User:Mr. Crabby/Through the Looking Glass

From Lostpedia

"Through the Looking Glass" is the 22nd episode and 2-hour finale of Season 3 of Lost. The episode was originally broadcast on May 23, 2007. Events come to a head as the Others engage the survivors at the beach. Meanwhile, Jack relentlessly leads the group on toward rescue, whilst Charlie struggles to finish his mission at the underwater station. This episode was also the first to use a "flashforward" technique replacing the customary "flashback" technique.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 Island events 1.2 Flashforward 2 Trivia 2.1 General 2.2 Newspaper clipping 2.3 Cultural references 2.4 Recurring themes 2.5 Literary techniques 2.6 Bloopers and continuity errors 2.7 Production notes 3 Reception 4 Unanswered questions 5 External links

Synopsis

Island events

Sayid has selected himself, Jin and Bernard as the three marksmen who will set off their trap to ambush the Others. He makes Jack promise that, no matter what happens on the beach, he will lead the remaining survivors to the communications tower; he tells Jack that he is willing to die so the others can be rescued. Jack understands.

In the Looking Glass, Bonnie and Greta interrogate Charlie. He says he found out about the Looking Glass from Juliet, who has joined the Losties. Bonnie and Greta go into an adjacent room to radio Ben; inexplicably leaving the door open so that Charlie can eavesdrop (and see the blinking yellow light from Desmond's vision of the jamming equipment) and shout his name to Ben. Bonnie tells Ben about Juliet's betrayal (overheard by Richard Alpert and Mikhail). Ben orders Mikhail to go to the Looking Glass to find out why Charlie is there, and admits he lied about the station being inoperable. Mikhail wonders what else Juliet has told the Losties. Ben immediately tries to contact the Others' kidnap team, but their radios are off.

At the beach, the Others led by Ryan Pryce and Tom start searching the marked tents. When they realize the tents are empty it is too late - Sayid and Bernard shoot bundles of dynamite, setting off large explosions that kill Ivan, Diane and three more Others. Jin (using a pistol rather than a rifle) misses his targeted dynamite but shoots and kills two Others (Luke and Matthew). However, the three remaining Others capture Jin, Bernard and Sayid.

Far away, Jack's group hears only two of three expected explosions, followed by gunfire. The group is worried about what might have gone wrong, especially Rose and Sun, but Jack urges everyone to stick to the original plan.

Charlie tells Bonnie & Greta that, no matter what they do to him, he will turn off their jamming equipment so that rescue helicopters can come. Bonnie says only she, Greta and Ben know the code needed to disarm the jamming equipment. Charlie supposes he won't need the code because the Looking Glass will soon be flooded. Bonnie asks what Charlie will do when the station floods; he simply replies that he will die.

Tom radios Ben to tell him seven of the assault team are dead. Ben tells him to execute Jin, to make Sayid and Bernard reveal where the other survivors have gone. Jin insists nobody talks. Sayid says the Others will kill them anyway, and Pryce knocks him out. Bernard panics, revealing that Jack's group are heading for the radio tower to use Naomi's satellite phone, and that Karl warned them about the early attack. Ben realizes Alex must have told Karl, and tells Tom not to kill Sayid, Jin and Bernard yet.

In the morning, Ben plans to intercept Jack's group and talk them out of going through with their plan to contact Naomi’s freighter. Richard Alpert asks to come along but Ben orders him to take the rest of the Others to the Temple "as planned". Alex asks to go with Ben; surprisingly, Ben agrees, saying it's a good idea, remarking that Alex must want to see Karl again.

Desmond wakes up in the outrigger above the Looking Glass station and realizes that Charlie has gone down alone. Suddenly Mikhail begins shooting at him from the shore. Desmond dives overboard and swims down into the station, where Charlie warns him to hide. Bonnie and Greta emerge from the communications room and demand to know who Charlie was talking to. When Charlie gives a flippant answer Bonnie decides to fetch a spear gun (to torture Charlie) and strides toward the locker where Desmond has hidden. Mikhail (in SCUBA gear) surfaces inside the station just before Bonnie discovers Desmond inside the spear gun locker.

