This 108th episode of “LOST” took us back to the first few hours of this incredible show. We still don’t know whether “LOST” will succeed in answering enough questions and resolving enough loose ends. But the feel of the show, the growing sense of coming full circle after half a decade of storytelling, is fantastic. The spirit of “White Rabbit,” episode five from season one, was all over “The Lighthouse.” Jen thoroughly loved it. I enjoyed it. To me, some of the exposition and dialogue was a bit flat, and the ever clever fan-inspired commentary of Hurley was a bit too clever. But perhaps such things are unavoidable given the immense amount of explaining “LOST” will have to do in the limited time left. They need to spell it out for us, and they need to acknowledge how ridiculous some of it all sounds.
While on-island Jack is once again reaching a breaking point, off-island Jack is perhaps conquering his demons (his mom praises him for turning down a drink), acknowledging his daddy issues, and making amends with his son. His son! David plays piano like Jack, suffers under an overbearing father like Jack… and “has a gift,” perhaps also like Jack. But the big mystery now is, who is David’s mom? Whose house did Jack visit (and enter thanks to a key hidden under a white rabbit)? And why did she, frankly, miss David’s recital? David’s blue eyes made Jen think of Juliet immediately. Could we see her moving on, later this season, asking Sawyer out for coffee?
Jack’s inexplicable confusion over his appendectomy scar was intriguing. His appendix was removed by Juliet on the island, which could be one reason he doesn’t remember it in the LA X timeline. But his mother does. And seeing Dogen as a fellow parent was a nice touch. He perhaps is not as mysterious, special, or even immortal as we might have thought, if a twist in time leads him to being a dad in Los Angeles.
Mirrors and reflections continue to play a big part in this final season, perhaps never moreso than in “The Lighthouse.” There were literal mirrors, of course, but our requisite book reference is again “Alice in Wonderland.”
On the island, we find the lighouse, a major island landmark that nobody noticed because nobody was looking for it. Inside, another list of names, most of them crossed out, save for our dear survivors. Is it a different list than the one Unlocke showed Sawyer in the cave? Part of me thinks they’re the same list, and the cave scrawlings represent the efforts of Unlocke/Man In Black to track Jacob’s candidates. On the other hand, we see some names we didn’t see in the cave, most notably, “Austen.”
The lighthouse and its various degrees suggest that it was where Jacob “watched” his candidates, and perhaps guided them to the island. But rather than investigate further, angry Jack smashes the mirrors. At first it seemed ridiculous to me, how once again a major potential source for answers is conveniently destroyed. But in the narrative of Jack’s life, it makes sense.
In “White Rabbit,” Christian Shephard tells young Jack: “Don’t choose, Jack, don’t decide. You don’t want to be a hero, you don’t try and save everyone, because when you fail, you just don’t have what it takes.” We’ve seen Jack try to be the hero, and everything fell apart once he got off the island. We then saw Jack return to try and wait for his purpose to reveal itself, only to end up executing a plan that was apparently a catastrophic failure. Now, he finds a list of names that suggests that he’s part of a larger plan or game, and is also probably one of the last players still standing. That’d probably be enough to make anyone snap.
Of course, we’re still not convinced “Shephard” means him. Jacob’s first line to Sawyer after his name was pointed out on the cave wall was, “He’s not the only one.” And even though the mirror showed Jack’s childhood home, that house also belonged to Christian. Heck, we don’t know if the image of the house was from Jack’s past, or from the “LA X” timeline. A pity he had to smash the mirrors to bits.
And Claire. Creepy Claire. Jen said she was even scarier than Rousseau. And now the parallels are numerous. Claire, like Rosseau, has spent years living in the wilderness, setting traps, surviving, living in conflict with and hiding from The Others. And she’s also obsessed with finding her missing child. But it’s interesting that there’s a lot of old Claire in there, despite whatever sickness or darkness may have consumed her.
She says her father and “her friend” told her The Others have Aaron. Whether or not on-island Christian Shephard and Unlocke were one and the same (I wonder what form Unlocke took prior to the arrival of Ajira 316), I’m curious why they’d want her to believe her son was still on the island. Are they trying to encourage her to go to The Temple, or discouraging her? They’ve fed her paranoia and mistrust for three years, but to what end?
