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Way Before “The End”

Posted May 24, 2010 by Ray Reyes

Updated May 24, 2010 at 04:50 PM

Just a few quick thoughts on the series finale of “Lost”: the producers and writers alluded to the ending, in plain sight, in seasons past.

All we had to do to get a clue was read the book or google it.

Here’s two of the best examples.

I mentioned this in a post on this very blog way back, a day after the season six premiere. It had to do with the book Jacob was reading on the beach at the finale of season five. The book was Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”

The title of that work was taken from French philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin’s work the “Omega Point.” Chardin writes:

“Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.”

Hence, that great, emotional payoff when all our favorite castaways were reunited in the church.

And here’s a reference that may allude to Jack’s personal story arc: Way back in season one, Sawyer was seen reading the classic “Watership Down.” The novel had a 20-page epilogue describing the fates of all the major (rabbit) characters.

Hazel, the tale’s hero, gets special mention. According to the book, Hazel was dozing one “chilly, blustery morning in March” many years after the climax of the story was resolved. Hazel has grown old and was enjoying the company of his friends and enjoying the freedom they earned and the world they created.

That’s when he is visited by El-Ahrairah—basically the rabbits’ god, who tells Hazel to follow him to a place of comfort and peace. Hazel worries about the ones he is about to leave behind.

To which El-Ahrairah says, “They’ll be all right. And thousands like them. If you come with me, I’ll show you what I mean.”

So Hazel departs Watership Down with El-ahrairah, slipping away, “running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom.”

Kind of sounds like Rose’s advice to Jack in the season six premiere.

“It’s OK,” Rose says to a startled Jack after the “sideways” Oceanic 815 hits turbulence and Jack grips his armrest, “you can let go now.”

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Lost Recap: Wow.

Posted May 24, 2010 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated May 24, 2010 at 01:33 PM

You know it’s going to be a good meeting when it kicks off (hahaha) with a giant Rice Krispie treat molded to look like a four-toed foot.

We met to dissect the “Lost” finale over lunch today. Many of us have picked apart the episodes via e-mail for years now, so it was nice to hash it out in person. The verdict? Mostly favorable with a fair amount of confusion, which is fitting for this show.

I liked it, and the more I think it over, the more I like it. Would I have enjoyed getting more answers? Of course – like, why couldn’t women carry babies to term on the island (electromagnetism?), what really was Widmore’s point, did the Smoke Monster originate with the MIB or pre-date him, and were there other reasons to bring Locke’s body back to the island or was that an elaborate MIB plan? And that’s just the beginning of the loose ends.

But I think an episode that methodically went through and answered each of these questions wouldn’t have been satisfying in the end. Damon and Carlton have said all along that the show is about the characters, and they rewarded viewers with a chance to see their favorite characters reunited and redeemed. We didn’t really need a Q&A with Pierre Chang or a long monologue from Smokey about how this all came to be. They were also faithful to their “rule:” what happened, happened. It wasn’t all a dream. They weren’t all dead. OK, they’re all dead now, but they lived their lives on the island and some lived a long time (liked the exchange between Hurley and Ben about them being a good No. 1 and No. 2, respectively).

My fear from the start of Season 6 was that somehow the Sideways timeline would override Island Time and invalidate everything that happened there. So I’m happy with purgatory. Faraday told Desmond during the flash-sideways that the sideways life wasn’t meant to be. The Losties knew something was up – they exchanged a lot of weird looks in the mirror, got mysterious wounds and finally, had glimpses of their island lives. They had to understand and embrace where they came from before they could move on into the light (which I’m guessing is the same light that Jack protected). It took Jack a little longer to come around than the others – typical Jack—but when he did, we were rewarded with a really nice reunion in Eloise’s Church of Multiple Religions.

