Episode 5: “Lighthouse”

Introduction

OK peoples, I’m finally getting around to blogging about the last episode. Although I had days off from school, I’ve been crazy-busy with our new pad. (In related news, we have curtains!)

I thought the episode was relatively good and engaging. It wasn’t as good as the previous week, but not as slow as “What Kate Does.” All in all, I find this season to be moving pretty slowly. I can’t say I hate this about it; for one, it means they aren’t introducing additional plot points and twists. As a fan of the show, I’m fine with taking it slow and letting it roll around like the first sip of a vintage Cabernet. However, I could use a few concrete answers soon. I’m thinking that one of the next two episodes should answer one of the “medium” questions (“What is Dharma?” or “Who are the Others?” or “How does the Nemesis take over other bodies?” or “What is it that the Nemesis wants?”) Practically speaking, I don’t think we’ll get anything concrete, though, until the last four or so episodes.

2004: The Flashsideways

This storyline has remained simple and straightforward. Jack has a son in this alternate world. He is distant from him in the beginning, but finds a way to connect by the end. Christian’s body is still lost; and I’m sure that’s going to play into it at some point. Although I dislike Jack’s emotional moments – and there are MANY – I like his desire to be a good father.

The Quest

The major storyline in this world is the quest Jacob gives Hurley, which also involves Jack. In some ways, by the end of the episode, you get the feeling that the whole purpose of the mission was to get Jack into the state of mind he was in the end, staring out into the open sea. Jacob did not seem concerned that his mirrors were broken. Actually, I really like that about Jacob: nothing at all seems to faze him, not even his own death did. In this way, he is more of the “God” figure here, working in the lives of people, but always assured of “who is going to win.” People have choices, but the victory is certain. In this vein, the Nemesis/Un-Locke is like Satan. Although cunning and confident, he appears driven mainly by anger and a desire to control. He may seem unafraid, but he does not have the same confidence Jacob has. This also has to do with how the actor plays Jacob, who I really like; I also dig his costume: the Greek demigod look does him well.

Claire

Well, I guess I was wrong about Claire’s “savage goodness;” it seems pretty obvious that she is bad – or at least her mind is so confused that she is participating in evilness. By the way, I’m not sure Claire pulls off the “I’ve been living in the woods for years” like Danielle did. I didn’t find it completely believable. However, I was completely shocked when she killed Justin with the ax. Unexpected. So what do we learn from these scenes? Well, Claire wants Aaron back; she thinks the Temple-people took him; she is friends with Un-Locke; she seems to have gone mad. Side note: I guess it doesn’t look good for Sayid…? (See poll.)

The Lighthouse / Are We Getting Closer to the Answering Anything?

Has this episode helped get us closer to answering anything? I’m not sure. I guess the only thing (and, as usual, it was ambiguous) is the numbers in the Lighthouse, which leads us to recognize that Jacob has in fact been watching the crew throughout, perhaps, their entire lives. So was the “cave” Un-Locke was in last week with Sawyer Jacob’s place too, or is it, as I suspect, The Nemesis’ lair? I guess it doesn’t matter all that much. What I really want to know now is this: Who “summoned” the crew to the island? Was it the Nemesis in an attempt to free himself, kill Jacob, control the island, and/or find a “loophole?” Or was it Jacob in an attempt to find himself a replacement? I think this question really gets at the heart of the entire show. (See poll #2.) If I have time another week, I’ll expand on my theory from the end of Season 5, which still works, for the most part.

Misc.

I think Sawyer needs to punch Jack in the face – hard. I cannot stand his “hissy fits.” How many moments throughout the show has Jack pulled this: a) I want to do the noble thing, b) I want your self-pity, c) I’m going to let my emotions get the better of me, and d) I’m almost going to cry about it, but I won’t, so hopefully my restraint reinforces both A and B. (See the top image on the blog.) Come one, why did he break the mirror? He pretends to be so strong and noble, and yet he stamps around like a 3 year-old whose jack-in-the-box has been taken away.

Does the Biblical Jacob tell us anything about Jacob? Hmm. And the Nemesis is our Esau character?

Last week's poll was unanimously won. I guess we all think Jacob is good and the Nemesis/Un-Locke bad. At least, we hope...

Episode 4: "The Substitute"

Introduction

There were at least five points in each season of Lost that I began asking a set of questions like this: Why in the heck did everyone get to the island to begin with? Why are they compelled to stay there? And why, even once some of them left, were they “forced” to return? I like how this episode began to answer some of these “ultimate” questions, especially since in answering them, they begin to get at the ultimate conflict in the show. (I also like the absence of the Temple-People.)

