Okay…so we were WAY off. The hint I read online was that this week would prove that the writers knew the direction of the series years ago. Uhhh…maybe. Learning the identity of Adam & Eve doesn’t prove that. It just means they found a good way to connect the dots. I know...cynical. But I’m just not buying it. I still like the explanation and it does fit because of the black & white stone. But Jack had said they were less than 50 years dead so do we just assume he was wrong? I didn’t like the way they hit us over the head with it either. The minute he laid them to rest we understood who they were. The flashback to Kate/Jack/Locke was a bit much for me. Like, “See, we did know what we are doing!” But as Sawyer would say, “Hold on, Hoss.” We’re not there yet. I am getting the sinking feeling that there is going to be A LOT of things not answered now. Like why could baby no name see dead people? Doesn’t that suggest another higher power or entity to allow that to happen? Or is it simply because “he’s special”? I’m jumping the gun, let’s slow things down and take this piece by piece.
Summary
Good episode if it had come 2 weeks ago when they had that repeat. But now it’s just scary since we have 1 more episode before the finale. We got more story and more questions. Every question leads to another question? More like every answer leads to more questions. I can see the analysis going on and on for years!
I needed the day to step away and take a break from the episode because I think I was judging it too harshly. I think its just anxiety about this almost being over. Or maybe Darlton deserve a swift kick in the gonads for encouraging all this dissecting of the show and now running out of time for answers. I think to say that they ran out of time is giving them too much credit. They had time to creatively craft an ending but it seems like it was just all crammed in there. We were given the origins of Jacob, Jacob’s brother, the smoke monster, electromagnetic force, why people are brought to the island, Richard, the Temple, Cindy and the kids, the numbers, the whispers, why Walt and Aaron were special, Adam and Eve, and the origin of the frozen donkey wheel…all in 15 episodes. They also introduced another time line that is not supposed to be an alternative one, but extremely important and valid to the series. I just feel rushed. I want more time to digest what we’ve learned. I think that’s why I am feeling so melancholy to what otherwise would have been a great episode.
Connections
The use of white and black were everywhere. Jacob = blond hair, white baby blanket, white clothes, white rock while his brother was emphasized in black. The dagger, wine flask, and stones are seen thousands of years later. The Senet box is an old Egyptian board game. Jacob and his brother were 43 years old (the numbers) when they stopped aging. Jacob by becoming protector of the island and his brother by being killed/becoming the smoke monster. SM Locke referred to the fact that he had a crazy mother. I thought he meant Locke’s mom who was committed. He actually was referring to his “adopted” mother. Jacob’s mother told Jacob “It’s going to be you”, which is the same thing Sayid said to Jack before he died.
Questions
What we don’t know – I have some lingering questions about the episode. We will never know who or what came before the mother. We may never know why some people can see and speak to the dead while others can’t. Other than the island containing The Source of life and death, that is all we will understand about the specialness of the island. We may never know the importance of Walt and Aaron. I was beginning to think that they were Candidates. They were either brought by the Temple people or Ben for Jacob to determine that they were candidates. I believe they were not and that was why they were allowed to leave the island. I would love confirmation about this but we may never know for sure.
The Smoke Monster - Is there just inherently a malignant force that wants off the island? The vision Jacob’s brother had of his true mother seemed to want to manipulate him into learning about his people and getting off the island. Was that HIS nature or was it the SM that wanting to be released? Jacob’s brother’s body was dead. Was his spirit reincarnated into the Smoke Monster? Or did it need a dead body to reanimate himself? As I work through it, I think it is Jacob’s brother suspended between life and death.
What we do know – How Jacob came to be the protector for the Source. Why he chooses to bring people to the island, in part to find candidates and in part to prove his brother wrong about the nature of man. We know why SM Locke is so evil. People are a means to an end for him. Vessels to be used to get him off the island. I would also say that living among them he was able to see them at their worst. I think all of the islands questions have pretty much been answered.
What’s left – Does the SM get off the island or does Jack become the new protector of the island’s source? How do things end for the Losties? What is the significance of the flash sideways?
Darlton did an interview after the episode aired. This was one interesting thing I thought they had to say:
“We knew it would be an episode that would be divisive. We've been talking since the beginning of the season about the idea that the great thing of doing a show on your own terms is you have no excuses, but it's also slightly terrifying that if you're a mystery show, there will inevitably be episodes that answer mysteries. That has the potential to frighten, terrify, make people hate. This was going to be the season where we said, "Whatever your theory was, our presentation of the endgame of the show may disprove your theory, so we're sorry if you don't like the fact that you don't get the Man in Black's name, but you don't get it." So that's going to piss some people off, and it's their right to be pissed off. In terms of what the specific reactions are, it's too hard to say 12 hours after the fact, and without seeing where this episode plays in the grand scheme of the series. That's all we can say.”
They also emphasized that it always their intent to do a mega episode download of information and focus the remaining time on the characters. The characters, not the mysteries, are more important.
Well fine then! I will put away my tablet and pen and watch the next show as it is. Without looking above it, below it or through it. Perhaps then in some strange way it will all make sense. I think what’s most important about what they said is that what we know is what we know. There is not another explanation or rationalization. In some ways that is a relief because maybe we wont have to wonder weeks from now what it was all about? But something tells me…they have more mysteries left up their sleeve.
Conclusion
I now no that come Monday, May 24th I am going to be in a catatonic ball, shaking and whimpering in the corner of my home. Either because it was so good, so bad, or ultimately so gone. The title of the next episode is “What they died for.” Intriguing. I would love for that to be the answer to why so many people died on the island. Or perhaps their connection to still being alive in the flash sideways. Whatever the answer in 6 days we will know either way. I am going to try my best and just enjoy what is going on now. Entertainment Weekly has an awesome review of all 6 seasons, theories, characters (past and present). I would suggest you go out to your local bookstore and get it prior to the season finale. An Evite will be sent by Friday about the Finale Party. I hope most of you plan to attend. That’s it for this week. Take care and until next time, C-ya!
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