Mikhail says he thought Bonnie and Greta were on assignment in Canada; they reply that Ben ordered them to lie. Mikhail takes out a knife and approaches Charlie; Charlie reveals that the station is jamming transmissions, which startles Mikhail. Ben contacts the station and Mikhail speaks to him privately. Ben justifies the deception about the Looking Glass as necessary to defend the island and ensure everyone's security. He orders Mikhail to kill Charlie, Bonnie and Greta, and make sure the jamming device continues to work at all costs. Mikhail asks how he can be sure Ben hasn't ordered Bonnie and Greta to kill him; Ben answers "if I had, you would be dead already".

Kate tells Sawyer that they should go back to the beach to help Sayid, Jin and Bernard, but Sawyer reacts negatively. She tries to provoke a reaction from him and points out how withdrawn and unresponsive he's been (since the events in "The Brig"); but Sawyer avoids the issue - including the possibility that Kate is pregnant. Immediately afterwards, however, Sawyer throws Jack a look of consternation. Twenty minutes after the trek recommences, Sawyer announces that he's going back to the beach, telling Kate that he just did not want to go with her. Juliet volunteers to go with him, explaining she knows where to find a cache of guns, and telling Jack it's something she has to do. On parting, Juliet gives Jack a lingering kiss and cheerfully tells him not to wait up. As Juliet walks away, Jack checks Kate's reaction.

As soon as he is on his way back to the beach, Sawyer is more like his old self, bantering with Juliet. He asks, "So... are you screwing Jack yet?" Juliet replies. "No. Are you?" Then Juliet admits she lied about the gun cache, just so Jack would let her go. When Sawyer asks why Juliet is returning to the beach she replies, "Karma". When Juliet asks why Sawyer is returning to the beach, he has no answer. Hurley chases Sawyer and Juliet, desperate to help his friends; but Sawyer dismisses him, saying that Hurley will get in the way and get people killed.

Alex asks why Ben let her come with him. He says he's delivering Alex to her new family, because she betrayed him. Alex argues that Ben mistreated Karl, which Ben excuses because he didn't want Alex to get pregnant. She asks why Ben can't just let the plane crash survivors leave the island, but Ben's only answer is "Because I can't".

Locke awakens in the DHARMA mass grave nearly a full day after being shot by Ben. He cannot move his legs but he manages to reach a revolver in a holster on one of the corpses. He checks the revolver for bullets, cocks its hammer and puts the barrel to his head. Sounds, possibly whispers or the monster, are heard in the background. As John prepares to kill himself, Walt suddenly appears standing over the grave. Walt tells Locke to get up because he has "work to do." Immediately after Walt says that a grin appears on Locke's face.

Jack tells Kate that Sawyer didn't mean what he said, it was just to protect her; and that he (Jack) did the same thing when he told Kate not to come back to Hydra Island. Kate asks why Jack is suddenly sticking up for Sawyer; he replies "Because I love you."

About an hour away from the radio tower, Ben and Alex intercept Jack's group and Ben asks to speak to Jack alone. Ben tells Jack that Naomi is one of the "bad guys" trying to find the island, and if she makes contact with her ship, "every living person" on the island will be killed. Jack refuses to surrender the satellite phone. Ben radios the beach so that Jack can hear that the Others have captured Sayid, Bernard, and Jin. Ben tells Jack to get Naomi's phone and bring it to him. Jack asks why he shouldn't just snap Ben's neck, so Ben tells Tom that if he does not hear back from him in one minute to shoot all three hostages. Jack refuses to back down. When the minute is up, three gunshots are heard through the radio. Visibly upset, Jack throws Ben to the ground and brutally assaults him. Jack radios Tom to say, once he's got the survivors rescued, he's going to find Tom and kill him.

Jack marches Ben back to the group of survivors, then strides away, followed by Kate. Ben introduces Alex to her mother (Rousseau); Rousseau's first ever words to her daughter are, "Will you help me tie him (Ben) up?" Jack tells Kate that he was forced to let Ben order the killing of Jin, Bernard and Sayid. Kate asks why Jack brought Ben back instead of killing him; Jack says he wants to wait until after Ben has seen them all rescued.

Inside the Looking Glass, Mikhail checks that Bonnie and Greta are the only ones who know the jamming code, and that the jamming mechanism will continue to function if the station is flooded. He shoots and kills Greta. Bonnie runs but Mikhail shoots her in the back; before he can finish her off, Desmond emerges from the locker and shoots Mikhail in the chest with a spear gun. Charlie convinces Bonnie that Ben has betrayed her loyalty, and she can gain revenge by revealing the code to disable the jamming signal. She starts to tell him the code numbers, but her life is ebbing away; so she tells Charlie the code will play the The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" when entered on the numeric keypad. It was "programmed by a musician".

