Tag Archives: Gatesy

“The End” thoughts by Gatesy

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You can let go now.

For years I have imagined LOST’s future and its resolutions. I have greatly anticipated “The End”. Some of my ideas were good, some were not. Some of my hopes were justified, others were, frankly, pretty unreasonable. I can guarantee you that my version of the ending would not be as good, or as moving, as the one we saw. And I think that’s probably true for all the possible ending we had collectively anticipated.

Without any doubt the finale hit all the right emotional notes for me. Kate and Jack’s separation, Hurley’s acceptance of leadership and Jack’s death were very special moments. Living in the UK we watched the finale the following morning and our 2 year old son woke up towards the end and joined us. And as Jack was reunited with his father, my son came to sit and cuddle with me. It was all a bit too much. And then Vincent sat down with a dying Jack, perhaps the greatest moment in all of LOST, and I was gone. All of the ‘Awakenings’ were so well written and executed and had me welling up – except the Sayid & Shannon one, I’m sure we all were thinking “Shannon? Really?”, though I suppose they did indicate earlier in the season that Sayid didn’t deserve Nadia – one bomb to the chest does not totally excuse 20 years of torturing and murdering! There were some seriously awesome, stand out dramatic highs – Locke threatening to kill Rose & Bernard, the two groups meeting on the hill, the Jack/Locke literal fight to the death, the Ben/Locke forgiveness scene outside the church. So many satisfying moments. Yet these are not the things that most people are talking about.

The ending was not what I was expecting – the Island story was far more straight forward and its resolution contained no great twist (which I suppose is a twist in itself). The other timeline (the terms ‘Alternate’ or ‘Sideways seems redundant now – so I’m going to call it the ‘Flash Upwards’) finished on a truly surprising note; the afterlife; the spiritual realm; the first plain of heaven.

I did not see that coming. I have always loved the spiritual part of the story but for it to finish on a purely spiritual note – that was bold and fearless storytelling. I am still shocked actually.

Just as shocking was that the story of the finale was actually quite simple:

On the Island – Desmond puts out the light at the heart of the Island which causes the Island to fall apart and for Locke to be mortal again. Jack and Kate kill Locke before the team separates – Kate and Sawyer joining Claire, Miles, Richard and not dead Frank on the Ajira plane off the Island. Ben and Hurley choose to stay and help Jack restore the light, causing him to die, leaving Hurley as the New Jacob with Ben as his number two and Desmond alive and able to return home.

The Flash Upwards was even simpler; each of the Losties gaining their epiphanies before heading to the church where Jack gained his epiphany and the central conceit of the Flash Upwards was revealed by Christian Shephard.

The job of recapping “The End” doesn’t seem so important as it did before – the story is fully told and we are no longer theorizing over potential outcomes but are now trying to understand and process the events and prescribing them meaning and significance. So rather than track through the various scenes and pick through the dialogue I’d rather look at the events of the finale in terms of meaning and significance – Okay? No? Well, tough.

The Island story worked on the premise of the mythology revealed during the rest of the season. The clearest description of the Island is that of a ‘cork’ that prevents evil and malevolence from corrupting and destroying mankind. The heart of the Island is the light at it’s source – when the light goes out the Island fails and the evil takes over. The smoke monster wasn’t the evil itself but the MIB had become an agent of this evil. I have no doubt  that he would have killed Penny, Charlie, Aaron, Walt, JiYeon etc. had he escaped from the Island. Or perhaps he wouldn’t have needed to – Was the implication of the light going out on the Island that it would also go out in the heart of every man, leaving mankind soulless, or without conscience, and the human race would have descended into anarchy, oblivion or armageddon?

So Jack’s death wasn’t for nothing – despite Locke’s suggestion moments before his own demise. It was sacrificial – literally for the good of all men. It kept alive the hope of redemption and progress for all people, allowing the rest of humanity to grow and be transformed like Jack himself had done during his Island experiences. The ‘Jack-as-Christ’ allusions have been there since “316”  – which was a rather blatant hint towards Jack’s destiny. He even seemed to receive a partial resurrection. He did not perish in the bowels of the Island but was transported to the spot where Jacob found his lifeless brother. There was enough energy and strength in the Doctor to stagger to his final resting spot – the place where his journey began, amongst the bamboo – to watch the plane fly over and for him to know that his mission, his purpose, was complete – he saved those he loved and all of humanity too.

The imagery and pacing of Jack’s death and sacrifice were beautiful. I found the final moments of the Island story to be everything I had hoped for; beautiful, moving and complete. What surprised me was how the rest of the Island story was resolved in the series but not in the LOST universe – with the Ajira 6 leaving and Ben & Hurley as Island leaders it left a mass of potential for future novels, comics and online stories – even film and TV spin offs. Whether or not ABC/Disney will cash in or honour the story told remains to be seen. But if Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc. are anything to go by, we will be wooed into paying for more chunks of the LOST universe in the future. I had expected a more finite ending to the one we were given (basically a lot more deaths and for the Island to sink). Although I am a little nervous about future cash-ins and sub-standard LOST material I think having only 2 deaths in the finale and leaving the Island intact is a great move. The fact that the only people who died in “The End” were Jack and Locke – the story’s central characters – made their passing more poignant. They could have easily littered the finale with bodies as they have done in previous years – Rose & Bernard, Miles, Richard, even Desmond, could have died without a dramatic change to the story line – but they reserved the deaths for those crucial moments. A good choice that served the story well.

Daniel Faraday had set up the concept of the alternate timeline. His idea to reboot history – to stick a great big atomic variable in the middle of the river to divert history’s course – was the set up that made us believe the other world we have been watching all season was a different version of history to the one we have witnessed in the preceding five seasons. We now know that this was ‘The Long Con’ they have been building towards. The twist that this world was not an alternate reality but a realm of the afterlife has two consequences for the story. Firstly it causes us to reevaluate the whole ‘Flash Sideways’ story as a ‘Flash Upwards’ – the parallel tale of this other world has been an epilogue of the Island story – a narrative device to bring resolution to unresolvable story threads. Secondly it causes us to reinterpret the whole story, all six seasons, as a spiritual journey. Of course this has been alluded to from the very start – the first two episodes to follow the Pilot were ‘Tabula Rasa’ (the spiritual state that is represented by the clean slate opportunity of crashing on the Island) and ‘Walkabout’ (as Locke himself says – “a journey of spiritual renewal”). We’ve had Dharma wheels and statues of Mary and Bible verses and Churches and Christians, Catholics, Muslims and Namaste and Priests and Monks and ‘The 23rd Psalm’ and baptisms and so many more images of spirituality that I couldn’t possibly list them all.

The big thing is this: they are not allusions and references anymore – they are the story. The final scenes of “The End” put the whole story into a clearly spiritual framework. The spiritual side stopped being an element of the show and became the heart of the show. It became part of the narrative. It moved from being hinted at, to being talked about. It went from being in the background, to right at the forefront. The key other-world narrative structure of the final season was a spiritual premise. No longer a part of the story, it became the story. Because of this I want to spend some time delving into the theology revealed in the finale and what they are saying about the the afterlife, but more importantly, what they are saying about life itself.

The ‘Flash Upwards’ world is not purgatory – I think the show has been very clear, it is what you do in your life that counts. Those who aren’t ready yet stay as whispers on the Island – seemingly until they have paid some of their debt. The Island experiences of the castaways have been a metaphorical purgatory – they have sought and achieved redemption and release from their mistakes and destructive habits even, like Jack and Sayid, it is only really at the end of their lives they reach that place. The ‘Flash Upwards’ was about awakening and remembering not penitence and reconciliation.

The ‘Flash Upwards’ world is also not a limbo – though this idea goes closer than purgatory. Limbo was thought of as the place where people went they died prior to Jesus’ sacrifice, which made it possible to pass on to heaven. As we saw it, the last act on the Island, Jack’s sacrifice, is followed by the Losties moving on into the light. But it is Jack’s awakening that allows that, not his Christ-like sacrifice. The afterlife is not affected by Jack’s Island sacrifice – Sun, Jin, Sayid, Charlie etc. are still in the ‘Flash Upwards’ and they died before Jack’s final actions. So this realm is not the limbo of traditional thought.

The ‘Flash Upwards’ is also not a part of heaven. Not the heaven of Christian Theology anyway (though perhaps, Christian Shephard Theology!). What are we to make of the fact that the ‘Flash Upwards’ world was inhabited by Keamy, Mikhail, Omar and Anthony Cooper? Were they there to get a second chance that they failed to take? Or were they seeing out their cosmological destinies – dead and disabled? Or was this world only real for those who were in the Church? If so what about Ben, Alex, Rousseau, Helen, Nadia? Does Locke’s reveal to Jack – “You don’t have a son” apply to him too – “You don’t have a wife”? Or was this world only real for the survivors of Oceanic 815? If so why does Ana Lucia not get a ticket – she certainly reached a point of progression, growth and redemption before she died? Is it mid-section survivors only (plus Libby & Bernard who were romantically attached to Hurley and Rose)? Or was this just Jack’s collection of people – if so why did the other’s have to wake up? This is certainly not the your-in-by-grace or out-through-sin of Christian theology. Most importantly – any heaven where there is no all-loving & all-good God is no heaven at all.

In fact there can be no direct overarching explanation of this world from traditional religious beliefs – a fact rammed home to us by the statement making stain-glass window that dominated the final encounter between Jack and his father. All religions lead here. All are right and all are wrong. This is an important distinction in LOST because the story is more about spirituality than it is about theology. It is not about explanations but is about experiences.

The ‘Flash Upwards’ is what Christian Shephard said it is:

“Everyone dies sometime Kiddo… there is no ‘now’ here… this is the place you all made together so that you could find one another… the most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people, which is why all of you are here… nobody does it alone Jack… you needed all of them and they needed you… to remember and to let go…”

Even though the ‘Flash Upwards’ is a spiritual ream – the first plain of the afterlife – we are not shown this because the writers wanted to share their thoughts on life-after-death. We are shown it because of how our future existence and our spiritual nature change our lives before we die. Jack and Desmond describe this very thing when Des claims that ‘This doesn’t matter’ because he knows of the afterlife that awaits them. Jack strongly disagrees  – “All of this matters”. Life is not about where you end up when you die, it is about what you do now, the people you love, the difference you make, the good you do. The central premise of the entire show is this: ‘Live together, die alone”.

Amongst all the many themes that have made up the intricate tapestry of LOST, this one has been the centre. It is the characters themselves, their spiritual journeys and the community and relationships they formed which help them grow and progress and ultimately, find redemption. Nobody does it alone. No man is an Island. Sawyer, the man who defined ‘Every man for himself’, had precious little to do in the finale, save punching Ben in the face, stealing his gun and holding Kate’s hand. Whereas Jack the man who defined, ‘Live together, die alone’ had everything to do. He has the world to save.

