Next: “Across the Sea” (Episode 6-15)

The “LOST” creative team took a huge risk this week, taking a sharp detour this late in the season and unabashedly plunging into fantastical mythology. And, given the payoff from “Ab Aeterno” earlier this season, we give them a great deal of credit for doing so. But “Across the Sea” seemed to fall far short of that ambition. It was a grand tale, but strayed into melodrama, and told us little that we hadn’t already been told. The good-evil polarization that had thus far developed with Jacob and the Man in Black became ambiguous again. And the one answer to a long-standing question was both overplayed, and underwhelming.

Last week’s episode put into stark relief the fact that our collective hearts are still closely tied to the timeline we’ve followed since season one, no matter how clever or resonant the flash-sideways exercise has turned out to be. Similarly, “Across the Sea” tried to give us insight into the two sides of an epic battle in which our survivors are apparently just pawns… and mostly convinced us that we’d prefer to follow the story of those pawns, rather than pick apart the game.

Yes, there’s something mystical on the island that connects to the very essence of man, or perhaps life. Yes, harnessing or exploiting that power inevitably drives man to destroy itself with greed. And yes, the island and this power has had a series of protectors, and a dark side that cannot be allowed to leave. Seeing all these things explored (and explained) on screen was interesting. But feels unnecessary. Only time will tell whether “Across the Sea” will be a key part of understanding the whole of “LOST,” or a curious distraction.

The character of Mother says that answers only bring more questions… a fact she embodies herself. She, too, was looking for a worthy successor, somewhere among the people who come to the island. What better candidates are there than innocent newborns? She raises two, chooses one, and welcomes her own death once the mantle has been passed. So we’ve now been shown the end of the preceding cycle, and know that “LOST” is leading up to the next transition. So where did Mother come from? And where did this eternal cycle begin? I guess, like a circle, there simply may be no such thing.

And the all important rules? The emphasis on the games that Jacob and the Man in Black made up tonight suggests that “the rules” are not rules imposed upon them by some higher power or construct, but some arbitrary set of restrictions they’ve set for each other.

After tonight, I’m no longer confident we’ll get a coherent explanation for the ultimate nature and overall purpose of The Island. Though “Across the See” makes me think I might prefer things left unexplained.

We did learn that Jacob and Man in Black were brothers, as many had suspected. And the rivalry and ultimate act of fratricide echoes the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. Jacob, the older brother, kills the Man in Black, who was the favored son. (Mother tells the Man in Black that he will never have to worry about death as a child, and she does not deny to Jacob that she loves the Man In Black more.) And we did enjoy the limited scenes the adult brothers had, which made up for the unfortunate reliance on child actors to carry the first half of the episode.

But after the events of “Across the Sea,” its hard not to again feel sympathy for the Man In Black, and question the assertions of Jacob. The Man in Black only wanted to leave the island, to leave the woman who killed his mother behind, and return to his true home, among people. Meanwhile, Jacob was a hapless mama’s boy whose worldview, however validated by Man in Black, was inherited from a woman who basically settled for him and who denied him any choice in succeeding her.

It was nice to learn that the Man in Black was the architect behind the Frozen Donkey Wheel, but now we’re wondering who eventually finished building it? When the wheel was imaged by the DHARMA Initiative in “Because You Left,” was it already assembled? At first I thought DHARMA must have connected the dots that the Man in Black left behind. But then I remembered that the wheel was working when Locke turned it, which was much, much, earlier. (Before, even, the well had been dug?) And why was the underground chamber freezing cold when Ben visited in 2004?

And we did like how “Across the Sea” suggests that “The Purge” of Season 3 was also part of the unending cycle of life on The Island. Perhaps the DHARMA Initiative, like the Man in Black’s people, were getting too close to “the light,” and had to be violently exterminated.

But did Mother destroy the village and slaughter its residents? As well as fill in a deep well and underground excavation? All before the Man in Black woke up? The moment when she slams his head into the wall of the well was violent enough that I could believe she has some kind of superhuman strength. But the scale of the destruction is so great, I couldn’t help think the smoke monster was involved.

But the smoke monster was created when Jacob cast the Man in Black into the light. Right? It somehow released his inner, darker, flawed essence, but left his body behind. A body that provided the form in which the Man in Black appeared (such as in the conversation with Jacob on the beach), until John Locke’s body arrived. And a body that Jacob could recover and leave in the cave with Mother.

And voila, there we have Adam and Eve.

As “LOST” reveals go, we have to be honest: learning the identity of the skeletons in the cave from Season 1 felt pretty hollow. To be fair, though, this is largely due to factors outside the show. It was one of the mysteries explicitly described as key, a reveal that would prove that the creators and writers of “LOST” had the endgame in mind when they introduced them in 2004. That they were a character introduced in Season 5 and his mother? It doesn’t give me the reassurance I was expecting. Locke described them as Adam and Eve. Jack said they were a female and male, and that they’d been there 40 or 50 years. We had time travel. We lost several couples. It would have been just as satisfying had they turned out to be Rose & Bernard, after all.

The anvilicious insertion of clips from “House of the Rising Sun” made the moment even more frustrating. Seriously, if you were a latecomer to “LOST” who didn’t know why it was significant that black and white stones were placed with two bodies laid to rest in a cave… would you have missed much without the flashback?

Last week’s episode felt like an episode of the last season of “LOST.” This week’s episode felt like a distraction. A sometimes beautiful, certainly daring tangent, but one that — at least at first blush — we feel like we could have lived without. We have only one more episode to get us back on track, and a series finale to wrap things up. We’re nervous, but still hopeful. We still love “LOST,” golden glowing caves and all.

