THE END ~ PART THREE

DID YOU NOTICE?

The box Christian Shephard's coffin was transported in has stickers displaying the following airport codes: BWN (Brunei International Airport), GUM (A.B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam), HKG (Hong Kong International Airport, China), and LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) among others.

The stained glass window shows symbols of several faiths: the star and crescent of Islam, the Star of David (Judaism), the Aum (widely used as a symbol of Hinduism, but also present in Buddhism and Jainism), the Christian cross, the Dharmackra (Buddhism) and the Yin/Yang disk (Taoism). Oh look! I just KNEW Dharma would make an appearance!

There are four members of the Shephard family in the church. Christian, Jack, Claire and Aaron.

As Hurley is pulling into Charlie's motel with Sayid, a man is walking his dog cross the driveway in front of them. The dog is Jack Bender's adopted dog Lulu, who has appeared in 6 episodes and on the painting inside “Jacob’s Cabin”.

Penny, Juliet, and Desmond are the only characters in the church who were not on board Oceanic 815 and Desmond was not on the flight but was involved with the circumstances leading to the crash. Aaron was technically on Oceanic Flight 815, since Claire was pregnant with him.

Every character in the church has been on the show since the first or second season, except for Juliet who was introduced at the very beginning of the third.

Richard leaves the Island after living there for most of the past 140 years since his original marooning on the Black Rock. He had previously made various trips off-Island, such as recruiting Juliet. At least he won’t have culture shock when he lands!

Sawyer and Claire leave the Island for the first time, 3 years and a few months after arriving on Oceanic 815. They are the only characters to arrive on the Island for the first time in the very first episode, and to leave it for the first time in the very last episode.

The great glowing cavern has lost much of it's brightness (assuming the cause is MIB's growing strength - or the glow sticks were running out of batteries?)

Miles leaves the Island for the first time, 3 years after arriving from the freighter.

Kate leaves the Island for the second time, 14 days (or 30 years, starting in 1977) after time flashing off of Ajira 316. She is the only original cast member to leave the Island, return to civilization, come back to the Island, and leave again.

Frank leaves the Island for the second time, 14 days after crash landing Ajira 316. . He is notable in having piloted his own escape both times. The next time I fly, I think I’ll ask the name of the pilot BEFORE getting on the plane, just to be sure.

When Juliet tells Sawyer the secret to get the candy bar out of the vending machine, she says you can unplug it and plug it back in again and that it's technically legal. This is what Desmond and Jack do with the Heart of the Island.

As Kate empties her gun into Smocke, he jokingly advises her to save her bullets. Later on, Kate uses the remaining bullet in the decisive moment of the fight. Also, this is the same gun that Ben was loading at the well in the beginning of the episode.

Smocke takes the form of John Locke, a man who fell eight stories and broke his back, to manipulate the other characters. He dies after being kicked off a cliff and landing on his back, presumably breaking it.

Before Jack's death, Vincent arrives so he doesn't "die alone."

Jack has a tear in his eye just before he closes it for the last time.

Jack is stabbed where his appendix was taken out by Juliet, preventing more serious damage. This mirrors Locke losing his kidney and it saving his life when Ben shoots him and leaves him in the Dharma Dheath Pit.

Jack kicks the Man in Black down the cliffs reminiscent of the way the Man in Black kicked Jacob into the fire.

As Christian walks toward the doors on the church, you can see his brand new white sneakers!

Still working on QUOTABLE QUOTES and hope to have them up soon.

I seem to like many of Hugo's and Frank's lines, but I'd like to have a good balance.

Also working on a top 15 Best of list (or 42) here and there.

What list should I start with?

Top Moments That Made Me Cry?

Best Sawyer Nicknames?

Let me know what kinds of lists you want by leaving a comment.

THE END ~ PART TWO

ALL THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE

Okay, so let me explain what I think the side flash world was.

It was a holding place for the souls of our LOSTIES.

The side world became noticeable to us after Juliet beat the ka boom out of Jug Head and imploded the Swan for the first, or was it the second time? Either way, she was halfway between the island and the side time when she whispered to James that it had worked. She felt the deep peace of knowing that they would be together again.

We then see Jack gazing out the plane window and watch as he visits the washroom and sees the blood spot on his neck. We didn’t know then what we know now, and in retrospect the spot on his neck wasn’t some mysterious clue, but a remnant of the struggle he went through just before he died.

