First, let me just say this about Lost’s return to the airwaves for its final season:
Wow.
Forgetting for a moment all the questions it answered and new ones it raised, I find myself continually amazed at the skill of the writers, actors, directors – hell, even the Best Boy deserves an Emmy so far as I’m concerned.
This two-parter was gorgeously filmed. Impeccably acted. Fantastically – and minimally – written. Surprises were truly surprises. Neither acting nor writing telegraphed what was going to come next.
And hear this, Emmy voters: If you do NOT give Elizabeth Mitchell an Emmy this time around, I will personally come to your houses and insist you give me an explanation. There’s no way that I should have cried when seeing Juliet die even in the “previously on Lost,” scenes. Oh, and Josh Holloway? Going back and forth between his alternate universe “Hey there, pretty lady” personality and his utterly changed James Who Loved Juliet, I think he may be the best actor on a show filled with amazing actors. If he doesn’t get one, I’m also gonna camp out on Emmy voters’ lawns.
It’s so hard to dissect an episode of Lost. There’s so much there and it takes repeated viewing to truly get everything. And this was TWO HOURS. So I’m just gonna go through it all by location and probably will have to come back later and do another post.
Alternate (or is it?) reality
What, exactly, is this other reality we’re seeing where everything is the same, yet justatinybit different? Hurley lucky? Boone couldn’t get Shannon to leave Australia? Wait – Boone’s flying coach?
Some things aren’t different at all, though — Locke’s still paralyzed, Jack’s father is still dead, Charlie’s still a heroin addict (Charlie’s alive!!!!), Kate’s still a fugitive. Jin & Sun are still a troubled couple, with Sun still pretending she doesn’t know English. Does Rose still have cancer?
And was Desmond actually on the plane? Was he a figment of Jack’s imagination, a sliver of the other universe/reality coming through?
It was fun seeing Doc Arzt again. I know Lindelof & Cuse loved the character and have brought him back whenever they could, despite his being blown up by dynamite. I hope we get to see him a few more times. (It was even OK seeing Frogurt again.)
Whatever the case with Desmond, it’s obvious a little bit of the other reality is bleeding through. The paths of all the Losties are overlapping again. Jack’s father’s coffin is MIA and so is Locke’s bag o’ knives. That is NOT a coincidence. That is the island, underwater though it may be, exerting its power in some way.
But how does Juliet know reality reset? Did she, in her onthevergeofdeath state, somehow see this other universe where she had never come to the island?
And what does it really mean that reality reset? Obviously, it’s an alternate reality. Did that reality not exist until the bomb went off? In a quantum physics sort of explanation, there always was a reality where the bomb went off and this alternate reality always existed.
But we know that things are never as simple as mere quantum physics on Lost. The entire stream of the show has been the question of whether everything is predetermined or if we actually have some control over our fate. Not a simple question, and Lost is giving us its usual not-simple answer.
So I imagine that, somewhere, Christian Shepherd’s body is lugging around Locke’s bag o’ knives. And soon enough, that’ll rear its head and the two realities will come crashing together. The island still exists – Giant Foot Statue and all – albeit under the ocean (btw, WTF?).
I would imagine that sooner or later all our Losties end up hanging out back in the “real world,” even if they don’t know why. And will Jack cure Locke? I tend to think so.
The island storyline – at the Temple
First off, what what year is it on the island where our Losties are? We all assumed it was current time where Sun and Frank and Ben were. But Cindy’s long hair and mention of “the first plane” (nevermind that some other random guy we’ve never seen before is in charge, which would seem to indicate perhaps a couple of changes in Others leadership have occurred, made it seem as if we were maybe 10 years in the future? Maybe more, as some Others don’t really seem to age on the island. Or maybe that’s just Richard.
And just how many planes have crashed on the island? Flight 815 was just “the first.” Whaaaa? Obviously, modes of transport have crashed there for a long time, boats before planes, what with the Black Rock and Rousseau’s boat (please, please, please can we see Rousseau at least one more time? I love that crazy French chick!).
So, the water in the healing pool is supposed to be clear, as Mr. I-Don’t-Like-The-Taste-Of-English’s assistant indicates. Is it unclear because Jacob’s dead? It seems they didn’t know if it would still heal because Mr. IDLTTOE has to slash his hand to test the water.
What I found even more interesting than the fact that they didn’t know why the water had changed color was that they thought Sayid was dead. They didn’t know he’d come back to life.
And what, exactly, was in the note? Obviously, it didn’t indicate that Jacob was dead. And, as always, WHY are these people so important? Why were Jack, Hurley, Jin, Kate & Sayid all on the note? How did Jacob know all of them would be there? (I’m guessing Miles & Sawyer were on there, too, and thus they were jacked and brought back to the Temple.)
