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Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass |
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Written by versed4every1
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Monday, 28 May 2007 |
 The much anticipated season finale of ABC’s Lost aired on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 bringing an abrupt and somewhat confusing end to what could arguably be the best grouping of episodes that we have seen in this series thus far. At its conclusion, the two hour long Episode 3x22 (and/or 23), "Through the Looking Glass", left me staring at my television with my mouth open and sounding very much like Keanu Reeves, "Whoa!"
The episode begins with a now bearded Jack, drinking himself stupid and obnoxious on an Oceanic Flight. The natural first question is, "When?" When is this flashback happening? It must be after his trip to Thailand, is what I tell myself. After Jack is denied another of what must have been way too many glasses of scotch on the rocks, he accidentally views a newspaper article that the stewardess has conveniently traded him instead. He seems rather distressed by the article and that theme carries through into his drive from the airport to wherever it is that he is going. When Jack stops his car on a bridge and begins to cry, I said to myself, "Well maybe Thlaylirah is right. Maybe Jack does die this season after all!" He certainly did look like a man with a plan to off himself. Jack takes out a relatively new Razor cell phone and while crying, he makes a call to an unknown voice on a voice mail system. I looked at my husband as he asked, "Was that a Razor cell phone, but aren’t they pretty new?" It must be a prop error. A drunk and distraught Jack stood swaying on the edge of the bridge contemplating his demise against the graffiti lined concrete below. I have to admit that I honestly thought he was going to fall, not jump. Until, that is, I heard the crash behind him. There it is, I thought, something for Jack to fix once again, instead of himself. Then flash – back to the island we go.
The Losties are preparing for their departure to the radio tower, which to me is about a month of island time overdue. Rose and Bernard share a very nice, if short, scene in which she reminds him that he is a dentist, not Rambo. Speaking in English, Jin tells Sun that he will come back for her because they have to go home. That island version of hooked on phonics, must really work! So, with a very tension inducing score playing in the background, Jack and the rest of the beach campers, with Vincent in tow, take off for the radio tower and leave Sayid, Jin and Bernard behind to carry out their plan to catch the Others off guard and blow them to smithereens.
Naomi pulls Moses, I mean Jack, aside and tells him how to work her satellite phone – it slices, it dices, it julienne's fries – just in case something happens to her. Now, that seems just a little too convenient. Of course, it won’t work because Charlie the 'rock star' is tied to a chair at the bottom of the ocean. Ok, inside the Looking Glass Station, but tied to a chair nonetheless. Bonnie and Greta, who is not Cassidy as was suggested by a number of people, are alternating between questioning Charlie and summarily beating the crap out of him. For me, this has been Charlie's best scene to date. He knows he is going to die. He is determined to do what ever he has to in order to accomplish his goal. There must be an incredible amount of freedom that comes from knowing when and how you are going to die.
Bonnie decides to call Ben and let him know of their unwanted underwater guest and his invisible submarine. Ben, who is writing in his journal, which can be seen [url=http://lost.cubit.net/viewEgg.php?id=295]here,[/url] is not happy to hear from Bonnie. It turns out that like Juliet, everyone else seems to think that the Looking Glass station has been flooded and abandoned as well. Ben's lies are catching up to him. Mikhail figures out that if Juliet told the Losties about the underwater station she might also have told them about the coming attack. Ben’s attempt to reach Ryan is too late, however and the firefight begins.
With Jin, Sayid and Bernard hidden in the brush, Ryan leads his team into the beach camp after a scout tells them that Juliet has indeed marked 3 tents with white coral. As the Losties watch from afar, Bernard and Sayid take out their piles of dynamite in fantastic fashion and the resulting explosion sends bodies of wounded Others flying helter skelter into the air. Jin, however, is unable to hit his target and after losing the element of surprise, Jin is forced to shoot two of the Others who are now bearing down on him with rifles. Ryan clubs Jin with the butt of a gun and sends him spinning into unconsciousness. Once they have Jin, Sayid and Bernard are forced to give themselves up.