At the beach, Tom is telling Pryce that Ben has "lost it" and they should have actually killed Sayid, Bernard and Jin instead of doing what Pryce reminds him "was an order": firing bullets into the sand. Sawyer and Juliet watch from the jungle, hesitating because they are unarmed and outnumbered. Suddenly, Hurley drives the DHARMA van out of the jungle and accelerates towards the Others. Tom dives out of the way, but Pryce stands his ground trying to shoot Hurley; Hurley runs him over and kills him. Sawyer grabs Pryce's gun. Jason is distracted from guarding Sayid, Bernard and Jin. Sayid (using only his feet) knocks Jason to the ground and breaks his neck. Juliet grabs Tom's gun and he surrenders, but Sawyer shoots him in the chest and says, "That's for taking the kid off the raft." Hurley points out that Tom had surrendered; Sawyer responds, "I didn’t believe him."

Hurley uses Tom’s walkie-talkie to announce their victory over the Others' kidnapping party, and warn the rest of the Others they will be blown up if they attack the beach camp again. Jack hears the message on Ben's walkie-talkie and asks Hurley about Bernard, Sayid and Jin. Hurley proudly confirms that he has saved them all, to the joy of Jack's group. Claire asks about Charlie but Hurley says he doesn't know anything about it.

Inside the Looking Glass, Desmond fetches scuba gear while Charlie disables the jamming equipment by playing "Good Vibrations" on the control pad. Charlie remarks "So much for fate" and turns to leave, but his attention is grabbed by an 'incoming transmission'. On a video screen, he speaks to a woman who turns out to be Penelope (she asks how Charlie got this frequency implying that she is responding to a call rather than initiating the call). Charlie calls Desmond, which excites Penny. Charlie mentions Penny's boat and Naomi; but Penny says she is not on a boat and asks who is Naomi?

Desmond notices that Mikhail's body is missing. Mikhail appears at Charlie’s porthole brandishing a hand grenade. Charlie closes and locks the communication room's watertight door, but not before Desmond has seen Penny's face on the monitor. Mikhail detonates the grenade; the window shatters and water pours into the compartment where Charlie is now confined. Desmond tries in vain to break the door’s window. As the room fills with water Charlie writes a message on his hand and presses it against the door’s window for Desmond to read, "NOT PENNYS BOAT". As he drowns, Charlie makes the sign of the Cross.

As Charlie dies, baby Aaron, back with Jack's group, breaks out in sobs. Then Naomi gets a green light on her phone, meaning the jamming device has been disabled, but it only receives Rousseau's distress signal. She tells Claire that her boyfriend, Charlie, "just saved them all." Finally, they have reached the radio tower and Rousseau switches her message off. Ben, tied to a tree, begs Jack not to use the phone, saying it will be a mistake and "the beginning of the end". Just as Naomi gets a connection, she is incapacitated by a knife in the back, thrown by Locke. Revolver in hand, Locke threatens to shoot Jack to prevent him using the phone. Ben urges Locke to kill Jack but Rousseau knocks Ben out. Jack stands his ground, telling Locke, "You're done keeping me on this island". Locke backs down, but tells Jack, "You're not supposed to do this" before walking away. A man named Minkowski answers the phone. Jack explains who he is and mentions Naomi's name, which Minkowski recognizes. Jack asks if Minkowski can get a fix on his location; Minkowski tells him someone is being sent to the island immediately. Ben looks on helplessly as the survivors begin to celebrate and anticipate their rescue. Jack is overcome with relief and on the brink of tears.

Flashforward

Appearing disheveled and severely depressed, Jack sits on an airplane. After being refused a drink from the stewardess, he notices an article in the newspaper which he rips out; it's an obituary. We then see him sitting in a car that is parked on the side of the Sixth Street Bridge, crying while looking at the newspaper clipping. He makes a call to someone, but only gets through to voice mail. After leaving a message about having read the contents of the clipping, he steps from the vehicle. He climbs up onto the ledge and murmurs "forgive me". Just as he is leaning forward to jump, a fiery car crash occurs. He rushes to save the victims.