Un-Locke’s Explanation

Let me begin by saying that I don’t trust Un-Locke’s words all that much; however, he does offer us a particular view of the ultimate question mentioned above. Even if it is false, it is the first one we have. Let me try to paraphrase it in a few sentences; I will use parenthesis to add personal thoughts to what I remember Un-Locke telling us:

Jacob was the one who gathered everyone to the Island. His “touching” of them, in one sense, compelled them to end up at the Island. He was looking for Candidates. What’s the open position? The next “Jacob” of the Island. (I assume they would “run” or “protect” the Island, as Jacob has been doing for years. Also, why was Jacob looking for a replacement? Because he knew he was going to die?) Un-Locke makes Jacob’s supposed plan look bad to Sawyer by pointing out that they haven’t really been free in their choices. No one likes being compelled to do something; plus, we like thinking of our lives as somehow shaped by our choices. So Jacob is presented as a manipulator.

Response to Un-Locke’s Explanation

My biggest suspicion with this story is the fact that Un-Locke has been presented to us as the nemesis, as some sort of embodiment of evil. (Will the writers of Lost throw us for a HUGE loop, switch who is good and bad, and make Jacob bad? Or will neither be bad or good? I don’t like the idea of the latter option, since it undermines any meaning in the conflict. Who cares who wins or loses, if no one is good and no one bad? Especially if we don’t have feelings for either side… See the poll.) Second, were Sawyer and Un-Locke really in Jacob’s home? I thought his home was in the statue? Third, how do we know it wasn’t the nemesis who wrote everyone’s name and number on the walls?

Misc. Questions

What is Un-Locke’s Goal? What does Un-Locke want? What does he want from Sawyer? More specifically, where does he want to go? It seems from the final conversation that he wants to leave the Island, as if the Island has been his prison. (Alpert says he wants to kill everyone on the Island. So why hasn’t he?)

Who is Un-Locke? Assuming Un-Locke, the nemesis, and the smoke monster are all the same people, we still don’t know WHO they are. Un-Locke tells Sawyer he was a human once, and lives now “trapped.” Do we believe this? Also, what is Jacob? He always appears the same age, but he also “died.” I find this set of questions very intriguing.

Who is Richard Alpert? Other than appearing to be on Jacob’s side, we don’t much about him. He is afraid of Un-Locke, though.

Oh, and who is the boy who talks with Un-Locke? Is it Aaron? He seemed to be different ages the two times we saw him. He seems intent on making Un-Locke follow the “rules.”

Locke In 2004

This timeline throughout the season so far has been relatively easy to follow. People keep coincidentally running into each other; but other than that, there haven’t been too many “revelations.” In this flashsideways, Locke worked for the same company (I think) and also did not do the walkabout. He is getting ready to get married, though. Oh, and although he was the face of Faith in the first world, he now doesn’t believe in miracles. Also, I’ve been right so far about thinking that each episode will track the same person in the alternate worlds.

That’s it for now, folks! Post your responses. Let me know if I missed anything important!

PS: In last week's poll, 75% of us thought the Temple-People were neither good nor bad; and 25% thought good. Vote on this week's poll. It's an important one!

Episode 3: “What Kate Does”

Introduction

As I suspected, the craziness has slowed down a bit. This isn’t to say the episode was less confusing or more enlightening, but there weren’t a hundred things happening. I like this, simply so we are able to consciously reflect on the few major questions/points at hand.

Most of this episode was plot driven: In 2007, Kate is running from the law. In her escape, she treats Claire badly, and feels bad after she realizes Claire was pregnant. She helps Clare, almost gets caught, and then Clare helps her. In 2004, Sawyer runs away, Kate follows him, Jin is almost re-caught by the “Temple-people,” but Claire – savage looking, reminiscent of Rousseau – shoots his captors. However, the real questions of this episode are explored in the Temple area, with Sayid, Jack, Lennon, and Dogen.

What Has Happened to Sayid? (And are the Temple people good/bad/neutral?)

Is Sayid’s body a conduit for Jacob? I think not. But what is going on with it? Are Dogen and Lennon correct and/or truthful in their assessment of his impending death/haunting? I think those last two questions are separate: a) Are these Temple people good or bad? Are they working for Jacob, Un-Locke, or neither? Their “freaking out” when they heard Jacob was dead made them seem to be good. b) Are they correct in their assessment of Sayid? (And why the torture as a form of diagnosis? My guess is that this one won’t be exactly answered; it’s a classic one of Lost’s lost questions.) I’m suspicious of their diagnosis since I think the writers intended to make Claire appear savage yet good at the end of the episode, reminding the show’s audience of Danielle. This would make the Temple-People’s assessment incorrect, but not necessarily bad.

This last question about the Temple-People is my only “issue/beef” with the season so far, which I really like. In trying to be crazy and confusing, the writers are beginning to blur the line once again between good and evil. Are we supposed to trust the Temple-People, or not? I understand that “unknowns” are cool, but here’s the problem with one like this: it undoes Jack’s situation. Should Jack have given the pill to Sayid? Should he have pretended to? Should he have taken the pill, like he did? In all honesty, as a blind audience, we don’t know – and therefore, we don’t really care because, well, we can’t really care without a little knowledge, right?

Cool Things!

The Temple leader is named Dogen. Well, Dogen is a famous Zen Buddhist, who wrote a book called Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma. Dharma? Pretty cool. Here’s the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogen.

