“Everybody Loves Hugo” brought some memorable moments, from touching to downright shocking. We got a good dose of pyrotechnics, and a surprisingly blunt explanation to the perennial mystery of “the whispers.” Once again we saw some of our characters part ways, but we also saw our candidates come together sooner than we’d anticipated. And perhaps in keeping with the inherent intensity of this final season, this Hurley-centric episode was fortunately not overloaded with comic relief. Yet, on the heels of an epic Richard Alpert tale and a brain-busting Desmond episode, this week’s entry felt more like the sharp intake of breath before a grand declaration, a mechanically necessary repositioning of game pieces for the few chapters remaining ahead.
On the island, Unlocke unpacks a little bit more of his game plan… or at least fleshes out his cover story. The candidates’ return to the island was possible only together, and so then must they be reunited to leave. I’ve been wondering if Widmore’s return was to exploit the island, rather than to do the right thing… but now that Unlocke says Widmore is only after power, I’m more inclined to think he might actually be trying to save the world, after all. It seemed telling when Unlocke agreed with Desmond that the island had it in for everyone. And UnLocke, of course, had it in for Desmond. The way Terry O’Quinn’s face twitched moments before pushing Desmond down the magnetic well sent shivers down Jen’s spine. But despite Desmond’s fall, I’m confident we’re not quite done with our favorite Scottsman.
I enjoyed Hurley’s double bluff, first pretending to back Richard’s plan (only to blow the Black Rock to bits), then pretending to get direction from Jacob. It was great to see Richard called him on the ruse (“Jacob never tells us what to do”), and to see Hurley still play it cool. And in terms of repeating themes and scenarios, we again see sides chosen, and a group dividing in the forest. Miles and Ben follow Alpert, while Jack, Sun, and Frank follow Hurley. It’s a nice coincidence that Hurley’s fellow candidates chose to go with him, and that doesn’t bode well for what may be our last splinter group.
Jen is definitely warming up to Jack, though I’m not sure how to read his turn in this episode. He also knew Hurley was bluffing, but still went along with him because he’s concluded it’s time to trust other people. There are some things he can’t fix. That’s a good lesson for control-freak Jack, I suppose, but the epiphany sounds very similar to the one he had in Season 5. During his DHARMA days, he decided not to act, but rather wait for his moment. That didn’t turn out so well, so… now he’s going to take even less initiative? That’s not going to work, since Jacob told Hurley that Jack indeed has something he needs to do.
Michael’s return was odd. It provided some catharsis in his apology to Hurley, but the big “reveal” seemed really underplayed. Tonight, Hurley suddenly concludes that “the whispers” are essentially the voices of the dead “who can’t move on,” and Michael says he’s right. Is that it? The island is purgatory, after all? Over the past five seasons, there seemed to be some significance to when and where the whispers were heard (by people who don’t otherwise have communion with the dead), and a fair amount of theorizing was based on meticulous transcripts of what they were saying. My favorite theories involved DHARMA experiments or some other group of “observers,” or maybe a side-effect of time travel (or even the flash-sideways). I’m hoping there’s more to them, but probably not.
Even odder was the abrupt departure of Ilana. Kudos to the writers for avoiding another Arzt joke, but her death certainly frustrates people like me, who had just begun to accept that this “new character” was key to the bigger picture through her off-island connection to Jacob. The writers even let Ben comment on this curious development. But, he concludes, the island was merely done with her, and it will likely soon be done with everyone. We’re definitely sensing a theme, here.
And what to make of Miles? He finally has another conversation with Hurley about talking to dead people, but his own expertise is not even mentioned. And while Hurley seems to conclude that “dead people are more reliable” than the living, I’m wondering why Hurley isn’t more skeptical. His first reaction to Michael seemed the natural one. But something changed Hurley’s mind, and led him to blow up the Black Rock. What was in the bag he found in the camp? And while trying to blow up the plane was a plan that was apparently going to get everyone killed, walking right into Locke’s camp was also a heck of a gamble.
Their arrival was, in fact, foretold by Unlocke when he told Sawyer, “There’s a difference between doing nothing and waiting.” He knew the other candidates would come to him. And I was glad to see both groups reunited tonight, though. I’d assumed we’d have to wait for the finale. Can Sun and Jin’s reunification be put off much longer?