Later, Jack is being stitched up at a hospital when a visibly pregnant Sarah enters; she is still listed as his emergency contact. She asks him if he's drunk, which he denies. She asks him what he was doing driving around at 2 a.m. but he deflects the question by asking her if she can give him a ride. She states that it "would not be appropriate", and leaves.

The next day Jack is at the bedside of the woman from the crash. Jack takes some oxycodone pills, just before Dr. Hamill, the new chief of surgery, enters. The woman has a spinal injury and Jack wants to operate. Hamill refuses to allow it and tells him to go home to rest. As he leaves the hospital the woman's eight-year-old son waves at him.

Some time after, Jack is driving while listening to Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" with the newspaper clip in one hand. He parks, and again calls someone on his cellphone, only for the call to go to voicemail again. He absent-mindedly crosses the street and enters a funeral parlor. The casket is closed but nobody is there. The funeral director steps in and informs Jack that he is the only one to come to the viewing. He then asks Jack if he is friend or family of the deceased; Jack replies that he is "neither." When asked if he wants the casket opened, Jack says no and the director leaves. Jack lays a hand on the casket, appearing deeply saddened. He swallows a pill, then turns and leaves.

Jack is at a pharmacy trying to get his prescription of oxycodone refilled but he has used up all his refills. While arguing with the pharmacist he is recognized as the hero from the news. He denies being a hero. He then tries to hand the pharmacist another (fake) prescription from his father. When she tries to call in to confirm the prescription, Jack grows angry and storms off, knocking over a rack of sun-glasses on his way out.

Unable to get his fix legally, Jack raids his hospital's supply of oxycodone. When he comes out of the medicine room, he is visibly intoxicated, possibly drunk. Hamill asks him what he is doing. Jack replies that he was trying to find out how the surgery went. Hamill says he left voice messages for Jack but Jack claims his phone is broken. Hamill tells him Mrs. Arlen's back surgery went well, and that the woman remembers seeing a man about to jump off the bridge, which caused her to lose control of the car. Hamill then begins quizzing Jack on how he got to the crash so fast. Jack begins ranting about how long he has worked at the hospital, and how Hamill doesn't know anything about him or what he has been through. Hamill asks him how much he has had to drink; Jack replies by telling Hamill to get his father, Dr. Christian Shephard, "down here" and if Jack is more drunk than his father is, then Dr. Hamill can fire him.

We then see Jack in his messy apartment, which is full of dirty dishes and various maps and atlases. While swigging from a bottle of tequila, he is finally able to reach the person he has been desperately calling. They agree to meet at the airport, "she knows where". Outside the airport's gate at the end of a runway, a car parks up behind Jack's, and out of it steps Kate. When she asks why he called her, he pulls out the newspaper clipping and says he had hoped to see her at the funeral. She replies, "Why would I go to the funeral?" Jack then confesses that he has been flying a lot.

Practically every Friday night he has been using the "Golden Pass" that Oceanic apparently has given him and most likely to the rest of the crash survivors. On each flight he hopes that the plane will crash and he will be on the island again. He tells her he doesn't care about anyone else on board, that with every bump he prays that he can get back. He tells her he is sick of lying and that they made a mistake. Kate tells him she has to go because "He" will be wondering where she is. Jack tells her that they weren't supposed to leave and she disagrees, saying it can't be changed. As she is driving away he screams, "we have to go back" twice. After this we see a plane take off right behind Jack.

