LOST: "Greatest Hits" Recap [SPOILERS]

Rabbitses?!

The episode starts with a frantic Karl, running towards the beach.  He jumps in the boat he, Sawyer, and Kate used so long ago, and heads off across the water...

...but later we're shown the events leading up to that moment, and revisit the Others' camp, if only just briefly.  Ben comes strolling back into the Others' camp, obviously upset.  Alex is there, "Hey! When did you get back? Where's Locke?"

Ben returns her pistol, as if to say "I think you know."  Richard appears, equally surprised to see Ben, and asks what's going on.  "Jacob wants it to happen now... and John had an accident."  Both Alex and Richard are left speechless.  Ben searches out a new Other, "Ryan."  He orders him to leave immediately for the survivors camp, against the protestations of Richard.  The plan has changed, they'll take all of the women, and kill the men who get in the way!

Alex takes off running through the jungle, and finds Karl, who appears to still be living in a sort of exile.  "I thought you were bringing rabbit?!" I think I heard him say.  (WTF that is supposed to mean is anybody's guess! Maybe I heard wrong?)

She convinces him to take off and warn the gang on the beach, that he owes it to Kate and Sawyer, and hands him the pistol.

"What about your father?! If I get caught he'll kill me!" "Is he my father?" she says to him, and they exchange a look that can only be interpreted as "No, he's not then, is he."  And we catch up to the beginning of the episode....

Blow 'Em All To Hell

Jack leads most of the group across a clearing, ending up at the tree line on the opposite side.  On the hike, Desmond gets that familiar look, and Charlie sees it.  Of course Desmond denies having a vision.  "We're here!" Jack exclaims.

Juliet explains it all, and apologizes to Sun for lying to her.  Jack yells into the trees for Danielle, who appears, and uncovers a battery connected to some wires.  Jack gives a signal and Danielle blows up a nearby tree!  Guess we know what she needed that dynamite from the Black Rock for!

The plan is to lure the invading Others into the camp, and as they enter the marked tents (where the pregnant women will be) they will "blow 'em all to hell" in the words of Jack.

Back at the beach, Naomi asks Charlie exactly who they are about to go to war with.  He brushes it off with a "It's a long story" or something, and as it turns out, they both come from the same Manchester neighborhood!  He tells her about Driveshaft, and she tells him about how they made a big deal of his "death" in the other 815 crash, and about the "Greatest Hits" album.  Desmond looks on, obviously concerned.

The preparations continue, with Jack and Juliet oh-so carefully handling the unstable dynamite, and Danielle rigging up the wiring for the detonators.  Sayid corners Jack, and has a plan to get them off the island!

If he can disable Rousseau's distress signal, its possible that Naomi's satellite phone might be able to make contact!  Seems the distress signal is interfering.  "If we do this, they'll hear us!"

"The Looking Glass" Revealed!

"No, they won't," Juliet pipes up.  The Others are jamming radio traffic, from yet another DHARMA station!  This time its an underwater station called "The Looking Glass!"  Juliet claims not to know where it is.  Sayid realizes that this must be where the cable leads to.

Meanwhile, The Charlie-Claire-Aaron trio is in their tent, and Charlie is reassuring Claire that everything is alright.  Desmond calls Charlie out.  After a bit of prodding, Desmond tells Charlie of his vision.

He saw Claire and Aaron get into a helicopter and fly away, apparently rescued!  "I thought you were gonna tell me I was gonna die again?"

"You are.  There won't be any rescue if you don't let it happen.  Sorry brother, this time you have to die!"

After a flashback involving a young Charlie learning to swim (we'll get there, don't worry!) he's writing something on a piece of paper, when Desmond catches up to him again.  This time he tells Charlie the gory details.  He's inside a hatch with a room full of equipment, he flips the switch on a blinking yellow light, the light goes off, and then he drowns.  Desmond doesn't know when, or where.

But Sayid, Jack, and Juliet do.  They've managed to acquire a set of plans for "The Looking Glass" (whose 'emblem' is a white rabbit with a black dot on it!)  Where they got this map from I don't believe they said!  Unless I missed something!