After what she did to Justin, we believe her when she says she’d kill Kate if Kate raised Aaron. But the whole conversation revives questions about how important Aaron actually is to the island, and also, why it matters who raises him. If Kate is truly motivated solely by reuniting Claire with Aaron, and Claire remains obsessed with finding her son, it looks like the kid will be key at the end of Season 6. Jin went out of his way to remind Claire how old Aaron is, which only made me think about the clearly older blonde boy that’s now haunting Unlocke. Taller Ghost Aaron indeed.
- This episode is at least the second time Hurley is given a message from an apparently departed spirit that is so important, he has to write it down. Charlie made Hurley write down his message for Jack in “Something Nice Back Home.”
- Jack’s son’s name is David. We’ve noted the role of Davids throughout “LOST.” Libby says her late husband’s name was David. Hurley’s dad was named David, as was Charlotte’s father. And Hurley’s imaginary friend was Dave.
- David is listening to music, but says it’s something Jack wouldn’t know. Easiest guess? Driveshaft. But if Driveshaft is a “one hit wonder” from a band led by a “bloody rock god,” why wouldn’t Jack know them? Since David is also a classical music buff, I’d like to think that in the “LA X” timeline, “Driveshaft” is a moody, artsy, acoustic indie band or something.
- What funeral was Margot and Jack talking about? Presumably Christian’s, meaning they eventually proceeded without his body. I’m wondering how much time has now elapsed since Oceanic 815 landed.
- Speaking of classical music, David’s choice of Chopin is the same as Daniel Faraday’s in “The Variable.”
- In addition to “White Rabbit,” this episode ties well to “Something Nice Back Home” from Season 4. It’s the episode where his appendix comes out, where his domestic bliss with Kate crumbles, and where he reads from “Alice” to Aaron.
- Shannon’s inhaler? Didn’t see that coming. The whole skit with Jorge Garcia at Comic-Con last year was apparently part of the master plan.
- Hurley fires off so many pop-culture inspired lines, I don’t know where to begin. He lied to a samurai. He described Jacob as being like Obi-Wan Kenobi. And he tells Dogen he’s a fan of “Indiana Jones.” But I’ll take any of those lines over the groan-worthy chat with Jack over Kate.
- Locations: David’s school, “St. Mary’s Academy,” is St. Louis School in Kaimuki. The “Williams Conservatory” recital hall is Central Middle School near downtown Honolulu. David’s mother’s house is a private residence on Malama Place in Manoa. Watch for updates on my Lost Locations website.
What did you think?. We’d love your thoughts, theories, and feedback below. You can also e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com or call the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808.
The tic-tac-toe game always ending in a draw – foreshadowing? Did previous “battles” all end in a draw? Is this a BSG inspired device, all this has happened before and will happen again? Can they break the cycle? Looks like Jack might have done so with his relationship with David.
If you looked closely at the Chopin score, there was writing on it. It literally said pickup the pace. So funny. I take that as the writers acknowledging most fans’ thirst for resolution. I have scores and scores of scores and all of them are marked in pencil by my teachers and pens, especially red pens are not used. Off topic, but pickup the pace is not written in any of my scores. Maybe ‘presto’ or ‘acclerando’ or ‘faster’, so it seems to me more of a message for everyone.
Loved the episode!
Two things I dont think anyone brought up yet:
1. Dogen asks Jack if “Austen, Kwon and Ford” will be back (or if he knows where they are, cant remember) anyway, he says their last names, so maybe this points to the fact that the Kwon on the list is Jin and not Sun.
2. In the beginning when Jack is on the phone with his mom – he says that his fathers body was last in Denmark or somewhere in Europe. Why would they send his body the other way around to world to get back to LA? Maybe this was some type of symbolism to show the alternate courses back to “home”?
Just a thought.
Thanks Ryan and Jen – cant wait to hear your thoughts!
If I heard correctly, Hurley said Jacob told them to turn the mirror in the lighthouse to 108 degrees. 108, as you may know, is the sum of 4 8 15 16 23 42. I wonder what the mirror would have shown Jack and Hurley at 108 degrees?
Did they show Jacks tattoos in the flash sideways? If he doesn’t have them this whole sideways timeline could be happening just to erase Stranger in a Strange Land from Lost continuity. I think I’m on to something lol.
A couple of more thoughts.
Having just caught up with the new Stargate Universe, chock full of in your face movie references, Hurley’s smarty references seemed subtle, but his best line was you broke the lighthouse, mission unaccomplished. So funny.