Although we saw snippets of ALL of our LOSTIES in the side world, it was basically about Jack. He took the longest to come to terms with the end.

Christian: This is a place you all made together so you could find on another. The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. No one does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you.

Jack: For what?

Christian: To remember and to let go.

The side world was created by the LOSTIES to find each other and move forward together. They had all been through so much together that it seems fitting that they would move on together. It has always been about being together, and in each season as the group was divided many times over, they always found their way back to the group. Again, it’s that bond they shared and it’s strength was so that it would transcend death and take them into the next world.

As we saw, Desmond was the first one awakened by that awesome scene when Charlie helped him drive the car into the marina. I still get chills when I think of Charlie holding up his hand to the window. But the confirmation for Desmond came in the MRI machine which, if you think about it is a blast of electromagnetic energy, right?

Soon he’s a mission to bring his friends together. First it’s Hurley and Libby. It took only a kiss on the beach (thankfully Hugo didn’t forget the blankets this time), and the memories of a whole other life came flashing back.

We didn’t see it, but I’m sure Des visited Libby, Boone, Rose, Bernard (I’m assuming that Rose and Bernard survived the great island margarita shake and spent their days in retired bliss) and at some point recruited Hurley’s help.

Sun and Jin remembered when Juliet showed them their baby girl on the ultra sound machine. It was a beautiful montage of their lives together and apart and the quick flash of their baby girl and how, when they were ready to leave Jin said “See you there” to Sawyer. So funny.

I really loved the way Sawyer called Jack “Doc” in the hospital then did a double take when he realized he had just spoken to some dude in s suit. There was nothing to identify Jack as a doctor.

The tears were in check up until Sawyer pulled the plug on the vending machine and Juliet handed him the Apollo bar. Maybe Jacob’s touch helped them all to find each other again? Maybe he touched more than Jack, Kate, Sun, Jin, Locke, Hurley and Sayid? Who knows.

Hurley shooting Charlie with a tranquilizer gun and plopping him into the back of his hummer like a sack of taters! OH I laughed so hard when Sayid questioned him and Hurley says, “Oh, that’s just Charlie” as if Sayid should remember him!

Speaking of Sayid, I truly enjoyed how he was made to rush to Shannon’s aid and as he helped her up we could see the love that they shared. It was then that I realized that his heart only ever belonged to Shannon and that their coming together, to me at least, was as epic as Desmond and Penny’s phone call on Christmas Eve.

Hurley and Ben are there. They’ve spent a lot of time together, but Ben isn’t quite ready to move on. He has other’s who need awakening, perhaps?

And then Jack arrived at the church and saw his father’s casket, and he began to remember that time in his life and those people who were the most important to him. Then Dad shows up and asks the quintessential question. “Why are YOU here?”, which makes Jack realize he is dead too.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNND this is where I totally lost it as we cut back and forth between the island and here. More and more I bought into the concept that “happier ever after” didn’t have to mean that everyone was still alive. To watch Jack’s death as his other side self experiences his epiphany was mind boggling and such a beautiful tribute to Jack and his friends and that which is LOST.

They were all dead and because these people meant so much to each other they wanted to be together to move on to the next stage of their spiritual existence.

LOST has always been a journey of spiritual awakening, of community, of survival, of redemption…. It has never espoused specific religions and seems to dare its viewers to interpret it as they will. And that’s how is needs to be. To each of us LOST has meant many different things.

But the most beautiful thing LOST has meant to me is the circle of lifelong friends I have acquired and the community we have created. We were brought together by a common love for all things LOST. We are all so different and yet we are the same. It doesn’t matter how far away you are, my friends, you are in my heart every second of every day. Just as our survivors became a family, we too have become a family.

THE END ~ PART ONE

And so it ends in the bamboo field where it began, Jack on his back as the life oozes out of him and Vincent by his side. The Ajira Airlines jet flies over head(presumably to safety), he smiles and closes his eye. Pass me a tissue because the only other time I have ever cried while watching the end of a TV show is when M*A*S*H ended way back when I was a fresh faced(albeit VERY young) teen and had relatively skinny thighs and a rose coloured glasses.

