Sorry folks! Easter got me all kinds of backed up in my work here so no audio segment today. :-( But, I will make up for it next week with one of my snazzy video updates! :-)
I didn't mention this in the content below, but there were two point adjustments for last week's episode, "Whatever Happened, Happened." Both Jin and Ben received an additional 5 points for encountering DHARMA Logos that they didn't get credit for with last week's update. So, if something seems funny with your weekly or overall total, that is the reason.
"Dead Is Dead" proved to be a pretty good episode as far as points go. With 310 points overall, "Dead Is Dead" currently ranks sixth amongst all Season 5 episodes to date. It saw 16 of our League Characters in cation, including appearances from Alex and Keamy! There were 21 point categories hit, not quite a record but lose. Finally! An episode without DHARMA Logos! Of course, that didn't make my job any easier! That Smokey scene at the end presented us with some headaches, but you can check out how we ruled on it in the Important Point Rulings section.
If you've got any questions, consult the League rule book at the bottom of this post. If you can't find an answer to your questions there, shoot me an email at LFLquestions@gmail.com. I will do my best to get back to you as promptly as possible. Easter backed me up on the email answering front as well, so I'm still working on returning some of your emails.
"Dead Is Dead" in 600 words or less:
Morning sunshine! How you doing?
Ben is speechless to find Locke sitting at his bedside. He tells Locke he knew it would happen but seeing truly is believing. Captain Creepy tells Jungle John that he’s come back to be judged for breaking the rules and leaving the Island. Locke nods knowingly.
In the morning, Ben uses his Jedi mind trick to make Caesar suspicious of Locke to the point of being trigger-happy. Locke continues to prod Ben about this whole judging thing and they reminisce about the good times, you know, that whole Ben killing Locke thing. When Locke nudges Ben out the door to make their way over to the main Island, Caesar tries to stop him. When Locke shows a little backbone, Caesar reaches for his sawed-off sidearm. Ben, ever the gentleman, asks Caesar if he’s looking for his gun, which Ben is now holding before plugging him in the chest with buckshot. Channeling his inner Bruce Campbell, Ben looks to the other Ajirites and asks “Who wants some?”
They reach the dock, Locke calls out Ben on why he’s really here- to atone for the death of Alex. They reach the Barracks to find Frank and Sun settling down in Ben’s old house. Frank thinks it’s crazy to trust either of them and leaves. Sun stays because she wants to find Jin. Repentance, evidently, is just a muddy hole call away, as Ben summons the Smoke Monster. But nothing happens. Locke suggests they go find Smokey instead. Ben taunts Jungle John by saying he doesn’t know where to find it. Locke retorts that that won’t matter because he already knows where to look. At this point I look as confused as Ben.
Locke leads them to the Temple wall. Ben heads for the door but Locke derails the temple train and points to a whole in the ground. Ben’s dread continues to grow and he tells Sun that if she ever got off the Island to tell Desmond Hume he’s sorry. Um, isn’t it a little bit late for that? I mean, she just got back to the Island and now you’re already talking about getting off again? Sheesh.
Frank gets back to Ajira Beach only to find out that Ilana and some others have found guns. Ilana is all jive-talking, asking about the shadow of the statue. Frank’s all like “WTF?” and Ilana’s all like *wham* with her gun. Whatever they’re up to, they’re taking Frank with them.
Ben and Locke walk down a dark tunnel and Ben falls down into another chamber. Locke conveniently heads away to get something to help get Ben out. Perfect opportunity for Smokey to surround Ben and play “This Is Your Life.” Yeah, the CGI was pretty cheesy, but it is only a TV show. Ben is spared but Smoke-Alex gives him a stern warning about hurting John.
Ben’s flashbacks show how he and Charles Widmore were always best buddies and this whole “war” thing is just a big misunderstanding. Okay, so actually it’s more like they’ve more or less been at odds since they laid eyes on each other. Certainly makes you wonder how ugly this “war” is going to get.
POINT RULINGS FOR EPISODE 5x12: “Dead Is Dead”
1) Ben killed Caesar. This is our assumption. A shotgun blast to the chest would require an instant Island miracle for him not to die. If we turn out to be wrong though, we'll correct Ben's score.
2) Frank gets charged with getting a major injury. While he doesn't pass out right after Ilana whacks him in the head with her gun, he passes out shortly thereafter. It is clear that he is disoriented by the blow and I believe that is what causes him to pass out.
3) The Temple Wall is new for both Sun and Locke. Though Locke apparently has knowledge of lots of things now, we felt that he should still get credit for the Temple Wall. He has never been there before and his knowledge seems to other than his own.
4) Ben and Locke get credit for Smokey's Chamber. Both were present when Ben fell into it. Ben seemed to not know what it was exactly, leading us to consider it a new place, despite existing within the already known Temple wall.
5) The images Ben sees when Smokey surrounds him are memories being projected within Smokey and not Island visions. Because they are memories, none of the characters appearing in them get points for simply appearing in the memories. However, each of those clips counts for points.
-The first is from an encounter Ben had with Charles Widmore
-The second is considered a repeat of an earlier scene from the Barracks. Ben and Alex get points accordingly.
-The third was a new piece of footage for us. Since we don't know the setting or context of the scene, no points were awarded.
-The fourth was a scene between Alex and Ben, but I can't place the setting.
-The last one was Keamy killing Alex, which involves DHARMA visit points for each as well as a death deduction for Alex and a killing deduction for Keamy.
6) The physical Alex in the Chamber was Smokey. That's our stance on it. That portion of the episode did not score any points, so it doesn't really matter anyway.