Some comments from our meeting – the Juliet-Sawyer vending machine chemistry was really sweet. Shannon was a nice surprise, but how could Sayid wind up with her when everything seemed to point to Nadia as his One True Love (possible explanation: Shannon was the one on-island who orchestrated Sayid’s redemption). Is Michael’s soul trapped on the island in the whispers? Where the heck is Walt, besides the actor being too old to play the young boy any more (maybe he is not dead yet or maybe he did not play as much of a role in Jack’s transformation). Ben’s decision to sit outside of the church and stay in purgatory a bit longer is also interesting – he did have a lot to atone for, after all.

Some thought the island plot was a little unsatisfactory (except for Jack’s superpunch). I wondered about the weather – it cleared up immediately once MIB was dead, which I’m sure is deliberate but I don’t know if I understand why. The whole put-a-cork-in-it resolution is a little hokey but hey, it gave us the chance for a beautiful visual tie-in to the Season 1 finale where Locke and Jack peer into the hatch. This is a show that rewards its faithful (or should I say rabid) viewers with recurring themes and lines.

And the end? Seeing Jack lie down in the jungle with Vincent cuddled up next to him? It was a great reminder that he wasn’t left alone as we watched his eye close.

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Widmore Lies

Posted May 21, 2010 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated May 21, 2010 at 02:35 PM

Warning: some of this might be considered spoilerish, but it came from Damon and Carlton, and they only let slip what they want you to know. I posted earlier this week that the only thing that disappointed me in the last episode was the hurried explanation Widmore gave of his motives. Yeah, I was a bad guy, but then Jacob talked to me and now I see the way it really is, and oh, by the way, let me whisper something in your ear.

And then he was gone.

Seemed a little brusque for this mysterious, powerful figure we’ve been following since Season 2. But it turns out there might be more to his story.

I went to the excellent TimesTalk interview with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof last night, broadcast live from New York into movie theaters nationally (and apparently Canada). Besides the awesome nerd fashion show of Dharma gear and two surprise guests, we also got a compelling discussion about the series. I didn’t expect to get any actual information, but they were so funny (especially Damon) and they even dropped some interesting points to think about. Including my favorite – pay attention to what they SHOW you, because that happened. But question the source when a character tells you what happened.

Widmore has been untrustworthy in the past. Think about that, when you think about the story he gave to the Smoke Monster.

Another point they made repeatedly: live together, die alone. “Lost” is all about the ensemble. Locke said in a season 2 clip they showed last night that he needed Jack’s faith, because he can’t do it alone. None of them are as effective on their own as they are together. Which gets me thinking about Jack as Jacob’s replacement. It doesn’t fit with this theme to have the series end with Jackie alone on the island, weaving or growing his beard back. Does that mean Hurley will decide to stay as the new Richard (is Richard actually dead? I don’t know)? Will Kate want to set up house? What’s Sawyer want to go back to the real world for anyway?

A couple other nuggets: Eloise Hawking’s role hasn’t ended yet. The MIB plans to sink the island (hmm, where have we seen this before). You may see Walt. You may even see Vincent. And think back to a conversation Desmond and Jack had when they first meet in the stadium (off island), where Desmond tells Jack he has to “lift it up,” and then says he’s saying Jack should elevate his ankle. This apparently has a bigger meaning.

The only thing that disappointed me was that they said people always ask about Aaron, but he has no real significance here. That whole thing with the psychic where Claire was told he couldn’t be raised by another? Not really important. The psychic was discredited in a later episode.

Also for you Star Wars fans, they threw in another reference for you. Happy Sunday.

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Lost Recap: You Asked For Answers

Posted May 19, 2010 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated May 19, 2010 at 12:43 PM

We start “What They Died For” with Lost’s favorite image – a close-up of Jack’s eye. This time when they pan out, we see Jack waking up in his flash-sideways home. As he checks out an island-inspired neck wound in the mirror, a chipper David appears, offering breakfast. Jack joins his son over “Super Bran” (ick) and they discuss David’s upcoming concert. “Mom” is going to be there and David hopes Jack won’t be all weird.

