I thought this was a very neat way for the writers to reveal the tragedy that happened to Luka's family. The way he saw the boy on the train and how it reminded of him of seeing his own son beneath the debris. The injury to the woman with shrapnel in her back, just like his wife. How he had to decide who to try to save first. The mother or the son. I really enjoyed this epi (though the train wreck scene was hard to follow -- too much noise). The flashbacks were done in a nice way and the final scene when he confessed his guilt to the bishop was well done. I was crying so hard. Now we know that he has been overcome by guilt. His wife might have lived he had gotten her help, but at the expense of his daugher's life and instead he lost them both. It was significant how he kept saying he prayed so hard for someone to come and no one did. God did not answer his prayer. No wonder he lost his faith in God for awhile. It was all very touching. It still doesn't explain his "they were taken and killed" line from that one epi, but I thought it was just what we needed. I can' wait to see how Luka will be from now on.

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), February 23, 2001

Answers

BUT this doesn't explain why he was such a different person last season - he's only been morose this season, since he killed the mugger, and he didn't even mention that to the bishop!

-- Mary (MHF13@aol.com), February 23, 2001.

Well, we all knew he was pretty mysterious, and he did have his issues, i.e. with not taking away families (though that obviously did not follow w/ continuity). The writers are probably figuring we have to first care about him and *then* we can start to see his troubled side. PLus he had *just* left Croatia, right? PTSD sometimes takes awhile, esp. while you're busy settling into a place that you're escaping too.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.

The fact that Luka once stated that his family were "taken and killed" has always bothered me. I watched last night's show and tried to figure out how it fit in. On some levels his family were taken and killed. Not literally taken somewhere else, but taken out of his life by the bombs, killed by the bombs. Perhaps that is what he meant, figuratively instead of literally?

-- Sarah W. (swilli@twcny.rr.com), February 23, 2001.

I think Luca sees it as taken by God. he feels he prayed and prayed to God for help for them and God refused.I think he feels God choose to Take them rather then help them.

-- Jennifer mac Donald (JennimomABC@aol.com), February 23, 2001.

Last season, IMO, Luka was tied up in his feelings for Carol and trying to recreate with her and her children what he'd lost. After that was gone too and then the incident in the park with the mugger, he could no longer run or hide from the pain he'd stuffed inside. I liked how he touched Abby's arm, which indicated to me the darkness surrounding his heart is leaving and he could care about her (or someone) again. I also liked how she looked at his hand and then him and asked if he was okay. The subtext of his response for me was more okay than I've been for a long time.

Sarah, there's an old thread about the continuity problem regarding Luka's earlier comments about losing his family (what he'd said to Kerry) and his later ones (to Carol) just before she left. It probably has a post date of April or May of 2000 and you might want to look it up. BTW, if I remember correctly, we never came to much of a conclusion other than the two sounded inconsistent, and we hoped TPTB would either reconcile them or choose one and go with it. They seem to have.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), February 25, 2001.