the southeast coast of Africa.

This is new theory to me, but from the 20 second scan I have done this minute on their Wiki:

South Atlantic I can work with, similarly …alleged to have the same qualities as claimed for the Bermuda Triangle… provided what is claimed is; methane.

I could do a lot with methane; methane, lava sheets, and the portents of Doom scare stories of lilac-clad London jewellers (it’s nowt all to do with Time though – my theory may be loopy Dude, but it’s Loop-less).

Notice the unfinished S.O.S. sign looks exactly like the computer prompt of The Button. Coincidence... or fate?

Not Fate; a mess-with-our-minds moment …or the ‘who was he really signalling?’ machinations of mastermind Bernard depending on how bored you became during the last hiatus.

~ Who’d he speak to about Rose? Who recommended Isaac huh? Huh?! ~

A clue to the role the computer plays perhaps? Mike, who was lured away by it, returns by episodes end, and Henry was alone with it last episode.

Special Note: They'll be new Rewinders taking over the next two weeks and giving me a little break. Enjoy!

I’m so far behind you’ll be returned now, so if you’re watching; you’ll see me do just that!

[Bicklefitch]

For the longest time Rose and Bernard just seemed out of place to me, and I remember feeling like this episode was a speed bump in the flow of season two. On re-watch, however, I'm thinking it fits in quite well with some of the primary themes of the series...that there is something special about the healing properties of the island (physically and emotionally), that there needs to be a balance between action (Bernard/Jack) and acceptance (Rose/Locke), and that the difference between one man's hell and another man's heaven is often a matter of perspective.

The theme of redemption was also a thread that ran through this episode. As Eko pointed out to Bernard, "People are saved in different ways". Bernard viewed Rose's cancer much as he viewed their 'entrapment' on the island, as roadblocks which prevented any real 'progress'. But, as Jacob and his nemesis have pointed out, progress may ultimately be in the eyes of the beholder. By season 5 Rose and Bernard have both come to the point of acceptance, and it seems to be working for them. Maybe Rose was trying to give Bernard the same message that Christian has been trying to give Jack..."Let it go". As Mrs. Hawking pointed out to Desmond, there are forces over which we have no control, and sometimes it's our inability to see the bigger picture that gets in our way.

In the initial post of this thread, CrimsonRabbit pointed out that the unfinished SOS sign bore a striking resemblance to the prompt sign on the hatch's computer. Just as destiny had called John to continue pushing the button (for now), the island had apparently decided that Rose and/or Bernard still had work to do as well. At the beginning of the episode we saw Locke struggling to work up the gumption to continue pushing the button. But, just like Bernard, it took a talk with Rose to help him put things back into some perspective. Given the ongoing hints about loops and loopholes, I'm also wondering if Bernard's unintentional 'prompt sign' could be a foreshadowing that, like the countdown timer in the hatch, the lostaways are part of an eternal return. The irony here is that acceptance of this destiny may be the only way that they can begin to use their free will to make a bit of progress along the way.

I loved the way they used 'These Arms of Mine' as both background music on Rose's car radio when she and Bernard first met, and during the ending montage. Great song.

There seemed to be three story lines going on here, each involving a quest to rescue someone. Bernard's attempt to use the SOS sign to get off the island paralleled his earlier attempt to rescue Rose from cancer using Isaac of Iluru. And Jack, also tired of waiting, tried to take Walt's rescue into his own hands with his 'prisoner exchange'. Perhaps we're supposed to take note of how well this worked for them?

This exchange between Rose and Bernard went right over my head until this re-watch...

ROSE: We're lost.

BERNARD: You saying we're lost doesn't make us lost, sweetheart. I know exactly where we are.

ROSE: Me too, driving around in circles in the middle of the Outback. That's why I wanted to be on a beach for our honeymoon.