More references:
Sci Fi Battlestar Galactica had an Eve skeleton too.
In this season’s 24, Bauer took an axe to a baddie as well.
Pretty soon, we’re not going to know which show we’re in.
David might have been listening to the piece he was going to play that night and mentally rehearsing it in his head. He didn’t want Jack to figure out he still liked classical music.
@Yann – I didn’t have time to watch White Rabbit but I’ll make the time and watch the episode again. I can see by your points it is important to compare the two. I forgot about Jack and the piano.
Here are the show titles up till April 20 via the official Lost facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/LOST?ref=ts#!/LOST?v=app_2347471856&ref=ts
If Kate is a candidate and she hasn’t been eliminated, why wouldn’t the series be 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 51? Is Kate a wild card or merely a problem? Sorry I tagged along uninvited and got us all captured by the dark man.
As I said a few episodes back when we discussed why Jacob went off into that good night like a lamb to slaughter: If Jacob is Obi Wan Kenobi, the mentor slain by his former pupil, then that makes Ben Darth Vader. And, as the leader still, Ben is the only one that can kill the emperor aka MIB. It was just an analogy before, but Hurley has now said it explicitly.
I had the same thought as Jacob from Ohio: the flash-sideways is actually the happily-ever-after for our Losties after they successfully win the final showdown. Their actions will cause the island to sink in the distant past, thus averting ALL of the on-island history. No Black Rock, no Dharma, no Flight 815.
Also, the Incident did not trigger the alt-timeline. The Incident succeeded in bring our time travelers back to the present, thus allowing them to take part in the big battle. The future actions of Jack, Kate, etc (in the final showdown) undo all the bad stuff caused by the island, and triggers the alt-timeline.
In the happily-ever-after timeline, we’ll probably see the following: Kate is acquitted; Locke gets married; Claire has her baby, then meets Jack and his family; Sawyer and Juliet have meet for coffee; Kate and Jack are together.
Still not sure about Adam & Eve. It’s either Jack/Kate, or more likely Jin/Sun. In either case, their actions will occur in the past, and will determine the outcome of the final showdown. If they succeed (which they will), then the island sinks. If they fail, then their bodies will be found in the cave.
One last thing: I’m now convinced that Jacob is good, while MIB is evil. Just look at their “friends”. Jacob is now pals with Hurley (the voice of the fans). MIB is friends with Claire (a crazy, cold-blooded murderer). Whatever doubts we had about who was good/evil, I think its now completely decided.
People have often assumed the skeletons are romantically linked–Kate and Jack or Kate and Sawyer. But it seems pretty clear since last week’s episode (with the rocks in the scale) that the skeletons are Jacob and Faux Locke. One dark, one light. The fact that one skeleton is a woman’s an one is a man’s could just refer back to their original human bodies… or to the bodies each of them will eventually “claim” and meet their end in (Claire, say, and Jin).
When Claire said, “That’s not John. That’s my friend,” it got me worried that Sawyer–who also knew that Locke was not Locke–is already dead and now in the process of being infected. I will be sad if he winds up joining the dark man’s army, but I guess it’s clear now that we are heading for a battle in which not all of the original losties will be on the same side.
The cave is clearly not Jacob’s…this was an example of MIB lying to Sawyer as he lies to Claire. The frantic scrawl on the cave wall–that is MIB trying to keep up with Jacob’s list. But perhaps Sawyer was picked so he can play a on inside the con. In other words, maybe he sees through MIB, becasue it takes a con man to know a con man.
Hello Jen and Ryan,
It’s so nice to see Emilie de Ravin being given something meaty and interesting to do for a change. I feel like we were subjected to seasons of her neediness and that shrill accent for the sole purpose of seeing it turned on its head. The actress must be THRILLED to be doing something violent. Charlie who?
We can assume that she died in the explosion and was subsequently ‘possessed’ by the smoke monster – slash – Man In Black – slash – unLocke. We can also assume that the body of her dead father was repurposed in much the same fashion. And Sayid’s on his way there.
Smokey enters a dead body and reanimates it. However, upon reanimation, the person retains most of their normal traits. Claire certainly did not act immediately strange, and Sayid so far is exhibiting nothing unusual. So when Smokey first entered Christian’s corpse (in episode one), was he mostly Christian at first? That would add yet another disturbing level in re-watching those first few episodes of Season 1.