As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change, from whatever
We will still be, friends forever

There is a certain bond to be had when you survive a plane crash on a mysterious and dangerous island, fight side by side to stay alive, battle supposed hostile indigenous peoples, and throw in an angry column of black smoke bent on total world destruction and I can easily see why one would want to join that exclusive club. It’s not like the benefits to living on an island that no one can seem to find outweighed the disadvantages. I’d draw a T-chart for you, but I’m too lazy.

LOST broke ALL the rules.

First of all, the Pilot was the most expensive speculative pilot EVER shot for network TV. Not that I noticed as I was trying to figure out how the heck all those people fell 30,000 feet and actually managed to SURVIVE, only to be felled by a flaming arrow, falling out of tree (yes Boone, I thought you were hardier than that) or whatever happened to Scott/Steve. Next, it took us to places we never expected. Locke was paralysed?!?!?!? Yeah, who saw that coming? And let’s not forget the tropical polar bears.

As an aside, how DID the polar bear get his Hydra collar off?

Anyway, my point is this: For many reasons LOST captured the imaginations of millions of people from around the world and brought us together every week to see what was happening next and if we’d find out what that great column of black smoke really was. I never, EVER once considered that it could be WHO! The fact that Cuse and Lindelof negotiated a specific end date meant that we had a deadline. We KNEW that our favourite show wasn’t going to just disappear like the island at the turning of the frozen donkey wheel.

Here’s what I believe.

I believe that the island was real and this was the iconic scale that kept the balance between good and evil. It held the source of life, death and of rebirth. She was a difficult mistress and demanded many sacrifices of her inhabitants. But she was also vulnerable and needed to be protected from those who didn’t understand the power and from those who sought to exploit that power. “Mother” wasn’t the first protector and we can safely assume that Hurley wasn’t the last. Jacob needed a successor who could do what the rules prevented him from doing. He needed someone who could kill MIB, the monster that he had created. By the way, I think the “rule” about Jacob and MIB not being able to kill each other was a “Mother” thing, and despite her death, because THEY believed it, it remained that way for all eternity.

Jacob and MIB have been sending volleys of hostility back and forth over centuries. Jacob would bring people to the island and MIB would corrupt them. Until Richard arrived and explained to Jacob that people can’t do what you expect of them if they don’t know what it is they’re supposed to do. And that’s when both Jacob and MIB stepped up their campaigns. MIB to kill his brother and escape the island and Jacob to find suitable candidates for his eventual replacement.

This is where it gets confusing for me. Dharma, I think, was brought to the island by Jacob. MIB knew that there may be candidates among them (we’ve see some names on the lighthouse compass wheel) and, via a corrupted Ben, orchestrated the Purge. Ben was, after all, the leader of the Others and who were they to question his actions, right? Later the Others were trying to kill the candidates who survived the crash. All this was through MIB’s manipulations. By appearing in the darkened cabin, and refusing to allow anything that provided light, MIB was calling the shots. Of course Ben NEVER saw Jacob because he was being used and manipulated by MIB. The circle of ash around the cabin wasn’t to keep Jacob safe, but keep Jacob OUT!

Jacob wanted to give his candidates something he was never afforded. He wanted, no, he NEEDED to give them the freedom to choose to take the job. I’m not sure if Jacob KNEW that Jack would volunteer, at least not immediately, and over time he may have been able to foresee an agreeable outcome, but I don’t think Jacob ever really knew exactly how it would all play out. But he wasn’t going to force anyone who didn’t want it to take the position. Really, would you take a job that offered little pay, eternal life, extreme isolation, oh, and the knowledge that your life would likely ended by a vengeful monster?

I believe that with Jacob’s death, and the transfer of responsibility, MIB became vulnerable to the frailties of the human form. Whether Jack knew that would happen or not doesn’t matter. Jack believed that his fight to save the island and kill MIB was for the good and that he had something Jacob didn’t. He had the ability to sacrifice his own life if necessary to kill Smocke.

I believe Oceanic 815 crashed onto the island and that the ensuing struggle to survive, to leave, return and protect the island was all very real. The trip back in time and setting off Jughead was real. The pain and sorrow as each of our beloved characters died. Boone. Shannon. Libby. Charlie. The shocks of their deaths still resonate in my world.

In the end, Jack was able to do what he’s only ever wanted to do. He got Kate, Sawyer and Claire off the island. And he even managed to give Hurley a most amazing gift!