  • The Man in Black’s lack of a name was already absurd coming into “Across the Sea.” When Claudia says she only picked one name, the whole conceit collapsed into ridiculous. Now we’re hoping he doesn’t have a name at all. It’s hard to imagine any name being satisfactory.
  • Seeing Mother smash Claudia’s skull moments after she gave birth was a shock. And, of course, both Jacob and the Man in Black end up getting raised by someone who wasn’t their mother, and both were clearly shaped in their own way by hardcore “mommy issues.”
  • Interesting choice to transition from Latin to English fairly quickly during the episode. It wasn’t a “Hunt for Red October” transition, but still noticeable. Especially when Mother switches back to Latin when she pours the wine for Jacob. Was that to show she was speaking a different language that Jacob didn’t understand?
  • Mother was tired and said her time was over, and handed things over to Jacob before he was ready. We can only assume she’d been the island’s protector for decades, if not centuries. But what brings about this inevitable decision to find a successor and check out? When Jacob let Ben stab him, was he also grateful for being released of this burden?
  • Mother distrusts people, and denies that there’s anything beyond the island. Why? It seems almost as if her kidnapping of the twin babies was part of a weird experiment to see if people could be raised absent evil? After all, they had to ask, “What is dead?” But even without the influence of people, whom the Man in Black lived among, Jacob exhibited jealousy and rage.
  • Mother tells the boys that she’s made it so they “can never hurt each other.” Except Jacob easily pummeled the Man in Black as a kid, and ultimately brought about the Man in Black’s death.
  • I’m not entirely sure why the golden glowing cave was so hard to find, yet so easy to find. I think we’re supposed to think that its waters are the waters of The Temple, which was probably built to keep people away. Meanwhile, the specific well (of many wells) that Man in Black worked with will end up beneath the Orchid. We did get a little “LOST” geography lesson tonight, whether or not it makes sense.
  • If Jack is indeed Jacob’s successor, who will administer his little cup of wine?
  • Why was Jacob unable to see the vision of his dead mother, while the Man in Black could talk with and follow her? She says the reason is because she’s dead, but that’s not exactly an answer. Now that the Man in Black is a disembodied smoke monster, he certainly has communion with the dead. But did this ability predate his transformation?
  • We were thrilled when we first heard the news that Allison Janey was cast for this episode. And given some of the lines her character had to deliver, its clear the role couldn’t go to a lightweight. (Frankly, the dialogue was often too heavy for even her.) Still, as an actress, she’s almost larger than life, and we have to admit it was a little distracting. It was the closest thing to “stunt casting” we’ve had on “LOST,” and we’re glad they didn’t make a habit of it.

We’d love to hear what you thought of the episode. Please comment below! Or, email us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or leave a brief (about a minute) voicemail on the LOSTline at (815) 310-0808.

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651 Responses to Next: “Across the Sea” (Episode 6-15)

  1. DesmondsPen says:

    OK, I want to read all the comments, but I have to get some sleep before work! Sorry if this has been said…

    I think it wasn’t the wine that made Jacob the Island protector but the blessing she said over it. Otherwise, why would Jacob have given MiB the wine bottle if he had any idea he’d need it to lock (sorry for the pun) the next candidate into the job.

    Notice how the brothers were 42 when this happened?!

    Oh, and tonight’s Supernatural had a LOT of LOST coincidents…Mark Pellegrino, battling brothers, eternal struggles, a writer/ creator dealing with fans whose questions won’t all be answered…hmmmmm.

  2. Chasemore in Auckland says:

    @Coolpeace.

    You are certainly not wrong. My reaction is definitely coloured by the fact that May 23rd is on its way. Because I am worried that D&C don’t have any more time to explain (I use that word instead of answer – it feels more apt) the mysteries I have invested so much time in trying to figure out.

    So to answer the question you ask – if I didn’t know the end was coming, I wouldn’t have reacted like I did. In fact I probably would have thought it was a really cool episode. When I saw FBYE I loved theorising around who ‘Ring Lady’ might be, and about how she seemed to have such powers could be in 2 places at once.

    The thing is – I knew that these things would be explained. Voila – 2 years later we got The Constant.

    The problem is with this episode, is there will be no ‘the constant’. We can wonder all we like about who “earth mother” is, or how she seemed to have much powers. The problem is there isn’t time for the equivalent of ‘the constant’ to conclude the mystery. They have literally given us a mystery there is no answer for.

    Imagine that they never explained the ring lady, or even went back to Desmonds story at all?

    I could be wrong, and I really hope I am. I don’t hate lost or D&C or anything like that – I just didn’t find this episode satisfying at all.

    @ Steven in Bathurst – I loved your post, but in the spirit of healthy debate, I’ll try and explain my feelings a little more.

    I do know that every story has to start somewhere – but I guess this starting point seemed a little arbitrary. I’ve spent countless hours on forums and boards theorizing about Jacob, who he is, what his powers are, ow he got them and what the rules are – now it looks like we won’t ever be told anything other than – a mysterious woman gave them to him.

    Now, fair enough, it’s D&C’s story, and they can decide what the important things are to tie up in the final few hours of the show. But I can’t help mourning for all the hundreds of hours I’ve spent working on a puzzle there is no answer for.

    I want my $495 back!!! (Not really, but it was a nice callback to the blonde joke..)

  3. Passrider says:

    Not sure if anyone has said this in this chain or not…

    When Ben was shot by Sayid as a child, he was taken to the temple by Richard. Just before he disappeared, Richard said something like, “he will be changed forever”.

    Could this mean that the Smoke Monster’s spirit now permeates Ben? Reading some of the earlier messages in this chain make me think that MiB and Ben are on the same “wavelength”.

  4. Dave582 says:

    Logically I want to question everything – this episodes placement this late in the season, checklist-esque answering of questions, lack of naming the MIB, and the unnecessary flash to Jack and Kate.

    Despite these issues, I’ll refrain because I have faith that Damon and Carlton needed to give us this episode in order to deliver the best possible ending to the show. I’m excited for the podcast :).

  5. agrarianhistory says:

    Having just re-watched the episode after being mortified the first time and after having absorbed some of the vitriolic and also constructively critical reaction, I’d like to offer a bit of a defense or, at least, to try to put this episode in a larger perspective.

    First, I should say that on re-watching much of what was bad remained bad, and much of that had to do with execution: the amazingly cheesy yellow light, which was made all the cheesier when it was first shown as framed with the red roses (why not just keep it the same white light we saw when Ben turned the wheel); a surprisingly awful job in the musical scoring department: there was just far too much music, it was far too swelling, and it heightened dialogue that was often itself too cheesy-heavy; the lack of a true commitment to treating this visit to the past with the respect they did to in ab aeterno to the notion of a period piece: they would have been better advised to sticking to having the mother and boys and perhaps even the adult brothers speaking in latin (which would have not only been bold but also distanced us from the cheesiness of the highly metaphorical dialogue and overwrought Allision Janney-ness) and they would have been better advised to not make some of the sets–like the cave–look so fake.