Back in the real world, Jack gets his head stitched up after he has heroically saved the woman in the burning car rather than jumping from the bridge. In walks a very pregnant Sarah who is apparently still listed as his next of kin. Wow, when did that happen? She asks if he is drinking again and he lies. She asks why he was driving around at 2am which he ignores. When Jack asks her for a ride home Sarah tells him that she does not think it would be appropriate. That is both interesting and a little cruel. I am all about tough love, and it looks like Jack is definitely having issues I wouldn't want to be a part of, but I would hope if I saw my ex-husband in the hospital I would at least be willing to drive him home! But then again, maybe not.
Marching across the island, the Losties, who heard and saw the commotion from afar, are more than just a little concerned that there were only two explosions rather than the three they expected and that the gunfire was more than they had anticipated. Jack, keeping his promise to lead them to the radio tower no matter what, tried to reassure Rose and Sun by telling them that Sayid, Jin and Bernard will be following them soon. Rose in her characteristic whit tells Jack that if he even mentions "live together or die alone" she will smack him in the face, but nevertheless, they resume on their journey.
Meanwhile, still tied to a chair in the Looking Glass, Charlie happily informs Bonnie and Greta that he is down there to turn off the jamming equipment that is blocking electronic signals from entering or leaving the island. When Bonnie asks him how he is going to do that without the code, Charlie replies that the whole station will be flooded so it won’t matter. A little confused, Bonnie says what are you going to do if the whole station is flooded. Charlie looks Bonnie right in the eye and courageously says, "I die."
While Sayid, Jin and Bernard are bound and held, kneeling at gunpoint, Tom calls Ben on the radio and tells him about the ambush, their captives, and that seven of their raiding party have been killed. Ben tells Tom to shoot Jin in order to find out where the rest of the Losties have gone. When Ryan threatens to kill Jin, Bernard, against Jin’s wishes, tells them everything except his name, rank, service number, shoe size and how a dentist manages to have such bad teeth! Ben tells Tom not to shoot the threesome – yet.
Realizing that it must have been Alex that told Karl about the early ambush plan, Ben decides that he is going to march out and meet the Losties on their way to the radio tower. He tells Richard that he is going alone and is going to convince them not to use the satellite phone using his remarkable powers of persuasion. Yeah, I am sure that is going to work! Ben tells Richard to take the rest of the dwindling crowd of Others to the "Temple" as they had planned. Well, that is an interesting little tidbit of dialogue that they just seem to skim right over. The Temple – what Temple? Where? For Whom? Is it a connection to the four toed statue and ruins maybe, or Jacob, or even to the amazing un-aging Richard Alpert. I will just add those to the list of 'Questions about Lost' that I keep on my refrigerator. Ok, so maybe I am a little obsessed.
Knowing that Karl is with the Losties, Alex asks if she can come along with Ben. She seems more that just a little surprised when he tells her to go pack her bag. Ben maps out a triangulation of sorts and finds a place where they can intercept the Losties before they reach the tower. During the trip Alex, being a typical teenage girl starts to argue with her "father". Alex doesn’t understand why he can’t just let the Losties leave. Ben tells Alex that he is aware she is the one who betrayed him and sent Karl to the beach camp. Alex screams that he locked Karl up in a cell and tried to brainwash him. Ben tells Alex that he did those things because he didn’t want her to get pregnant, even though he admits that it might have been a little overkill. It has been speculated that Ben’s possessiveness of Alex and his fear that her relationship with Karl might move on to the next level, so to speak, might be what led to Karl’s incarceration and subsequent "Clockwork Orange" movie review at the Other's version of a re-education center. Apparently that is the case. This leads me to wonder if the same type of situation happened to Ben himself with a grown up version of Annie. Regardless, Ben tells Alex that he is taking her to her "new family." I can only hope that Alex will finally get to actually meet her mother.
Meanwhile, the Losties have stopped to rest on their way toward the radio tower. Kate tells Sawyer that Jin and Sayid should have caught up with them by now and that she wants to go back after them. Sawyer calls her by name and tells her that he has no intention of going back for them. Kate tells Sawyer that Juliet was meant to check and see if she was pregnant as well. Sawyer replies caustically, lets hope you are not.