For those clamoring for a resolution to the Libby storyline, the flash-sideways in “Everybody Loves Hugo” brings direct relief. It doesn’t explain how she came to be in the institution with Hurley in the original timeline, but who cares? It was worth it to see Hurley struck by lightning in the Mexican restaurant, and to see him finally see “the truth” on their long-delayed picnic on the beach. In some respects, the flash-sideways felt like one giant checkmark on the long list of “LOST” mysteries. But Jorge Garcia and especially Cynthia Watros sold it. The date was nice, but I was actually a bit misty-eyed during the rec room scene when Libby again heard that Hurley had no memory of her. It’s hard to imagine what depth her character might have brought to the show had Libby survived beyond Season Two.
The final scene, though, was a hell of a twist. The tension was built masterfully, with Ben rightfully suspicious of a man staking out a school parking lot, and Desmond’s fixation on Locke as he wheeled his way past. Then, bam! Locke is flat on his back, in shock. I was half expecting the scene to close with a close up of his toes.
It is curious, though, that Desmond was content to subtly suggest that Hurley go with his instincts in his curiosity about Libby, but then decides to take a much more direct role in Locke’s introduction to “the truth.” Whereas Hurley’s connection with Libby echoes the “love” invoked for Charlie and Claire (and Desmond and Penny, and Daniel and Charlotte), poor Locke had to get the “near death experience” treatment instead. Presumably, “love” would be less effective for Locke, given his good relationship with Helen in the flash-sideways, but… how would Desmond know? And how is he, so far, picking out our island survivors from among the hundreds of presumably innocent or uninvolved people aboard Oceanic 815?
Notes and Notions:
- The opening slideshow, narrated by Dr. Pierre Chang, was fun. It seemed to include a few real-world photos of Jorge Garcia. He got his dog, Nunu, onto “LOST” via the shot of him in front of the Hawaiian Humane Society (its logo clearly visible). And I’d bet those were real baby pictures, too.
- I liked how even “lucky” Hurley was intimidated by talking to women, a trait that goes back to Starla at the record store in Season Two. I don’t know what happened to his blind date, Rosalita, but it was also nice to hear that Grandpa Tito is apparently still around in the flash-sideways.
- Jen loved how subtly Henry Ian Cusick played the faint moment of confusion after Desmond immediately came up with the name “Charlie” for his son when confronted by Ben.
- It’s a small thing, but I love how one of the extras (a long-haired Asian woman) looked perplexed in the scene where Hurley meets Desmond in the Mr. Cluck’s restaurant. Hurley yells, “What?” And we see her clearly reacting as if Hurley might be yelling at her, rather than Desmond. A lot of times, background extras in scenes are a little too oblivious to the action we’re watching. It was a nice touch.
- The creepy boy, who Desmond saw, is back to haunting Unlocke. His smile was disconcerting, taunting, in the same vein of his earlier admonition, “You know the rules. You can’t kill him.” The more we see of him, the more he seems like a young Jacob. Gloating Jacob.
- After Locke’s “Blow Up Everything That Can Get Us Off The Island Tour,” tonight we had the “Blow Up Everything (and Everyone) That Can Blow Up Everything That Can Get Us Off The Island Tour.”
- What is Unlocke the Wood Whisperer carving? Claire already has a crib for her scary squirrel baby. Part of me would like to see him recreate Mr. Eko’s carved “Jesus Stick.”
- Looks like Richard’s back to declaring, “We’re dead, we’re all dead!”
- Books: The Russian book Hurley found among Ilana’s belongings was “Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Wikipedia says it is considered by many to be the world’s first existentialist novel.
- Locations: The awards ceremony was filmed at the Koolau Golf Club/First Presbyterian Church in Kaneohe. The “fajita fieldtrip” to Spanish Johnny’s was filmed at Bandito’s Cantina at Pearlridge. The Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute was again the YWCA on Richards Street downtown, and Mr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack was again the Popeye’s Chicken on Dillingham Boulevard. The beach where Hurley and Libby had their date was the west end of Ala Moana Park. And the parking lot where Desmond met Ben and hit Locke was August Elementary School in Waipahu. And, of course, the slideshow included shots of the Hawaiian Humane Society, the Honolulu Zoo, and the box company exterior at Gentry Pacific Design Center.