    As to my defense of the episode:
    1. We all need to realize that what we saw, in a way, helped to redeem something we have all wanted redeemed: namely, the choices and decisions of our main characters. If they have been pawns in Jacob and MIB’s game, what we learned in “Across the Sea” is that there is nothing all that said and done about this given that evidently Jacob and his brother were pawns themselves.
    2. With this latter point in mind, the failure to “give us answers” to the questions the Mother’s character raised should be seen as a blessing. This is because what her character illustrates is that she was someone operating without a real plan and only really on a sort of faith every bit as much as Ben turned out to be. And what that goes to show is that the same is true of Jacob. He is, in a very real way, not an omniscient being but someone flying by the seat of his pants. And to that extent, even if “The Candidate” put to rest the question of unLocke’s being the true antagonist, it doesn’t mean his whole *way of reasoning* is suspect. His reasoning is, in fact, the same as the brother’s. And, therefore, Jacob and his brother as well as Jacob and the Man in Black have a conflict that is organized around Faith vs. Reason. And that conflict mirrors the thematic of Destiny vs. Choice. Whether there is a truly evil antagonist in the plot or not (which “The Candidate” shows there now is) doesn’t mean we should have wanted those shades of ambiguity to retreat or go away. That, afterall, is the very point of the show: to highlight how those forces are two sides of a coin and we all choose to have faith like we have faith that the choices we make in its light are the right/guided ones.
    3. Given that we learned that Jacob (like his Mother) is not an omniscient being but just someone who got chosen by a woman who really didn’t know if he was fated to be chosen or if she just chose to choose him, something we gain is for the island to have again been restored to absolute prominence. Nothing is bigger than the island. The island is, in other words, the ultimate embodiment of the broad themes running through the show and our favorite characters lives as we’ve seen them. Those broad themes are not a function of these two other characters, Jacob and MIB, who we then have to lament as having been randomly introduced so late in the game. Just like the onion was peeled back on the Lock vs. Widmore conflict only for us to have learned that it was not the be all and end all once we saw Jacob and MIB at the end of Season 5 this episode has again pulled that worrying rug out from under the narrative. Lost is not the story of Jacob and MIB. Lost is the story of people navigating what it means to think, reason, and choose vs. what it means to take leaps of faith (and the whole gammut in between ranging from having faith enough to reason and choose to choosing and reasoning that there is a need to take a leap of faith).
    4. The same goes for the ‘rules’. Yes the explanation was a bit weak/arbitrary as Ryan says in his write up. But, on the other hand, it also sort of highlights that having and abiding rules is as much a function of choosing them/thinking that there should be some as anything else.
    5. The light was cheesy, special effects wise, indeed. And it seemed to add no more than we already know had they just left the “mystical specialness” to be housed, instead, in the island itself. But we must remember boring down further from ‘the island’ to its ‘light’ served several important plot functions:
    a.) it gave us some understanding of where the smoke monster came from; and one suspects that this may become important in the few hours to come; the mother in what was a cheesy bit of dialogue that perhaps can be redeemed if we look at it as metaphorical speech pitched to the level of the children she was talking to (rather than as speech that was talking down to us as the audience) says the light is “life, death, and rebirth.” Perhaps Jacob’s choice to throw his brother down there separated out the ‘death’ from the light. And that once this happened the game his mother was playign of ‘protecting’ the island changed somewhat. Because protecting the island came to mean not just shielding its ‘light’ from others but, more specifically, making sure that part of the light that was sucked out and turned into black smoke (the source of death) does not leave the island and go ‘across the sea’.
    b.) the light also, of course, confirmed ‘the rules’: b/c jacob doesn’t kill his brother but makes the worse error of sending him into the light and giving its death component a body and release as the black smoke;
    c.) the light now stands confirmed as some sort of unified phenomenon that explains not only ‘what’ the island is, where the smoke monster came from, and why the candidates must protect the island, but it also unifies the “mystical”/spiritual element of the show with the ‘science fiction’ element. Because this light is also the island’s electromagnetism. And the electromagnetism is what “people with their reasoning” have been, evidently, since Jacob’s time been trying to build contraption in order to harness. And it puts Desmond’s ability to withstand the electromagnetism into a new perspective. And, finally, since the electromagnetism is the link to the show’s take on travelling about in space-time (through time travel and alternate univeses) another linkage is cemented between the ‘mystical’ aspects of the island and its instrumental value as a tool for science (fictional) engineering.

    Hempstead, NY

  6. Michael says:

    Something I haven’t heard discussed yet…
    The men on the island came with claudia which means that MIB and Jacobs father (Claudia”s husband) was likely among them unless he died in the ship wreck. Though why MIB never mentioned or thought of it I don’t know.
    So did Fake mom kill their father when she went all smokey and destroyed the village?

  7. Carol from Boston says:

    @Coolpeace – Of course! How could I forget Ben killing Locke. This episode has me overthinking everything. Thanks for your help and insight.

    @LR – It sounded like she said “nothing” to me.

  8. gene e says:

    Ah, how did I get to the island? Why is my last episode titled “The revenge of the Red Shirts”? These questions will be answered in a flash-in-the-panways. Tonight.

  9. Aaron from perth says:

    Man season 6 is becoming by far the worst season of lost. I say that and i am like losts biggest fan. I even went to hawaii to see the island for real!
    Jacob is protecting the island because it has a glowing hole!?!
    Come on, did J.J Abrams and all the writers string us along for 6 seasons of theories for that? Oh and dont go down the hole, because you will turn into a smoke monster. Yawn!!!! Where did the creativness go? Give me back the person who came up with a man living in a hatch pressing a button ever 108 minutes. I want him to write the finale!

  10. Lorne says:

    One of those little things that makes Lost awesome – the use of the song “Beyond the sea” going back to season 1 or 2, and then having it being used as a main motivation of the main plotline in the overall storyline.
    I don’t care if it was figured out at the start, or a neat way to figure out loose ends, but that’s pretty cool.

  11. John says:

    @ Aaron from perth

    ::Oh and dont go down the hole, because you will turn into a smoke monster. Yawn!!!! Where did the creativness go? Give me back the person who came up with a man living in a hatch pressing a button ever 108 minutes. I want him to write the finale!::

    So, you are happily on board with the idea that if they don’t push a button every 8 minutes massively bad stuff will happen, but you “Yawn” and are cynical about there being a life-force under the island? That life force likely ties right into the electromagnetism that necessitated the button that you think is so brilliant.

    I can see being cynical about both (and giving up on lost for something enriching like Cougar Town), but I’m not sure how you draw a distinction between the two. Both require a willingness to embrace scifi/fantasy. Both have about the same plausibility. Explain.

  12. Lost in NC says:

    Wanted to pile on yet another question raised by this episode. Jacob throws MIB into the well of souls so to speak and comes out as the smoke monster then immediately finds his body and lays him to rest with mother in the caves. However, from the season 5 finale we are led to believe that Jacob and brother have regular interactions with MIB in his human form. What was this first interaction like? Was Jacob shocked and surprised or did he expect to see him return? He couldn’t see his dead mother so I’m guessing it would be an unexpected event. Did MIB explain his transformation? Did he pass along any information about mother (most notably that she, as I believe, was like he is now: an all powerful pillar of smoke yet trapped on the island for some purpose)? Seems to be a lot more to Jacob’s story that we don’t know yet.

  13. Carol from Boston says:

    @Aaron – only a couple of episodes left, and I hear next week’s episode is great. Instead of fighting it, just go along for the ride. I’m frustrated too, but am willing to them a chance to show me that this week’s episode will mean something in the end. The light looked pretty fake and a bit lame so I can see where you are coming from.

    I still think Jacob is stupid, who goes blindly living thousands of years to protect something when he was only given a minimall explanation of what the light really is and what it does. I still don’t like him. Like Locke, he is a sucker who just wants approval, he wants it from his mother and Locke wanted it from his dad.