As I’ve spent the last few days pondering the finale another thing has crossed my mind. The idea that ‘Nobody does it alone’ applies not just to our characters but also to the ‘Lost community’. We have all been enthralled with the events and characters of this epic saga and now we are in our own ‘Flash Upwards’ world – needing to process what has been, needing to find others, needing to remember, needing to let go. By writing and reading and commenting on this very article we are all engaging in our own awakenings and epiphanies. I’ve watched virtually every episode of this show alone with my wife. It has been a precious thing for us. There are others in my life, friends and family, particularly my sister, who I have spent six years debating and discussing every detail of the show with. And increasingly online I have engaged with many of you and many other recappers and bloggers and theorists. We all would have enjoyed this show alone, but it is has been infinitely better and special doing it together. Everyone else who engages with this story in the future will not have the privilege that we have had of working it out together. The final scenes will be on Youtube, the plot summary will be on Wikipedia and the key story parts will infiltrate popular culture so that no-one will be able to approach LOST with fresh eyes again.

LOST has meant a ridiculous amount to me. It has been brilliant escapism, diving into this universe and exploring it for six years. Yet it hasn’t been simply entertainment – it has been a door way into dozens of great books, particularly The Stand, The Dark Tower series, Slaughterhouse 5 and The Fountainhead. It has also upped my meagre level of education -  I know tons more about Roman, Greek and Egyptian myths and culture because I’ve trawled through Wikipedia seeking to understand the show a tiny bit more. There is so much I’m going to miss. I’ll even miss the hiatus.

So Jack’s eye has closed and the story is over. We are now in that place where we are learning to remember and let go together. I’m going to do some other posts over the next few weeks and months – including one on the visual imagery of LOST which I am really looking forward to. Thank you to everyone who made the show over the last six years. All of it mattered – it mattered to me.

JACK: “Where are we going?”

CHRISTIAN: “Let’s go find out”

The Finale Preview by Gatesy

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The finale begins this week and there seems little point posting a ‘recap’ style summary of what occurred in it and how it links in with other episodes etc… instead I am going to do two separate posts – this one, a preview of the finale and then a post-finale musing on the ending, the series as a whole and what it meant to me. That will be a long one.

So in this post I want to think ahead to the ending… I still have no idea how the plot will conclude or how the Sideways world will fit in… and the ideas I have for that are very similar to what many other bloggers, recappers and theorists are positing. Instead I want to anticipate the endings and resolutions for the characters… specifically our four remaining Castaways: Jack, Kate, Hurley & Sawyer; and also the two other remaining central characters: Ben & Desmond. How will their stories resolve? Who will be a hero? What roles might they play in the final moves of the game?

Jack Shepherd

I have a confession to make. I have always been a Jack-fan. And I know that isn’t always the most popular stance amongst hardcore LOST fans. Of course I have deep fondness for the deceased John Locke, and you can’t help but love Sawyer, but throughout the show I have been most interested in and most captivated by Jack’s story. Even in seasons 3 & 4 when his desire to leave the Island and his deteriorating leadership made it painful to watch. I was still rooting for him; still hoping he could let go; still hoping he would realise he was there for a reason. And now, that he knows that, it is a great payoff for all who kept believing in his redemption. Basically, I am a lot like Jacob.

Since the season 5 Jack-centric episode ‘316’, one particular theory of Jack’s role in the whole story has stayed with me:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The verse referenced by the title of the episode is not just the flight number of the Ajira plane and I have always considered it a clue to Jack’s role in the story: That he would be given by his father (a little thought about that in a moment) in order to save the world. However I would be surprised if this is referenced explicitly again – there are too many ‘Men of Science’ who love this show to accept a flagrant religious analogy to the show’s central character. But I believe Jack will die. And I believe he will die to save the world. I don’t think he will have the chance to be the next ‘Jacob’ as we are being led to believe he will – bringing people to the island to prove the Man in Black wrong. I think he will die killing or containing the Man in Black forever. Does that make the Sideways the eternal life from John 3:16…? Is ‘eternal life’ in the LOST universe not a paradise but an infinite time loop – a cosmological Mobius strip? I don’t think so but we will soon find out.

So am I implying that Christian Shepherd has been setting Jack up and directing him towards this goal his whole life? Possibly. It would make Christian’s assessment that Jack ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to be more loaded than we ever imagined. I do think it is suspicious that we have not seen Christian Shepherd at all this season. He is the only ‘recurring’ character to have been absent from the final season and I have to think that is intentional. They made a point of his body being missing in ‘LA X’ and I’m sure the actor, John Terry, would be willing to return to complete the story. I am utterly convinced that his absence has been to save him for a big reveal… if not, that would suck. But my Jack ‘316’ theory still works without Christian involved as we could easily view Jacob as a kind of Father figure… certainly with God like powers… who has been leading Jack to his sacrificial destiny. Whatever happens, whether he lives or dies, Jack Shepherd’s final words and actions in this story will be some of the most significant, and perhaps his journey more that any other will be the defining story of the LOST epic.

Hugo ‘Hurley’ Reyes

Who is the Man in Black most afraid of? I think it is Hurley. He is the incorruptible heart of the show. More than anyone he has been caught up in this game through no fault or choice of his own. He was not a man who ran from his past or who repressed his weaknesses or who lived in denial. He felt guilt when the people died on the deck; claiming a responsibility that wasn’t his to claim. Where Kate ran and Sawyer hunted down his nemesis and Jack tried to fix everyone – Hurley got better. He let go of his past. He has never carried a gun on the island or fired a shot in anger. He has never left his friends behind. He has always thought about others. He saw through the drama of the freighter folk arriving and sought to grieve over Charlie, which was more than anyone else managed. He knows what is important in life; friends, loved ones & other people. And his convictions are not swayed by circumstance or by situation or by life threatening danger. Everyone else is working under the banner that it is ‘kill or be killed’, but not Hugo. He sees that to kill is to be corrupted. What price is it to gain the world yet forfeit your soul?

Coming into the finale I think he will stick to his convictions and not kill the MIB, even if he is evil incarnate. There is no ‘Greater Good’ justification for Hurley. There is only ‘Do No Harm’. This will lead to two possible outcomes. That Hurley will be killed, refusing to be corrupted, holding firm to his convictions and will become a legend in the story; staying true to what is right, even to death. It will be a martyr’s tale, a hero’s story.

The other possibility is that by refusing to be corrupted that will be the action that finally halts the Man in Black. Hurley is the epitome of the ‘progress’ Jacob has been working for. He does not fight. He does not destroy. He does not corrupt. Hurley will prove the Man in Black wrong. And in doing so will defeat him. When an unstoppable force like Smokey collides with an immovable object like Hurley…. Something’s gotta give.

James ‘Sawyer’ Ford

Jim LaFleur is dead. The Sawyer who holds to ‘Every man for himself’ is defeated – setting off the bomb that killed his friends. It is time for James Ford to let go of that letter. Time for James Ford to grow from being the boy hiding under the bed to the man who once jumped out of a helicopter. For almost the entire series Sawyer has been about one thing – surviving. There have been times when he has put others first – especially as he progressed and settled into love with Juliet, at home with Dharma. But Juliet is dead and all that was Jim LaFleur has vanished. This season Sawyer has been in survival mode once more. Witness how quick he has been to lose Claire and Sayid when they seemed too far gone to care about anymore.

Sawyer has to kill himself. Not literally, well maybe literally, but he needs to die to himself. His whole life has been about killing the ‘Sawyer’ who has ruined his life. He managed to kill Anthony Cooper but he has still not killed ‘Sawyer’. For the first time in his life he will have to fight ‘for’ something. Not just surviving, not just revenge, but actually fighting to do something good for doing good’s sake. Sawyer has always been the character with the clearest similarities to a key character from another saga; Han Solo. I think we are heading towards a moment in the finale where Sawyer will choose, perhaps for the first time in his life, to do good because good is the right thing to do. He will turn up at the last instance in the Millennium Falcon to help Luke to allow the Death Star to be destroyed. Or something similar at least.

My prediction for the finale is that Sawyer will die but James Ford will live. His character arc will be complete not by dying to save the world – that is more likely for Jack or Hurley – but it is to get a shot at the life that was denied to him twice; initially by Anthony Cooper and then by Jughead and the Island’s wishes. When the opportunity to do the right thing arises he will; his redemption complete and he will get a shot at a ‘Happily Ever After’ – either in the Sideways universe with Juliet or the original timeline with Kate.

Kate Austen

I have another confession to make. I’ve always liked Kate as well. (Some of you are going to hate me). The love triangle was never really a huge part of the story in my opinion so her flip-flopping between Jack and Sawyer was not particularly frustrating for me and, as I think this season has proved, it is not centrally important to the story either. Kate could never choose and the finale will be no different – the Island will decide for her by claiming one of her former lovers, my guess is Jack, so she will be left with Sawyer.

What is now most interesting about Kate is her status as ‘touched by Jacob’ but not ‘a Candidate’. I think the Man in Black knows a lot about Jack and sees him as the greatest danger to his plans. He knows Hurley but cannot fathom him and so fears him. He sees right through Sawyer and isn’t the least bit intimidated by James Ford. But as his attentions are focussed on the three remaining Candidates he will not spot three other potential dangers: Kate, Ben and Desmond.

Kate is on the island for a reason. She is still alive for a reason. The Island is not done with her yet. Now the question begs will her role simply be a motivation for Jack or Sawyer or does she have another part to play – a more significant task? I think the Man in Black will directly try to kill Kate but won’t be able to. The touch from Jacob she received as a child will protect her from the Man in Black’s fatal intentions. This will surprise him, it will throw him and may even be the very thing that hinders the success of his malevolent plan.

The other thing to watch out for in the finale is how her relationship with Claire resolves (if they both survive). Who will go back and raise Aaron? It is hard to see anyone leaving the Island now, but perhaps Claire maybe the one that gets away – on the ‘Elizabeth’ with Des? Speaking of Des….

Desmond Hume

It is easy to predict some of Desmond’s role in the last 3 hours of the show. He will be needed to resist electromagnetism (possibly at the Waterfall of Light). He will be heavily involved in the connection of the two realities, however that happens though is anyone’s guess. He will get at least one more showdown with Widmore. The key question to his story is will there be a ‘Happily Ever After’ for him and Penny? Will he give up Penny and Charlie to save the world. I think he would, but I sincerely hope he doesn’t have to. The thought of a Des-less Penny and Charlie is very sad indeed. Could Penny have made her way back to the Island on her boat to try and find him once more?