What did you think? We’d love your thoughts for our podcast. Please comment below, and share your reaction, thoughts, theories and theories with fellow fans. Or, you can email us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or call the LOSTline at (815) 310-0808.
@Jo from NY said: “I have this sinking feeling also that everyone is going to have to die on the island in order to set things right back in the sideways reality.”
This made me wonder about the mass of bodies from the Ajira flight. Maybe those people weren’t “supposed” to be in the island timeline, and had to die (be killed?) to return to their proper reality?
Plus – great pun – “sinking feeling”.
@Laura I don’t think the sideways reality is what needs to be fixed. I think it is an artifact/side effect of setting off the nuke. I have a feeling that “fixing it” will simply be making it cease to be. I do think that the end result will have the island losties getting into touch with their alter-egos and absorbing the emotional growth that we’ve seen in some of them. In other words, the information leak that we have seen from the original reality to the alternative reality characters will also start going the other way. In fact, we are already seeing some of that.
Sideways Hurley is a confident leader. Island Hurley had always lacked confidence and been emotionally fragile and full of guilt. Now, Island Hurley is more confident and leading.
Sideways Jack is at peace with his role as Dad and seems more grounded. Island Jack seems to be less at war with his inner demons.
These are just a couple of examples, but I think if any reality will cease to exist it will be the sideways one.
@wine country liz – Ryan tweeted a link to your song “Flash sideways”. I loved it. The lyrics were great (and so was your singing).
The people on this board really impress me with their skills.
@John – I think what you are saying makes a lot of sense.
But the thing that confuses me about the sideways reality is that the nuclear bomb changed things for people not even on the plane or on the island at the time of the blast. Why did it affect Desmond? He wasn’t on the plane or the island at the time of the blast.
The point of the bomb was to prevent the incident that would cause them to build the hatch right? Without the hatch the plane wouldn’t crash. Instead it created a new sideways reality? A sideways reality for the whole world or just the people associated with the island?
One more thing, apparently I just think too much, because I was fooling myself into believing I had a handle on things about where this is all going but the more I think about it, the more I question everything and I end up more confused than ever. Which is why I rely on everyone here to straighten me out.
LReene – I am sorry to confuse you, but I did not think it was Elizabeth Mitchell, but a double for her. I believe we will see Juliette in that restaurant in a future episode. I believe that double was intentionally put into the scene for that reason. We shall see.
@Dizzydeni – I’m with you 100%! In all honesty, I hadn’t even noticed the blonde standing there (even after watching the episode 4 times), until after your post. And that’s when I put the episode into the video editor to see what else might be visable looking at it frame by frame. Whalla, the profile flash of her walking between Hurley and the camera later on in the scene.
I guess the only thing that casts a little doubt on my “total” belief that we will actually see Julliette (Elizabeth) in the restaurant later (based on this scene), is the fact that I’ve personally seen their doubles up fairly close, and in a lot of cases, you really have to look twice (or three times) to tell the difference. So I would say that If it was a indeed a double, they chose someone to play the part that really didn’t look anything like the real Julliette at all (other than from the back). Maybe they figured that with as fast of flash as it was, no one would notice. Or maybe they were just toying with us in the shot of her back at the counter to make anyone who noticed the woman say “There’s Julliette standing there, There’s Julliette standing there!” 🙂 Or…… maybe it wasn’t meant to be Julliette at all and her & Sawyer’s coffee get together will be in a different restaurant completely. With this show, who knows.
Sure is fun to make conjectures though. LOL
@John : I agree with Carol, it would make sense to have our Losties become aware of both their timelines. Not only does it make sense but I would love that ending – having our losties gain emotional growth and redemption through a conciousness shift.
It would also perhaps serve to show MIB that man can be different than what he thought they were. This would happen if Sideverse Locke and MIB’s conciousness’ converge. We did see MIB gaining some of Locke’s verbiage and habits (He hunted boare last season, telling creepy blonde kid : Don’t tell me what I can’t do and recently using his knife to carve the stick (=to making the crib)).
This ties nicely into the literary reference we got last season in the Incident part 1, when Jacob was wating for Locke to fall out of the window while reading : Everything that rises must converge (Flannery O’Connor). At the time, I wasn’t really sure how that related to our story … however, if you see it with season 6 eyes…. quite significant :
According to Wikipedia:
The book’s title is a reference to a work by the French philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin titled the “Omega Point”: “Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.”