    I am not on team smokey but I do think of the two brothers, MIB was the one I liked the most. I never saw evil in him, just a frustrated guy who had his whole manipulated for him by a crazy woman. How much of smokey is MIB I don’t know.

    I think this week was the mythology episode and from now we’ll get character driven episodes with a little mythology thrown in.

    If we can assume that Damon and Carlton are going to address what is important to the losties. Then we can probably come up with some of the questions they will address.

    1. Why are they candidates?
    2. How can they get home?
    3. What is the smoke monster really and how can they defeat it?
    4. How is the electromagnetism important?
    5. Why is Desmond special and what can he do?
    6. What is the flash sideways and how far back does it go?
    7. Do they destroy the island or protect it?

    Those are the questions that I feel need to be answered for the people on the island. If I was Jack I would be asking those questions.

  14. docjkm says:

    @Chasemore = I disagree. We watch mysteries, read mysteries, listen to mysteries to be intrigued. We get up every morning for the same reason. “Without an answer, a mystery is simply a lot of stuff that happens.” – Well, yes, brutha, that’s also called ‘Life’. And set-ups with clear answers are morality plays. There are plenty of examples, no? You’re a Lost fan, buck up! You and we have not been ‘working towards’ something for the last 5 years, we’ve been on a trip, and unfortunately it’s coming to an end. Do you go on a great vacation so you can work towards the end? That IS what you are saying, brutha. Sorry, I’ve been warning about this since last season.

    @Coolpeace – Amen, Brutha! See below.

    Read Steven in Bathurst (May 13th, 2010 at 3:29 am) post
    Read Coolpeace (May 13, 2010 at 1:39 pm) post
    Then come back here (please)

    Hey, y’all everybody!

    I watched a clip yesterday, Hurley confronting Desmond when he returns from Hydra (without Charlie). Damned if I wasn’t crying. What a long strange trip it’s been.

    We’ve all taken vacations. Good, way out of the comfort zone vacations, that spark and illuminate, and though you wish you would never leave you know you will? Take a week, or more, but a week is enough. Along about Weds. (assuming weekend to weekend frame), but certainly by Thurs. you realize you’re on the downside, it’s going to end. Try as you might, thoughts of leaving creep in, and you ignore and fight them, wanting to prolong the otherworldly experience you have been enjoying. But, you begin counting down nonetheless.

    Lost has been our vacation. An otherworldly existence we have all savored. (If you’re reading this, 99% chance I’m talking to you.) No, we don’t want it to end, but it will. And we’re counting down. But, that robs us of the enjoyment of these final days/hours. Further, we’re burdened with expectations of things we wanted to happen/get done on our trip.

    A good story has a definable beginning, middle, and end, eh brutha? Not all, and not necessarily. As I and many have pointed out (and this is truly key) though we all have been taught this, and led to believe it as an inviolable truth, Lost ain’t following the rules. Closure may be good with some things (YOU fill in the blank), but tidying up an experience, making it pat, just is not LIVING.

    For anyone thinking that the justification, the vindication, for enjoying this experience is to be provided with closure (answers), you are missing out. If you go on vacation so you can get things done, you are missing out. If you think your life will finally provide you with the answers you sought all along, you will realize the answers are only the ones that come to YOU, through you. So it is, and will be, with Lost. My god, we have been blessed (and thanks to DVD/BluRay, will continue to be, like a video of your ENTIRE vacation). But there is nothing like the real thing, the first time through, and bruthas and sistas, this is it. Don’t cheat yourselves, don’t miss it.

    O’Rourke’s First Law: Disappointment is a function of expectation. So, theorists, expect to be disappointed. If not, we are not watching the same series. Thank our writers (who have correctly been pointed out as being the most accessible and giving in the history of tv, to the extent that Darleton have Become a character in this experience) for providing something that will not bow to cheap pandering, will challenge, and will do it with rare intelligence, wit, and an appreciation for the really valuable things in life. Love, life, parenting, betrayal, trust, belief, reasoning, death, devotion, and loyalty. Holy Freakin Crap, what a laundry list!

    We ALL have enjoyed this trip. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. Remember what you have enjoyed, why you came. Remember it owes you nothing outside of that, that to want more than the enjoyment is to be selfish and greedy. And petty. The answers to the questions are beyond the ken of all, and THAT is precisely what makes the mystery so bold and compelling.

    When I started this trip, I thought ‘Gilligan’s Island meets Survivor’, then Sawyer guns down a charging polar bear and I was dismissive… for a moment. The thought of that polar bear burrowed into me and… well, here we all are. And I thank each and every one of you for sharing this, for in the sharing is the full enjoyment of any experience. This has been truly wonderful.

    But, it ain’t over. I am waiting for Ben and Desmond, Sawyer and Jack, Kate and her gun, and freakin Hurley to the end. These characters are now a part of my life. No matter the ending, I am well satisfied with where we have been, and for having a new appreciation for what I really CAN want and expect when I turn on the TV. Thank you Carleton and Damon, brave men in an industry so callow. Namaste.

    See you in another life, brutha. This one has rocked!

  15. Reg in WA says:

    AD 23 — lots of intriguing resonance with the 23 enigma.

    Remember how Hurley wanted to re-write Star Wars? More proof that “Hurley Is Us.”

    Idea for a new “reality show”:

    A bunch of LOST fans are locked in a room and argue about how this or that episode met or did not meet their expectations and how it really should have been written. They go on and on about how betrayed they feel by those writers/directors/producers, all the while obsessing over every word and visual image that they produce for 6 years. I am guessing that they end up killing each other. Maybe that room slowly fills with water.

  16. Embie says:

    @ Michael 6:49 5/13 – I puzzled a little also about the whereabouts of Claudia’s lover/husband, father of the twins. Was he at the encampment of the others? But she did not seem at all concerned about his whereabouts. Some prominent twins in ancient Greco-Roman myth were fathered by gods who mated with mortal women. Notables: Zeus in the form of a swan rapes Leda, who gives birth to the twins Castor and Pollux (constellation Gemini) as well as Helen (of Troy – and we know how that ended). Also, Romulus and Remus twins born to a Vestal Virgin who was impregnated by Mars. I think I’ve got that right.

    @Reg – hadn’t thought of that – 23 AD and candidate 23

  17. Carol from Boston says:

    @Reg – I like your reality show, but it will only work if we can have Lost’s life and death theme music in the background.

    Anyway like Doc says it’s been a fun ride and as a tweak on Lost’s theme “Whatever happens, happens”

    @Doc – you’re right, I won’t be locked into getting answers but hey if they decide to answer some of them, I won’t stop them. 😉

  18. I think smokey existed before jacobs brother was thrown into the gold water. Just like how Locke’s body was vacant of life when it was returned to the island, so was MiB’s. Smokey just took the form of the dead body.