Before anyone can mention “Mom’s” name (of course), a very pregnant Claire rolls up to the table. Jack asks sis how she’s doing but is interrupted by a phone call. It’s Oceanic Airlines and they found his cargo/dad. Except when the phone clicks off, we see it’s really that wily Desmond on the other line.

Des is up to all sorts of tricks in the Sideways World. He’s lurking around Locke’s school, and poor Locke has just arrived back at school after what seems to be a really quick recovery from being HIT BY A CAR. We think Des might try to nail him again, but who comes to the rescue but Dr. Ben. He says he’s not going to let this weirdo hurt Mr. Locke. Des says he’s not here to hurt him – he’s here to help him let go. He then proceeds to help Ben let go by beating him to a pulp, during which Ben starts to flash to another beating on the island. He is understandably weirded out.

Ben goes to the school nurse to get patched up, when Locke comes by. Ben tells him about Desmond but tells him not to call the cops because Desmond might be right.

Turns out Locke didn’t need to call LAPD, because Des is already there, turning himself in to Sawyer (of course). (Sawyer and Miles first have a conversation about going to a concert at his dad’s museum – hmm, could this be David’s concert).

Desmond is pleased to be in the cell, cozied up with Sayid and Kate. Kate tries to flirt her way out of her cell, but Sawyer says he’s a cop and can’t.

Instead of going to the police, Locke rolls into Jack’s office and details the “coincidences” that keep bringing them together. Jack doesn’t think it’s fate, but he’s happy to hear that Locke has reconsidered and is willing to go through with back surgery. Locke’s epiphany is because of the phrase that he needs to “let go,” something Jack has also told him.

Ben, meanwhile, is looking pretty rough at school. Alex spots him and can’t believe someone would beat on him – he’s the “nicest guy.” She offers him a ride home, and guess who pulls up to the curb? It’s a nicely cleaned up Rousseau. I did a little happy dance to see her because I thought she had parted from the show for good. Rousseau invites Ben to dinner, even if she has to “kidnap” him (ick). They make goo-goo eyes at each other as they clean up later (double ick), and Ben gets verklempt when Rousseau says he’s like a father to Alex.

Back at the station, Sawyer tells the jailed Losties they are being transferred. Sayid is not happy about riding with Des, who is all sunshine and roses. As the van rolls on, Des says, “I think it’s time to leave.” Sayid and Kate are seriously rolling their eyes, but Des says the driver knows where to stop and Sayid and Kate are invited but must trust Des when he tells them what to do next. Sayid and Kate are clearly thinking CRAZY PERSON but say sure, whatever, we’ll follow along.

So aren’t they surprised when the van does stop at the docks, and cop Ana Lucia opens the door to let them out. She wants to know where the man with the money is. Cue Hurley rolling up to the docks in his yellow Hummer. He gives her $125,000 and a big grin, “You didn’t tell me Ana Lucia was going to be here.” She gives him the side eye and he says oh yeah, they haven’t met yet.
Desmond sends Sayid with Hurley and he takes Kate. He tosses her a cocktail dress. They’re going to a concert. What a coincidence – aren’t Miles, Sawyer and Jack supposed to be there as well? And Jack’s mystery ex, who has got to be Juliet, right?

Things are no less weird on the island. Jack is sewing up Kate and digging out bullets. Kate is rambling about Jin and Sun and their daughter. “We have to kill him,” she tells Jack. A life vest washes up on shore, and Sawyer, Hurley and Kate have a moment as they watch it, before Jack says it’s time to get going. Desmond is in the well (does this sound like the plot of Lassie? Speaking of, where the heck is Vincent?) and if Desmond is that important to Locke, then the Losties obviously need him. Or something like that.