Desmond awakes with a start still in the outrigger canoe clinging to the Looking Glass station by the cable draped over the boat. He has only a few seconds to shake the cobwebs loose and realize that Charlie knocked him out then dove down to the station before Mikhail opens fire on the canoe from the shore. Mikhail's barrage leaves Des with no choice but to dive down to the station himself. Running out of air, Desmond finds the moon pool at the last minute and noisily surfaces inside of the Looking Glass. With Bonnie and Greta in the communications room adjacent to the moon pool, Charlie tells Desmond that they are not alone and to hide. Bonnie, the much more aggressive of the two, returns and asks Charlie who he is talking to. Charlie responds that he was not talking, he was singing and he breaks out into a chorus of "You All Everybody." Bonnie promptly smacks him silly and tells him to stop.
We return to a very tremulous and disheveled, but white coated, Jack in a hospital room viewing the chart of a vented patient. Jack downs some prescription pills straight from the bottle just as he is greeted by Dr. Hammil, the new Chief of Surgery. Wait a minute, wasn’t Christian Shepard the Chief of Surgery? That is interesting. Dr. Hammil introduces himself to Jack and calls him a hero, "twice over." That is interesting too. Jack is very frustrated that the woman is not his patient. I guess that he has not quite fixed her enough. Dr. Hammil asks Jack for the chart, which he reluctantly gives back. As Jack leaves the room and walks past the waiting room, he sees the young boy that was also in the car. The young boy, whose arm is in a sling, waves to him and smiles.
Later Sawyer approaches Jack and tells him that he is going back for Sayid, Jin and Bernard much to Kate’s surprise. When Jack tells Sawyer that they should all stay together, Sawyer replies that he was not asking for Jack’s permission. When Kate asks Sawyer why he want's to go back now, but didn’t when it was her idea, he replies that he just didn’t want to go with her. Why does Sawyer have to be such a jerk when he is trying to protect Kate? It is infuriating! Juliet volunteers to go back with Sawyer because she knows where a cache of guns is located along the way. Jack is reluctant at first but agrees to let her go. Jack and Juliet part with a very intimate kind of exchange and a kiss that seems like it is not their first; which makes a stark contrast to Sawyer storming away from Kate with not so much as a "See ya!"
Just as Bonnie storms toward the spear gun locker where Desmond is hiding, Mikhail in his scuba gear breaks the surface of the moon pool. Mikhail asks Bonnie and Greta what they are doing in the station. He says that he thought they were "on assignment in Canada." That is interesting. How long have Bonnie and Greta been under the sea and what exactly is an assignment. Charlie pipes up and tells Mikhail that their actual assignment has been to block transmissions on or off the island, which seems to distress Mikhail. When Ben radios to the station, Mikhail answers the call. Ben tells Mikhail that he had to lie about the function of the Looking Glass for the defense of the island. He orders Mikhail to kill Charlie, Bonnie and Greta, as they are witnesses to his lie, and to ensure that the station stays operational.
As Juliet and Sawyer wander away from the processional, Juliet admits to Sawyer that there are in fact, no guns. She feels responsible for what is happening to Jin, et al, and is willing to accept the karma for it. Hurley shows up behind them wanting to help, but Sawyer dismisses him with an insulting "Look at you! You will just get in the way." This is the second time in two days that someone has used insults to try to keep Hurley out of harm’s way and poor Hurley looks heart broken.
And then, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but John Locke still alive on top of the mass Dharma grave! Alive, but once again unable to move his legs, Locke seems to resign himself to his fate, finds a loaded gun amongst the corpses and places the barrel in front of his forehead. Just as he steadies himself to pull the trigger, Walt – or something that looks like Walt – appears above him. Walt or "Faux Walt" asks Locke, what are you doing lying around on rotting corpses, don’t you know we have work to do? Is this Jacob sending smokie to help Locke, or is it really Walt? Hopefully we will find out one day.
Back on the march though the jungle, Kate has stopped to get a rock out of her shoe. Jack stops to ask her what is wrong and tells her that Sawyer didn’t mean to hurt her feelings when he said he didn’t want her to go with him. Jack says that Sawyer was just trying to protect her the same way that he had when he told her not to come back for him. Kate asks Jack why he would stick up for Sawyer, Jack replies, "Because I love you." Welcome to the Lost Lovers Quadrangle! I guess Juliet's kiss didn’t quite meet up to Kate's.