Sayid especially, why did he have to be saved, when so many before him haven’t been important enough to save?
The island storyline – with Smokey Locke
OK, so the man in black IS the smoke monster. And he hasn’t inhabited Locke’s body, he merely takes Locke’s form. He can only take the form of dead people, though? Or is it just that it’s more convenient?
I had almost forgotten this, too – the smoke monster, masquerading as Alex, told Ben to do everything that Locke said from now on. So the MIB told Ben to do everything he said without Ben ever knowing.
Was Ben unable to ever see Jacob because he was under the thrall of Smokey? Remember, Ben had full access to Smokey. When Charles Widmore’s men came and killed Alex, Ben went downstairs into that ancient room and let loose the beast: Smokey. I wonder if Jacob chose Ben as the leader of the Others after Widmore was banished and Eloise left (did Eloise leave willingly?) so he would be able to keep a closer eye on Smokey, but then realized Ben was irredeemable?
Obviously, Smokey can’t cross the line of ash for whatever reason (in Supernatural, demons can’t cross a line of salt), so that’s why Jacob’s cabin was always surrounded by a circle of ash. And Jacob needed help because he was basically trapped in his cabin, wherever he chose to move it, because of Smokey’s control over Ben. I think, anyway.
So now Ben is TOTALLY confused. He now sees that Locke is Smokey and now Smokey has Richard and we know that Richard was once locked up in chains, but we have no idea why. Though the assumption is that Smokey had him locked up. Is that why Richard never ages? In return for being freed, he will always serve Jacob. And that means ALways?
So this all brings us to … Sayid.
Yes, Sayid, who is in the temple and is alive. Well, alive in some way. “Alive” doesn’t mean the same thing on Lost as it does on other shows.
Jacob needed Sayid back on the island so badly that he sent the mean chick with the gun to get him. Remember? That’s how Sayid ended up coming back. The pretense of having to go to Guam for some trial or whatever, she made sure Sayid was on the plane. And then Jacob makes sure that Hurley and Jin get Sayid to the temple. Jacob needs Sayid.
Which is interesting, because Sayid is perhaps the MOST flawed of all the Losties, though he’s also perhaps the least flawed. He’s the most flawed, as he became the best torturer in the Republican Guard in Iraq. Perhaps the least flawed, though, because he’s more aware of all his flaws and under no delusion that he’s a “good guy.”
Is this self-awareness the reason why he’s a good host for Jacob’s spirit?
The only good thing about this being the final season is that all these questions should be answered in some form in a mere 16 weeks.
One last note: Please, Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse: Make sure Jin & Sun (the new J&S, not the pre-crash couple) and Desmond and Penny (PENNNAH!) are together in the end? PLEASE. PLEASE? PLEEEEEEAAAASE??
These are the two most romantic stories ever in the history of mankind. Especially Desmond and Penny. They make Romeo and Juliet look like a pair of pikers. Really.
11 Comments
I think CIndy meant the first plane, the second being the Ajira flight.
As far as the smokey-Jacob-Ben relationship goes…I don’t believe that Ben was ever truly the leader of the others. Widmore states that he was tricked out of his leadership….and Ben never saw Jacob. Perhaps Jacob let him stay as leader because there wasn’t one…but once one arrived on the island (Oceanic 815) Ben got a tumor.
The two timelines are interesting, I think everyone agrees that they will have to be joined at one point or another. If they are, which one will win? well the timeline we have been following is called LOST. I think that answers the question. The timeline we have been watching is the LOST one.
i keep wondering exactly what the effect of setting off a small nuke over a huge pocket of uncontained EM energy would be, relative to the nature of time…methinks mr. faraday’s plan may have blown a hole in the time continuum. or something. something that has all of these pockets of time bleeding into one another. or maybe thats just Ra & Apep….:-)
I agree about the “first plane” being 815.. second plane was surely the Guam flight, hence the assumption that time wise they are pretty close to being back in current time at the temple.
Nice job Amy!.x
A few points: First, glad to see the post up, Amy, as your insights are always excellent. Second, one gets the feeling that if one of the two “central” characters is named “Jacob” could the other (smoke-monster) be named “Esau” and is the island the banished “Garden of Eden”…Third, I believe the combo of the nuke and the magnetic energy, as Ken speculated, did indeed cause a splinter reality, but I tend to think there’s a possibility the two timelines will NOT converge, and we’ll be left to see what would have happened to the islanders if they had never arrived at the island, versus what will happen…that would be an unreal story to tell, with incredible depth and would sync with what Damon & Carlton had said in an interview about not using flashbacks/forwards but utilizing an entirely different way of story-telling…however you slice this (which IS one of the greatest parts of this show, the ability to speculate, from minutiae to major plot-lines)the bottom line is that no dramatic series has generated the amount of opinions, good, bad or otherwise, as LOST has, in an epic scale that has more layers and depth then anything we’ve yet to see…so what will the “next” Lost be??? The mind dizzies at the thought…
@Mark – That makes sense about the planes. As for the Ben leadership issue, that’s a very interesting theory and it also makes a lot of sense. It’ll be interesting to see if you’re right.