It doesn’t feel like Desmond’s story needs ‘completing’. We have been told twice before that the Island is not done with him yet he could easily be done with Island. He doesn’t need redeeming or saving or transforming in the same way that most of the other characters do. His role in the story will centre around some of his ‘special’ abilities; his resistance to electromagnetism; the connection he has between the two timelines; his capacity for his conscious to leap through time. All of these things make him a wild card in every way.

Benjamin Linus

The last season finished with the MIB manipulating Ben to be the weapon that would slay Jacob. After he was done using Ben for his murderous plan he left him, only returning to Ben when he was digging his own grave and only to use him once more in his plan to kill the Candidates. They do, however, have one thing in common; they both hate Widmore. I know how they feel. One of Ben’s decisions to come may involve swallowing his pride to side with Widmore in order to halt or kill the Man in Black. I am convinced Widmore’s motivations lie in power and greed – most likely now he has some knowledge of the waterfall of light and longs for it’s power to cheat death – what will happen to Charles Widmore if he gets what he wants?

At the end of ‘Dr. Linus’ it seemed that Ben had had a moment of redemption; finding forgiveness from Ilana and rejecting the MIB’s overtures. But what does he do now? (It is hard to tell as he has only had a couple of lines since that episode). I am sure he has no desire to leave the Island and I can’t see a martyrs story ahead for him. My choice of destiny for Benjamin Linus would be for him to become the next protector of the Island. Jack seems to be ‘The Candidate’ that is primed for that role but I think he will sacrifice himself and that will leave the Island needing a leader and a protector. A humbled, penitent Ben could well be that man. More than any other main character we’ve seen the struggles and pains of Ben’s upbringing. The patterns of lies and deceit that defined his adult life led him to his nadir when he killed Jacob. But those patterns could have been shattered by his repentance and he could now be a new man. The way Jacob related to Ben in the final scene of ‘The Incident’ has always stayed with me – he was not surprised to see him and he did not defend himself in the same way he did against Richard in ‘Ab Aeterno’. Could it be that Jacob had been pushing Ben towards that destination; his silence intended to lead Ben to that very moment? Did he let Ben kill him because that was the only way to bring Ben to a place where he could change?

We also need to remember that Ben has been saved by the Island once before; he was brought to the healing pool to recover from Sayid’s bullet. Will that significant in the final three hours? It is more likely after ‘Across the Sea’ – the mysterious properties of the Island’s water makes Ben’s childhood healing an interesting piece of LOST history.

There is one more character that could step in and change everything – John Locke. If the  timelines converge will the wheelchair bound John Locke have the decisive role in the conclusion of the story? I hope so.

——————

So the next time I write here, the story will be over. Enjoy the ride. See you in another life Bruthas.

“Across the Sea” Recap by Gatesy

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It thrilled me. It frustrated me. It thrilled me in frustrating me. I love this show – now as much as ever. I understand why some of my friends and fellow fans struggle, but I am a believer and I’ll try and convince anyone who’ll listen just how important and brilliant LOST is – ‘Across the Sea’ included. Every fan will view this episode in different ways. This recap is just my reading of it and my feelings on that (be kind):

‘Across the Sea’ was not simply an episode of LOST, though it did a pretty good job of that as well, it was an episode about LOST. We are used to the show’s constant referencing of itself through scenes, dialogue and recurring plot points – all things that are common in many forms of post-modern art and entertainment. But never have I seen something refer to the experience of the viewer and speak so directly, and without apology, to the audience about what it has been like to actually watch LOST and how we shall hold it’s mysteries, loose ends and open threads when the story has finished. This hour of television was bold, risky and totally unique. Only LOST could do it, because only LOST is this big, this important and this special. When the Man in Black says ‘I’m special’ as a way of side stepping the issue about how he knows how to get off of the Island – it is really saying ‘Not every mystery needs solving, because this show is special’. That has infuriated and frustrated many fans, including me, but the truth remains – it is special. How many times have you spoken to someone who has said “What are you going to watch instead of LOST?”. The answer I give is this: Nothing. There are other great shows, and there will be other great shows, but this is special. The six years we’ve had have been amazing, They have been captivating. And FlashForward cannot even begin to compare.

‘Across the Sea’ was a story within a story. It is the last crucial frame of reference to understand the final chapter of this epic which will conclude for us in just over a week. The family history of Jacob and the Man in Black is helpful for us to understand their motivations and longings and how they have shaped the whole tale. But this story within a story was not only about the origins of the brother’s feud, but the episode’s other key concern was the Island itself; it’s heart and source:

“Light. The warmest, bright light you’ve ever seen or felt”

But let’s talk about the brothers first.

We finally have found out the Man in Black’s name. He has none; his mother had chosen only one for one son. So to us he remains ‘Esau’ or ‘Man in Black’ or ‘Smoke Monster’ or ‘Smokey’ or, more recently, ‘Locke’. But what is in a name? What significance is there to him remaining unnamed? Well ‘names’ provide us with identity, they bring clarity and they give us heritage. By not having a name MIB lacks these things, in a more real way than for his twin Jacob, and he feels that pain acutely. He knows he doesn’t belong on the Island but he has no other idea of his origins or his home other than they lie ‘Across the Sea’. He yearns to leave but he cannot express why. In his conversation with Ben during ‘LA X’ he says that he just wants to go home, yet he doesn’t know what that means. Perhaps it is to be free of the Island. Perhaps it is to judge and corrupt the rest of the world. Or perhaps it is simply to die because his life now is worse than death. Much worse.

Jacob & MIB’s mother’s name was Claudia – one of the given names of the virgin who gave birth to Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome. (If you want to read all the Lost allusions in that story you can go down that particular rabbit hole here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus – most interestingly Romulus and Remus are found and raised by a She-Wolf!). As with many of LOST’s special people (Locke; Ben; Aaron) these brothers were ‘Raised by Another’. Like for all the audience, the answers Claudia receives on her arrival to the Island only lead to more questions. When we first came across the Others we wondered: Who are these people? Then we wondered who their leader was? Then who or what was directing him? And then finally who is Jacob and where does he come from? Now we have been given that answer and told, pretty categorically, that we could ask these ‘origin’ questions forever and ever and never get an answer. Many will now demand to know ‘Where did “Mother” (Allison Janney) come from and who is she?”. Some will be frustrated by the fact we will never find out. ‘Mother’ and ‘MIB” are literally our Adam & Eve – they are as far back as the writers are willing to give us.

On the one hand this episode is a ‘Mythological download’ but on the other hand it is very much an encouragement from the writers to accept what we do not understand. “Mother” came to the Island by accident, that is all. We won’t know how or when or how she found the waterfall of light or worked out what it was or what it did. We know that MIB is ‘special’ similarly to how Walt was ‘special’. But we don’t know how or why. For 3 seasons now I’ve taken the view that LOST is not a televisual Sudoku puzzle that needs solving or a show like CSI that only exists to explain whodunnit and how-they-dunnit. The writers are working on a tapestry. We’ve asked through blogs and forums “Can we help you?”. They’ve replied “If you like you can sort that”. LOST is the tapestry, rich and complicated. We have spent, and will spend, months, years and terabytes sorting through the loose threads.

Can I cope with that? Yes I think I can.

I had thought the nature of Jacob and MIB would be left more ambiguous. Now it actually seems pretty clear. The Man in Black believes humanity is destined for destruction and he wants to leave the Island and will do whatever he wants to get away – lying, manipulating, killing. His motives are selfish and evil. Seeing him as ‘The Boy in Black’ gave us a glimpse into the fact that it wasn’t always that way, but it is that way now, where it matters. I was certainly expecting Jacob’s intentions to be more abstruse, but it seems the conversation given to us at the foot of the statue in ‘The Incident’ is an accurate portrayal of their beliefs and motivations. Locke’s actions in ‘The Candidate’ confirmed his evil intentions. ‘Across the Sea’ confirmed Jacob’s relative innocence and benevolence. Put simply, he believes in Mankind. He believes in our redemption and he chooses to protect the Island. After six seasons of varying degrees of ambiguity we can now say that in the LOST universe there is definite good and definite evil. Though one thing remains, good and evil are not positions on a chess board, they are choices. Jacob and MIB have the same upbringing, the same heritage, the same environment, all the same external pressures. Their destinies of good and evil are not determined by genetics or circumstance or by particular experiences, they are defined by choices. It is our choices in life that determine how for each of us ‘the scales are balanced’.

So let’s now talk ‘Waterfall of Light’:

I was genuinely surprised to see something like this. Visually and musically it felt like a real ‘Spielberg’ moment. It was a little corny but only in the way that ET/Raiders of the Lost Ark/Star Wars can be corny and that’s okay with me. Certainly if you’re going to get a brand new character to explain the central mythological conceit of the show you might as well get Allison Janney. She was excellent and she managed to sell this crucial moment to us in impressive fashion. Compare her acting with that of the other elder female oracle of the story, Elouise Hawking, whose hammy readings of lines have often taken the drama out of big reveals.

“It’s beautiful”

“Yes it is. And that’s why they want it. Because a little bit of this very same light is in every man, but they always want more.”

“Can they take it?”

“No but they’ll try and if they try then they’ll put it out and if the light goes out here it goes out everywhere”

Take a moment to read 1 Timothy 6 from the New Testament. Done it? No! Well, I did it for you and it contains a lot of themes that match this scene; greed; corruption; faith; unapproachable light. This chapter is famous for the often misquoted verse “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. It talks of how greed can kill a man and bring ruin and destruction. I think we’ve found what Widmore is looking for:

“Life. Death. Rebirth. It’s the source, the heart of the Island”

But like the Ring of Power in Tolkien’s saga holding this power, trying to gain it or ‘take’ it will only lead to corruption. ‘Mother’ warns of the dangers of this light to both brothers and later on to Jacob, who after having a ‘Take this cup away from me” moment he finally agrees to drink the wine and become the next protector of the Island.

Jacob, filled with rage at his ‘Mother’s’ murder, drags his brother to the light. His brother has been tainted and corrupted by the murder and when his body floats into the waterfall ‘Smokey’ is immediately expelled. Minutes later Jacob finds his brother’s body which he then places in the caves. So what is Smokey? We are still unsure. My reading of it was that the best way to describe him is as the “Man in Black’s corrupted soul”. If the LOST universe has a heaven; it is this light. If it has a hell; it is the light being extinguished. I am now convinced that in ‘Walkabout’ John Locke somehow got a glimpse of this light. We’ve always presumed it was Smokey he saw, but his description of it to Jack in the next episode now feels truer to the light we were shown here.

