Lighthouse

I thought this was a pretty solid episode. Again, they are slowly giving us answers and twice as many questions. I was not as frustrated about the pace as I was 2 weeks ago because once this is over, it’s over. But it did feel like they spent a lot of time with long, sweeping views, forest sounds and facial expressions. But I am still very much digging the show.

Summary

This episode was Jack centered, focusing on him on and off the island. On the island he was guided by Jacob to go to the Lighthouse. Off the island he has in an uncomfortable relationship with his son David, whom never existed in the previous flashback. It seems that even though each Lostie is experiencing conflict in their life, their life as a whole is better in this updated version. Jack was able to connect with his son and begin to repair the distance that he was not able to repair with his father. Also in the episode we get see Claire who is now nutty as a fruitcake. Either she has been consumed by the illness or her isolated existence on the island made her crazy and paranoid. I think it’s the sickness. I read a great connection between her experience on the island and Jack Torrance’s character in The Shining, who goes crazy due to his isolation in the hotel and possessed by an evil spirit. He also kills Dick Halloran with an axe the same way Claire killed Justin. The chilling part of this episode was the end when SM Locke is revealed as Claire’s friend. Great scene. The minor players on the show – Sayid, Jin and Hurley didn’t provide much answers and were merely there as props for the main characters.

Connections

Jack has an appendix scar his mom explains is due to a surgery when he was 7 or 8. We know that on the island, Juliet performed surgery on his appendix. Jack goes to St. Mary’s Academy to pick up his son David. I think the name of the academy may be a connection between the Virgin Mary and Immaculate Conception. Kid comes out of no where with no mother. We can assume that he and his wife had the child together and later divorced instead of the other timeline in which he returns from the island and she is now pregnant from her new husband. Or maybe the mother is someone else entirely. The name David is also from the bible and he was shepherd and a musician. David is reading the Anointed Alice. The Anointed Alice provides annotations throughout the texts of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The annotations help explain the inside jokes and mathematical and linguistic puzzles that fill the stories. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking glass are heavy themes in Lost. I think the use of this book is kind of a tease to us trying to figure out the inner workings and answers about Lost. The MacCutcheon Whiskey is on the bar at his mom’s house. Jack refuses the drink, further indication that he is not the alcoholic he was in the flash forward. At the piano performance, the sign entering reads, “Welcome All Candidates”. David is playing Fantaisie-Impromtu by Chopin which is the same song that Daniel Faraday played when he was young. The Dogen speaks to Jack and tells him that it is difficult to watch and not be able to help. A parallel may be that on the island, The Dogen is trying to help without giving any direct answers. The Dogen says that David is gifted. This is similar to the believe that Walt was special. Jack’s relationship with his son mirrors that of Michael and Walt in that Michael had an estranged relationship with his son as well. Christian Shepherd told Jack that he “didn’t have what it takes.” Jack spent his life trying to prove his dad wrong. He doesn’t want to make the same mistake with his son. Jacob twists this message given to Hurley to say that Jack “has what it takes.” This prompts Jack to follow Hurley since the comment was so tied to his childhood. Jack is on the island for redemption, which is also a common theme.

The familiar theme of games is brought out as Miles and Hurley play tic-tac-toe. Of course there is no winner (they should have learned that from War Games!). Maybe the parallel is that there will be no winner between Jacob and SM Locke. Dogen says in a Japanese, “You're lucky that I have to protect you. Otherwise I'd have cut your head off." The lighthouse has 4 mirrors. Jacob asks Hurley to turn the dial to 108. 108 has the name Wallace to it. Austen (Kate) is number is 51 and not crossed out. It’s the reverse of Ford’s (Sawyer) 15 which could indicate how much they mirror one another. The dial is similar to the frozen donkey wheel that lead Ben off the island. The scenes in the mirror are of the church at Sawyer’s parents funeral, the temple where Jin and Sun got married and Jack’s house.

More numbers:
Rousseau - 20
Faraday – 101
Friendly – 109
Linus – 117


Questions

Adam and Eve – Who are they? I wasn’t following what Hurley was asking about time travel. Jack had determined that one of the skeletons was a man and the other a woman. There was also a black and white stone in the pocket of one of the skeletons. That brings us back to the cave with the stone, good vs evil. If the skeletons are 2 of the Losties, which two? Are they important at all? I have more theories if they were both male, but them being male and female stumps me. I also remember them wearing the Dharma uniform.

Jacob and SM Locke – It seems that they are both recruiting. SM Locke and Ilena said that Jacob was identifying candidates to protect the island. SM Locke seems to be recruiting people as well, first gaining Claire’s trust and then Sawyer’s. Claire said that her father and then her friend had told her that the Others had Aaron. We know this was done to manipulate Claire and turn her against the Others. Claire does not seem to see her father and SM Locke as the same entity. I was thinking that they all see SM Locke in different ways depending on who they are. Does Claire see him as The Man in Black or as Locke? Sawyer seemed to know instantly that he was not the true Locke, so perhaps Claire can that as well. Also Jin saw him as Locke.

Conclusion

We should be learning about either Jin/Sun or Sayid in the next episode. I want them to close the loop with Sayid because he seems to be in a sort of a haze. I also hope that Jin and Sun have a better life this time around in the alternate timeline. There are a lot of spoilers about cast members that are coming back. I think Shannon’s inhaler was just a way to bring her character back into the for front of our minds. It just seemed like the reference was random. But ok Lost. I will allow it. Loving it and still enjoying the ride. Take care and until next week, c-ya!

(Oh! There was this silly video on blacknerdcomedy.com about LOST and Hereos being racist against Black people. I laughed out loud on some parts when I watched so click the link to view. Go to there.)