My problem with your thoughts on the timeline is this: The alternate reality is not just a matter of what happened if the plane didn’t crash. The Hurley we know was the unluckiest person, not the luckiest. Shannon did leave Sydney with Boone, rather than stay behind. Etc. A lot more has changed than just the plane not crashing. (By the way, where the heck was Michael???)
@Ken – There’s definitely something to that. The explosion caused … something totally screwy. lol.
@Marko – Yeah, I think I’m with you guys on the airplane issue. I was just so surprised to see hippie Cindy. (And thanks!)
@David – Thank you for the kind words, too.
I’ve heard elements of the Jacob/Esau theory before and it makes a lot of sense. And, yes, it is possible the two timelines won’t converge, but I don’t think that’s true. And like I said, there’s more different about this timeline than the island being at the bottom of the ocean and the plane not crashing. A lot more.
But whatever the case, this show has been spectacular. I’m so glad they came up with an end date for it, because at that point, it sort of picked itself up, shook itself off and got down to business. I think they need to do the same thing for Fringe. Which, by the way, I believe is the next Lost.
Great post.
Couple points that have me thinking.
1. Juliet just said, “IT worked” – we are assuming that it was the reality reset, but could it be something else?
2. If Jacob can appear like Smokey did as Locke, then it would make sense that he is not in Sayid, since Smokey did not actually take over the body itself. But it is clear that Jacob has need of him, as you pointed out.
Lost is getting interesting again, in a serious way.
@Greg – First, you’re absolutely right about Juliet. If there’s anything this show has taught me, it’s to never assume anything about anything anyone does on this show. Second, good point. However, that was Sayid’s body that suddenly sat up and wondered what was up. Smokey, in Locke’s body, knew exactly who and what he was from the first moment. Sayid, at least for the moment we saw him, seemed to be a bit confused. And it was definitely Sayid’s body. Unless Jacob switched it while we weren’t looking, which is also entirely possible. The camera, after all, wasn’t on Sayid.
Honestly, there are 5,000 things I could talk about after these first two hours, but these are the things that jump out the most:
- I was worried about Richard the whole time! Amazing how Darlton have made me care about characters on this show. So glad Richard didn’t die (at least, not yet).
- Interesting how Hurley and Sayid have become very crucial in these two episodes. Seems as though each season the focus changes on who is vital to the story. Very cool.
- The Losties are definitely in 2007 now with FauxLocke, Ben and Richard, etal. The temple people set off a signal that they saw on the beach and they are now headed towards the temple.
- There is no freakin’ way that Darlton is showing us the 2004 non-crash Losties timeline for no reason. To do that just to show us what would have happened without the crash would be a huge waste of time storywise. They land in LAX in 2004, and they have at least three years to end up on the island in 2007. I find it hard to believe that both timelines won’t merge at some point. I have no idea how it will happen, but I am excited to see where it all goes.
I love this show SO MUCH!!!!!!!!
PS – Love that you referenced Supernatural int his post. You rock.
@Erika – 1) Agreed on Richard. Love that guy. 2) I love it because they’re maybe my two favorite characters. 3) You really think it’s just 2007? Where’d all these extra Others come from? Though, just this very moment, I remembered that the tail section had a young brother and sister who vanished and there were two children, a brother and sister, who were shown ever-so-briefly Tuesday night. And it’s possible they’ve aged just three years. I’d have to go back and watch the ep where the Tailies crash on the beach.
Hi Amy,
Great Analysis!
A few thoughts on the premier.
The parrallel universe/reality is plausible. Usually in those situations, people are doing opposities, ie. Hurley now lucky, before he was unlucky.
As for where is Michael and Walt? Well maybe they just didn’t show them. Where was AnnaLucia and Mr. Echho as well on the plane.?
Why I think the two realities might converge, I also think that maybe these characters will have a choice. Remember Jacob told Ben before he killed him that he had a choice. Maybe the choice for the characters will be which reality do they want to stay in Island or NonIsland reality.
Anyway, great analysis as always! I agree maybe the greatest show of all time!
Talk to you soon!
Thanks, Mike!
I didn’t even think about Ana Lucia, Libby & Eko. I would LOVE to see Eko again, but I especially want to see Libby. I’d love to see Libby and Hurley actually have some happiness together, no?
I like the idea of the choice being between the Island reality or the non-Island reality.
We’ll see in another 15 weeks, I guess.