Much of LOST has been analogous to religious stories and there has always been a supernatural element to the show. We are now being told this is the ‘heart and source’ of the Island. This last season has driven deeper and deeper into the spiritual aspects of the show, so deep now that we’ve hit the light at the depths of the tale. The core of LOST’s mythology is spiritual. Some, like me, are happy with that (I love it) others will have a genuine sense of being robbed or being duped into watching a spiritual story. Yet it is near impossible now to deny that this is what the story is (not that a myriad of bloggers and theorists are doing that as we speak – ‘Across the Sea’ is a difficult episode if you are a ‘Man of Science’). Take last week for example – after seeing Jack pull out the bomb from his backpack it read 3:54 – knowing that LOST has referenced Bible verses before I tried to find a verse that it may relate to. As it turns out there is only one 3:54 in the Bible and that is in the book of Lamentations, the book of grief, and do you know what it says?:

“The waters closed over my head”

Two minutes later they are all submerged in water. Coincidence? Possibly, but at this stage it is more likely that the spiritual aspects of the show are what are driving the plot of these final episodes. Of course it isn’t all just a religious analogy, that would be lame – the Sci-Fi and philosophical elements are still there and they are still important, but it seems that the story certainly has a ‘Meta-Narrative’ (Google it). I think that is pretty cool and should make for a high concept, meaningful ending. I hope so anyway. I also hope that those who don’t like the way the mythology has played out can still enjoy, and love, this story and remember the great ride it gave us – and remember the real story of LOST, the characters, has yet to finish. Even if the mythology let you down, I am convinced the resolution of the finale won’t. I’d like to encourage all those fans who weren’t at all disappointed with ‘Across the Sea’ to remember that you are not stupid or gullible or simple minded – your only crime is to love this show and find meaning within it.

Two brothers, raised the same way, with the same experiences. One is unhappy about the answers given to him. One wants to escape the Island and be rid of its mysteries. One rages against the story given to him by his “Mother”. The other brother chooses to stay. Chooses to protect the Island. Chooses to take his “Mother’s” cup? Chooses to bring others to its shores and share its mysteries. Which brother are you?

————

I’m not intending on doing a recap for 6.16 “What They Died For” (though that may change) but I am writing a preview of the last episodes which I will post before Tuesday and then I will do a total recap of the last three episodes after the finale.

“The Candidate” Recap by Gatesy

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None of us thought that all the characters would have happy endings. And we certainly didn’t think that they would all survive. But even with those expectations, watching it hurt nonetheless. Saying goodbye to Sayid, Jin & Sun and, in all probability Frank, was painful but essential. It was beautiful, moving and entirely appropriate to this story.

And now we know for sure: if Locke leaves the Island, God help us all.

“Feel like we’re running in circles?”

The Candidate took us to familiar places (Hydra Island and the cages), familiar scenes (the Losties gathered around a bomb) and oceans of familiar dialogue. The circles we’ve been seeing for 6 years are closing in. There is little left but the centre. The heart of the matter. The true conflict between good and evil – light and dark.

The episode began with a mirror: Locke wakes to find he has been saved by Jack; Jack wakes to find he has been saved by Locke. Neither are that happy about it and neither are keen on the other’s plan, inherently suspicious of the other’s reason – just as it has been since the day Boone died. On the Island Locke lays down his plan to rescue the Losties from Widmore and once again we hear Jack say something totally opposite to what we’re used to: “They are not my people. And I’m not leaving the Island” -  yet still he is conscripted to Locke’s break out team. At this point the Losties are stuck between Locke and Widmore. Not a great situation to be in. I think Jack helps free them in order that they may decide for themselves their own fates.

Sayid kills the power. Jack grabs the keys. Locke transforms into a cloud of raging black smoke and wipes out half of Team Widmore. They make their way to the Ajira plane to escape and briefly, very briefly, the original team is back together. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Claire, Sayid, Hurley and Locke (of sorts). To my recollection this is the first time they have all been together since the first episode of season 4, ‘The Beginning of the End’ when they split into two camps. They parted as a group under the wreckage of Oceanic 815 and they reunited under the wings of Ajira 316. It was appropriate that we had everyone together for one final time before it wouldn’t be possible anymore.

When they reach the plane Locke has already snagged a watch and some C4; putting in place the final parts of his Long Con. Sawyer’s biggest mistake this season was to believe Locke when he said he was ‘the best liar’ he had ever seen. Sawyer tried time and again to con Locke but he saw straight through it. Sawyer’s plan of using Jack to dump Locke was Locke’s plan all along. And James’ stupidity, as we know, didn’t end there.

One moment brought me a smile of enormous satisfaction and a great inner cheer of ‘YESSSS!’.

“John Locke told me I needed to stay” – SPLASH!

Immensely enjoyable. But that feeling went as soon as it came as chaos then ensued. Kate gets hit by a bullet and forces Jack onto the sub (perhaps setting up my theory that at some point Jack will have to choose between saving Kate and doing what he is ‘supposed’ to do). Sayid helps Jack with Kate whilst Sawyer goes up to get Claire, yet showed little hesitation when he needed to leave her behind. ‘Live together, die alone’ was always Jack’s motto. Sawyer’s? ‘Every man for himself’. Jack begins to look through his backpack for a shirt to help Kate and as he finds the bomb the truth dawns on him. “We did exactly what he wanted”.

We are then treated to an incredible scene of storytelling. The bomb here is a reflection and on the other side of that mirror is Jughead. This time it is Sawyer who cannot sit by and let things play out. It is Sawyer who needs to try and save the day; to fix his mistake of, if not trusting Locke, then following him. Whereas Jack has been here before. He blew up a bomb already and Juliet died because of it. Now it is Sawyer’s turn to make that mistake. Jack evokes the words from his conflict with Locke over the button in the hatch – ‘Nothing is going to happen’. He tested this theory with Richard and a stick of dynamite. They have to kill each other. Fate won’t do it for them. But Sawyer doesn’t believe in fate or destiny and makes his own decision. The wrong the decision.

“There is no Sayid”

Dogen was wrong. It was not better for Sayid to be dead. He still had one last role to play. Many of us suspected his heart had been turned by Desmond’s words to him but this confirmed it. When beloved characters die we want it to mean something. Like Charlie and Juliet before him he finds himself in a position to save others at the cost of his own life and he makes that decision, for ‘The Greater Good’. This final change of heart was right for the character and the story. He gained some redemption in the end and I hope he is now with Nadia somewhere. See you in another life ‘brotha.

The bomb goes off and the lethal force of the blast is taken by Sayid – surely his last words confirm that it is Jack who is the ‘Candidate’ – the new one who will be called “He will save us all” (but in Latin, of course). However the blast is still powerful enough to blow holes in the submarine and Frank gets wiped first. No room for part time characters now (wherever Miles is he best be trying to make himself essential to the story line). Sun is trapped. Hurley takes the wounded Kate whilst Jack and Sawyer stay to help Jin. Once the cabinet is moved we can see that she is pinned by the pipes. There’s an explosion and Sawyer is out cold. Jack can’t stay and he knows it. Jin knows it too. And by now we know what is going to happen.

At the time I thought Jin would leave, have to leave, Sun for Ji Yeon’s sake. And at first I couldn’t make sense of it – why leave her as an orphan? But as I’ve pondered it I now think it is the right decision. Consider Desmond’s words to Sayid….

DESMOND: So, what will you tell her?

SAYID: What do you mean?

DESMOND: This woman–when she asks you what you did to be with her again…what will you tell her?

What would Jin tell Ji Yeon? Could he ever tell her what he had to leave behind to be with her? And let’s remember Ji Yeon doesn’t know Jin and Jin doesn’t know Ji Yeon. It sucks to make her an orphan but it sucks to leave Sun to die alone. That is the point. Love is stronger than death. Death is not the worst thing for either them. Being apart is. And I like to imagine that Ji Yeon’s parentless childhood will prepare her for a Superman/Luke Skywalker/Harry Potter style heroic story that we will never see. Death is not the end but the beginning of another adventure, as Dumbledore would say.

Jin and Sun’s personal stories had taken a back seat since season 4. Their story was no longer of two individuals seeking redemption and reconciliation – that had been achieved. The story was of their marriage, their union, their devotion to each other. For them to die together after being apart for so long is a happy ending of sorts. They would have chosen to die in old age, surrounded by children and grandchildren but that was taken away from them. So they chose to die together. Die together or live alone….? The hardest choice to make.

It was all heartbreaking and emotional, and I was choked through the whole scene; from Sayid’s death all the way to the sub sinking and the hands parting. But it wasn’t until I saw Kate, Hurley and Jack crying that it really hit me hard. But that is the truth isn’t it? Death is always hardest on those left behind. Those who die move on or perish depending on your theology. It is those who are left behind that have to make sense of it all; that have to pull themselves through and move on. And move on they must – because the end is in sight.

One thing I’ve expected all along is that there will be deaths but there will be a happy resolution of some description – if not for the characters themselves then for the story as they ‘save the world’. After this episode I can no longer say that will happen. It could be more bitter than sweet. If Locke’s plans are thwarted will they be thwarted entirely? Now I’m not sure.

The antidote to the chaos of the Island story was the steady progression of the Sideways world. The coincidences surrounding Oceanic 815 are coming quicker and more frequently. Locke’s sub-conscious is channeling his Island self. Jack and Claire are bonding. But neither Jack or Locke have become fully aware, Desmond-aware, of the Island reality. It must surely come soon. Another thought crossed my mind: if this story is to have heroes, which timeline will they come from? Is it possible that the heroes of the story may end up being Sideways Jack and Sideways Locke. In getting over their issues and letting go will they some how save the Island world?

I see little point now in making grand theories for the next few episodes… we were presented no new mysteries in this episode. It seems that all the questions have been asked…. it is now a matter of which questions will be answered and which we will ponder long after the series has finished.

Death predictions… (man this feels hard now)

ZOE! ZOE! ZOE!  – (The new Frogurt?)

Miles – (He has perhaps one more ‘I can speak to dead people’ moment left and then it is sionara!)

Widmore – (More a case of who will do it: Smokey or Ben?)

Please leave thoughts, comments and obituaries below.

“The Last Recruit” Recap by Gatesy

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All season there has been a theme of nostalgia as we’ve revisited people, places and scenarios we have seen before; drawing on previous seasons to evoke in us a fondness for the show’s history coupled with a sadness for it’s passing. This season has also been character driven; keeping the ‘centricity’ of individual characters for individual episodes. There was no space for either of those hallmarks in ‘The Last Recruit’. In fact, if we are to compare ‘The Last Recruit’ to previous episodes then it is most similar to the penultimate episodes of seasons 4 & 5; ‘There’s No Place Like Home – Part 1’ and ‘Follow the Leader’ – both of which were as equally concerned as this one with accelerating towards the season’s climax at the expense of character arcs and straight out mythology. They are necessary episodes in the pacing of the season – a counterweight to the slower episodes – but certainly not LOST at its imperious best. And considering we have to wait 14 days for another episode I thought we could have been left with a juicier cliffhanger. Never mind. A lot of things happened in ‘The Last Recruit’ yet I find myself wanting to talk about only a few them. Because of the sheer amount of all that took place, this episode cannot be considered ‘filler’. It was more like an episode in fast forward – all plot development and movement but few memorable moments – but at those moments there were we shall hit the pause button to stop and consider.