7) Ben, Frank and Locke get Water points for using the boats. They had to step in the water at some point to get the boats going and traveling by water counts as going in it.
8) Locke doesn't get points for encountering Ben's secret closet. Locke encountered that room in 4x09 "The Shape of Things to Come" when Keamy and his crew attacked the Barracks.
Season 5 Episode Scores
Episode 5x11 Scores
DETAILED SCORES FOR EPISODE 5x12- "Dead Is Dead":
APPEARS IN SOMEONE ELSE’S MISCELLANEOUS FB/FF (+5): Alex, Charles, Desmond, Ethan, Penny, Richard, Rousseau
APPEARS IN THE EPISODE (+5): Alex, Ben, Charles Widmore, Desmond, Ethan, Frank, Hurley, Jack, Kate, Keamy, Locke, Penny, Richard, Rousseau, Smokey, Sun
ABSENT FROM EPISODE (-5): Aaron, Abaddon, Annie, Arzt, Bea, Bernard, Boone, Carmen, Cassidy, Charlie, Charlotte, Christian, Cindy, Claire, Clementine, Daniel, David, Diane, Eko, Emma, Goodwin, Harper, Horace, Jacob, Jin, Ji-Yeon, Juliet, Kelvin, Libby, Margo, Marvin Candle, Michael, Michael's Mother, Mikhail, Miles, Mr. Paik, Ms. Hawking, Nadia, Rachel, Roger, Rose, Sarah, Sawyer, Sayid, Shannon, Tom, Vincent, Walt, Zack
ENCOUNTERS A NEW PERSON, PLACE OR THING (+10): Alex (Ben, the Hostiles, the Hostiles’ Camp); Ben (Charles Widmore, the Hostiles’ Camp, Silver Crate, Alex, Smokey’s Chamber); Charles (Alex); Ethan (Alex); Locke (Temple Wall, Smokey’s Chamber); Richard (Alex); Rousseau (Ben); Sun (Ben’s Secret Closet, The Temple Wall);
ENCOUNTERS A POLAR BEAR (+50): Ben, Locke
ENCOUNTERS CHARLES WIDMORE (+15): Alex; Ben (four times); Ethan; Richard (twice)
ENCOUNTERS THE SMOKE MONSTER (+30): Ben
EPISODE CENTRICITY (+25): Ben
FIRST LINE IN EPISODE (+10): Charles
FIRST PERSON ON SCREEN (+15): Charles
GETS A MAJOR INJURY (-15): Ben (beat up by Desmond); Desmond (shot by Ben); Frank (knocked out by Ilana)
GETS A MINOR INJURY (-5): Ben (falls into Smokey’s Chamber)
GETS KILLED/DIES (-30): Alex
GOES IN THE WATER (+5): Ben; Frank; Locke (twice)
INFLICTS A MAJOR INJURY (-10): Ben (shoots Desmond); Desmond (beats up Ben)
KILLS SOMEONE (-20): Keamy (kills Alex)
LAST LINE IN EPISODE (+10): Ben
LAST PERSON ON SCREEN (+15): Ben
MISCELLANEOUS FB/FF (+10): Ben
USES OR ENCOUNTERS THE NUMBERS (+20): Ben (Numbers appear on the silver crate on the beach)
VISITS A DHARMA LOCATION (+5): Alex (Barracks- three times); Ben (Barracks- three times); Charles (Barracks); Frank (Hydra); Keamy (Barracks); Locke (Barracks); Richard (Barracks)
Congratulations to Spikeandsuger, hailing from the Jay and Jack Podcast! Spikeandsugar scored 415 points this week. What a haul!
Spikeandsugar: Locke, Smokey, Ben, Charles, Margo, Alex, Tom, Daniel
Characters
Groups
Table Toppers
Celebs
Episode Details
Full Table by Name: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pXy_MMpweXkBt9LLXWgr4Bg
Full Table by MiniLeague: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pXy_MMpweXkDd5qDmswh_Bw
Downloadable By Name
Downloadable By Mini-League
WARNING: This section contains the title of the next episode and some conjecture on what it might mean. If you consider this sort of information to be spoilerish, then do not continue. If not...
Once again, I'm clueless. I get what the next episode's title alludes to. "Some Like it Hoth" seems like a reference to The Empire Strikes Back, specifically the planetary system that the Rebel Alliance was camping out in whilst hiding from the Empire.But what the heck does it mean? Are Hurley and Miles going to change gears from talking about time travel to arguing over whether Empire is better than the original Star Wars? That could be interesting because I have my own set of opinions on the matter.
But, what else could "Hoth" be referring to? It could have something to do with Höðr, a figure in Norse mythology who is also called Hoth. It could also refer to Hermann Hoth, a German officer during World War II who was charged with war crimes after the end of the war. Or it could have something to do with Harrow-on-the-Hill Station in Harrow, Greater London, England, which is sometimes abbreviated as Hoth. It's also a play on words. The 1959 film Some Like it Hot is about a duo of dimwitted musicians on the run after witnessing a mob murder. To help conceal their identities, they go undercover, pretending to be women in an all girls band ensemble on their way to Florida.
Could Hurley and Miles be donning drag to hide their identities? Technically, they're already undercover and pretending to belong in DHARMA. Frankly, I'm hoping for some Star Wars allusions and/or discussions. That would be the most entertaining of the options for me. Either way, "Some Like it Hoth" ought to be interesting as it seems to promise another glimpse at Miles' ghostbusting prowess.
Come back next week and see how this episode performed for your Fantasy Teams!
Once again, here is the official LFL rule book. Happy reading!