Coolpeace – Glad you mentioned that book. It does indeed help us understand at least some of what’s happening and where it’s heading, now that we’ve seen this much of season 6.
Going from the excerpt you quoted, we can reasonably entertain that:
1) Locke, though badly and painfully abused and used will ultimately rise again despite MIB. Perhaps Locke will indeed occupy MIB’s Locke body, in exchange for Locke’s original one MIB’s machinations caused him to lose, and squeeze out MIB’s consciousness like a watermelon seed. Bloop!
2) Eloise, in always trying to maintain the separateness and uniqueness of each reality, is a tool, a cohort or a minion of MIB. What a woman for a wife. Poor Charles. I do believe we will think back in surprise and satisfaction at how he meant it perfectly literally when he said to Desmond in “Happily Ever After”, “…she will, simply put, destroy me.”
3) …that it’s the reality where they are considering and feeling love that will win out and the island reality that will be destroyed if Jacob and his interests prevail (to dispute that element in John’s most recent post).
4) …that Watership Down is easily understandable as another aspect or dimension of this journey, maybe particular to Sawyer and MIBLocke’s original party.
But how it illuminates the relevance of VALIS is still beyond me.
My gut feeling is that the sideverse isn’t going to prevail intact, in spite of the wonderful Ben/Alex & dad resolutions, and for others. So if the end of our journey involves each universe melding and learning from the other, I will be a happy camper. I guess that the ‘cost’ will be – a major sacrifice from one of our heroes.
@ Coolpeace ~~ COOL!
@ Jon ~~ Hurley has shown some great fortitude on the island — once when he conned Sawyer to be nicer, and again when he took the VW van and saved his fellow Losties from getting killed — but I agree he has had many insecurities too
@ Harold : Have you read VALIS? I have not, so I rely on Wikipedia for a synopsis (which I understand is not the best thing). Nevertheless, again here is the entry from Wikipedia, after reading it you would swear it to be written from the plot of Lost 😉
here it is :
“The main character in VALIS is Horselover Fat, an author surrogate. “Horselover” echoes the Greek etymology of the name Philip, while in German, Dick’s surname means “fat”.
Dick, as narrator, states early in the book that the creation of the character “Horselover Fat” is to allow him some “much needed objectivity.” In this particular work the narrator is also a fictional character provided as a cool, pragmatic counter-point to Horselover’s slow disintegration.
Even though the book is written in the first-person-autobiographical, for most of the book Dick treats himself and Fat as two separate characters; he describes conversations and arguments with Fat, and harshly if sympathetically criticizes his opinions and writings. The major subject of these dialogues is spirituality, as Dick/Fat is/are ostensibly obsessed with several religions and philosophies, including Christianity, Taoism, Gnosticism and Jungian psychoanalysis, in the search for a cure for what he believes is simultaneously a personal and a cosmic wound. Near the end of the book the messianic figure, incarnated by the child Sophia (a name associated with Wisdom in many Gnostic texts, literally meaning “wisdom” in Greek [ Σοφία]), temporarily cures him, and the narrator describes his surprise that Horselover Fat has suddenly disappeared from his side. ”
Here is how I can interpret it (based solely on the above).
Spirituality is indeed a major presence within Lost lure (dialogue between Faith and Destiny). Once you are cured by Wisdom (finding balance between Faith and Destiny or seeing a different interpretation of how your life could be, ie: growth). Once this wisdom has converged or been assimilated -then your that person (that little voice) within you who doubts … ceases to be.
Widmore is right.
The End. 🙂
Coolpeace – Thanks for remembering and mentioning that book. Now that we’ve seen this much of season 6, we can take what you quoted as a statement of Jacob’s intentions and, if they prevail, we can reasonably entertain that:
1) Locke will supplant MIB’s consciousness from MIB’s copy of Locke’s body, when Locke’s sideways soul becomes aware of island reality. He’ll claim the body for himself, in compensation for the one he lost due to MIB’s machinations and MIB will go to Hell.
2) Since she tries to keep the various realities separate and unique, in contradiction to Jacob’s intent, Eloise is a cohort, minion or tool of MIB. We will reflect in surprise and satisfaction that when Widmore said to Desmond in “Happily Ever After”, “…she will, simply put, destroy me,” he meant it perfectly literally. What a wife. Poor Charles.