Trivia

General

• Jack's newspaper was an issue of the L.A. Times April 5, 2007 folded at page B-4.
  • B-4 ("before") could be an intentional indication of the flashforward.
• Jack's cellphone in the map scenes of the "flash-forwards" is a Motorola KRZR K1m phone released in late 2006.
• The name of the funeral parlor Jack goes to, "Hoffs/Drawlar," is an anagram for "flash forward". (Anagrams)
• Kate's automobile license plate is 4QKD695
• Jack's automobile license plate is 2SAQ321, the same as Catherine Keener's character (Trish) in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and also used on one of the Mini Coopers in the big chase scene in The Italian Job.^{[source needed]}
• Kate's phone number is 310-555-0148. The area code 310 could be located in West Los Angeles or the South Bay, but since it includes Catalina Island, Malibu and Compton, one may conclude that Kate lives in the Westchester/Marina Del Rey area, which is adjacent to where she meets Jack at LAX.
• The knife that Locke uses to stab Naomi appears to be a SOG Navy Seal Knife, or a SOG Seal Pup. (Military)  (Weapons).
• The audible numbers Bonnie tells Charlie as the password are: 5 4 5 8 7 7 5 5 4 3 7 7 6 1 1 3. For more information see the main article subsection: The Looking Glass#Security code
• Pryce says sayonara (which is goodbye in Japanese) to Jin (who is Korean).
• Dr. Hamill mentions that the surgery on the woman from the car accident would be performed by a Dr. Gary Nadler. Nadler is Bernard's surname.
• In the flash-forward, when Sarah enters the emergency room, on the back of the door is a Spanish-language CDC poster about folic acid, an important supplement to pregnant women. The headline is "Antes de que te des cuenta que estás embarazada..." ("Before you realize that you are pregnant...").
• Among the newspapers in Jack's apartment is The Honolulu Advertiser, which is the morning paper in Oahu while the afternnoon newspaper is The Honolulu Star-Bulletin. [1]
• Ben's Radio Tower Map shows the location of the Others as Pascal Flats. This could be a reference to French philosopher Blaise Pascal.
  • This could also be reference to American country music band Rascal Flatts or also the computer language "wikipedia: Pascal (programming language)" too and there is a possibly another reference to the biblical wikipedia:Paschal Lamb, indicating the sacrifice of Charlie like a Paschal Lamb, or the story in the Bible about Passover where the liberation from slavery happened symbolizing the liberation of the Castaways or the story of Easter, Easter is the new name for original name of the holiday know as "pascal" (Or "Pascha" in Greek) to commemorate how Jesus came back to life after getting killed on the cross.
• The man that answers the satellite phone does not seem to be surprised when Jack tells him he is a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815, even though Naomi stated that the outside world believes all the passengers to be dead.
• The only clearly recognizable map in the map scenes is a partially visible world map in the lower left-hand corner of the frame of the shot with the maps, lamp, pill bottle, booze bottle, ruler, and compass right before Jack gets a call. This map shows strings attached to push pins in different locations of the Americas, including what looks like the North of Brazil (Amazon region), somewhere near U.S./Mexico border on the Gulf of Mexico, one in the south eastern U.S., one in Canada, and an indeterminate number on the West Coast in the SoCal area. All these strings lead out of frame to an unseen point west of the Americas in Pacific Ocean. Could Jack be tracking the origins of the crash survivors looking for a pattern? Paulo could be the Brazil pin, Nikki Fernandez could be the border one (she seems to be of mixed heritage), Sawyer the southeast U.S. one, an unknown one in Canada (possibly connected to Greta and Bonnie's supposed mission), and the California ones could be Boone, Shannon, Locke, Hurley, and Jack himself. It is odd that there is no push-pin for Iowa (Kate) or New York (Michael). The eastern edge of the map shows parts of western Europe and Africa, where other Lost characters are from.
• When Sawyer and Juliet are getting back to the camp, moments before Hugo reaches them, around 34min, 40sec, we can see an extended view of the area. So, technically on top of them it's a grey building, maybe the ruins.
• The two or three female whispers that Locke hears as he is about to shoot himself and seconds before Walt appears to him are very unclear. The most agreed upon interpretations are: "Help me", "Naomi. I don't know that name" and "I have hell to pay".
• There is a novel named Flashforward by the Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer.
• When Charlie makes the sign of the cross, it is inverted. (He traces it with his left hand, not his right.)
• The maps Jack is looking at are of Britain (the main one at the top) and of Kent, in England, underneath it.
• Award: This episode won 1st place in AOL's "Primetime Poll" results for the 2006-2007 television season for "Best Season-Ending Cliffhanger" [2], and also won the same award for the "Editor's Pick" [3]

Newspaper clipping

Main article: Newspaper clipping

Cultural references

Cultural references in Lost (direct references only)
Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

• "Good Vibrations": The code to the keypad is the main melody of this popular Beach Boys song, as typed by Charlie. (Music)
• "Scentless Apprentice": Jack is listening to this Nirvana song on the way to the funeral home. Nirvana singer/songwriter Kurt Cobain died on April 5th, April being the month in which the flash-forward occurs. (Music)
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Hurley mentions that Jack is going to use the satellite phone to "phone home." (Movies)
• Rambo: Rose makes Bernard repeat he is a dentist, not Rambo. (Movies)
• Through the Looking Glass: The episode title and the station name are a reference to this classic Lewis Carroll children's novel. (Literature)
• Volvo: Kate was driving a Volvo. (Cars)