We catch back up with flashback Jack, once again in his vehicle, listening to an old Nirvana song and driving to what looks like an even older part of town. He pulls the newspaper clipping from his pocket and tries once again to make a phone call which seems to be unanswered. Opening the door into on coming traffic, Jack crosses the street narrowly avoiding becoming a statistic himself, and enters the Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor. Now, that looks like an anagram if I have ever seen one. Too bad I waited until after the episode of find out! The funeral director greets Jack in the empty viewing room. He tells Jack that no one has come to the viewing except for Jack. Jack identifies himself as neither friend nor family, but approaches the closed coffin tearfully and knocks back a couple more pills. At this point I scream at my TV, "Open it!" But alas, I am denied. The coffin itself seems a little small; then again, I am not sure what size prop coffins are supposed to be. I think that Christian's coffin was longer.
Jack leaves the funeral parlor without us ever finding out who is in that coffin and back we go to the island trek. Still one hour out from the radio tower, Rousseau leads the group as they run right into Ben and Alex. You can almost hear the "dun, dun dun!" Ben tells Jack that they need to talk. I can't wait to hear this conversation! Kate flanks Ben and Alex and assures Jack that they are alone. Ben tells Jack that they have just killed seven of the Others and the least Jack can do is carry on a conversation. Jack says he will give Ben five minutes.
Meanwhile back in the Looking Glass, Mikhail seems to be taking his order seriously. He dons his eye-patch, which he looked extra creepy without, and exits the communication room. He asks Bonnie and Greta about what they are doing down there and how the equipment works. Bonnie tells him that she is just following orders and the minute that she stops doing that it will all fall apart. Mikhail agrees with her and promptly shoots Greta knocking her into the moon pool then he turns and shoots Bonnie in the back. As she crawls away, Mikhail levels the gun at her once more, stating that he too is just following orders. Desmond bursts out of the spear gun locker and shoots Mikhail in the chest. Des picks up the gun, but before he shoots Bonnie, Charlie stops him as he knows that they will need her to get the code.
We return to a drug store, where an even more disheveled Jack, if that is possible, is trying to obtain a refill of his prescription of Oxycodone. I guess those were not breath mints in that pill bottle after all. When he discovers that he has no refills left, he tries to produce a prescription signed by his father. The pharmacist is not buying however, and tells Jack that she will have to call his fathers office. Jack states that she can't as his father is out of town. Frustrated, Jack leaves the drug store; but not before knocking over a stand of reading glasses. Wow, Jack is really messed up in this episode – he seems to be acting just like Christian!
Back on the island, Jack and Ben wander away for their détente. Ben tells Jack in vague terms about a decision that he made that caused the deaths of 40 people in a single day – read the purge. He tells Jack that he is about to make that same decision. Ben tells that Naomi is not who she says she is. He goes on to say that if Jack makes the call to the awaiting boat every person on the island will die. Ben tells Jack to get the phone and bring it to him. Jack seems slightly astounded at Ben’s smugness and he tells Ben that is not going to happen. Ben asks for his radio (I just can’t bring myself to call it a "walkie") back, telling Jack that there is something he needs to hear. Ben calls Tom and tells Jack that Tom has Jin, Sayid and Bernard at gun point. Jack has one minute to make a decision; do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? He decides that getting everyone off the island is more important even though Ben insists that Jack has no real reason left to leave the island. When the gunshots ring across the radio, Jack and I are both visibly shaken. Oh my God! They really shot Jin and Sayid! How are they ever going to get anything to work without Sayid and what is Sun going to do without Jin? Bernard – eh ... whatever. Jack completely looses it and proceeds to beat Ben to a bloody pulp. Go Jack! It is about time that someone did. Distraught, Jack takes the radio and tells Tom that he is next.
Returning to 70 meters under the sea, a now loose Charlie proceeds to get the code from Bonnie after telling her that she would be a "sodding idiot" if she did not realize that Ben had told Mikhail to kill them all. She tells Charlie that the code is actually the notes from the Beach Boys song "Good Vibrations". I guess it is a good thing that they sent the guitar player to the bottom of the ocean after all!