  19. Amaia says:

    Many teories, many questions and jus a couple of episodes left. Some people above talked about Smokey. Well, I also found strange that after Allison Janney pushed Titus Welliver against the wall, he woke up out of the weel and everybody was dead. Was “Mother” the black smoke? I don’t think it, because if she was, why didn’t she killed all that people when they arrived or they started to build the weel?

    I read some minutes ago that some people noticed after Smokey went out of the cravess of the source, the light had gone, did somebody notice it? Maybe it was just a visual effect becasue if the light wasn’t there Locke couldn’t have seen it in season two.

    I also read there’s controversy about Adam & eve because in season one Jack said their clothes indicate the skeletons had eben there for about 40 or 50 years. Do you mind that fact? I would be fine if they didn’t explain anything about the skeletons, I still wanting major revelations like what’s the matter with the pregnant women and how Smokey was trapped under Dharmaville. I need to know both things.

    Well, let’s enjoy the final episodes.

  20. Carol from Boston says:

    @amaia- I looked for the light going out when smokey comes out and it does turn dark.

    Wait a minute if smokey can’t travel out of water why was he “born” from water? Plus didn’t Ben pull a drain with water in it to summon Smokey?

    Okay here’s a question kind of like “What came first the chicken or the egg?” “What came first the existence of smokey or MIB?” Was there a smokey before him? I really think Eve was some form of smokey, one woman couldnt’ kill so many people and burn so many things without some super power.

  21. Carol from Boston says:

    @Ryan and Jen – Good luck with this week’s podcast, you’ll need it! There is so much to discuss and so many good comments on this board.

  22. John says:

    @ Carol ::Okay here’s a question kind of like “What came first the chicken or the egg?” “What came first the existence of smokey or MIB?” Was there a smokey before him? I really think Eve was some form of smokey, one woman couldnt’ kill so many people and burn so many things without some super power.::

    I still think that the creation of a smokey is what happens when people enter the cave and/or light. It is the fate worse than death Mother spoke of when she warned Jacob not to go into the cave. I think that MIB was transformed into a smoke monster, but there could be others if others went into the cave. Mother probably was one, and another could be created. Our current smokey has so many of the characteristics of MIB that its hard to understand what it was prior to the time he entered the cave if it had already existed. I think one could have a benevolent smoke monster if the person who entered the cave was not filled with rage and resentment, as MIB was over his Mother’s lies and Jacob tossing him into the cave.

  23. DonatusfromNJ says:

    First time poster: Everything worth saying about this ep. has already been said. A few comments as the end nears.

    I. They always follow up a lousy episode with a really good one. Always. I’ve given up so many times, but hung in because of a great f/u ep that gets everything back on track. (EX: a really bad episode preceded the tailies march to the main camp)

    II. There have been other really bad episodes of lost. Jack’s tattoos comes to mind as a true horror. This week’s episode was average at best – at least it related to the overall story.

    III> I don’t listen to a word of what those two clown writers, Carlton and the younger punk say. It’s clear that they had no clue where this thing was going the first three seasons. After the network gave the show an end date – they tried piecing it together. For that they’ve done a decent job. Making these guys into a combo of Shakespeare and Gandhi is laughable. Nothing more than two geeky guys that got very very lucky w/ this show. Same goes for the other alleged creative genius (forgot his name). He did star trek.

    IV. Best seasons were 1 and 5.

    V. I know that the show lost a lot of viewers in season 5 with the time travel stuff but I accepted it. Seemed plausible. Season six just started out on the wrong foot. After the big bomb went off, it was as if the writers forgot about season 5’s big finale. No real f/u at all. What happened on the 1977 island after the bomb. Radzinsky? Horace? Chang? etc… The worst of it was that the losties were somehow zapped back to the present. This was not plausible. Issue forgotten. Give me a break. They lost major credibility w/ me on that one.

    VI> Be it as it may, i’ve stuck w/ it for all six season thru good and bad. Thank god there is no season 7. There is nothing more to say. Time to end it. Overall I’d give it a B+.

  24. Carol from Boston says:

    @John – I like your theory. 🙂 I felt like she had entered there at one time as well.

    I am kind of mad at myself, I was reading the eonline story about Lost Live last night and there were some mild spoilers in it. It didn’t have a spoiler warning so I didn’t know there would be any. Some comments about upcoming guest stars etc. Don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled, I stopped reading it when I realized what happened.
    But it is a little too late now.

  25. John says:

    @ Carol. Without spoiling us, did it at least sound interesting?

  26. Will says:

    @docjkm wrote:

    “Thank our writers (who have correctly been pointed out as being the most accessible and giving in the history of tv, to the extent that Darleton have Become a character in this experience) for providing something that will not bow to cheap pandering, will challenge, and will do it with rare intelligence, wit, and an appreciation for the really valuable things in life. Love, life, parenting, betrayal, trust, belief, reasoning, death, devotion, and loyalty. Holy Freakin Crap, what a laundry list!”

    1. You realize this is a television show right?
    2. At what point in the series did you realize that you were in love with Carlton and Damon? I don’t know if you can have both, so which one do you prefer?
    3. What will you do once you wake up Monday the 24th and realize your life is over as you know it? Will you find the strength to move on?

    Fun Fact: These guys who you worship have a good pedigree. Carlton Cuse’s previous work was on Nash Bridges. That’s right, a show that was considered Lost before Lost came along. And Damon Lindelof? He did the memorable series Crossing Jordan – you know the show about ‘A “sexy, brilliant” Boston medical examiner… Despite a checkered career, Dr. Jordan Cavannaugh goes above and beyond to solve cases!’.

    So don’t worry Doc, the guys who previous brought us Nash Bridges and Crossing Jordan cannot POSSIBLY screw up the finale. Right?

  27. Doug says:

    Mattfromnd Says: “I’m done. They bit off way more than they could chew and ended up giving us pure crap answers like that. I lost all my faith in the writers. DONE. I’ll read about how it ends and then decide if I want to watch the final episodes. ”

    Yup pretty much right there as well. I feel deeply unfulfilled and very frustrated, that was no answer at all and even worse really makes no sense.
    I thought that was set in 23AD? if so how is it that Jack says Adam and Eve had been there around 50 years, 1954?
    That is only a very small point but i can’t be bothered picking the rest apart. Maybe they can still pull it together but i have no real hope they can at this point…………such a shame.

  28. Embie says:

    May 23, AD 23, candidate 23 – ah, if only we could have 23 more episodes!