Miles, Ben and Richard also are walking through the woods to get the explosives that Ben hid in New Otherton (which is now Decrepit Otherton). They want to blow up the Ajira plane and prevent the MIB from leaving. Miles gets weird as they enter the village (he points out to Ben that he lived there 30 years before Ben, which was, like, last week – I do love Miles) because he is hearing “ghostly sounds,” at least according to my closed-captioning. Richard confesses that he buried Alex there. Ben does not take advantage of this opportunity to ask Miles what the heck Alex is saying. SIGH.

They head into Ben’s old house, behind the bookcase, into a secret room – “It’s where I was told I could summon the monster” but the monster was summoning him. He unlocks the safe and takes the explosives, enough to blow the plane to pieces, he says. There’s a rustle in the kitchen. It’s Zoe! And Widmore! Widmore’s all “Hello, Benjamin.” Ben whips out his gun. Widmore is unfazed and sends Zoe to the dock to take everything and sink the outrigger. Widmore rains on Ben’s little explosive parade, saying that he is a step ahead of their group and already rigged the plane with explosives.

Ben wants to know how Chas made it back to the island. Widmore is casual. Jacob invited him. Turns out Widmore erred by sending mercenaries on his freighter. Jacob visited him, told him he shouldn’t have done that, “convinced me of the error of my ways” and invited him back. ???

Before Ben or anyone else can ask what in the world he is talking about, Zoe radios back that UnLocke is arriving. Chas says they need to hide if they don’t want to die.

Richard, though, offers to talk to him, and Ben doesn’t want to hide. Richard says maybe if he can get UnLocke to leave with him, the rest of them will have a chance. He steps outside and is instantly zapped by the hand of the smoke monster. UnLocke emerges soon afterward to chat with Ben on his porch. UnLocke says Ben is just who he was looking for. Could he kill some people for him, please and thank you?

Ben asks why he would do that? UnLocke says so he can have the island all to himself. He asks whose outrigger he saw, and Ben sells out Widmore and tells UnLocke exactly where he is hiding.

Ben tags along after UnLocke, who tells Ben he doesn’t need to see what’s going to unfold. But bloodthirsty Ben is just fine with it. Zoe starts to talk but Widmore tells her to shut up. So UnLocke kills her. She’s pointless if she can’t tell him anything. UnLocke promises not to kill Penny if Widmore tells him why he came back. Widmore says he came back with Desmond as a “last resort” because of his reaction to electromagnetism. Widmore refuses to say more with Ben there, but in a nice junior high school girl moment, he whispers it to UnLocke. BANG. Ben shoots Widmore. “He doesn’t get to save his daughter.”

UnLocke doesn’t care. He heard what he needed. Ben says fine. Who else does he need him to kill?

I really had hoped for more from Widmore’s story.

Ben trots along aside UnLocke and asks the burning question, why does Locke walk anywhere when he can smokify himself and get there faster. UnLocke says he likes to feel the ground, because it reminds him that he was human.

They arrive at the well where poor Desmond was deposited, but there’s now a rope leading out of it and no Desmond. UnLocke says it’s no biggie. He says Widmore whispered that Desmond was a fail-safe in case UnLocke killed everyone else so he couldn’t leave the island. Now, UnLocke says, they need to find Desmond so he’ll help him Destroy the Island.

But back to the Jack group. Sawyer is realizing that he was manipulated into basically blowing up the sub, but Jack is charitable and tells him it’s not his fault. The men march on, leaving Hurley and an ailing Kate stumbling behind. Hurley gets distracted by the mystery boy, who we now know is Baby Jacob. Baby Jake demands his ashes from Hurley (the ones that Hurley got from Ilana) and takes them and flees into the woods. Hurley chases him and finds Grown Jacob tending a campfire. Jacob has thrown the ashes into the fire and when the fire burns out, Jacob will be gone forever.