The man who coined ‘Live together, die alone” seems only too happy to have a one-to-one with the ‘evil incarnate’ Smoke Monster posing as Locke. And it is the form of Locke that most troubles Jack as he heads straight to the question we all want to know; who else has he appeared like? Locke confirms that he was the ‘Christian Shepherd’ that appeared in ‘White Rabbit’. I believed him – he knew about leading him to the water. Later in the episode we hear from Claire that she knows that Smokey was pretending to be Christian to her as well. This probably means that this is going to be the explanation for all the Christian Shepherd appearances – though that does not seem to be consistent with him appearing to Michael in season 4 (that was on the boat and Smokey apparently can’t cross water) and Sun & Lapidus last year (Ben was with Locke at the same time as Christian appeared to them). Perhaps there is still a question mark over these appearances, as there was with Ghost Michael’s last week, but I now think we are getting the explanations that are going to stick. And I’m cool with that.

Claire follows them into the jungle in order that they may have their Luke/Leia moment. Kind of weird. Then Claire repeats an idea that we first heard from Dogen regarding Locke (and from MIB regarding Jacob); once they are talking, they have you. These Saruman-esque powers are apparently irresistible – their very words containing a hypnotic quality that will subvert your own sense of reason.

In the Sideways the story line the most interesting thing this episode by far was Sun’s recognition of Locke and, seemingly, his identity as the Man in Black. How did the revelation come about? Is it linked to love? If so, then why has Jin had no similar revelation? It is more likely that the trauma of the gunshot brought her closer to the truth as did Charlie and Desmond’s near death experiences. Does this give traction to the idea that  Desmond running over John was simply to give him the trauma he needs to see the light? Well, Sun didn’t seem so sure this was John Locke at all.

“You can always bring people back from the dark side. I mean, Anakin…”

Back on the Island Zoe visits Locke’s camp in the least intimidating fashion possible. Locke doesn’t even blink at her requests. (As soon as she appeared I was longing for him to go into Smokey mode and smash her against the trees). The war has officially started, the first shots have been fired and Locke hands out the tasks – Sawyer to get the boat and Sayid to kill Desmond. Sawyer then informs Jack of his escape plan (later revealed to be as bad and ill thought out as we all thought it was). Sayid is reminded of the bargain he made with Locke and treks out to the well; ready to fulfil his evil instructions. The following conversation between Sayid and Desmond is one of the few in this episode that gripped me in the same way the rest of the season has. Desmond directly challenges Sayid’s “dark side” – is getting what you want worth killing me for? Sayid effectively says ‘yes’. Then Des counteracts with an intriguing possibility – in the act of killing him will he spoil the very thing he desires most, Nadia’s love? Time and again in the series we’ve seen Sayid regret many of the things he has done  – and boy, does he have some things to regret. In the Sideways timeline we see that these acts are the things that separate him from Nadia; he doesn’t deserve her – perhaps in the Island timeline, under a Karmic worldview, those evil deeds are what has separated him from Nadia his whole life. They were childhood friends who lost touch. Then when they next met he was an Iraqi Republican soldier, she was an insurgent. They spent a decade apart until the Oceanic 6 returned from the Island. Then they were together mere months before death separated them, seemingly forever. Killing Desmond will not bring Nadia closer to him, it will only drive a bigger cosmic wedge between him and his true love. It appears more likely that Karma, (or the Universe, or the Gods, or the Island) have ordained that he will never find love. Those he loves will die in his arms. And he will watch them die as he has watched so many of his victims perish.

So what did Sayid do? Did he kill Des as he claims to Locke? No way. For two clear reasons. Firstly, I cannot believe the writers would let Desmond die ‘off camera’. We are too invested in this character to just accept that he is dead and not even get to see him die. Secondly, Sayid would not ‘need a moment’ after killing him. Definitely not. Especially if he is totally emotionless and surrendered to the ‘dark side’. One other interesting thing to note is that Sayid was all set to kill Desmond until he let him speak. We keep seeing that Desmond’s actions in the Sideways world are very reminiscent of Jacob’s visits to the Losties in ‘The Incident’. A little nudge here. An encouragement there. Coincidental meetings and chance occurrences. Now it seems on the Island that Des’s words have the power to change minds too. His enlightened state helps him to see the truth; that perhaps there is good in Sayid. If we saw their conversation carry on, you can almost imagine Desmond telling Sayid that he “doesn’t have to do this” and that he “has a choice”. All very Jacob-like.

The final conversation that grabbed my attention was the confrontation between Jack and Sawyer on the boat. It was in season 4 when Jack was determined to leave the Island and Sawyer accused him of sounding like a ‘broken record’; repeating his promise to rescue everyone so often that he became increasingly frustrating to watch. Even though we knew he was one of the Oceanic 6 and would leave the Island we were desperate from him not to; desperate for him to listen to Locke. Last season we saw how much he had changed as he spoke to Locke’s corpse whilst putting his Father’s shoes on the body. At that point he was trying his hardest to believe. Today he does believe. It was so satisfying hearing him tell Sawyer:

“It doesn’t feel right… leaving the Island… I remember how I felt the last time I left. Like a part of me was missing…. We  were brought here because we were supposed to do something James”.

That felt great didn’t it? I loved the way Jack calls him ‘James’ as well; just as John Locke used to. And also it was good for him to apologise for Juliet’s death. He is now owning the things he can’t fix. His training as a Jedi is almost complete. There is just one more task. Without doubt the finale will be about the thing they’re ‘supposed to do’. Who will sign up for the last mission? Who will trek into the jungle one final time to do something that none of them quite understand? I think at some point Jack will have a choice to make – be the ‘Man of Faith’ and do the thing he is on the Island to do or stay and be the ‘Man of Science’. If I had to guess how that choice will be presented I would say that at some point, near the end Kate will be wounded, probably shot, and Jack can either stay and ‘fix’ her or let go and do what he is there to do; reverse the irreversible. But that is just my guess of course.

The long awaited reunion between Jin and Sun was sweet and precious. But like everything else in this episode it happened quickly. Who else thought they were going to be zapped by the sonic-weapon-pylons? Widmore is, unsurprisingly, not a man of his word. They all seem to have forgotten that Widmore was prepared to kill everyone on the Island, including all of them, just to get his hands on Ben Linus. Maybe Jack should be making the plans after all, eh Sawyer?

Next week’s (or the week after actually) episode looks set to centre around Jack and Locke. Perhaps it’s the last ‘centric’ episode we’ll ever get. Locke just saved Jack’s life and  in the Sideways Jack is going to attempt to repay the favour. It is all set for a classic episode exploring the complex friend/enemy – ally/adversary relationship they have. They have always represented the greatest opposites within our original characters. Faith and science. Free will and destiny. Black and white. I hope they can some how be reconciled in one world or the other. Or both. If not then it may well be ‘Live together, die alone’.

Soooo, who is most likely to die in the next episode. No-one died in ‘The Last Recruit’ (well maybe Desmond but I seriously doubt it) so after this installment who is looking likely to go next time round….

Zoe (I hope)

Claire (Does anyone actually want her to be reunited with Aaron now?)

Sayid (If he does turn from the dark side and redeems himself then his arc will be complete)

All comments appreciated (except spoilers and criticisms of my shocking grammar)  - you may well want to discuss why Sun has got her English back and whether or not it was Locke that took it in the first place… or what will happen when Sideways Claire and Sideways Jack finally get to listen to Christian’s will… or whether or not Ilana has any Island world knowledge in the Sideways… or not.

“Everybody Loves Hugo” Recap by Gatesy

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During the long and tortuous 8 month hiatus I spent many hours envisioning what season 6 episodes may be like. ‘Everybody Loves Hugo’ was exactly what I had imagined. This episode matched the heights of this season’s previous installments in every area; plot development; character growth; mythological answers; emotional satisfaction. It was gripping stuff. And it is getting harder and harder to choose favourite episodes from season six.

It has often been said that Hurley is the heart of the show. The one character that is universally loved and appreciated. He is often the voice of the audience; the voice of sane questions and comedic insight. Certainly from a fan perspective it is true that  ‘Everybody Loves Hugo’. Though this season has been different for Hurley. He is no longer just the character with the audience’s perspective, in both the Sideways and the Island realities he is a protagonist; a leader; a hero.

“People are listening to you now Hurley”

Hurley is getting a taste of what it’s like to be a leader. We’ve seen many others struggle with the burdens of leadership and decision making – most notably Jack & Locke – and now it is Hurley’s turn to carry the load. Lives will be saved or lost on the decisions he makes and the advice he heeds or dismisses. So which voices will he listen to? Ilana? Richard? The ghost of Jacob? The ghost of Michael?

Ilana and Richard’s mission is to destroy the plane. The ghost that appears to be Michael – I don’t think we can be certain that any ghostly appearance is what it claims to be – doesn’t want the plane to blow up because people will die. A choice then for Hurley – let Locke leave on the plane and people will die or stop Richard and Ilana because people will die. It is the proverbial rock and hard place. Hurley’s view of whom to trust becomes clearer throughout the episode – “dead people are more reliable than alive people”.

“Dude, you’ve got some Ilana on you”

What exactly will happen if Locke leaves the island? Ilana was just about to tell us and then KABOOM. No room in season 6 for passengers (let’s hope Zoe is next). Meanwhile Locke is making a spear or a very big Jesus stick to remind himself of Eko or a curtain rail. We will find out I’m sure. Another thing I hope we find out is why Hurley took the diamonds; will it be a bribe or a tool further down line? He sure doesn’t need the money. I was also glad to see a Dosetoevsky book lying around – lending credence to my ‘Brothers Karamazov/Jacob & MIB’ similarities. I am convinced there will be a murdered father somewhere in their story line.

So Hurley hatches a plan of the ‘Locke-blowing-the-sub’ variety. He agrees to go with Richard only to sneak ahead and blow the Black Rock to smithereens. Once again we have a scene where the group splits itself. Two opposing leaders taking their troops on different courses. I don’t think this is the last time we will see this happening; the pieces are still moving before the end of the game is played out. Team Jacob is now just Richard, Ben & Miles and the new Team Hurley is The ‘Non-MIB’ Candidates plus Frank. Before they arrived at the Black Rock, Ben questioned what will happen to them once the Island’s intentions are sated. I was surprised when Ben chose to go with Richard and I am wondering if he has some other motive, most likely killing Widmore. Ben has forgiven himself but he won’t let Chuck Widmore off the hook so easily.