Anyway, Juliet doesn't know what is in there, and doesn't know anyone who's been there, as Ben has told her its flooded.  They start talking of swimming down to it, and Charlie overhears, and volunteers to do it.  Jack doesn't really want to go through with this plan, as he feels evacuating the camp and executing the 'exploding tent' plan is more important.  The tension between Jack and Sayid rises, as Sayid thinks a chance to get off the island should be more important!

There is a brief moment between Rose and Bernard (hey!) where they are tying knots, and he fails miserably...  Why that was there I don't know, maybe it was just to re-introduce the two back into the mix...

And then another brief moment with Jin and Sun, where he questions her about hearing their name on the tape.  When was she going to tell him? (I wasn't aware that he knew at all?!)  Sun explains the entire medical hatch bit to him.

Just then, Hurley starts yelling about something.  He's spotted Karl landing the boat near the camp.  Sayid jumps all over him, and seems ready to give it to him, but Sawyer jumps in, "He's alright!"  Karl warns them that the invasion plans have been stepped up to tonight, and that they're on their way right now!

Karl explains everything to the entire group, and points out Juliet as a spy! (Oh Noes!)  Juliet rolls her eyes, "They know already, Karl.  Thanks."

They realize they haven't got enough wire yet from the plane to pull off their plan, so they decide to shoot the dynamite instead from the treeline.  Jack tells Sayid to lead everyone to the Rousseau's radio tower.  He agrees to send Charlie down into "The Looking Glass."  Desmond volunteers to go with him.

Charlie writes something else on his paper, and then goes to help Claire.  She's worried about him going on this mission, but he promises her everything will be alright.  He has a touching moment with Aaron (Thousands of teary-eyed viewers cried out in "awwwww" and were suddenly silenced!)

Later, Charlie again writes something on the paper, and makes final plans with Desmond.  "So how long can you really hold your breath for?"  "Does it matter?"

Bernard and Sayid are practicing shooting, and it looks like Bernard has more talents than we've come to know!  Rose protests Bernard's staying behind, and Jack can't promise her that he'll be alright.  She remarks how she likes him better since he's returned....

To The Promised Land

Jack tells Sayid to get going to the tower.  "I'm not taking them to the tower, you are" Sayid tells him.  "What are you more concerned with, killing the Others or getting people off the island.  You said you were a leader, its time to start acting like one.  Lead them to the tower, and take us all home."

As Charlie and Desmond are preparing Karl's boat for their (supposedly) final mission, Hurley shows up.  He wants to go with them, and Charlie tells him that he's just too big and won't fit in the boat!  Our big cuddly Hurley gets all hurt and turns away, "fine I don't want to go in your stupid boat!"  Charlie yells, "Wait!" and gives him a big bear hug, "I love you man!" "Yeah whatever, you too..."

Back at the camp, the final preparations are being made for the invasion.  There's a bit of an awkward moment between Jack and Kate ("Here we go again....")  The tents are marked, and its revealed that Jin will stay behind as the third "shooter."

Hurley (and Vincent! There you are!) offer to help Claire with the baby, and we see that Charlie's left something behind in Aaron's crib....

... and then Desmond and Charlie take off across the water, using the cable as a guide....

Charlie's Greatest Hits

At this point we have to visit the flashback, or rather flashbacks, plural.  If you're wondering what Charlie's been writing on that paper I've mentioned, its this:  The best moments of his life...  There were exactly five moments in Charlie's past we revisited.  One in particular is very interesting indeed.

#5 - The first time I heard Driveshaft on the radio

Charlie's in the rain and mud, fixing a flat on the band's caravan.  This is before they "made it big" and they're going to be late for some small-time gig somewhere.  He tells Liam that he's quitting, and Liam asks if he's giving up.  "There's nothing to give up on," he replies.  "We're a joke!"  And just then they all hear "You All Everybody" (Or whatever its called, I can never remember!) on the radio.  They all go nuts, and with that, the band is back together!