So the Losties gather for some Stories By Jacob Around the Campfire. Hurley is in awe that the others can actually see Dead Jacob. Kate confirms that he’s the one who wrote their names on the wall and says she wants to make sure her friends didn’t die for nothing. Jacob is all, gather around and I’ll tell you a story, and promises to share everything they need to know about protecting the island.

He says he made a mistake by bringing everyone there. And now because he did that, everyone they care about might die. They know him as the monster – Jacob made him that way, and now he wants to kill him. And the island needs a protector, hence the candidates.

But to be fair, Jacob says, they weren’t exactly living it up in the Real World. “You were all flawed,” he says. “You were all alone. You were all looking for something you couldn’t find out there.”

Kate is hurt. Why was her name crossed off? Because she’s a mother now, Jacob says. But hey, if she wants the job …

Jack: What job? Jacob: There’s this light on the island and you need to make sure it never goes out. Jack: Should we kill him? Can we? Jacob: He’s going to try to kill you. Kate: What if no one wants the job? Jacob: Then things end badly. Jack: I’ll do it.

OoooooK. Jack says it’s why he’s there and what he’s supposed to do. Jacob is pleased and whisks Jack away for a nip of some water that he has chanted over in Latin. Sawyer is watching and groaning about this making Jack’s god complex even worse. Hurley says he’s just glad it’s not him.

Jacob tells Jack he can find the light beyond the bamboo field where he landed after the 815 crash. Jack says there’s nothing out there, but Jacob says he would be wrong. Jacob hands him the cup and Jack asks how long he has to do this job. Jacob says as long as he can. Jack drinks.

“Now you’re like me,” Jacob says.

I have a lot of thoughts and questions about this that I will need to post at another point. For right now, my main question is, what was with that creepy lady doing the voiceover for the season finale?

 

 

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Lost Recap: Special Mother’s Day Edition

Posted May 12, 2010 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated May 12, 2010 at 03:02 PM

Remember the “Bad Twin,” the manuscript Sawyer finds and reads on the island? It’s a title from seasons past that suddenly seems more important.

I don’t know why it never occurred to me that Jacob and MIB were brothers, let alone twins, but it fits with Lost’s duality – black and white, science and faith, fate and free will. Good and evil, too, although I’m not as convinced as I once was that MIB is straight-up evil.

“Across the Sea” brought us Jacob and MIB’s back story and kinda explained some stuff and kinda not (that explanation of what MIB wanted to do with the donkey wheel made no sense to me). We needed this episode, but I sympathize with the people who didn’t like it and wanted more action and more Losties. We still have so much more to find out (Widmore’s role, why the island hates babies, what is up with the sideways timeline, etc. etc. etc.) and I’m a little afraid we’re going to get some really quick explanations as they try to cram it all in that won’t satisfy our curiosity.

But. Still some good stuff here. The episode starts with a hugely pregnant lady, later called Claudia, washing up on the island’s shore. Lostpedia.com puts it between 450 BC and 900 AD. Claudia meets Allison Janney, who is looking way more rugged than her “West Wing” days, and Allison helps treat her wounds but refuses to give her much info.

Claudia goes into labor and Allison plays midwife. The first baby is born – Jacob. But there’s another baby coming, and it’s also a boy, and his name is? We have no idea. Claudia only picked one name. One is swaddled in white and one in black and when Claudia asks to see Baby in Black, Allison brains her with a rock.

Years pass. Boy in Black finds an Egyptian game washed up on the beach. He and Jacob play a few rounds, but BIB tells Jacob not to tell mom or she’ll confiscate it. But later when “mom” (Allison Janney) asks Jacob what he was up to, she pulls it out of him. She tells BIB that Jacob doesn’t know how to lie – unlike BIB. BIB wants to know where the game came from. Fake Mom says from her, because there is nowhere or no one else. She tells BIB she came from her mother, who is dead.

BIB says “What’s dead?” (rolls eyes) and Fake Mom says it’s something he won’t have to worry about.