3) …that it’s the reality wherein there is a greater consciousness and greater love that will remain, the sideways, and that the island reality, where there is a lot less of that, will evaporate (to dispute that element in John’s most recent post).
4) …that Watership Down is now more readily understandable as a metaphor for the Losties’ travels, particularly those of Sawyer and MIBLocke’s original group.
Also, we can now begin to see the relevance of VALIS (“Eggtown” and “The Other Woman” has anything to do with any of this. It has prominently in it the time travel via consciousness we’re seeing (or realities-travel) and the notions of replaying key intervals of reality.
Wouldn’t it be a wild twist if Locke is transformed from his NDE and became the replacement for Jacob
Boohoo: This Tuesday, we must wait two more hours (in Canada) for LOST!!
Why did Widmore associate with (and hire) the likes of Keamy?
I believe that Widmore is aware of the split timelines. The cause of the divergence aside, I believe he thinks that one time-line will continue and one time-line will “cease to be” contigent upon what will soon occur on island. I believe that other characters are slowly becoming aware. Who has the real power, means, and motive to try and manipulate the situation to their advantage. It didn’t take Desmond long to decide. BUT, as a major player which time-line is he going for? Widmore is rich and powerful in both. What would be his advantage of one time-line over the other? Each character, as they begin to realize that the future consequences of their actions will have an influence on the outcome, will have to make a choice.
my latest thoughts center on Elouise. And some point she was the leader and Richard her ‘advisor’. I wonder how and when she left the Island? Maybe the answer to That Question will be key.
One guess is that she was sent off Island by Jacob to start or find Satellite stations to communicate and/or transport information/agents to monitor the potential Candidates and/or widen the protective barrier to contain MiB should the Island be destroyed.
Richard represents Faith.
She represents Science.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Michael Emerson’s performance. The way he conveyed respect and genuine concern for the fallen Locke (note how he called him Mister Locke) was a strong counterpoint to how derisively and dismissively he could inflect the single syllable: John in our original timeline.
Thanx Ryan for sharing that song — really well-done and great lines! I trust you are restored to full good health? Happy Friday.
I do sense that both MIB and Jacob were both competing for John Locke as their vessel (JL was always so easily conned and sucked in previously, as was the case with his dad and that creepy cult bunch of people, to name two) — so I think it would be super interesting to have him being the key to switching sides, and encasing evil rather than releasing it…
Richard brought him significant items to view as a child, but when he chose the knife Richard knew he was “not ready yet” — just a thought…
omg — the last part of this discussion has gotten absolutely riveting! esp. the back-and-forth between @Coolpeace and @Harold! I love this stuff. You guys are great.
So, in other words… MIB and Jacob could be diametrically opposed parts of a whole — personifications of one being’s inner conflictions about humanity. The Jacob/MIB ‘protagonist’ in our Lost tale is having a debate within himself? And as it stands right now on our show, the side that believes humans are inherently evil has won out.
This is all very “Fight Club” (which is one my favorite movies).
Such interesting
the back-and-forth *about VALIS*
@Carol
I think the simplest answer is that if you start changing the lives of some people in 1970, as the bomb blast did, it will have a wide ripple effect. It will impact everyone who comes into contact with them. We have very little of Desmond’s back story (which I suspect has facts within it very relevant to the ultimate resolution), but there are lots of ways that the lives of the island folks being different could have impacted his life.
One shouldn’t look too closely at the logic of the alternative universe, though. Given how much was changed by the blast it makes no real sense that all the losties still ended up on flight 815 anyway unless there was some divine/supernatural influence at work. Their lives are too different from what they are in the primary time line.
@ KK : isn’t though … very interesting ….
whhhaaa hhaaa(diabolical laughter….) Or of course, it could be all wrong. I want to be in these writers’ heads – dammit.
@Coolpeace re: the diabolical laughter: exactly! 🙂 We are, in fact, more likely to be wrong than not, just by having discussed it (at least that’s how I often feel about this show). but it’s so much fun to talk about it!
I’d love to sit in on one of the writers’ brainstorming sessions.
@ KK : agreed !!
Thanks John.
Is there a week coming up that Lost isn’t on? Seems like there aren’t enough episodes till last till May 23.