The Sideways reality followed the pattern begun in ‘Happily Ever After’ – enlightenment via love. Through Libby, a woman who has “issues with reality”, we have confirmation that it is not only the Island character’s stories that have been altered. She knows something is up. That there is, or was, “another life” (or a ‘bizzarro alternate universe”). Something is different and it needs putting right. Cue Desmond who, in a very Jacob like way, gives Hurley a little nudge.

“Do you believe that two people can be connected? Like soulmates?”

My understanding of the relationship between the realities changed again during this episode. After ‘Happily Ever After’ I thought that they were set to be fused – that they would  continue to bleed together until the Sideways gave way to the Island reality. But now I am left wondering how these realities will end. Hurley has been enlightened and captivated, not by the revelation of the Island, but by the revelation of love. There is no way he will swap the Sideways for the Island now. Libby is only alive in one reality and that is the only one where the soulmates can be connected. Hurley has been awakened to the truth but I think he will be happy with his current reality being different rather than swapping it for an alternative universe – the Island world. Could this be the future that awaits Sayid & Nadia and Sawyer & Juliet? Could the Sideways end up being the ‘Happily Ever After’ after all? I have been convinced that Lost will not have a happy ending, and I still think it won’t on the Island, but this universe may offer a place for happiness without negating the Island experiences. In fact this reality will be happy because of the Island story.

On the Island, Locke has a acquired Widmore’s secret weapon who has “nowhere to run to”. Experience has told Desmond that he was blasted with a massive amount of electromagnetism and he tells Locke as much. I would have thought that this would be the piece of information that would most trouble Locke but he seems more concerned by Desmond’s view of his identity. To Desmond he is not the Man in Black or the Smoke Monster, he is “John Locke”. This is why Desmond is unafraid and this is also why he is thrown down the well. It’s unlikely that the fall into the well would have killed Desmond but Locke certainly wants him out of the way to meddle. I don’t think that Desmond’s unique relationship with electromagnetism is what makes him special and dangerous – as he says “the Island has it in for everyone” – but it is his enlightened state, his ability to see the truth that makes him dangerous to Locke, dangerous to the Island and dangerous to everyone who has an agenda of their own to peddle.

“We’re the ones who can’t move on”

The depth of transformation that has occurred in Jack is beginning to come through. He was the one of the original Losties who found it hardest to let go and get over his past. But now he has surrendered his fixing obsession and has begun to listen to Rose’s advice from the premiere; he is truly letting go. He shares his feelings of guilt, remorse and deep responsibility over Juliet’s death and, worse of all him, he can’t ever fix it. Right after his confession we hear the whispers and Hurley, who has cracked that mystery, takes charge and goes to into the jungle. There he finds Michael again who tells him that he is there because he can’t move on because of what he did. He can’t fix things either. Some fans will be disappointed with this mythological reveal – the whispers are souls that have not moved on and they are stuck in a kind of purgatory. I have two thoughts on this reveal. The first is that I’ve realised that I don’t really care. As much as I wanted mythological reveals that made sense I am far more interested in the characters – the show’s myths are very much secondary to my enjoyment of LOST and I actually find the spiritual and supernatural elements of the show very satisfying to the story. The second thing is that I am still not convinced Hurley is seeing dead people. He may well be seeing the projections of the Island or the MiB or Jacob. Or someone else. Perhaps it is connected to a dirty boy that is haunting Locke and has now been seen by both Desmond and Sawyer. Another thing to remember is that we are yet to see Christian Shepherd this season. His body is still missing in the Sideways and he has been absent from the Island too. I think he will be the key to solving the mystery of the dead people’s appearances.

“How do you break the ice with a smoke monster?”

The two camps of original Losties (plus Frank) are reunited. Locke promises not to kill anyone (yet). We are now on the verge of getting a showdown of ideas and agendas; the forces at work will collide; the leaders will clash. Who will be on which side after Locke has shared his point of view? I could not be more excited about next week’s episode.

And just when I though we were going to get the LOST logo we were treated to a fascinating coda. Desmond plows down John Locke. This throws up a number of crucial questions as to why? It could be that Desmond’s realities are indeed bleeding together – that he is becoming fully aware of both realities at once – and is attacking John because of what the Island’s Locke has just done to him by throwing him down the well. It could also be that Desmond suspects that the John Locke of the Sideways reality is not John Locke at all, or at least not entirely. The MIB said that Jacob stole his body and his humanity. Perhaps in this reality the MIB has stolen Locke’s body and humanity. The Sideways John Locke  could play host to the MIB in the same way his Island counterpart does. Alternatively it could be that this is part of John’s enlightenment journey that Desmond is inciting – in the same way that Charlie careered his car in to the dock to begin Desmond’s awakening. Or perhaps it is a reordering to reality; John has love in this reality – a love he shouldn’t have.

As the castaways have been reunited on the Island I think they may be about to be reunited in the Sideways. We know that Locke and Jin & Sun are on their way to the hospital where Jack works. Sayid’s brother is already there. Claire is about to have a baby. Sawyer and Kate have just been in a car accident. There is one thing we know for sure: Everything happens for a reason.

As a little extra to the recaps I’m going to start a new chart – “Characters most likely to die in the next episode” – these are my guesses – I don’t do spoilers (apart from titles and promos) – so no spoilers in the comments please!

Characters most likely to die in the next episode:

1. Miles

2. Kate

3. Widmore

“Happily Ever After” recap by Gatesy

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What would you have said if you were told that 80% of this episode would be set in the Sideways universe? Would you have got angry or sad or disappointed? Well if ‘Ab Aeterno’ was a big piece in the jigsaw for the whole series then ‘Happily Ever After’ is the missing piece of the season 6 story arc. What exactly are these Sideways flashes? Many ideas have been posited; an alternate reality; an epilogue to the Island story; the result of Jughead; the result of killing Jacob; the result of the Man In Black getting free; the result of MIB staying on the Island.  None of which appear totally accurate. But the clue to the mystery of the Sideways story was revealed in the title – it is meant to be a “Happily Ever After”. Except it’s not.

The episode starts with an eye opening – a common LOST beginning – but that image has more resonance when applied to Desmond; when his eyes open we don’t know if we are going to see a Flashback or Flashforward or FlashSideways or some other part of his consciousness. Desmond awakes to be greeted by Zoe and her boss – Desmond’s nemesis and Father-in-law, Charles Widmore. And he is greeted by the worst news possible (for him, of course; for us, it is awesome) – he is back on the Island. I loved how his face began twitch as he processed the news. The last time we saw Desmond fully alive and conscious he was handing out a beat down to Ben Linus and he picks up where he left off by delivering a drip-feed attack frenzy upon the bearer of bad news.

Desmond is here for a reason and the Island isn’t finished with him. No surprises there then. Widmore says there is no time to waste and the schedule goes out the window – “we need to fry Desmond Hume and we need to do it NOW”. The bunny in the cage knows what’s coming – he saw what happened to the last bunny in a cage on Hydra Island in ‘Every Man for Himself’. But ‘Angstrom’ (a clever shout out to John Updike and also a measurement of magnetism) is spared because Simmons gets BBQ’ed by an over eager member of Widmore’s team. Ooops. Charles insists on looking at the dead man and makes a mental note: “if I see you again you are probably the smoke monster or an island apparition from beyond the grave”. Next up is Des and he’s not keen on the charcoal look that Simmons is carrying. The purpose of this experiment is to see if he could survive another blast of fatal electromagnetism and then fulfill whatever plan Widmore has regarding the pockets of energy. Is Widmore set on a Faraday-like plan to blow up the Island….? Like father, like son I suppose.

Desmond awakes from his microwaving experience staring at his reflection in the baggage board for Flight 815 – but not after we have a strange, out of place shot of the clouds as viewed from the plane. Weird (I’m storing the thought of that shot for the future). He helps out bulging Claire and the ‘bleed’ between the realities continues to increase – he knows it’s going to be a boy. Then he is greeted by George Minkowski. I love the fact that Minkowski helped Desmond in ‘The Constant’ to stop his flashes and now he is helping him find the source of his new flashes. All of LOST’s characters are destined to connect, meet, fight and love no matter what reality they are in. Though in this world instead of being enemies, Desmond is Widmore’s right hand man; his most loyal employee. But the painting on Widmore’s wall – of the scales holding black and white stones, tells us that this Widmore is just as aware of the power games of the Island in this reality as he is in the other.

Desmond is charged by boss with babysitting Charlie Pace. Keeping him from harm is a task he tried to do before and we know how that ended in the ‘Looking Glass’. The conversation between Des and Charlie in the bar is, I believe, to be the most important yet of the Sideways story – matched only by Des’s meeting with Faraday later in the episode. Charlie tries to enlighten Desmond on the value of love; something the sideways Des knows nothing about. The ‘Happily Ever After’ of Desmond’s Sideways reality is called for the bluff it is. And Charlie seeks to enlighten the Scotsman  by explaining the ‘Happily Ever After’ he has experienced, if for only a moment:

CHARLIE: “I’m talking about spectacular, conscious altering love.”

DESMOND: “I wasn’t aware love looked like anything”

CHARLIE: “I’ve seen it mate….. I see her. A woman. Blonde. Rapturously beautiful. And I know her. We’re together. It’s like we’ve always been and always will be. This feeling, this… love.”

This is LOST’s ‘Happily Ever After’. Love. And if Sayid is going to find it with Nadia and if Richard is going to find it with Isabella and if Hurley is to find it with Libby then, as Desmond once said to Charlie, “you’re going to have to die”.

Whilst on their way to the Faraday/Driveshaft collaboration event (so glad we didn’t have to hear that) death-wish-Charlie decides to show Desmond what he was talking about and plunges their car head first into the dock. Seeing Charlie in the water evoked all those emotions from the Season 3 finale and then WHAM! Desmond glimpses into the Island reality. A concrete connection between the realities for the first time. My heart was pounding when that happened. And this time Desmond was able to save Charlie.

The next scene starts with a close up of Desmond’s eye. But it is not opening like all the other close ups of eyes we’ve seen before – his eye is already open. He has seen a glimpse of the truth. A small hint of the destiny that has been altered – by who or what we still don’t know – but his eyes have been opened and the life he knows won’t be same again. Yet just as we and Des are still processing this information the good doctor throws us a curve ball – “How about hallucinations?” – at this point I’m desperate to yell “NOOOO!”  – don’t explain it away; don’t forget the truth you’ve seen; don’t believe the scientific explanation – have faith!

Then off he goes to his MRI scan. This was a very clever scene – “You need the button… try not to panic or we’ll have to start over again all the way from the beginning” – a passing observer wouldn’t think nothing of this line of dialogue but for LOST obsessives this small line carries so many resonances – I’m enjoying how the writers are doing that loads this year. We get see another close up of Desmond’s open eyes and he sees into the other reality again; first of all Charlie and then Penny and then his son Charlie. Love breaks through the barriers of reality for Desmond as it broke through the barriers of time in ‘The Constant’. Penny and Des are meant to be – nothing can stop that. (And yes that makes me even more worried about Jin & Sun).