Final Observations/Questions

At least some of the “Temple-People” seem to be late-Others. The kid who got shot by Claire was angry at Kate for hitting her with the butt of a rifle long ago; and I think this was when she was in the cages, along with Sawyer. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.) Also, this kid’s fellow-guard mentioned that they shouldn’t kill Jin in case “he’s one of them.” We don’t know who these “them” are yet.

My guess is that the next few episodes are going to follow a specific character in 2007, and then attempt to connect the 2007 storyline to it. In this episode, we followed Kate; and they tried to connect this to 2007 by having Kate say that she really left the Temple in order to find Claire, to whom she feels an obligation.

I want to see Un-Locke and/or Jacob again soon.

PS: Vote on the new poll! Last week’s poll was won by “Sawyer.”

Episodes 1 and 2: "LA X"

Introduction

Well folks, “Season 6” has begun! I thought it was a fantastic beginning. It is confusing and crazy, but we knew to expect that. All in all, I didn’t think it was ridiculously “out there;” and I could follow most of it.

The only thing I didn’t exactly like was Juliet’s death…again. What was the point of having her “survive?” I guess the only thing we learn from her is what she wanted to tell Sawyer right as she died: “It worked,” she wanted to say.

“Flashsideways”

The writers of this show love experimenting with different methods of story-telling. I really like that about it. We have the flashbacks in the first few seasons, the flashforwards after, and the time-traveling in “Season 5;” now we have flashsideways (not that it’s a real phrase). I like the idea. It’s as if we are witnessing two alternate ways the bomb could have affected the world. In the one, the plane never crashes; and in the other, it still has, but they are transported 30 years into the future, to ’07. It’s almost as if the writers couldn’t decide on what happened after the explosion, so they’re giving us two ways of looking at it. I like the idea. I suppose that the two worlds will somehow come together, but for now, we are witnessing parallel universes.

Parallel One: 2004

In our first universe, the plane never crashes. However, it’s not quite as simple as that. This alternate world is not the same; there are some marked differences. For example, Desmond is on the flight; Boone doesn’t get his sister to go home with him; and Hurley claims to be the luckiest man alive. But I guess the world wouldn’t be exactly the same in the alternate world where the bomb goes off. For example, there would be no reason for Desmond to be on the island, since there would be no reason to hit the button in the Hatch – so theoretically he could be on the plane.

Parallel Two: 2007

The first thing I like about this world is that they brought the two timelines from last season together. Jack, Kate, Sawyer and crew jumped from ’77 to ’07. With all of the craziness of the flashsideways, this should make it a tad saner. But what has happened in this world? How and why did the bomb not kill them, but simply propel them through time 30 years? We are left with questions.

The Unknown One / The Man in Black / The Man Who Impersonated Locke: aka Un-Locke

I am so happy about the Jacob and man-in-black conflict introduced at the end of “Season 5.” Perhaps the most frustrating thing for me throughout Lost has been recognizing meaningful conflict. It originally was the survivors vs. the Others; but then Darma was introduced – then there was Widmore. Not knowing who is good and who is bad is cool and exciting, to an extent; but when you can’t ever tell if there even is a good side and a bad side, things start to lose meaning. Earlier battles that seemed important become meaningless. But the final episode of “Season 5” moved the show is the right direction. Now, at the heart of all of the conflict, all of the deaths and killings, all time-travel and flashes – at the heart of all of this is the epic battle between two Greek demigod-like characters: Jacob and his nemesis, the man in black. Has the whole thing – the plane crash and all – simply been an elaborate plan by Jacob’s nemesis to “find a loophole,” kill Jacob, and take control of the island – while, at the same time, Jacob has been working on an even more elaborate counter plan to make sure all ends well? For the answer to that, we shall have to wait.

Near the end of this episode, the man in black (heretofore referred to as ‘Un-Locke’) tells Ben that he wants to “go home.” I’m assuming home for Un-Locke is somewhere on the Island, as if he wants to be in control of the Island; or perhaps he wants to bring the Island back somewhere, since the Island can move through time and space.

The “temple people,” when they hear Jacob is dead, freak out and start building defenses; so perhaps without Jacob to protect itself, the Island can be controlled by Un-Locke.

Oh yeah, and Un-Locke is the smoke monster. I guess that makes sense. If you remember back to the beginning of the last episode in “Season 5,” the conversational conflict between Jacob and his nemesis was whether or not to have people on the island. The nemesis is against this. So perhaps all of the supernatural things on the island that kill and scare people belong to the nemesis, who desires to have the island uninhabited.

Questions:

Temple/New Others: Who are these other “others?” What is the Temple?

Sayid: How did Sayid come back to life? Bean’s suggestion was that perhaps Jacob has come back to life in his body. Cool idea…

Final Thoughts

In “Season 4” or “5,” someone (Faraday?) mentioned that changing what has already happened would cause reality to split. Perhaps this is what as has happened; perhaps the parallel universes are caused by the bomb working and splitting reality. Either way, I think there will be some meeting of the two universes by the end.