And as you mentioned in a prior episode — where does Alex fit in, a form the smoke monster also took in confronting Ben?
@Jacob – lucky you! Nomar is one of my son’s favorite players, when he left the Sox when my son was 8, my son cried. He wore his Nomar player shirt for the 2004 and 2007 playoffs for good luck. He happened to wear it for game 4 of 2004 when the Sox turned it around, so of course we made him wear it for every other game.
@Rusty: the conclusion is more beautiful than that. Kate who had a problem because she kept running stopped to help someone. John who had a problem because he couldn’t accept is situation now accepted it. Jack who had a problem because of is father now is able to become a great dad… It is not about Kate being acquitted or Locke walking again, it’s about how they have come in term with their problems.
@Sarah: Jacob is ashes so it can’t be him but I think is “substitute” will be.
Is the title of the next episode a spoiler or can I give my two cents about that? I don’t think it is going to be about Sun and Jin (they are following and nothing important is happening to them right now), I think someone else is realllllly important right now.
One mysterious question now: the “cave’s ladder” is broken… how did John leaved the cave? And more importantly: how will Sawyer?
By any chance, has anyone noticed whether Hanso is one of the names of a prospective candidate?
@Yann: I agree. Each character will in some way resolve their past issues, and will go on to lead happy, fulfilled and rewarding lives. We’ll have to wait and see each specific character resolution, but that’s the overall theme.
The next episode is titled “Sundown”. It makes sense this will complement the corresponding episode in S1: “House of the Rising Sun”.
I’m now more convinced than ever that Adam and Eve are Rose and Bernard. They’re the only ones (plus maybe Vincent) who did not flash forward back to 2007. They could have died in the early to mid 1980’s and become skeletons by 2007. The producers have told us that we’re done with time travel so I doubt any of our current cast will travel back in time and die so as to become Adam and Eve. Of course they could be two people we’ve never met, maybe Jacob or the MIB’s parents.
According to my sources the “Sundown” episode deals with Sayid. I think Sayid became the black dot in the white field, while Sawyer is the white dot in the black field (jing/jang). By the way the 8th episode will be devoted to Sawyer and its name will be “Recon”. Can you hear the bells ringing? 🙂
@Rusty: You oppened the “pandora spoiler box” so I will rush out of it…
Sundown, yet what is happening to Sun and Jin now put them in totally different places and not doing anything really important except “following”.
What happens after the “sundown”… Darkness takes over! I am really looking forward to THAT!
@Martin: Next episode title might be borderly spoilerish (for those who don’t have tv guide)… the 8th episode and who it is centric is totally in that zone! (I don’t care much, because you are not a producer and everything you say might be bogus, but others might)
I though Lighthouse was a very good episode. I’ve been waiting for Jack to snap out of it and realize that his destiny is to take Jacob’s place as the defender of the island. I never saw the number assigned to Shepard as anyone else other than Jack. Remember the scene where Jacob gets killed by Ben and tells MiB, “They are coming back.” *They* are the candidates, and the Shepard is Jack as he was the only one back in time.
I swore in frustration when Jack destroyed those mirrors.
I believe the people coming to the island are Desmond and special surprise guest, Charles Widmore!
Rich in Cleveland’s theory about Sayid and people getting revived a-la Pet Semetary is fascinating. I think that is spot on. I really want to go back and re-read several Stephen King books now.
From Lostpedia:
Inscribed above the lighthouse reflector: seus siyd dadru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. Read backwards, it says “I show not your face but your daddy issues.”
I try to be smart and then I check the Internet to find out they told exactly that… I wonder why I keep asking myself questions and use my brain while I know the writers will give the answer by 3months time!
@kidflash: Christian was their when Locke turned the Wheel! He went back in time! (Yet Claire didn’t) He might still be a candidate.
You know that you have a free book with this podcast on Audible.com! 😀
Did anyone else notice that the 815 names on the wheel seemed to be written more boldly?
Shouldn’t Hurley have had some reaction to the numbers? Is it plausible that he would have missed their correspondence?
@Alex in MD. Michael borrowed a family name of “Walter” to name Walt.
@Yann
I’m still holding out hope that they will relate the numbers to the valenzetti equation. After all, how did the DI get them? I love the f-sides, but I really hope they return to some f-backs to tie up some of these looses ends.