(More interesting to me is that we see that young Jacob is the same kid who Fake Locke has been seeing in the woods.)

The twins chase a boar into the woods but screech to a halt when they come across three strangers, all painted up. They rush back to mama, who tells them the men don’t belong on the island, unlike them, who are there for a reason. The boys want to know what reason and although Fake Mom doesn’t want to tell them, she eventually blindfolds them and leads them into the jungle.

She explains that the men are dangerous, that they fight and corrupt, but she has made it so Jacob and BIB can never hurt each other. Then she shows them the reason they’re on the island – this warm, bright light emanating from a cave.

Her explanation: everyone has a little light in them but people want more. And you have to protect the light, because if it goes out here, it goes out everywhere.

My explanation: the light is what makes the island special – its electromagnetism or energy that allows it to move through time, cure cancer and other goodies. But because it’s so powerful, the power can corrupt, so you have to protect it so it won’t be used for evil.

Later on, Claudia appears to BIB and leads him to what would have been her camp if Allison Janney hadn’t stolen her babies. She tells BIB the inhabitants had been on her ship and that she’s their real mother. BIB packs up his stuff and tries to get Jacob to leave. But when he tells his brother, Fake Mom is not their mom, Jacob goes ballistic. Fake Mom separates them – BIB yells that he is leaving and Fake Mom killed his mother. Jacob refuses to go. Fake Mom says that BIB can never leave the island. BIB says oh yeah? Watch me.

Jacob and “mom” have a chat, and she confesses that she did kill Claudia. She wanted to take the twins to the bad people and Fake Mom wanted Jacob to stay good. Jacob wants to know why she loves BIB more than him. Fake Mom doesn’t deny it but says she loves them in different ways.

Seems to me that Fake Mom saw the boys’ birth as her chance to get released from island-protecting duties and raise them as candidates.

More time passes. A grown Jacob and MIB are playing their board game (how nice that they have kept in touch). MIB is still harping on how he’s leaving … soon. He throws a knife and it turns mid-air to slam against a rock. Seems there are several areas on-island where metal behaves strangely, and MIB and his peeps are exploring them. MIB thinks this is his way off the island.

Fake Mom visits MIB and I don’t even know how to explain this scene. They’re in the spot that we’ll see as the Frozen Donkey Wheel much, much later, but it’s not frozen yet. MIB says he can’t find the cave o’ light that Fake Mom showed him but he and his boys have found other stuff and they are going to reach the light another way. Then he has a long explanation involving the wheel, holes and water that will allow him to leave the island. Fake Mom says goodbye and she’s sorry, and then smacks his head hard against the rocks.

Returning to Jacob, Fake Mom makes him promise to protect the cave but never to go into it because it would be a fate worse than death. She does some voodoo over a bottle of wine and urges Jacob to drink. “It has to be you, Jacob,” she says. Jacob doesn’t want to, but she talks him into it so he will now be the island’s protector. She says now they’re the same.

MIB meanwhile opens his eyes and looks around, confused. The entrance to his donkey wheel is bricked over and his village is burning. Everyone is dead. We know he wants revenge. Fake Mom sends Jacob out for firewood, and when she returns to her camp, her loom is ruined. MIB stabs her to death. She says thanks.

But while Mama might be relieved to FINALLY die (we have no idea how long she has been protecting the island), Jacob is livid when he returns. He beats MIB, drags him to the cave, tries to drown him, throwing his body into the stream and into the light. There’s a tremor and a pillar of smoke shoots out. Hello, Smokey.

Jacob finds his brother’s body downstream and carries him back to camp, where he buries him with his mother and the black and white stones that Jack and Kate will find later on “Adam and Eve.”

So we see how Smokey got trapped on the island, and we have a possible explanation for the Dharma purge in Ben’s day. Did Jacob direct Ben and Richard to gas the Dharma folks because they were getting close to exploiting the island’s light?

 

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