Des stops the MRI, desperate to find Charlie and lo & behold he bumps into Jack – who himself is already questioning the validity of the reality he sees. Then out of the magic box Charlie comes running down the corridor. Eventually Des catches him and Charlie tells him what’s what; don’t worry about me – you need to find Penny.

So off to break the bad news to Mrs. Widmore. I wasn’t surprised to see Eloise Hawking is actually Eloise Widmore – who else could it have been? Des drops the bombshell that wasn’t really a bombshell – everyone is happy that we don’t have to hear the “Chopin/You All Everybody” mashup. But as Desmond is walking away he catches the name Penny… Interestingly she has the surname ‘Milton’ – referencing John Milton the author of ‘Paradise Lost’ which, in his words, was written to “justify the ways of God to men” – a story full of religious imagery that delves into the topic of man’s free will versus divinely appointed destiny. Sound familiar?)

The first meeting of Des & Eloise in this reality was reminiscent of the first time they met during Desmond’s time travel in ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes’. Yet instead of Eloise pointing Des on to the course of his destiny she is trying to make sure that nothing here is altered, nothing is changed and there are no “violations’.(Amazing how one word of dialogue can send your brain theorizing!). Yet one thing is consistent between the two realities; Eloise is still trying to prevent Des and Penny being together and she takes great exception to his interest in the guest list and tells him in no uncertain terms to “stop looking”. She obviously knows something, maybe everything, about the different realities and she insists that Des should just enjoy his ‘Happily Ever After’. The most intriguing thing was that Eloise changed tack in her last words to Des – her instruction to stop was not one for forever – it was just that Desmond was “not ready yet”. What on earth does that mean? When will he be ready?

In to the limo and Des seeks solace where he has always found solace – in whiskey. But a knock at the window brings us the welcome return of Daniel Faraday. They talk about love – love at first sight. Daniel reaffirms to us that some people are meant to fall in love as he tells us the story of the woman with red hair who we know to be Charlotte. He also gives us more solid evidence of the bleed between the realities when he whips out his trusty journal to reveal pages of advanced quantum physics. When did this blurring of the realities begin? Straight after he fell for Charlotte. Love is the doorway between the worlds. It has power to open up our eyes to the truth. Once again Des needs to find his Constant – but not a Constant in time – a Constant in reality – a Constant in love.

“What if, this, all this, what if this wasn’t suppose to be our life? What if we had some other life and for some reason, we changed things?”

Daniel thinks he knows why this reality exists – he already set off a nuclear bomb. I’m still not sure if that is the definitive reason for the existence of this reality – I’m almost certain it will link more to the battle between Jacob and the MIB – yet how I don’t know.* Daniel knows where Penny can be found and he sends Des off to the stadium where he and Jack had a discussion about miracles and fate. Did we ever think “See you in another life brother” was going to be quite so literal?

One touch from Penny and Des faints – the connection with the other reality too much for his body and mind to handle. Back on the Island Des comes round and is now totally willing to go with Widmore’s plan. Though out of the dark of the jungle Sayid comes and entices the ‘secret weapon’ to hook up with Team MIB instead. A lot of people are saying ‘Why did he go with Sayid so easily?’ Well he did just kill two guys and he has a gun and he has no emotions and he is an ex-assasin and he is an ex-torturer and Des knows him and he asked nicely…. Do I need to go on?

When Des comes round in the Sideways he makes a date for coffee (where they’ll bump into Sawyer & Juliet going dutch – maybe) and he instructs George to find the manifest – but where in Season 1 we were concerned with who wasn’t on the manifest, now we are concerned with who was…. and Des is going to show them something…. love? Or truth? Or that “there’s always a choice brother”?

*One quick theory inspiring idea – we found out last week that MIB/Locke has an aversion to water and the first images of the Island this season were…. yep, submerged with water… Is this the only way for MIB to be killed… to drown him, and the Island, totally…. is that what the pocket of electromagnetism is for…. not to blow up the Island but to sink it??????

“The Package” Recap by Gatesy

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The temptation after such an incredible and unique episode like “Ab Aeterno” is to feel disappointed or let down by the slower pace of episodes like this. As with ‘What Kate Does’ and ‘Recon’ it is important to remember what makes LOST so special; this has been an incredible journey. This show is an epic and sprawling piece of story telling and requires different pacing and emphasis at various times. It cannot be a mythological adrenalin shot every week (Red Bull adrenalin rush is what ’24′ exists for – and why it won’t ever be as good as LOST). For me this episode was in no way a let down – the pieces of the board are being moved around again and we were reminded once more that “a war is coming to this island”.

Let me say one thing now: The actors are BRINGING IT this season – Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim were on top form. We are only half the way through but this season deserves awards in the coming year…. on to the recap.

“The only way we can leave the island is if all the names that haven’t been crossed off go together”

Locke is all about the answers. He is just giving them out, left right and centre. He sits down with Jin to talk about the whole cave-candidate-thing and gives another reveal: that all the remaining Candidates need to leave with him. I took this to mean two things: The Candidates had to come with him OR they needed to be crossed off. And we know what happened to John Locke to be crossed off. It is kill or be killed.

It has been inferred that Locke himself cannot kill the Candidates but I suspect that is why he was so keen to have an emotionless-darkness-infested-ex-torturer-ex-assassin-killing-machine-Iraqi on his team. And then leaves him in charge of the camp. Will we see any of the old Sayid again? Will he get to feel happiness, anger or pain again? The picture is looking bleaker and bleaker for Sayid – and the ‘Apocalypse Now’ emergence from the water at the end did not help that impression. Well, black was always his favourite colour of vest anyway.

Jin & Sun episodes have always been more character studies than plot development or mythology. Whereas most of our Losties’ stories are about redemption – fixing their pasts; making use of the ‘Tabula Rasa’ – Jin & Sun’s tale has been about a different kind of redemption; the restoration and reunion of their marriage. But what did this episode tell us about their marriage? Well It doesn’t exist in the Sideways story. And their long awaited on-Island reunion? Postponed again. Their respective story arcs have been stunted since their separation when the Kahana was destroyed and Sun left the Island with the Oceanic Six. There is little more to their motivations than simple reunion. Neither of them have faced the truth that they are on the Island for a reason – and perhaps that very fact is what is preventing their reunion becoming a reality.

“I don’t want to hear about how this is our purpose or destiny”

In “The Package” we took stops at all the previous Kwon episodes – the buttons on Sun’s blouse from ‘House of the Rising Sun’; the language barriers of ‘…In Translation’; the tears in the garden from ‘…and Found’; the pregnancy reveal of ‘The Whole Truth’; the bullet in the stomach from ‘Glass Ballerina’ and finally the images from the camera reminding us of ‘Ji Yeon’. But this episode is set in a different framework – one of ‘recruits’ and ‘candidates’ and impending war. Sun refuses to talk to Jack about it. Jin refuses to talk Locke about it. Will their love defeat the Island’s purposes for them or will it be defeated in the throes of destiny fulfilled? This is the central question of this episode. In the Sideways they are not married but they are very much together yet events conspire to separate them; they stay in separate rooms; Jin hides in the bathroom; Sun gets taken to the bank and Jin to the restaurant; Jin gets free and Sun gets shot. Keamy tells us “Some people are just not meant to be together”. But Jack tells us “I guess that no-one told it it was supposed to die”. The season’s theme is brought clearly to us again  – Keamy is telling Jin “You can let go now” – Jack is telling Sun – via a tomato – that “Nothing is irreversible”.

Again we saw a Sideways character look into a mirror and again we see, from that point on, their destiny is altered. Keamy’s knock at the door signaled the beginning of the end for Sun’s runaway dreams. The realities of the Island and Sideways are continuing to blur at the edges. The Kwon’s unfulfilled Island reunion filtering into their constant Sideways separation. Sun’s inability to speak English filtering into the Island story. There is currently great debate about how much this is occurring  – and this week it has been fuelled by a fascinating question: Did Keamy mention the island?

“No. Of course not” I hear you cry. That is what I thought but playing back the scene in the fridge, it DEFINITELY sounds like he says: “Just in case you figure out what is going to happen to the Island”. As with anything on LOST many are crying out ‘CLUE!’ while others are sighing ‘Nah. Hurley Bird’. Us LOSTophiles will read something into nothing and everything into something. I hope he said ‘the Island’. That would be cool.

The big end-game development of this episode lied in the reveal that Widmore and Locke are most definitely enemies. And even though this appeared to be the first time they had been formally introduced their intentions towards each other are both nefarious. Does that make Widmore with Team Jacob? – I somehow think not  – I can’t imagine Ben, Richard and Widmore teaming up in the finale to destroy the smoke monster. I still think Widmore’s intentions are selfish in nature – control of the island or to profit from the island – highlighted by the new mystery of why he has brought a geophysicist along with him to find more pockets of electromagnetism. When considering Widmore’s potential allegiances to Jacob it’s important to remember the fact that Bram & Co. were very keen for Miles to not go to the island with Widmore and to be on the ‘right side’ when the war comes along. We can safely say that Bram & Co. were there on the behest of Ilana and so tacitly, Jacob. We  cancan infer that Widmore’s intentions are not entirely in harmony with Jacob’s.

A minor theme in this episode was the suspension of belief was- starting with the first words of the episode:

SAWYER: Want some cocoa?

KATE: Where’d you find cocoa?

SAWYER: I didn’t. Pretend.

These quick lines mirrored the whole Charlie/Claire/Peanut Butter flirtation of Season 1. We get the same game here but we are too far down the line – as are Sawyer and Kate – to waste half an episode pretending they have cocoa. Yet later on in the episode Miles questions whether we are meant to swallow the fact that Sun can’t speak English anymore. Perhaps this encouragement was simply to help us believe that Widmore managed to fit all those sonic-weapon-pylons on the sub.

And speaking of the sub…. we see the return of Desmond. Fan favourite – rule breaking – extra special Desmond . He is the  eponymous ‘Package’ that is Widmore’s secret weapon to defeat Locke’s plans. One thing that caught my attention when he was revealed was that they mentioned how he needed to be unconscious for the trip to the Island. This was first highlighted by Juliet’s travel to the Island in ‘One of Us’ and was brought to our attention again in the incident when Sawyer, Juliet and Kate were on the sub. When Ethan describes the trip to Juliet he says “It can be kind of intense” and that has always stuck with me. Is it because the Island exists in a different reality or a parallel universe? Or is it because to travel to the Island your consciousness has to skip around à la Desmond in ‘The Constant’? I hope we get more insight into that.