Rose may turn out to be LOST's voice of reason when it comes to finding one's way. At least she is aware of the loopy nature of time on the island. Contrast her awareness of these circles, for instance, with Pierre Chang's response to Miles' admission that he and his dad ran in different circles ("I wasn't aware there were circles"). With respect to her honeymoon, however, I guess you should be careful what you wish for.

By the end of the episode, Locke seemed to have made some progress. When Ana told him, "I pushed your button", he responded, "It's not my button". It's little things like this that keep me believing that John has not been under the control of the MiB all along, and that he may return during season 6.

[Sam G]

Transcripts

Locke trying the remember the blast door map.

Rose and Bernard's connection. Bernard is having a little rebellion against forgetting. Rose mentions false hope, I think we've heard that line before.

Is this how Jacob and the MiB get people to stay on the Island?

Rose: Cereal goes on the left, Bernard.
Bernard: So this isn't bothering you at all?
Rose: What's this?
Bernard: Well, this... this...
Rose: Why would a bag of potato chips bother me?
Bernard: Well aren't you remotely curious as to where all this came from? Hon, you're acting like we just got back from the supermarket.
Rose: Well, I guess I was raised never to question my blessings.
Bernard: I was raised to question piles of food with weird labels that just fall out of the sky, Rose.
Rose: Well, honey just because you're having a bad day doesn't mean you have to raise your voice.
Bernard: Bad day? I had 7 weeks of bad days on the other side of the island just trying to stay alive so I could get back to you... but here... my God, Rose they've built a kitchen on the beach. They've given up.
Rose: Given up? On what?
Bernard: On getting rescued.

Probably, the last thing you would expect to hear when you ask someone to marry you, is they are going to die. (Rose had on earrings with bear paw prints on them.)

I forgot the exchange between Eko, Bernard and Charlie.

Bernard: Boy, you bunk with a guy for 48 days... now he doesn't call or write.
Mr. Eko: Hello, Bernard.
Bernard: What have you boys got going up here?
Mr. Eko: Just working.
Bernard: Well, listen, I've got a whole team of folks throwing together a big sign down along the beach. Hopefully, it'll get spotted by a plane or a satellite. We could sure use all the bodies we could get to help put it together.
Mr. Eko: Sorry, I'm busy.
Bernard: Charlie?
Charlie: Ah, regrets, Bernard, I've only got 2 hands, you know. Good luck, though.
Bernard: Well, could I at least grab some of these logs? We could sure use them...
Mr. Eko: We're using them.
Bernard: For what, exactly?
Charlie: A church.
Bernard: A church?
Mr. Eko: Yes.
Bernard: Everybody on this island is building something. I'm trying to get us saved.
Mr. Eko: People are saved in different ways, Bernard.
Bernard: I think I liked you better when you just hit people with your stick.
Charlie: I like you just the way you are.

Oh, and Ben's creepy smile when he didn't answer Locke.

It's interesting how lazy the LOSTaways have gotten. Once they had food, shelter and water, it does seem like they were prepared to stay. Guess they aren't ever going to build a pyramid.

Hum, doll looks very familar

Lots of information in this episode, things that appear later, like "being caught in a net".

Rose: So, uh... how does this work? I sit here and you chant or uh... pray, or what?
Isaac: There are certain places with great energy... spots on the Earth like the one we're above now. Perhaps this energy is geological... magnetic. Or perhaps it's something else. And when possible I harness this energy and give it to others. May I?
[He puts his hands near Rose's face and closes his eyes then suddenly opens them looking disturbed]
Rose: What? What, what is it?
Isaac: I'm sorry. I can't do anything for you, Rose.
Rose: I didn't expect you to.
Isaac: It's not that you can't be healed. Like I said, there's different energies. This is not the right place for you.
Rose: Where is the right place?
Isaac: I wish I knew. I'll return your husband's donation.
Rose: Don't. I'm going to tell him you fixed me. I'm going to tell him you fixed me.

Rose has a ring on that looks very much like Juliet's brand.