Are theaters around any of you showing the finale. There are a couple near me doing it but I don’t want to go. It sounds like fun, but I don’t want some obnoxious movie patron ruining it for me.
Haven’t looked into it. I plan to watch in the comfort of my own home with a good 12-year-old scotch and the DVR so I can pause, rewind, savor and skip the commercial. 🙂
absolutely loved this episode, aside from any mythological stuff and reveals and all that, it felt like the episode where Hurley finally gets the respect he’s earned over the years. I actually cried at the scene where he finally gets his picnic with Libby.
If anyone is interested, here’s my latest bit of Lost artwork, Sayid this time, no access to a scanner so just took a couple of photos of the drawing, one close up on the face one wide.
http://i40.tinypic.com/oaoqwp.jpg and http://i44.tinypic.com/r1g3us.jpg
@ Caro, John : we get an episode next week and on April 27th ABC is reshowing Ab Aeterno. Then it is full on til May 23rd.
@ ALL :
For those of you interested : there will be on May 20th (Thursday night) Talk with Damon and Carlton ‘live’ presented in theatres. Ticket prices is $12.50. I”m going with a fellow Lost friend.
Here is the info:
TIMES TALKS LIVE – LOST
Click Here for Tickets
Run Time: 1.5 hours
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010. (8:00 PM ET/PT), 9:00 PM MT, 9:00 PM CT
Synopsis:
Don’t miss this compelling in-depth conversation with the masterminds behind ABC’s “Lost.†Hear executive producer Carlton Cuse and co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof reveal the challenges of crafting a finale that satisfies themselves as storytellers, and the show’s legion of fans. Interviewed by New York Times entertainment editor Lorne Manly. Live via satellite from The Times Center in New York for one night only, Thursday, May 20, exclusively in select movie theatres across the U.S. and Canada.
Fans can submit a question in advance for Mr. Cuse or Mr. Lindelof via email to timestalks@nytimes.com. Be sure to include your location (city, state/province) with your question. Note: only a limited number of questions received will be submitted to the moderator.
here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.whsites.net/talk/2010_live.html
@ all Montrealers : there are two theatres which will be showing this…
Cinéma Banque Scotia Montréal
977 Ste-Catherine West
and
Colisée Kirkland
3200 Rue Jean Yves
Kirkland
I’ll be at the one on the West Island.
MIB and Jacob being two parts of a whole feeds into my theory that Locke could switch over to the “good” side
Just finished watching the opener and episode 2 of Season 5 — it’s already so much richer in retrospect — Daniel has a sense of urgency, which is still the case — “What happened, happened” — obviously the flash sideways will soon be a blur — lots of irony and humor displayed by the writers too (re: frogurt; Hurley telling his mom the ‘truth’)
Love the eclectic (varied, stimulating) posts — such smart people here!
Thanx Keith for your great drawings — it is sad seeing Sayid these days
@Carol — it looks like the show might be taking a break the week of April 27th, and coming back May 4th. On the 27th, they will apparently show Ab Aeterno again. I’m getting this info from Lostpedia.
@KK – that makes me sad, a week without a new episode. What will I do? Guess it will be a test run for the rest of my life without a new lost episode. 🙁
@greenberry — re: your theory about Locke switching sides: totally! I’m secretly holding out for the same thing… I also think you make an excellent point about both MIB and Jacob “competing for John Locke as their vessel,” and the state of Locke before he became MIB. I think possibly he was so easily swayed b/c he was “neutral” and most receptive to the island. Once he was “ready” he was the perfectly neutral vessel to be taken over by either one… and as the pieces have fallen so far, the winner is MIB.
Or something like that.
@Carol — makes me sad, too. We’ll just both have to “train” for when there is no more Lost…. and then… WHAT ARE WE GOING TO WATCH or TALK ABOUT??
@KK – thanks for the heads up about “Lost” not airing on April 27. What will we do????
Along those same lines, I listened to the “Official Lost Podcast” last night, and I hadn’t realized this, but the finale is airing on a Sunday night, so mark your calendars.
@MT Breeze — Sunday, May *23*rd!! What do you think they’re trying to tell us?? 🙂 That *has* to be on purpose.
@KK – EXCELLENT observation about the show’s air date. I hadn’t even put the numbers together.