Jack drags a bloody Ben back to where the rest of his marchers are still gathered. He throws Ben to the ground and tells Kate to tie him up; that they are bringing him along. Ben looks up at Alex and then to Rousseau. He tells Alex, "This is your mother." Thank you, God! They share a brief intimate moment, before Rousseau asks Alex to help her tie Ben up. How is that for a bonding experience? Kate realizes that Jack is over the edge and goes to find out what happened. Jack tells her that Ben killed Sayid, Jin and Bernard. He tells not to tell Sun or Rose. Kate asks why Jack didn’t just kill Ben. Jack tells her that he wants Ben to witness their leaving the island and to know he failed.
Meanwhile, at the beach camp, Tom is not happy that they had to follow Ben’s orders to shoot into the sand – wait a minute, what? Just about that time, they pan around to show Jin, Sayid and Bernard still kneeling, but very much alive. YAY! Ok, they got me with that one. I would have sworn they were goners. Off to the left, Juliet and Sawyer are watching this exchange from the cover of the jungle and trying to figure out what they are going to do. All of the sudden, there is a rustling noise. Is that smokie? No! It is big bad Hugo driving the Dharma Mystery Van over and through Ryan like he is not even standing there! Way to go, Hurley! Sawyer finds Ryan’s gun, but doesn’t get to use it before Sayid trips the third Other and then snaps his neck with a twist of his legs. Note to self – those Thigh Master things must work! Even Sawyer was impressed. As Tom begins crawling toward another pistol, Juliet beats him to it. With Juliet holding Tom at gunpoint, he surrenders. Sawyer, who was shot by Tom and left for dead when Tom and the Other stole Walt, isn’t satisfied with that. He shoots Tom in the chest, saying, "That’s for taking the kid off the raft." I am going to need a calculator to keep tract of all the dead Others in this episode. Let’s see, seven from the raid, Tom, Ryan and no name - that makes ten. Bonnie, Greta and Mikhail bring the total to thirteen with a half an hour left. That is impressive!
Back to the real world, Jack is in the process of sneaking into a locked drug cabinet searching for more Oxycodone. He puts a handful of them into his pocket and once again downs some like M&M’s, then locks the cabinet back up and leaves the room. He slips, knocks over a chart, and half stoops half falls to the floor to pick it up when Dr. Hammil comes into the room. Dr. Hammil is aware that Jack is in need of an intervention of sorts and tries to talk to him in private. Jack, however, is having none of that. Dr. Hammil tells him that the woman that Jack saved is awake and talking. He goes on to tell Jack that the woman remembers seeing Jack preparing to jump and that is what caused her to crash. When Dr. Hammil asks him how much he has had to drink, Jack goes into a tirade and screams, "You get my father down here. Get him down here right now, and if I am drunker than he is, you can fire me!" Dr. Hammil seems to look at Jack with a mixture of pity and dismay.
As Jack and the rest of the pack trudge toward the radio tower, the Ben’s radio crackles to life with Hurley broadcasting to anyone in hearing distance that he is kicking ass and taking names. He tells Jack that Jin, Sayid and Bernard are all alive and well; bringing a much needed relief to Jack, Rose and Sun. Claire asks Hurley they have seen Charlie. Hurley says they have not, but that he is sure Charlie is alright.
Charlie and Desmond are covering the bodies with blankets. Desmond goes to get the diving gear ready and Charlie goes into the communication room to use the keypad to enter the code in the form of "Good Vibrations." The yellow light goes out and almost immediately a transmission is incoming. It is Penny! She asks Charlie how he got the frequency he is transmitting on. Charlie calls to Desmond. He tells Penny that he is a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815 and that they are on an island. He asks about the boat and Naomi, but Penny does not know anything about either. As Des is heading toward the communications room we see that once again, Mikhail has cheated death and his body has disappeared. Oh no, that can't be good.