This is followed directly by the Naomi/Manchester conversation...

#4 - Dad teaching me to swim

We find a young (maybe 8-10 y.o.) Charlie on the side of a public swimming pool.  Liam and their father are in there, and his dad is trying to get him to jump in.  Charlie doesn't trust him, and Liam keeps telling Charlie that dad won't catch him!  (I'm thinking, oh no! Not more "Father issue" stuff!)  But he jumps in anyway, and after a brief moment of going underwater, his dad pulls him up.  "You're swimming Charlie!"

Followed by the conversation above where Charlie volunteers to swim down to "The Looking Glass" station....

#3 - The Christmas Liam gave me the family ring

Christmas.  In Helsinki, Finland.  Charlie's asleep in the sack with a pair of young blond groupies, when Liam barges in.  "Well done mate!"  Liam makes a point of stating that they're near the North Pole, and pulls a ring off of his finger, with a big "DS" on it.  It's a family heirloom it turns out, and Liam wants Charlie to have it, since he's the straight one of the two.  Liam doesn't think he's the one who should be carrying it.  The "DS" stands for "Dexter Stratton" by the way, and I don't recall if that should mean anything to us.  Charlie will hold onto it, but won't claim it as his own.

Which is followed by the touching Charlie-Aaron scene, and we later find this ring in Aaron's crib.

#2 - The time that woman called me a hero at Covent Garden.

Ah, this one will sort of blow your mind....  We find Charlie and his guitar on a street corner singing.  If it looks familiar its because we've been here before, only the last time Desmond was there.  But he's not there this time!  It starts to rain (just as Desmond predicted) and Charlie packs up and heads down the street.

He sees a young woman being mugged, and jumps in to save her.  "Oy!"  This woman is none other than Sayid's elusive Iraqi exile, Nadia!  Hello!  She thanks him profusely, but he denies her praises, "I only did what anyone would do."  "Three people walked by and saw me, but kept on going.  You are a hero, sir, and don't let anyone tell you differently."

And why is it made obvious that we should know this was at "Covent Garden?"  Just to force the Desmond connection?

This flashback is followed directly by Charlie and Desmond going over the plans, and the "does it matter?" quip.

and (drumroll please...) #1 - The night I met you

We flashback to the night after the plane crashed, and Charlie and Claire first met by the campfire.  I won't detail this one, because you've all seen it before.  Just a replay of that moment in time....

I'm Alive!

They've followed the cable as far as they can.  Charlie writes #1 on the paper, and folds it in half.  He gives it to Desmond, "give this to Claire for me.  It's the best five moments of my sorry excuse for a life, my greatest hits.  You know, memories.  It's all I've got."

Desmond replies, "Maybe I keep seeing you die because I'm supposed to take your place."  "What about Penny?" "What about your girl? Besides I might be luckier than you.  Keep your memories to yourself, I'll take it from here."  (Whew! Charlie dodged that bullet, didn't he?!)

"I don't know what to say!", and as Desmond turns to get the weight belt from behind him, Charlie cold cocks him with the paddle. (Oh no! Now he's gonna die for sure!)  "You and I both know you're not supposed to take my place, brother."

He contemplates life, the universe, and everything for a moment, and then jumps in.  He swims downward, and finally we get a glimpse of "The Looking Glass."  It's a larger installation than I was expecting, and it looks like the power is on, as there are several lights on the outside.

He gets underneath, and realizes there isn't any way in!  He searches for a while, and finally finds the access.  He surfaces into the station, climbs up onto the deck, and starts laughing.  "I'm alive!" he yells.

Then he hears something.  A bang.  Followed by some strange creaking noises.  Is it just the station swaying in the currents?  No!  Two women appear from different bulkheads, both aiming their weapons at a surprised and frightened Charlie.

*BONK*

Next Time

Ah, the finale.  Charlie tied up by these two armed banditas, Jack and the crew intercepted by Ben, and an "I love you" from Jack, but directed towards who?  And no mention of Locke?  Will we see him next time or not?

Be sure to check the Analysis post for the rest of the fun!