Your observation led me on a search for possible meaning, and I found the entry below on wikipedia:
“In the 23rd episode of the television show Lost, entitled Exodus, it is revealed that the male protagonist, Jack, was seated in seat 23B during the plane crash that precipitated the show’s plot. In the two subsequent episodes, which are considered parts 2 and 3 of Exodus, it is revealed that the plane took off from Gate 23 and that the main female protagonist, Kate, was taken captive for a 23,000 dollar bounty. The mysterious sequence of numbers on the side of the hatch also contains a 23. Throughout the entirety of Lost, numbers play an important role and are interconnected in a multitude of ways. The numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 are prominently featured.”
I had forgotten about Jack having been seated in seat 23B. I guess Rose and Bernard were also seated in row 23. Hhmmmm.
I agree…..it *has* to be on purpose. You all (everybody) make me think about this show in ways I never would have considered, and it heightens my awareness and enjoyment of the “Lost” experience. 🙂
I think somewhere in the next few episodes, probably the finale, Aaron and Ji Yeon will have a playdate.
I think you’re putting a bit too much stock in the date of the finale. It’s a Sunday because there’s 2 hours of recap, 2 hours of finale and 1 hour of Jimmy kimmel post lost live show. That’s 5 hours. Pretty hard to make 5 hours work on a weekday night.
As for the 23 rd specifically, idk. But the survivor finale is the 16th and they probably don’t wanna go up againt that.
The Desmond discussion has been great the past two weeks. I’ve read most of it, but don’t recall any mention of Desmond’s visions of Season 3. Desmond experiences a vision of Claire getting onto the helicopter with Aaron but also sees Charlie pressing a button and dying. Charlie ends up sacrificing himself to save Claire. Now that we are coming to the end of the series, this seems to be a large hole (or as we say in Hawaii, “puka”), in the story. I am hoping that this vision is realized, but at this point, I don’t know how this can happen given the state of mind of “creepy Claire” and the physical location of Aaron who is not on the island.
It’s a stretch, but one scenario could be that Desmond’s vision of Claire is actually something from the flash sideways time line rather than the island time line. This would imply that Desmond actually had a flash sideways vision in Season 3 which I suppose fits in the story since he was exposed to that large amount of energy/magnetism when they stopped pushing that button.
If anyone has a theory on Desmond’s vision I’d sure like to hear it. Thanks.
You know its funny. Nikita mentioned it above. When I saw the little boy, I thought that he looks like what a young Desmond would look like to me. I had also wondered if they changed the actor but they did not. My only hesitation is that I know what I looked like at that age, so wouldn’t Desmond? I also wonder if Widmore also brought Ji Yeon and Aaron with him to the island. Could they be hidden somewhere on the sub? That would be a kick.
I agree with Matt re: the date. But it has worked out well.
BTW, speaking of “23” it is Jack’s candidate number and the 23rd Psalm’s first line is “The Lord is my Shepard”.
I am sure we will see both young mystery boys in the finale episode, it will be the beginning of the end. We’ll see how it all started, similar to last year’s finale. Makes perfect sense.
@Everyone – Something to think about.
It’s an opinion that has been expressed many times here on this board that in the end, we’ll find out that MIB is actually the “good guy”, and Jacob represents the bad. Personally I’ve been bouncing back & forth on an opinion because as much as everything points to MIB being the baddy (dressed in black, kills people as Smokey, etc), we all know how the writers like to play with us and have twists and turns. But there is something else at play here that has been bouncing around in the old “gray matter” for quite some time now and I just haven’t figured out a way to put what I’m thinking into words. Going to give it a try and see if it strikes any chords with anyone else.
While I’m by no means a bible scholar, there are a couple verses in the Old Testament I remember from my Sunday school days that keep coming back to me. If there truly are any religious undertones to the LOST mythology (did anyone catch how many times the word “GOD” was used in last week’s episode?), I think I have a definitive answer to who is who regarding good/evil, God/Devil, Jacob/MIB.
Jeremiah 17 vs. 9 states: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” And this is followed by vs. 10 which says: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
Doesn’t this sound EXACTLY like what MIB/Smokey is saying and doing? MIB says everyone is corruptible by his or her very nature. Basically that is what God says in the Jeremiah 17:9. And MIB has admitted several times that “he” is Smokey. What does Smokey do? He scans people, and then either lets them live or kills them. In my mind a direct reference to what is said in Jeremiah 17:10.