See also: Possible cultural references for "Through the Looking Glass"

Recurring themes

Recurring themes in Lost
Black and white • Car accidents • Character connections • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Life and death • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Rain • Rebirth • Redemption • Relationships • Sacrifice • Secrets • Time

• Alice In Wonderland: In season 1, there was a Jack-centric episode called White Rabbit, which may have connections to this episode.
• Charlie's fate: Charlie sacrifices himself so that everyone else could be saved. (Sacrifice)
• Free will conditioned by presumed fate: Charlie accepts that his death is inevitable in order to save the other survivors, and dies willingly to fulfill Desmond's prediction rather than attempting to beat death another time (even though escape from the hatch would have easily been possible). Being a musician, he is probably the only survivor who could have figured out the code and how to play it in the short time he had. (Fate versus free will)
• Phone numbers: Kate's phone number is 310-555-0148. (The Numbers)
• Car wreck: A car crash stops Jack from killing himself. (Car accidents)
• Rescued kid: Jack saves a 42 year-old woman and her 8 year-old kid from the car crash. (The Numbers)
• Unwilling hero: After saving the driver and her kid, Jack is called a 'hero' by several people. (Good and bad people)
• Sarah: Jack's ex-wife, Sarah is shown to be pregnant. (Pregnancies)
• Obituary: The obituary states that the person in question died at 4am. (The Numbers)
• Mikhail's patch: Mikhail's eye is shown to be missing as he removes his eyepatch for the first time onscreen. (Missing body parts)
• Locke's eye: Locke is shown to be alive after a closeup of his opened eye. (Eyes)
• Keypad: The keys on the signal-jammer keypad are numbered 1 to 16 in a 4x4 pattern. (The Numbers)
• Eight stitches: Jack had 8 stitches in his forehead. (The Numbers)
• Fifteen deaths: 15 people died in this episode. Presumably: Greta, Bonnie, Tom, Charlie, Mikhail, Naomi, Ryan, Diane, Jason, Matthew, Luke, Ivan and a further 3 Others (possibly including Aldo). Mikhail and Naomi's statuses are currently disputed. (The Numbers)
• Looking Glass logo: The logo for The Looking Glass shows an analog clock reading 8:15 - or 3:40, as the two hands appear to be the same length. (The Numbers)
• Suicide: Both Locke and Jack contemplated suicide in this episode, but changed their minds. Mikhail uses a grenade as a (seemingly) suicide bomb to kill Charlie. Charlie allowed himself to drown. Sawyer, Juliet, and Hurley embarked on an apparent suicide mission to save the three at the camp. Ben claims that Jack's use of the phone to call for a rescue will kill everyone. (Suicide)
• Game of Wits: Richard Alpert and Mikhail are seen playing a game of chess when Ben exits his tent after Bonnie breaks radio silence. The computer at Mikhail's station required winning a game of chess to access its programs. (Games)
• A new Sawyer: With his original motivation in life (finding the original Sawyer who destroyed his family) now over, Sawyer stops being his old self and stops using nicknames for people. He calls Kate and Hurley by their real names. (Nicknames)  (Rebirth)
• Jack's future: In the flash-forward, Jack is living alone, depressed and isolated. (Isolation)
• Catholic Charlie: Charlie crosses himself as he dies, but he does the sign of the cross with his left hand, which makes it appear to be backwards, as though seen "through the looking glass". Additionally, as Charlie dies, light pours through the port hole creating a halo effect around Charlie’s head; the image resembles classic depictions of Christian saints. (Religion)
• Jack as Moses: Naomi refers to Jack as Moses as they leave the beach. (Religion and Ideologies)
• Charlie tied up: Charlie is tied up in a chair by Greta and Bonnie. (Imprisonment)
• Baptism: After going under the water, Charlie possibly saves the Losties, Desmond makes secondhand contact with Penny, and Mikhail seems to have come back alive after having been thought dead. (Rebirth)

Literary techniques

Literary techniques in Lost
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist • Stock Characters:  Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character• Story:  Flashbacks • Flashforwards • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator

• After three seasons of Lost, the audience has come to expect a certain type of episode format: realtime sequences intermixed with flashback sequences. The same intermixing format is used for this episode, insinuating that Jack's storyline at the hospital, etc. all happened in the past. However, in the final scene, Jack talks to Kate and they refer to their stay on the Island in the past tense. This implies that the "flash-back" was really a "flash-forward" all along, and forces the audience to re-evaluate everything that happened in the episode. (Plot twist)
• In the flash-forward, Jack was the hero who saved the family from the burning wreckage. However, it is revealed later that he was the one who caused the accident. (Irony)
• After finally getting off the Island, Jack says it was a mistake and wants to go back, for unknown reasons. (Irony)
• Jack "becomes" his father, the drunkard and irresponsible surgeon, and Kate stops wanting to run and gets back home. It could also be implied that Kate may be resigned to a relationship with an overbearing man, like her mother was. (Irony)
• Going under water and coming up from it is a common symbol of baptism among writers. Charlie, Desmond, and Mikhail all did this. Charlie saved the Losties, Desmond made second hand contact with Penny, and Mikhail is alive again. (Symbolism)
• Jack is leading the Losties up to the transmission tower. Climbing mountains is a common symbol among writers for overcoming obstacles. (Symbolism)

Bloopers and continuity errors

Main article: Bloopers and continuity errors

• When the Losties leave the beach to head for the radio tower, they start walking with the sea on their right side. Later on, they are walking with the sea on their left side. Even though they are on an island, they're not on a peninsular or narrow island.
• At the beginning of the episode, Jack picks up the newspaper from the left seat with his left hand, but in the next shot, he takes it with his right hand.
• When Jack stands up to talk to his ex-wife Sarah when she comes to the hospital, the bandage on his forehead changes to a much larger bandage, and then changes back to the normal bandage in the next shot.
• When Bonnie and Greta are interrogating Charlie, they decide to go and call Ben in the comm room. Bonnie walks in through the open door, but in the next shot, the door is closed and she is seen opening the door and walking through again.
• It's not actually scientifically possible for radio waves to interfere with satellite waves.
• Charlie cannot actually drown, because the water can only reach the top of the porthole due to the air pocket.
• Charlie locks the door to his death chamber from the inside, but in submarines and underwater facilities, the water tight-seals in case of leakage, and thus, would lock individual chambers from the outside to protect the main chamber. The inner seal wouldn't have had a reason for a lock to be installed--thus, Charlie shouldn't have had a way to seal that chamber in any way that would prevent Desmond from opening it. The only logical thing to have happened would have been for Desmond to seal Charlie in, not the other way around.
• Charlie knows that he needs to enter notes from the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations" to stop the jamming signal, but he enters the notes that go with the verse, "Got to keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her" with no clue that this is the correct verse. Also, the second note in the melody he sings while typing the numbers is below the first note. Since he's pressing "5" two times in a row, the note should either be the same or the numbers should correspond to a lower second note.
  • Charlie hears the first part of the code from Bonnie--5-4-5--so he had a place to start from.
• The grenade is in Mikhail's right hand originally. When it zooms in on him releasing the trigger, the grenade is in his left hand. When it zooms out, it's in his right again.
• Charlie, a Catholic, genuflects in the way Eastern Orthodox Christians do, from left to right. However, he may not have actually gone to many church services although he seems to have done so at different times in his life; thus, it would be easy for him in a final moment to not genuflect in the 'correct' Catholic fashion.
• When Charlie has his hand pressed up against the glass with the message written on it "Not Penny's Boat", when the camera cuts to Desmond than back to Charlie, the message is re-written.