@Yann again
Yes! Smokey tried to manipulate Locke into not pushing the button as this would have destroyed the island. I have been thinking about ways MIB could have manipulated Ben over time with his anonymous, hand-written instructions and lists. In particular, why did Ben tell John that he had failed to push the button and that nothing had happened? A real head-scratcher. But maybe it’s because that’s what he was instructed to do. And how many more instances may there be? An order to kill Locke and bring them all back?
@Steve
Interesting note. Could Pace be a reference to Charlie as well?
I just had an aha moment.
First let me say I loved last night’s episode! The flash sideways with Jack as a father, albeit not a great one, but certainly trying, was rather healing in nature. His mom’s comments lent a perspective on his view of his own father, and his attempts at parenting his own son made him more forgiving. The on-island scenes were great as well. I almost thought Claire was going to let Justin go, wondering if that was a good idea, when, BOOM, he gets an ax to the belly. (Well, the guy did just mention snapping her neck.) Then, Hurley gets told off in Japanese by the leader of the Others for being in the wrong place in the temple. I’d love to know what he said. Once again, great quips by Hurley. Finally, the whole idea of the lighthouse and the mirrors. Wow! That was great! I think I’d be wondering who was watching me and why, just like Jack, although I don’t think I’d be destructive about it. He’s so impulsive!
Now, to my aha moment. I was just doing my thing this morning, making breakfast for the kids, drinking my coffee, when I thought, what if Jin’s name is a clue? I read a book to my kids a while back where the characters encounter a djinn, or as we know, a genie. Then my mind started racing. Our view of genies is associated with smoke, right? Aladdin’s genie was TRAPPED in a lamp, right? I looked genie up on the internet, and the wikipedia site shed a little more light on it. Apparently they can take human form, have free will, and can whisper into your soul. (Although you wouldn’t be able to run from that type of whisper, would you?) If you go on the site, there is a picture of a cave in the middle east that is called Meetingplace of the Jinn . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie What do you think?
I didn’t read through all of the posts (but did most) so I apologize if this was said already in one of the later ones…
Did anyone notice on the signs at David’s recital that they said ‘Candidates’? Perhaps that’s the clue, that neither Jack, nor Christian (with all their flaws) are the true candidates, but it’s David.
I wouldn’t want to think he will be sacrificed, but if all of the religious talk is true, perhaps David is ‘Christ’-like?
Also, I love the thought that Juliet could be David’s mom and the thought that since Juliet and Jack just didn’t work could lead to Juliet and Sawyer reuniting off the island. that would GREAT!
I have read the talk about 108 being Wallace, but also agree that 108 could/should be Desmond. He didn’t spend all that time pressing that button (at 108) for nothing. He has to tie in to that.
I liked this episod a lot more after I read some of the feedback and thought about it overnight. While it wasn’t as exciting as last weeks, it is really starting to (slowly) pull things together!
LOVE. IT.
@Rich – I didn’t even think of Charlie! Could be that he’s coming up, eh?
Alot of people are saying that 2004 L.A. is the epilogue and 2007 folks will have to eventually choose, each having their own choice, but that can’t be. It has to be one choice for all, everyone in one reality or everyone in another, no? So if one reality is chosen, there will be major suckage for some, goodness for others?
I’m debating whether I should do a spoiler on myself and freeze frame the next episode trailer non snowy video. I think it’s a good sign in terms of moving the story along that they’re afraid to show much from the upcoming episode.
Theory 1: Not that I want Hurley to die, but I feel like he is becoming something of an Un-Jacob. Here’s the simple breakdown:
UnLocke leads angry Sawyer to a darkness-filled location where the names are listed.
UnJacob leads seeking Jack to a sunlit-filled location where the names are listed.
So we have a dark and a light puppet, led by a dark and a light puppetmaster. Don’t know the endgame, but the chesspieces are clearly being set.
Theory 2: Loved this ep, loved the way Jack is trying to be a better father to David than Christian was to him. Also, notice how in last week’s ep, it looks like Locke and Cooper are no longer enemies? By this assumption, can we assume that Sawyer and his daddy and also friends (if, in this world, he didn’t kill himself?)
Maybe the resolutions of the daddy issues is the key to giving our characters the peace they seem to be experiencing in the flashes sideways.
@Beth in Sacramento…I found this on Lostpedia
Inscribed above the lighthouse reflector: seus siyd dadru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. Read backwards, it says “I show not your face but your daddy issues.”