Charlie hears a knocking at the portal behind him. It is Mikhail back in his diving gear and brandishing a grenade. And I was just starting to think that Charlie might actually survive this episode. As Desmond is running toward Penny's voice, Charlie locks the water tight door from the inside so that Desmond can’t get in the communications room. Presumably, Mikhail and the grenade explode against the portal and water begins to rush into the compartment. Charlie has the presence of mind to begin to write on his hand. As he is going underwater, he shows Desmond what he has written, "Not Penny’s Boat." Tearfully, Desmond places his hand against Charlie's. Charlie drifts backwards into the compartment, makes the sign of the cross and dies. Why? Why did Charlie not just leave the compartment and then close the door? Was his belief in fate so strong that he felt he must die in order for Claire and Aaron to leave the island? I think the simple answer is yes. Remember, Charlie has always held firm to fate. He even wrote it on his fingers with that same permanent marker. I believe that Charlie felt strongly that if he did not die Desmond’s vision would not come true. For Charlie, ensuring Claire and Aaron’s safety was a cause worth dying. Just then Aaron begins to cry. When the light on the satellite phone suddenly turns green, Naomi tells Claire that her boyfriend just got them rescued. Way to go Hobbit, I mean Rock Star, rest in peace.
Naomi tells Jack that the phone is working, but Rousseau's transmission is still blocking the frequency. However, the Losties pulling Ben along, have reached the radio tower. Inside, Rousseau shuts off the transmission after telling Alex that she started it 16 years prior, 3 days before Alex was born. Naomi is unable to get a signal inside of the hut, so she goes outside. Once again, Ben tries to stop Jack from allowing Naomi to make the call. Naomi gets a signal and as soon as the connection is made, John Locke knifes her in the back. Naomi falls dead at Jack's feet. With the phone ringing, Locke threatens Jack and tells him to put the phone down. Ben, who doesn't look in the least surprised to see John alive, yells to John to shoot Jack in order to do what he "has to do." But Rousseau forearms him to the face and it is boom, boom out go the light for Ben. John however is unable to shoot Jack, but he tells Jack that he is not supposed to make that call. Suddenly there is an answer on the phone. John walks away. The man on the other end of the call identifies himself as Minkowski. He does not answer Jack’s questions about their location, but he does recognize Naomi’s name. Minkowski tells Jack that they can get a fix on his position as the rest of the group looks on with a mixture of excitement and disbelief. But they can’t get rescued can they? We have three more seasons to get through.
We return at last to what seems to be Jack’' home with a sink full of dirty dishes, trash and alcohol bottles. Jack is sitting on the floor surrounded by maps and pill bottles. Over his head, there is a map of the South Pacific with what appear to be a number of locations marked on what would be two different paths from Australia towards the East. I think this is when it hit me, pretty much in this order: He is looking for the island. He knows about it. He is trying to find it. He has already been there! Jack takes a swig of something and then once more dials his cell phone. I guess maybe it was not a prop error after all! This time, he is startled to get an answer. He begs the person on the other end of the phone not to hang up and to meet him at the airport.
Jack pulls up to the end of a fenced runway and stops his vehicle. A car pulls up behind him. A female form comes out of the shadows. It is Kate! She says that she saw him on the news still pulling people out of burning wreckage. She asks why Jack called her. He shows her the obituary and says that he was hoping that she would go to the funeral. She looks at the clipping and asks why she would go to the funeral. Jack tells her that he is using the Oceanic Golden Pass to fly every Friday night in hopes that they will crash and he can get back to the island. Kate tells Jack that it is not going to change. Jack says that he is sick of lying. Lying about what? What are you lying about Jack? Kate tells Jack that she has to go or "he" is going to be wondering where she is. He? Who is he? Sawyer? Jack tells Kate that they were never supposed to leave the island. Kate says, "Yes, we were." As Kate leaves, Jack screams after her, "We have to go back!"
The screen fades to black and Season Three of Lost is over. Some people speculate that this "flash forward" was a fluke. Some say that the show will change and the flashback’s will be to the time on the island and the real time occurrences will be, well real time. My favorite statement about this dilemma is from Goober. He says, "Time is not "linear." The choices that we make today alter the tapestry that is tomorrow. Tomorrow is a tapestry woven together by the choices that many individuals make today. Obviously some individuals hold more influence than others over the structure of tomorrow, but ALL have some effect. I think that we were shown one POSSIBLE future by Jack's flash-forward. NOT necessarily what the future will literally BE." All I can say is it is going to be a very long 8 months!
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 August 2007 )
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