In the end, didn’t MIB get what he wanted? With his death came blessed release and he was able to leave, or at least his spirit did. I wonder if MIB and Jacob met in a sideways life at a church, hugged and cried and were able to move on as well. Somehow I’d like to think they were going in the same direction (I just don’t know if it were North or South, if you get my drift).

Desmond was the first to be awakened on ALL levels of consciousness and it was his job to act as the catalyst for everyone else. He knew when the time was right, and thanks to Chuckie Widmore (I’m so going to miss calling him that) he was better able to understand and accept what he needed to do.

As the season progressed, I was beginning to wonder about the “reality” of the sideways world. As each person became awakened to their memories, I was expecting some sort of mystical fade away to the island (too much Star Trek?) where they would be equipped to succeed in what ever task they were required to complete.

I also thought that the two “realities” would converge. They did, in a way. Just not how I expected it to, but this is LOST and when have I ever been right?

I believe that Ajira 316 landed safely at the first runway it found and oh the tale its passengers told!

I believe that Kate and Claire were reunited with Aaron and they all lived long, nearly happy lives. They did not forget those who were left behind and maybe Hurley and Ben came to visit every once in a while?

Maybe Sawyer found a better way to live his life until he could be reunited with his love. Maybe he and Miles formed an off island partnership and created LaFleur Security, specializing in keeping remote locations safe.

Maybe Frank went back to Eleuthera and opened a bar built to look like the temple and he has Richard mixing drinks and serving up age old advice to the love lorn.

I don’t know. But I’d like to think that the writers left these stories untold so that the fans could speculate for years.

Tomorrow (hopefully) you will get Part Two ~ The Sideways World.

Questions, Quotes, and Did You Notice will be separate posts as well.

All images generously provided by DarkUFO and LOSTMedia.

WHAT THEY DIED FOR

WOW, how the heck did I manage to be right? Yesterday’s post on my blog I predicted that Widmore would die. I was wrong about WHO kills him, but the end result is the same, right? Right? And Richard? Is he really gone? Will we get to see anymore manscara man? I have a few thoughts about that but I’ll get to that later, so let’s get to it.

Again, no recap. I’ll leave that to Doc Jensen and others. They’re much better at it than I am anyway.

Jack keeps noticing an injury that refuses to heal, and I’m thinking that it’s a connection to Island World, and possibly a remnant of battle with Smocke. Eventually Jack will figure it out. Most likely while attending the concert, where incidentally, it would seem everyone else is going to be at the same time. Yep, maybe we’ll learn that Juliet is David’s mother, she’ll accidentally spill coffee on James (she DID mention sharing a coffee just before she bought the biscuit in the doubly imploded Swan Station) and they’ll fall madly in love (or hate).

By the way, I believe the concert is a benefit for the museum and will feature Drive Shaft, Daniel Widmore/Faraday. Maybe we’ll see Dogen and his genius spawn there as well? Who knows at this point?

So, Desmond pretends to be an Oceanic Rep and tells Jack that they have found his father’s coffin. I think this is an effort to get him to “let it go”, to finally relax his agony over the loss of his father and thus opening his mind to the recollections of his “island” self.

Desmond beats the bejeebees out of Ben when he’s stopped from running down Locke again, which triggers BEN’S memories. I wonder if he thought he would fall into the harbour once again when Desmond threw him to the ground. And while we’re on the subject of Ben’s beat down, why is it no one came to his rescue? Did his students dislike him so much that they were secretly cheering on the Squirrely Scotsman? Ben later tells John that Desmond claimed to be HELPING him, and then tosses a weird “I believe him” into the conversation, which gets Locke thinking about fate, destiny and “what if everything is happening for a reason?” He visits Jack at the hospital, admits to tossing his business card (shame on him because now that LOST is ending, that’s going to be a collector’s item), asks the fate question and, while Jack so desperately wants to fix him, is told not to mistake coincidence for fate.

I have to admit, I realized that Sayid and Kate were in the lock up when Desmond was tossed in after confessing his dirty deeds. I figured that he would be up to something, but I didn’t realize he’d bribed Ana Lucia (or Ana Lucifer as a friend calls her) to let them go. And only for $125,000 bucks? That’s kind of cheap when you consider that she’s tossing away her career and probably her freedom. I would have expected some thing like, oh, $108,000,00.00! But she’s not ready yet. I screamed “There’s Hurley’s car!” as the camera panned back, and then as the tell tale yellow Hummer arrived, I knew that Des had convinced Hugo to front the cash. The money man behind it all.