Kind of goes with your theory.
I think Claire’s memory must of been tampered with in some way. She wandered off in the middle of the night and left her son in a tree! Why would she say that if Kate raised him then she would kill her? Should she not be at least GRATEFUL that somebody took care of him? I think when she was “claimed” MIB must have done something to her memory that made her so angry and believe that her son was taken from her.
1) Sayid was clearly speaking in a Naveen Andrewsish voice. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it before, but this ep, the difference is clear.
2) The writers missed a potential opening. When Jin said that Aaron was three years old, I was expecting Claire to say “My God…has it been that long”. That would have been awesome. Or groantastic.
3) The conversation between Kate and Jack was completely inoffensive to me. I actually didn’t mind it at all.
4) Claire didn’t remark that Jin was speaking fluent English. Only three years ago he was feeding her sea urchin and couldn’t speak a word of it.
5) I know Bible theories abound, but personally, I hope that they DON’T go there. I don’t mind vague religious references…I enjoy them, especially the Egyptian stuff. But I really hope that they don’t start getting too specific. They will alienate a lot of fans if they do.
6) Juliet and Jack? NOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO NO!
“seus siyd dadru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.”
Harry Potter much?
Also, in reference to The Substitute, wouldn’t it be cool if we get to know Ben in the ATL, and he’s married to Annie?
@Steve- I did freeze frame the promo and there is a really cool scene with Sayid.
As you alluded to, it seems Jack is the one character that the producers really like to show us with mirrors. This season especially, he has reflected on his own image, his life, while staring at a mirror. Are the off-island mirrors representing a way to sense his ‘other life’ on the island? Are the on-island mirrors representing the daddy issues in his off-island life that the backwards phrase above the mirror described? And why is this particularly relevant for Jack?
Everyone knows the story of how Matthew Fox’ character was originally supposed to die a few episodes into the series. If the producers had a master storyline plan, as they have stated, then his character is probably the main protagonist in our story. It would also explain why Kate, rumored to be the main protagonist originally, has devolved into a supporting character who’s storyline seems incomplete at times.
PSALM:23 a Psalm of David or (through the darkest valley)
“The Lord is my SHEPHARD”
?????
Jack in the FS knows about Claire but doesn’t know who she is exactly. Kate has Claire’s credit card and I think that’s going to be significant. Maybe Jack will look for Claire and bumb into Kate? Interesting. I want to see how this plays out.
Many people think that David’s mom is Juliet, but could she be Juliet’s sister? I think they showed David having blue eyes for a reason, but I’m not sure is she had blue eyes. Or she could just be Jack’s ex-wife (I forgot her name).
Looking forward to the show!
The word SHEPARD appeared to have been erased and written back in. The penmanship for SHEPARD was different than all the others. What was written the first time?
Maybe it was Christian, he failed and got crossed out, and then Jacob re-wrote SHEPARD again b/c Jack turned out to be the one.
OK, time for my first cockeyed theory EVER! I think it would be cool if Lost ended with Jack and Sawyer replacing Jacob and MIB – and having the exact same scene on the beach between the two (the one with the Black Rock in the distance). It’s nuts, but somehow it works for me…
This is pretty much the best season since Season One, but that was bound to be true.
Keep up the good work! I love you guys!
Just a minor thing – David wasn’t playing at a recital. It was an audition. Possibly why the word Candidates was listed on the signs? (I didn’t personally notice those signs, though).
I think we can start to think about “Jack will stay on the island and will become the new Jacob”.
So I started thinking about the following.
What if…
“LA X” timeline Jack == Christian
If that is true, then:
– Margo is complimenting Christian for not taking the drink (even though she is assuming Jack is Jack).
– Margo is asking Christian about his daughter.
– Christian is giving Jack’s son, David, the beautiful confession and therefore Christian is setting things right with David -and- Jack.
Also:
– Christian is looking at his new ‘self’, when Jack is looking at the mirror on 815.
– Did Christian and Desmond meet before ??
Anyone else diggs this stuff or am I going crazy. 😉
I don’t think Sayid and Claire are the Smoke Monster, and I don’t think Claire (and maybe even Sayid) ever died, certainly not when her house blew up. I’m going to give my grand unified theory of the Smoke Monster.