This is the final season and deaths are guaranteed. Big, painful, emotional deaths. So far no one we care about has died (Dogen doesn’t count and Juliet pretty much died once already). So with every passing episode we are getting nearer to serious casualties and because of that I am seeing ominous signs everywhere: Miles not having any reason to be on the Island; Sayid’s soul vanishing; Claire eyeing up Kate. But we also got something that goes way beyond ominous: Sun has a bullet in her pregnant belly. Will she make it? Will the Sideways Ji-Yeon foetus make it? Are the Karmic forces of the universe paying back Sun for the bullet she put into Colleen’s belly? The fact that Colleen’s husband ‘Danny’ was name checked for the first time in 3 seasons does not bode well.

The return of Desmond also brings back a powerful reminder of how love has conquered the Island in the story before. Desmond’s love for Penny pulled him away from the Island’s grasp. Will love win again or will destiny trump all of our Losties’ purposes?

“Ab Aeterno” Recap by Gatesy

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6.09 “Ab Aeterno”

The episode began with an extended version of a scene we have visited before. A scene that gave us an image  – the image that troubled me most from last season’s finale – Jacob dressed in black. And the fact that this particular episode began with this particular image -  the most overt episode examining the nature of LOST’s dueling nemeses – troubles me more than ever.

Evil, malevolence, darkness, Hell.

Jacob is actively opposing these, yet he offers no heaven, no paradise, no absolution, no promise of reunion with lost loves. Only eternal life. Is he God without the goodness?

Heavy stuff.

Though if we’re choosing sides? I’m still Team Jacob. More on Jacob & MIB later, first it’s Ricardo.

From the moment we saw Richard Alpert appear to Ben’s in the jungle duringhis flashback (The Man Behind the Curtain) we had a hint of his ageless state. Then when we witnessed him at John Locke’s birth in 1954 (Cabin Fever) we were certain of one thing – we wanted more about Alpert! “Ab Aeterno” was what we’ve been waiting for and it was well worth the wait.

“You’re dead” – “We’re in hell” – Around the campfire Richard seems well versed in season 1 theories. At this point every LOST fan worth their salt was not buying any of it. But this is Richard Alpert speaking – a guy who has seen more of the island than any other character – what is making him think this way? How has he come to this conclusion? Does he really think “Everything he (Jacob) ever said was a lie”? He heads for the jungle, looking for something and we flashback, probably as far back as we’ve ever been before , to 1867; to the island of Tenerife.

Ricardo’s wife Isabella is sick and she is dying, coughing up blood, and Ricardo takes all they have to try and save her. As a woman of faith she knows it is the last time they will see each other yet still he hopes – hope against hope – that she can be healed. He arrives at the Doctor’s, cross in hand, to give him all they have for medicine. But all they have is not enough. Ricardo complains, pleads and struggles until the Doctor goes the way of almost all the Doctors on the show (Christian Shepherd, Juliet Burke, Ethan Rom, Edmund Burke, Artz, Ray from the Freighter – there is of course one exception, though who has money on Jack being alive come the end of the story?).

Throughout this episode Richard reminded me of Desmond; the long hair and beard, being ship wrecked and woken by a crazy man needing help, his devotion to his Constant – and here he accidently kills the Doctor, much in the same way that Desmond inadvertently killed Inman  – but for Ricardo there is no hatch with a button to rush back for; there is a home and a wife and not enough time.

In prison, awaiting execution, we find Ricardo reading Luke 4 – ‘The Temptation of Jesus’, foreshadowing his meeting with the Man in Black (or Jacob, or both). Here he stands before another Man in Black who tells him that his sins cannot be absolved. He is out of time again. There are not enough days for him to rack up the penance needed to wash the away the guilt that comes from a murder. Even an accidental one.

Richard is offered a lifeline by Whitfield. A stay of execution in exchange for slavery. The name Jonas Whitfield evokes the Methodist founder George Whitefield (pronounced Whitfield) who was, amongst other things, an advocate of slavery. For us in the 21st century this is an intolerable position to hold, yet he was known to treat his slaves well and was fiercely critical of those who didn’t; his slaves were reported to be unusually devoted to him. Could this represent Jacob’s relationship with his slave-like followers – particularly the ageless Ricardo?

After the mythological rush of seeing a tidal-wave-swept Black Rock crash into the statue of Tarawet (Ignacio sowing the seeds of ‘Hell’ and ‘the Devil’ into Richard’s mind) we see what could be called ‘the Breaking of Ricardo’. As the passengers stirred awake it was not long before MIB’s prophecy of “ They fight. They destroy. They corrupt” came true – Whitfield running his sword through his expendable slaves (not sure his namesake would have been happy about that). But then Smokey crashes in and deals out his own brand of judgement and justice – the crew are found guilty and duly punished. Richard is spared by Smokey but the Monster takes from Richard’s mind the memories he needs to manipulate him later. ‘The Breaking of Ricardo’ continues – in the middle of the storm he is inches away from quenching his first but his chains only go so far and he is left thirsty and desperate. Sometime later he is woken by a boar; feasting on his deceased crew mates – a boar that causes him to drop his nail, his tool for escape – and again it is just inches from his grasp. Then finally, most cruelly, he is visited by his beloved. We know she is not who she says she is and it was painful to watch Richard’s hope restored before being instantly ripped from him again, leaving him emotionally, physically and spiritually broken.

And on cue, the Man in Black enters.

After ‘the Breaking of Ricardo’ we have ‘the Temptation of Richard’. Like Christ in the passage referenced earlier Richard is dying of thirst. In the middle of his desert he is visited by a tempter – offering the kind of Faustian bargain we have heard him offer before. In exchange for rescuing Isabella the MIB wants an assurance: “I need to know that You will help me – you will do anything ask”. In Matthew Henry’s renowned Bible commentary he remarks on Luke 4: “ All Satan’s promises are deceitful; and if he is permitted to have any influence in disposing of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, he uses them as baits to insnare men to destruction.”. Who is the devil here? Jacob, according to the Man in Black. Though it looks like MIB to us.

After feeding him up, the Man in Black dismisses Richard’s opinions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and presents the question “Do you ever want to see your wife again?”. His heart broken by  the MIB’s manipulation Richard has no fight to argue or resist. He wants his wife. So off into the jungle he goes; on a mission he doesn’t truly understand – like we have seen so many times before with other characters.

When Richard reaches the statue we immediately see a side of Jacob we’ve not seen before – aggressive, impatient and angry. But once Jacob works out what is going on – how Richard has been manipulated – he gives Richard an enforced baptism to snap some sense into him. In the following conversation we receive some of the answers we’ve hoped for from the mysterious Jacob; Is he the Devil? He says “no” (which I think is true); What is the island? A ‘cork’ keeping the darkness where it belongs; Why doesn’t Jacob intervene? Because ‘why should he?’ Why should he tell people what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’? The Man in Black dismisses those clarifications as unimportant – but to Jacob they are all important.

The nature of the argument between the Man in Black and Jacob is not one as simple as ‘good versus evil’ – but is more about the ‘the capacity for good versus the propensity for evil’. Everyone is corruptible versus everyone is redeemable. The Man in Black is saying to Jacob “You can let go now” – let go of the island; let go of his faith in humanity; let go of his hold on the MIB. But Jacob replies “Nothing is irreversible”; the past doesn’t matter and everything is progress.

Richard is offered a job and in return he will get eternal life via a touch from Jacob. Apparently receiving a beating and a dunking doesn’t qualify as ‘a touch’. Richard returns to MIB, decision made, delivering an ‘inside joke’ of a white stone. In reply MIB gives Richard one final reminder of his lost love, Isabella’s necklace. He buries it. But, as we know, ‘things don’t stay buried on this Island’. As we skip back to the present Richard has a moment similar to John Locke’s way back when the hatch imploded – “I was wrong”. But then out of the jungle comes the best example of Jacob’s trust in humanity and incorruptibility we know; Hurley.

We then witness one of LOST’s classic, bittersweet love scenes. Full of hope, romance and loss. This reminded me of the films ‘Ghost’ and ‘Gladiator’ but most of all it reminded me of ‘The Constant’. Where Sayid managed to connect Desmond to his long lost Penny, Hurley manages to connect Ricardo to his Isabella. Hurley himself has also watched his own ‘Isabella’ die coughing up blood on her death bed (Isabella is the Spanish for Elizabeth or Libby). Isabella’s connection to Richard has always been there. In their memories. In their love. Not even death can steal that from them.

And if Richard was unsure about what to do at the beginning of the episode it is clear to him by the end; stop the MIB; stop him from leaving the Island… or “we all go to Hell”.

When Jacob responded “no” to the question of whether or not he’s the devil I believed him. My current theory is that Jacob and MIB aren’t devils or demons or even angels – but they may be the Devil’s children. They are brothers separated by ideology, worldview and parental issues; MIB’s recently revealed Mother issues and Jacob’s possible Father issues. Their fraternal relationship resembles many others we see in religion, literature and classical history; Cain & Abel; Jacob & Esau; Zeus & Hades; Romulus & Remus; Castor & Pollux; However there are two fraternal stories that LOST has directly referred to that could give us insight into their tumultuous relationship. Firstly -  The Brothers Karamazov. The Dostoyevsky classic is a tale of brotherly differences and of patricide. Its central theme? Redemption. Patricide has been a hall mark of Jacob’s followers – the rite of passage for both Ben & Locke. Could Jacob have disagreed with his Father, the Devil, so vehemently, that he ended up killing him (like Dostoyevsky’s ‘Ivan Karamazov’) and betraying his brother in the process – his brother who wants revenge and the ability to continue his Father’s mission to utterly corrupt humanity? We shall see.

The Biblical brothers that are usually mentioned in relation to Jacob and MIB are Cain & Abel and Jacob & Esau – but these are loose associations at best. There is another set of brothers from the Old Testament that may be a better fit – Moses & Rameses. The name Moses has been mentioned twice on LOST to my recollection  – by Naomi Dorrit in reference to Jack during ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and by Ben in reference to Locke/Smokey prior to killing Jacob in ‘The Incident’. Rameses has not been mentioned by name but there is no shortage of Eqyptian imagery on the Island and the biggest conflict between the brothers was referenced as far back as season one – ‘Exodus’. Moses was Rameses’ adopted brother but after Moses had been disgraced by committing murder he is called by God to lead his people out of Egypt; to leave the shackles that Rameses had put upon Moses’ people. In this scenario Moses would be the MIB and Rameses would be Jacob – alluding to what many LOST fans are currently thinking – Jacob could well be the ‘bad guy’ in this story. I still don’t think so, but I can’t wait to find out!

PS. There is one more thing to consider if we are thinking about Moses. He had another brother; Aaron.