  29. gene e says:

    It’s a stand-off at the plane. Widmore is waving a pylon around. Hurley is throwing ash everywhere. MIL is circling both camps. Things are about to get real ugly real soon. BOOM-BOOM! My arrival is announced! Twin trails of fire mark the spot where my DeLorean entered Island airspace. As I touch down a discrete distance away, MIL is already half way to the DeLorean. I just have enough time to unbuckle, grab my backpack, and make my exit before MIL is upon me. He brushes past me, gets in the DeLorean, and swings the gull-wing door closed. I start running! “Get DOWN, GET DOWN EVERYBODY!” The Delorean is nearly vaporized in the subsequent explosion. I’m thrown to the ground, singed and blistered. As the smoke rises, one particularly menacing tentacle detaches itself from the pyre and makes it’s way toward me. I am lifted up off the ground and held there while I look at HIM and he slowly scans me. I’m lowered slowly to the ground, he glides smoothly away and takes his place with the others who are picking their jaws up off the ground. I tell them, “Hurry, we done have much time!”. And THUD.

    I tell them I’ll look the plane over to make sure it’s safe. Once alone onboard, I open my backpack and remove a flux capacitor, a digital readout, and a Mr. Fusion. After installing the components in a hidden location, I set the date for the exact time season 6 went into the flash sideways. I set it to trigger the flux capacitor at 288 mph. I go out and tell them they are good to go. That music starts playing. I ask Kate if she will stay with me. She tells me I had her the minute she heard the producers had hired me to write, co-star, and direct them out of this debacle.

    Flashforward to me and Kate, on the Elizabeth, sailing away from the sinking island toward a beautiful tropical sunset. And THUD!

    CUT and PRINT! That’s a wrap!

    Then someone walks up at the finale premier party and says, “But I though Kate was on the plane.” They’re hoping to catch me in an EPIC FAIL moment. But, I reply, “Kate is a twin!”

  30. bon from oregon says:

    This is my first post ever. Ihave read alot of the comments,but not all 400+.Sorry if these ideas have been discussed already. Did richard drink the wine in Ab Aeterno?. Ithink that MIB will use the FDW to leave the island. I think that desmond may have absorbed the light when he turned the failsafe key.
    which is how he survived widmores test. also adam and eves clothing seemed to decompose at an exetremely slow rate because they wrer made from natural woven fibers wich lasts alot longer,And from the islands properties.

  31. Carol from Boston says:

    @Doug – Damon and Carlton have admitted that at the time they introduced Adam and Eve there was no back story for them. So that is why the dates don’t match up. But it would have been nice if they had found a way to make it work with someone else being adam and eve. We would have been fine with it being rose and bernard.

    @John – I don’t really know plot points, just the people coming back, but they all said it is a great ending and Michael Emerson let slip a detail about the two timelines that I will not reveal.

    @Gene – Is Locke still in the polaroid picture or is he fading away? haha

  32. Michael says:

    @Embie
    I do like the Zeus angle. Especially since Zeus is said to have imprisoned Cronos inside an island.

    A few Wiki facts
    Chronos, as in time different spelling, different concept, might be related, might not
    Chronos (Ancient Greek: Χρόνος) in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time
    Chronos was imagined as an incorporeal god (sound like anyone we know)
    He was depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as a man turning the Zodiac Wheel (or maybe a Donkey one?)

    Cronos as in father of Zeus
    the Greeks considered Cronus a cruel and tempestuous force of chaos and disorder
    he was overthrown by his own sons, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, and imprisoned in Tartarus. Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus. As a place of punishment, it can be considered a hell. (just ask michael or richard)
    Cronus is dragged — still drunk — to the cave of Nyx (Night), where he continues to dream throughout eternity.

    Mystic cave, master of time, punishment/hell, immortality, an island that moves …..

    It’s all pretty confusing, lots of interpretations, lots of different cultures have their own take on the God’s and Cronos but some of it sure seems to fit.

  33. Carol from Boston says:

    @bon – well for a first post you had a really great point. I really like the idea of Desmond absorbing the white light. You are off to a great start, now join the board obsession like the rest of us. 😉

    Jacob and Richard (or Ricardus as he was called then) were drinking wine before Jacob used the wine bottle to show how the island is a cork.

  34. docjkm says:

    @Will – What did I say that you disagree with? You have a problem that I find Lost the most compelling tv show to date? What would you nominate in its place? I probably would not be familiar in any case, since I really don’t ‘watch’ television, as I found the fare to be indigestible. I came to Lost reluctantly, and only after it had begun, at the behest of my daughter.

    I am not in love with the writers, but I can recognize good work when I see it. And I have seen plenty in the last 6 years that puts to shame almost every other thing I have seen in decades, and clearly superior to the few left.

    Your caustic reply is not in line with this board, I’m sorry to say. This is a forum for discussion about the show that is refreshingly free from the cheap and ignorant posts found almost everywhere else on the internet. This is about Lost, not pedigrees from the past. And your attack towards me shows some serious frustration with something, but you did not disagree with anything I WROTE. You might need some counselling, or get your ya-ya’s somewhere else.

    Could they screw up the finale? Of course they could! Am I ‘promising’ anything else? No. The upshot of my previous post was – it doesn’t matter! If you think Lost/the writers are unworthy of praise, then why are you watching, and why are you here?

    If you are one of those I was addressing, hung up on linear themes that cleanly work themselves out, I feel sorry for you, and I am still wondering what you are doing here?

    As for what I’ll do after the 24th? The usual. Diagnose and treat patients. Perform surgery. Basically like Jack/Christian, but without all the issues, drugs, and alcohol.

    And I’ll be missing looking forward to Tues. nights, as a break from the ‘real’ world. But my real world is pretty damn good. Yours?

  35. Coolpeace says:

    @ Chasemore ;

    In the spirit of friendly banter, let me first acknowledge that you are entitled to your feelings and thoughts about that episode.

    That being said, the creators and writers of LOST, who so far have produces 135 hours of storytelling over a 6 year time span, thought it important to provide us with one more flashback, the Jacob and MIB origin story. To do so they had to bring in a few other characters, enter the pregnant castaway survivor and Fake Mother. These are not new mysteries so much as they are story elements brought in to help tell the story of Jacob and his brother.

    Fake Mother is essentially unimportant, in that she was the previous Protector of the Island. The previous Protector of the Island could have been anyone. The important issue here that the writers wished to impart to us was that history always repeats itself. That is why we are getting so much mirroring in the episode and in the series itself.

    1 – An arbitrary mysterious woman brings ships to the Island, there are survivors. She sees an opportunity to finally release herself from the burden she was entrusted with by raising these two boys to take her place… she found a loophole if you will; she puts the plan in place. Just as Jacob brings ships to the Island, in order to find potential candidates and MIB wants to find a loophole to end his rein on the island.

    2 – She tells them what she was told about the Island and the Light and about mankind. Just as Jacob and his brother only know what they were told by Mother … which is not much. Jacob and MIB are thereby humanized, they are not entities, gods nor divine beings. Jacob has been given eternal life so that he may protect the Island. And our Losties have been ensnared into his web, in the same way that his biological mother was.