The smoke monster has always been a manifestation of the Man in Black; I think that’s been pretty well confirmed by this season’s pilot. As Smokey, he’s been working pretty much this whole time to find a way to kill Jacob. As has been previously said, his examination of Locke in season 1 (in contrast to Eko in 2 or 3) led him to believe that Locke was a good conduit for that purpose. The rest was his machinations to get Locke in place where Smokey could use him to kill Jacob.
Smokey doesn’t animate dead bodies. He takes the form and acquires the memories of people who are dead, but he doesn’t inhabit their physical bodies. Otherwise how could Unlocke be walking around while Locke’s body is sitting right there on the beach?
Smokey can also only be in one form and one place at a time. That’s the point of the Scooby-Doo part of the episode in season 5 where Locke and Ben went under the temple. Locke disappears to “get some rope,” Smokey appears, turns into Alex, Alex disappears, and Locke returns.
The bodies Smokey is able to inhabit are those that are dead, present on the island, but not buried. That’s why we got a scene in season 3 where the others made a big deal about burning the body of the woman that Kate had killed and sending it out to sea. It’s also why the Others insist that bodies of their dead be buried, and Sawyer et al had to bury the Others who had been attacking Amy.
In this fashion, Smokey has been Christian, Alex, and now Locke, at least. Just because we’ve never seen Christian’s body doesn’t mean it’s up and walking around; it’s a big island. He and Locke certainly weren’t buried. We also have no indication that Alex was ever buried; Ben et al ran off very shortly after she was killed. We’ve never seen any of them at the same time after they died.
We’ve seen Claire together with both Christian and Unlocke, so she’s not Smokey. Sayid is back to life in his original body, which isn’t what Smokey does.
So the other part is why did Smokey/Man in Black do all the things he did to our losties? As I said, I think it was all directed at getting Locke, as a dead body, on the island, and in a position where he could cause the death of Jacob. He came up with a Rube Goldberg plan, which was really an incredibly long con. There is a suggestion that this game or battle has been going on for a long time, so I think he’s done this sort of thing many times before, probably without success.
So the things Smokey did all this time were to push people to where he needed them to be for his endgame. Locke had to be deemed the leader, since that would get him access to the statue. That meant Ben had to stop being the leader (at least ostensibly) and a lot of things had to happen to make Richard think Locke should be the leader.
So Christian he pushed Ben to move the island (by telling Locke that’s how they could protect it from the freighties), which also got him off. That spun the island back in time, allowing Locke to run around and interact with Richard in multiple times, helping convince him that he really would become the leader. As Unlocke he also told Locke, through Richard, to leave the island, bring everyone back, and also die, to save the island. Christian, at the bottom of the well, finished the job of making sure he went through with it.
The only way it would ever make sense to bring Locke’s body back on the Ajira flight, which is kind of an absurd thing to do on its own, was if everyone believed that the flight had to be as identical to 815 as possible, which is why he was pushed to bring everybody back. Why Eloise was on that bandwagon is unclear. But that was the last step in getting his body back on the island, without Richard and the Others knowing he was dead, and enabling Unlocke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob.
@ Ernie – It did almost sound like an explosion to me as well.
I also like your idea of the scar being a course correction but it still seems to me the Island surgery was on the left (where my husband, who had an appendectomy at 8 years old has his) and the ALT scar is on Jack’s right.
@ Steve – love the tic-tac-toe observation (Hurley the game leader again)
Glad you caught the “pick up your pace” and I think your again spot on with interpreting it’s meaning.
@ Rich – very cool analoty to StarWars. I think it is worth noting that 51 is 15 in reverse and 15 is Ford
@ Yann – Yup I wondered about the ladders too. What if there is another way in/out and using the ladder was simply a test/trial to get James recruited? MIB need to be sure that James trusted him enough to follow such a perilous path and he certainly didn’t tell him about needing to switch to the rope ladder gving MIB the chance to “save” Ford’s life and perhaps make him more beholden to team Him.
@Yann – Also, Sun and Jin are both heading to the temple. Sun with Ilana and co and Jin with Claire
@ John Fischer – I LOVE the idea that Adam and Eve are Jacob’s parents and then they could also be Essau’s!
@ Cathy – great AHA thoughts
@ Beth – I thought the same about Jin’s command of English should’ve seemed surprising to Claire until I realized she’d been overhearing him talking to Justin and figured Jin might’ve become one of the Others.