We also have always been told, “The Devil is the great Deceiver”. Maybe what Jacob is saying about “containing evil on the island”, etc. is all a big lie. If MIB (God) is allowed to leave, it will actually be “good” that will spread to the rest of humanity.
So I guess I would like some comments on what others think. Does this hold any water on attempting to figure out which of the two is good or evil?
Sorry for the long post, just couldn’t figure out any other way of throwing out this thought in relation the two characters we have been talking about.
I’m beginning to think that all the characters will reduce to one person. And perhaps this person will be residing at our favorite psychiatric hospital.
We are all super eager to see this really cool story unfold and conclude, and to make sense of six seasons of LOST…
We are approaching the finishing line, so therefore hypothesizing and making predictions is more fun than ever now that the end is imminent
I personally am happy that there are so many perspectives from which to view the show… such as religious/spiritual or science-based — good vs. evil has been prominently highlighted, and now the writers have introduced the concept of “love” as in “seeing the truth” and being transformed to the real meaning of life
What to make of Jacob and MIB in respect to good and evil and choices ~ that is a huge hovering question — I do not believe, and I know many here concur, that LOST is handing us a specifically religious message — but rather tapping into religious symbolism as a way of showcasing larger universal themes of good and evil and love and chance and choice — these varying symbols (religious or otherwise) help us relate to the show and the themes better or at least help bring them into focus, different symbols and themes for different folks from different backgrounds and perspectives
So who is good and who is evil, or who is a human mix of both? This remains to be seen (we hope). I like the theory (reiterated above) that Jacob and MIB are one and the same, two sides of a coin, the battle that lies within each of us to choose right or wrong, positive or negative, etc.
I believe this is why our Losties have been so near and dear to our hearts… because they are flawed (as we are at home), and we are rooting for them to “see the light,” be more sensitive and kind, make better choices, and ultimately be redeemed and be better people (and live happily ever after = ha ha).
@LReen: If your theory held water, then it wouldn’t be able to have Smokey in it. Wow. Bad joke.
I think that’s a very interesting reference and certainly could apply to MIB, with his belief in human nature being intrinsically sinful. The “I the LORD search the heart” sounds a lot like the scanning of people that the smoke monster appears to do.
However, I’m not convinced that either Jacob or MIB is “good” or “evil.” I think that would reduce the whole show to a Biblical allusion, and I don’t think the writers would go there. I think it’s more about the debate on human nature in general. This would tie it in not only to religious ideas, but philosophical ones as well, as in the debate between John Locke and Thomas Hobbes about man’s state of nature. If this were the case, it would explain somewhat the philosopher names given to the characters.
I’ve been trying to figure out the significance of each of these names in relation to the characters. I thought it was interesting that Danielle Rousseau was so named, since Rousseau talks so much about man’s primitive state, and she certainly seemed to be living a wild, savage life. The name Jeremy Bentham is also still somewhat of a puzzle to me. I found Locke’s choice of this name to be very interesting, especially since he was supposedly the “man of faith.” Bentham, however, rejected any metaphysical ideas and believed in the cold, hard empiricism of science. Perhaps it was just because he was trying to do what was best for the common good, a utilitarian idea? Hume, likewise was a leading empiricist of his time.
Anyway, got a little sidetracked, but I think that all of religion and philosophy is truly grounded in trying to figure out our human nature and “what it’s all about.” That’s why there is such a heavy emphasis on both in the show, and it will all come down to that debate. Whether one side is good or evil is not a question that I think is going to be answered in this show.
Great reference though! Nice food for thought…
Good post Jen — the names chosen for characters must absolutely be a key to what the writers are trying to say
Just wondering how many more A’s I would have gotten in school if I had spent this much time figuring out homework. lol
For those of you that listen to the forward cabin it must be difficult to read all these theories because you must have some idea of how it will all end.
@Ryan – does all the forward cabin research change the experience a bit for you, does it pull you out of the story when you saw it filmed in real life? Once this is all over I am going to listen to some of the forward cabins just to see what they were like and how much was revealed.
@Jen – maybe it will all come down to the Oceanic 6 deciding whether they they want to protect themselves and each other vs. saving the world at large. Individual choices rather than group choices. In that sense you are completely correct. Is this all about human nature and the choices we make in life (and death)?