    3 – She purges those that will exploit the energy source of the Island. This enlightens us as to why Jacob (who we thought of as good) would order the purge of the Dharma group.

    4 – She is killed so that her chosen replacements can carry on. Jacob knows that he must have candidates to replace him, so he recruits people to the island.

    That was the purpose of the Mother character – to show us that Jacob and his brother were mere humans, not gods, and to show us that the protection of the Island is a legacy cycle that has always been passed on.

    We were told what we needed to know, Mother was also brought to the Island and she was tasked to protect the Island just as she tasked Jacob to continue after her and why Jacob wishes to find a candidate to continue the task, which includes keeping MIB on the Island.

    Below is an excerpt of the interview of Damon and Carlton by Alan Sepinwall, which was referenced above (@hitfix.com), regarding the Adam and Eve flashback. I liked their answer:

    “Getting back to Adam and Eve for a second, can you talk me through the thought process of including that flashback to “House of the Rising Sun.” Was there ever a thought of not having it in there and hoping the viewer could fill in the blanks, or did you just feel that the skeletons were too obscure a mystery to not have that extra context?”

    DL: The reason that we put it in certainly wasn’t because we thought it was too obscure and we wanted to hit people over the heads with it. It was more a matter of, here’s an episode where our characters don’t appear in it at all, and we wanted to make it clear to the audience that this little family drama, this dysfunctional relationship between these three people is really responsible for everything that’s happening to the passengers of Oceanic 815. We wanted to illustrate that by, at the very end of the show saying, “Oh, right, Jack and Kate and Locke are affected by the fact that Mother decided to raise her kids this way, and Jacob ended up bringing these people to the island.” The idea was to say that this chapter of the series is significant to the story we’ve been telling you, and that the series is about the survivors of Oceanic 815. To have an episode that they did not appear in at all was never our intention.

    CC: We also liked the juxtaposition of what those characters were like in “House of the Rising Sun” versus where they are now. We felt it was interesting for the audience to see the growth, the change, the evolution, the degree to which these characters had been affected by their time on the island. And we felt that the most effective way to do that was to recontextualize the Adam and Eve discovery by replaying that scene. It really provided a contrast that shows you how these characters have evolved.

  36. Coolpeace says:

    @ YAE :

    If you are interested in getting a behind the scenes and in the writers’ room perspective I encourage you to listen to the following podcast. It is produced by Jeff Goldsmith from Screenwritting Magazine. He interviews writer-producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz about Lost.

    An interesting point of view, since this is a panel that was held for writers by writers. It was held after season 4 and before season 5 aired … so really no spoilers, only interesting stories about the process of writing for Lost and how they break stories – very insightful.

    Here is the link : http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/

    It should be right at the top :

    Lost Q&A with Kitsis & Horowitz

    Of course you could also get it through iTunes by searching for creative screen writing magazine.

    Enjoy.

  37. i’ve only read through some of the comments so far, i like reading what people are thinking about this episode. i was talking with my wife commenting about how the don’t really explain much about the island. it seems as though there was plenty going on before jacob and his brother were born there, like a lot for the woman to sound bitter the way she did when explaining about other people who’ve come to the island. like so many others i want to know what the island was about how long has some one been taking care of it. she said i’m asking to see the face of god. is that it, we’re asking the writers to explain creation itself.
    once i got past thinking of that i thought about how reality or time is very circular on the island. the same story is being told over and over. this is part of various indigenous world views, the says this is the fifth world and there will be another after this one we are living. this is not the end to anything other than this cycle and the beginning of another. with jack being the care taker.
    What about kate though, after watching this episode it makes me think about what others were saying about not counting out kate. there is something about the female energy on the island, i’m not saying the caretaker has to be a woman, but i wonder if the other care takers before mother were women. will kate become the crazy woman in the jungle luring people to the island for the next 2000 years until she finds a baby to raise to take over? will it be jack and kate as a couple and the children they have that take care of the island.
    What about the smoke mosnter, is there just one. was mother a smoke monster too? was he giving orders to the others via ben, i’ve wondered if that was why widmore was kicked off the island.

    there are still 3 hours left and i am sad to think that they will never deal with back stories of that i am so interested to know more about. like how the dharma initiative ended up on the island, what were they really trying to do, what happened after the incident in the real time line.

    then there is the temple, is that the source, is the water the pool. did jacob have people build it, so many unanswered questions…

  38. Islandsidhe says:

    Wow. This episode certainly brought out the worst in a lot of online Lost fans, as is obvious from the nastiness that has crept in here towards the end even on this usually civil board. 🙁

    It makes me wonder if the disappointment in “Across the Sea” really stems from people having their own pet theories turn out not to be true. Is it possible that people got so invested in the idea that “Adam & Eve” were Kate and Jack, or Desmond and Penny, or Rose and Bernard, or Sun and Jin, that they would get so upset as to bash the episode and give up on the series completely? I mean, come on! I hoped Richard would turn out to be an ancient Egyptian, but after “Ab Aeterno” I didn’t throw my hands up in the air, curse Damon and Carlton, and vow to stop watching. I even liked that episode!

    I just rewatched “Across the Sea” for the second time, and I honestly cannot understand what the anger is about. It is a beautiful episode in my opinion, with so many layers and echoes of other characters, and it fits perfectly as part of the Lost narrative. It DOES give answers – maybe just not the answers some people were expecting or hoping for. Were they full answers? No, but was anyone really expecting to get full answers before the finale? They’re saving the big reveals for the end, folks, because after those are out in the open there is no more “Lost”.

    And if I see one more complaint about the episode based on “the magical golden cave that Damon and Carlton just threw in here at the end which clearly proves they didn’t know how to end things”, I am going to scream. Electromagnetism! Exotic matter! It’s been around for the whole series!

    BTW – the above rant was not directed towards anyone specific on this board, but is a response to numerous comments I’ve seen around the Internet which have made me want to tear my hair out in great fistfuls.

  39. Billy R says:

    “Across The Sea” suddenly put the “Bad Twin” novel in new light. At least the title had some meaning tho the story said nothing 🙂

  40. Steven in Bathurst says:

    Thanks to those who enjoyed my post above, particularly docjkm and Coolpeace who were kind enough to reference it. I wonder if the three of us, and others who enjoyed this episode, have turned the tide of negative opinion of this episode. I know that sounds vain but if you follow the line of thinking chronologically on this forum, the overwhelming negative attitudes have generally given way to discussion, theorising and positivity. No-one is being critical of this episode anymore. Have people changed their minds about this episode or do the naysayers feel like they’ve made their point and they have nothing else to add? I’d be really interested to know.