@ Che Dblu – I like how your protagonist theor explains the characters evolutions. Hopefully the final season will have juicy stuff in the Special Features of the DVD’s so we can all enjoy this madness again!
@Beth in Sacramento: “I know Bible theories abound, but personally, I hope that they DON’T go there. I don’t mind vague religious references…I enjoy them, especially the Egyptian stuff. But I really hope that they don’t start getting too specific. They will alienate a lot of fans if they do.” Thank you. I have felt the same way for a long time, but never had the courage to express it here. I would feel cheated and preached upon if the show goes there.
Justin says Claire’s going to kill us both, he doesn’t know that Claire wasn’t going to kill Jin. It’s the same excuse Richard gives to Sawyer about MIB killing everyone on the island. Ben said the mercenaries sent by Widmore would kill everyone on the island. What is this thing about killing everyone on the island? Th…e purge was a type of mass killing.
Claire says “This is not John, this is my friendâ€. This reminds my of the the old testament reference to Jehovah, as he’s referred to as “I AMâ€. Ceasar and Bram would always use that term “my friend†when speaking to people.
Could David be MIB?
Lighthouse must be Jacob’s and Cave is MIB’s, hence the reference to light & dark again. MIB could be taking the names from the lighthouse and crossing off names of those who won’t follow him.
@ Tim from DC
Eloise could be on Team Dark?
Now that we are seeing all the folks that Flocke is recruiting, perhaps these are the folks we witness chasing and firing at the time travelers from the start of season 5. Maybe? There was a blonde woman I believe shooting from the other canoe, and we have seen that Clair is trigger happy.
I don’t think the name Wallace, 108 on the wheal, has any significance. The numbers of out losties obviously add up to 108, but Each number is an individual. And now if you really add up all the numbers of out losties, its 104 since locke is now crossed off. I think Jacob to Hugo to use 108 because it was familiar to him.
Also, does it annoy anyone else that no one acknowledges 108 is everywhere on the island. Hurley lotto numbers, the hatch, the timer, and now Jacob tells him to turn to 108.
Another question, if anyone has gone over this I apologize. Who convinced Ben that John had to die in season 5? I think the explanation on the show was that “it was the fastest way to get John back to island” and that Ben didn’t have time to explain everything to John. Im thinking that Ben was willingly doing the work of Flocke.
Anyway, Great episode
@ Other Jessie
“I don’t think the name Wallace, 108 on the wheal, has any significance.”
I disagree. I think Wallace will turn out to be Desmond. I suspect sometime in the parallel timeline we’ll see Desmond again and he’ll introduce himself as Desmond Wallace. We’ll learn that in the island timeline he was adopted.
Wallace is a Scottish name of great fame. Desmond is the only Scott we know. He is also so connected to the number 108. He had to enter the keyboard every 108 minutes for years.
Jacob said that he believes that the other person (presumably who would have been summoned had Hurley been able to dial into 108) will arrive at the island by another means. We know that Desmond has a boat and that is how he first arrived on the island, so in order to duplicate things just like their original arrival, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Desmond arrive by boat sometime in the upcoming episodes.
I know that there’s at least one person who shares my general feelings about this episode (@ John Fischer), at least in the immediate aftermath of watching it. Maybe it will change upon second viewing, but on the first viewing…
the best part of this ep was the flash-sideways, and the stuff with UnLocke and Sawyer (go team UnLocke!).
I am beyond irritated with Jacob and his nonsense and am getting sick of his playing puppet master.
“Hurley, take this guitar case on the plane and then lug it around with you.” “Hurley, take Said to the temple where you can get almost shot and watch Said die and then come back to life (and then hang out in the “food court” ’til I need you, ‘kay?)”
“Hurley, write some instructions on your arm and get Jack to come with you so I can mess with his mind some more…oh, and Hurley? Try not to notice the names next to the degrees on the wheel, even when Jack tells you about them, and definitely don’t notice that those names are next to the numbers that have been plaguing you your entire life.” SHEESH.
By the time Jack was sitting looking at the water, and Jacob gave his patronizing “some people need to sit and look at the ocean…”, I had completely joined Team Destructo if the destruction involved Jacob.
End of rant.
@ popokigirl
I’ll be watching the episode again this evening with my wife, who is in bed by the time LOST comes on. I hope to feel better about the episode after a second viewing, but…