Production notes

• The executive producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who also wrote this episode, make separate voice cameos, as they said they would in the April 30th podcast. Damon, as the captain apologizing for turbulence on the PA; Carlton, as the off-screen newsperson on "Action 8 News" describing the car crash.
• For only the third and final time this season, all credited main cast members appear.
• Malcolm David Kelley and Julie Bowen both appear in this episode, and are listed in the opening credits, but are not credited in the press release by ABC, to avoid ruining the surprise of their appearances.
• This episode debuted several entirely new musical themes, including an especially memorable "Island" motif.
• Malcolm David Kelley was shot at an upward angle, which disguised his obvious growth. Similar shots were used in the previous season's "Three Minutes" and "Live Together, Die Alone".
• Every prominent, non-Main Other who has not defected is dead by the end of this episode with the exceptions of Richard and Ben.
• Unlike the previous two season finales ("Exodus, Part 2" and "Live Together, Die Alone"), this episode wasn't shown in two parts on the United Kingdom and Australia airings.
  • The first two seasons were shown on Channel 4, whereas the third season was bought by Sky one. RTE 2 in the Republic of Ireland also showed this episode in one viewing.
• A detailed synopsis of this episode, including the climactic "snake in the mailbox," was leaked onto the Internet several weeks before airing by Lostfan108. This created such a controversy that ABC, Disney, and Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are currently investigating how the leak occured.
• This is the first season finale to not feature the Hurley Bird.
• The hospital scenes with Sarah were filmed on the set of Grey's Anatomy, another ABC show. [4]
• This finale maintained the theme of water transports being used in a finale, after the Raft, the Elizabeth and the Outrigger.
• This episode continues the season finale tradition of using unstable dynamite originally from the Black Rock.
• Edward Kitsis came up with the idea of Hurley running over Ryan Pryce in the DHARMA van. (Comic conventions transcript/Comic Con 2007)

Reception

Like most season finales, Through the Looking Glass mostly got good reviews. The general idea was that Season Three started a little rough, but the finale pulled itself up and left critics hanging. [5] Going into the episode, people were hoping the writers could pull off a good finale, espically after finales from other shows (24 and Heroes) seemed to mostly disappoint viewers. According to one critic, every character had scene that felt natural, which usually doesn't happen in most episodes. [6] People were impressed that Lost was able to balance three storylines (the Radio Tower, the attack on the Others', and the Looking Glass), which seemed to link together smoothly with one storyline no more important than the other two. [7]

Charlie's death wasn't a huge surprise to most due to the visions Desmond was having, and got mixed emotions from crtiics. Charlie being interrogated by Bonnie and Greta was popular and even won over some non-Charlie fans because he was making it frustrating for the two women. [8] However, a few viewers found it a bit annoying that Charlie told the two Others that Juliet was on their side, and that he was helping the other Losties get off the island. [9] Some saw Charlie's death scene as touching and credited Dominic Monaghan's acting. [10] Some thought it was corny and pointless, since Charlie and Desmomd could have easily grabbed scuba gear. [11] However, most people agreed that Charlie went out on a "high note". [12] TV Guide even went so far as to claim that his death was "the most significant and wrenching death on this show (Lost) to date". [13]

Back on the beach, Bernard telling the Others information to save Jin's life didn't go over to well with critics. [14]

It seemed that everyone was in favor of Hurley's scene were he ran over Pryce. [15][16]

Viewers generally didn't like how Jack can't make up his mind between Kate and Juliet. [17]

Locke fans were relieved to see that he was alive. [18]

Critics thought it was a bit ridiculous that Ben thought he could talk the survivors out of trying to get rescued. [19]

No one seemed to see the flashforward coming and the possibility of flashfowards in Season 4 seemed to excite reviewers. [20] [21]

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Mr. Crabby/Theories

Flash-forward

• How did Jack and Kate get off the island?
• Who is the "he" Kate mentions to Jack at the airport?
• Why had Kate insisted that Jack not contact her?
• Who was the funeral for?
• Why didn't anyone attend the funeral except Jack?
• Who else was able to get off the island?
• Is Kate still a fugitive?
• Why is Jack talking about his father as if he were alive?
• What is Jack "sick of lying" about?
• Why does Jack think it was a mistake to get off the Island?

On the Island

• Who was Naomi working for?
• Why did Naomi have a photograph of Desmond and Penny?
• Why was Penny transmitting directly to the Looking Glass?
• What is the Temple, and why are The Others going there?
• Who was the musician who programmed the key pad in the Looking Glass station?
• What was Bonnie and Greta's supposed assignment in Canada?
• What are the "forces stronger than anything the Island has faced in many, many years" that Ben warned Mikhail about?
• How did Mikhail survive Desmond's harpoon?
• What happened to Mikhail after the grenade detonation?
• Why did Danielle tell Sayid that the Others controlled the radio tower when it was, in fact, abandoned?
• Is Naomi dead?
• How long were Bonnie and Greta inside the station before Charlie arrived?

External links

• Title confirmation: PDF
• Full press release: [22]