    @Chasemore: What docjkm said. He encapsulated exactly my thoughts. The show is like life. Frustrating, isn’t it? “Every question I answer will simply lead to another question”, says Mother. She doesn’t have the answer to the ultimate question (to borrow from Douglas Adams). Neither do we. To understand why our characters have experienced what they have experienced over six seasons requires a line of questions that ultimately lead to “what is life?” because that is the thematic territory of this show. It’s no Grey Anatomy, where it’s enough to know that this building is a hospital and these people are doctors, for us to enjoy the story. Lost’s story is rooted in deep philosophical questions, and as such, like in real life, there’s no-one to turn to for answers. We have to make do with the evidence we have and try to make sense of it. And then we theorise like crazy.

  41. John says:

    @ Jesus B. ::ike how the dharma initiative ended up on the island, what were they really trying to do, what happened after the incident in the real time line. ::

    I think we have a pretty good idea on this one. Dharma is clearly there to investigate the electro-magnetism on the island and to try to find a way to exploit it. We don’t know exactly how they discovered it, but we have a very good sense of what they were all about. They are simply a modern version of MIB’s people who seek to exploit the power of the island for their own purpose. When they get too close and become an actual threat to the island, they have to be purged.

    Note that neither Mother nor Jacob (if he was behind the Dharma purge) act before they have to. Both allow the meddlers to live and meddle for a long time. That suggests to me that killing them is a reluctant last defense rather than heartless cruelty.

  42. Goooood luck Ryan and Jen! I can’t make any sense to all the directions this blog is going… If one episode got reaction through the entire Lost mythology, it is this one!

  43. Doug says:

    @Carol from Boston

    “Damon and Carlton have admitted that at the time they introduced Adam and Eve there was no back story for them. So that is why the dates don’t match up. But it would have been nice if they had found a way to make it work with someone else being adam and eve. We would have been fine with it being rose and bernard.”

    I hear you Carol and agree totaly. I don’t mind so much what the answer is just as long as it works. If it all falls apart then it really will have been for nothing…………..i so don’t want that to happen QQ

  44. Carol from Boston says:

    @Ryan – I hope you read Coolpeace’s great post @4:43 pm on your podcast. I think she does an excellent job of explaining the thought process behind this episode.

    @Coolpeace, Doc, Steven in Bathurst – just wanted to thank you. I was frustrated after this episode (as you can see by numerous posts) but you and many others have helped me to work through the frustration and see what the episode was trying to show us. I have also learned that even though I don’t love an episode I can come to appreciate it.

    @Doug – we’ll have to put the finale panic aside and just let it all unfold. Damon and Carlton keep saying this is the story they have wanted to tell and it is their story and so far I have loved their story so I will trust in that.

    @Doc – you are a well respected poster on this board and I enjoy reading what you have to say, don’t let one person get you down. Also surprised that you really are a doctor. So what exactly is a dural sac anyway? Jack talks about it all the time, I assume it is spine related.

  45. paulb, Brooklyn says:

    New poster here. Just discovered the blog and podcast! Where have I been?

    A week late, a shoutout to Yunjin Kim. In her final moments on the submarine she was given few words but still achieved an expressiveness rarely seen on television. She’s hired!

    I wasn’t thrilled with Across the Sea. Big Mother’s line about every question leading to more questions gave me a queasy feeling about the writers’ willingness to provide illumination in addition to “answers.” Hollywood’s love of New Age “wisdom” as a dramatic crutch continues to make me a lover first and foremost of British tv shows, entertainment from a sensible country which when it does treat religion eschews the metaphysical for earthy topics such as how a Catholic priest gets along day to day with a hot young free thinker. (Reflecting on early Ballykissangels here.)

    Still, I really do like Lost and what I’m hoping for is the resurfacing in Sideways World of Eloise Hawking or Faraday’s quantum physical chops to explain what the heck is that darned island. I presume that in SW either Faraday or Eloise is furnishing Desmond with the information he is using to locate the Oceanic 815 passengers and position them for a resolution of the two timelines. In Sideways World the Island is destroyed, underwater. As it is fundamental to the show that the Island plays some important part in keeping the universe, or our little part of it, in good working order, I presume Sideways World is an aberration that must be corrected. The nuke could not after all have destroyed Jacob or the MIB/smoke monster: both characters seem to have some nonphysical “essence” behind their corporeal form. How else does Jacob get off the Island to mess around in the candidates’ lives?

    My expectation: There will be some final electromagnetic incident to set things right. And whether a resolution can revive a character deceased in one timeline but alive in another? No clue.

    One digression: early this season Dogen declared, on the basis of his torture test of Sayid, “a darkness is growing in him” and compared him to Claire. He made it sound like an Exorcist style demonic possession. Now it appears there was nothing more up with Sayid than discouragement and fatalism, and a simple but profound appeal to his better side by Desmond put him right. Hooray for rationalism!

  46. misterjoe says:

    Hello Folks,
    Long time… First time… I just had to post. I’ve been a silent reader of these comment boards every week. The respected opinions and intelligent debates here are pretty much second to none. Thx to everyone here for that… and big thanks to Ryan and Jen for thee best LOST podcast.

    I watched Across the Sea and I thought it was an amazing episode of LOST. I can’t believe so many fans are hating on it. I had my theory that Adam and Eve were two of our losties, that Jacob and MIB were actually the same person, that Richard was an ancient egyptian Ra etc etc… Now I actually love this show even more. Just about every theory I’ve had has been blown out of the window and I’m really enjoying the ride.

    I think more people would be disappointed if Darlton just tried to shoehorn favourite fan theory of the week into the show. Kudos to them.

  47. Carol from Boston says:

    It’s all about redemption.

    Great article without any spoilers in NYT with Damon and Carlton, it has some new information I haven’t seen before.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/arts/television/16weblost.html?ref=television&pagewanted=all

  48. Amaia says:

    @Carol from Boston- Thanks to looking. So, if the light turned dark, how could Locke see it? Maybe he didn’t see the light in the crevasse but a different one. And yes, it’s ironic that Smokey born from a place with water but he can’t travel across the sea. And I can’t recall very well the scene but I think you’re right and Ben released it pulling a drain.

    @John- You have a good point. I still think the mother wasn’t smokey but who knows if there was a smokey before our Smokey. Besides, in one episode of the third season when Juliet and Kate are running through the jungle, Smokey appears but there are more than one Smokey, I mean not only a column of black smoke. Maybe there are other smokeys out there with the un-Locke, or at least they were.

    @DonatusfromNJ- I agree with you in one thing. I also want to know what happened with the people from Dharma after Juliet exploded the bomb. Furthermore, what happened with Eloise Hawking? Wasn’t she on the Island in 1977 too?

    @Bon from Oregon- I think Richard drank a different wine, if I’m not wrong it wasn’t red wine.

  49. Amaia says:

    My lastest theory is that maybe the only way to end with Smokey is putting him into the place where he was born, in the crevasse with the light. And the pnly one who could do that is Desmond.

  50. corivee says:

    Wow. I am not used to people duking it out like this. Doc, I am with Carol. Count me in as one of your fans.

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