I think Desmond has charged Hugo and Sayid with the task of bringing Sun and Jin from the hospital to the concert? Or maybe Locke and Ben? I also think that Kate (did you see the look of disgust on her face when she held up that little black dress?) will be there to jar Jack’s memory even more. Remember, she’s already been in physical contact with him on the plane (she lifted his pen) and I think she will be the source of his memory.

Am I the only one who thinks Danielle is still slightly cuckoo? Am I the only one who thinks that Ben and Danielle will be in a romance, making Ben Alex’s step-father in BOTH time lines? I so giggled when Danielle insisted on Ben joining them for dinner even if they have to “kidnap” him. Ha! I am so twisted.

2007 – Island World

Smocke does NOT want lemonade and has taken to whittling his thumb rather than his stick. After spending so much time creating the stick, you’d think he’d carry it around! It could be a useful tool as things come together in the culmination of the island war. But we’re getting a head of ourselves.

Gee, Kate was brave while Jack stitched up her shoulder. I would have cried like the great big baby I am. Of course, I am a natural red head and it’s been genetically proven that we feel pain quicker and more deeply than others. Yeah, I would have wailed and sobbed and been pathetic. Gotta give Kate kudos for being so brave. Maybe Smocke could steal Zach’s teddy bear and give it to her as a security item. I have a feeling that she’s going to need something besides counting to five. It could help her cope with the pain of knowing that little Ji Yeon is now an orphan as well.

Jack is thinking clearly and knows that Locke will soon find out that Desmond is still alive. They need to get to him first. Good thing Sayid told him where he stashed the happy Scotsman. Sawyer is feeling guilty about not believing Jack’s assertion that the bomb wouldn’t go off. Because of his actions, and a deep rooted “rebellion” against Jack, several members of their team are dead. Now, more than ever they will need to work together to avoid dying alone. Jack explains that Sawyer didn’t kill Jin, Sun, Frank and Sayid. Smocke did.

Before he ran off with the Smoke-made bomb, Sayid told Jack about Desmond and his special qualities. Oh, and he also spilled about how Smocke wanted him dead and that he didn’t do the dirty deed for him, instead stashing him somewhere safe. At least, I hope he’s safe. Maybe Sayid stashed him back at the imploded Swan. Maybe there’s a little nook undamaged by two implosions where Des has access to Apollo Bars and Ranch Dressing. So, Jack decides that they need Desmond and they set off to retrieve him.

Along the way, Hurley is accosted by a young version of Jacob (maybe he’s taken that form because it was a happy time for him, before he and his brother parted ways and started on their path of fundamental differences) who takes the bag of Jacob’s ashes and leads Hurley to the fire and Jacob.

I called this one as well. Okay, it didn’t exactly go down how I described it. I had predicted that Jacob would explain to the candidates (or what’s left of them) via Hurley’s “I-talk-to-dead-people” ability why they’re on the island, why they’re candidates and what they need to do. I did not expect Jacob to make himself clearly visible to Jack, James and Kate. Obviously neither did poor Hurley. Hey, does that mean his abilities are fading? If that happens he’ll be lonely. I think the ashes in the fire may have helped Jack, Kate and James to see Jacob (but I could be wrong)

Anyway, Jack steps up and volunteers for the job. No big surprise there.

I need to address a few thoughts here. Some of you have mentioned the fact that Smocke may have taken Jacob’s form and is once gain setting a trap for the LOSTIES. That’s not possible. Remember when some of the survivors were carrying Locke’s body to the survivor’s beach camp to bury him? Someone had asked her what’s to stop MIB from taking the form of anyone. Ilana explained that MIB was stuck with that form now and that he can’t appear as any other dead person now. Perhaps it has something to do with the amount of time he’s spent in that form, or maybe it has something to do with Jacob’s death. It doesn’t matter. The fact remains that since that point in time, we have not seen Smocke take on a different appearance other than as the Smoke Monster.

Also, someone mentioned that Jacob used water which was different than when “Mother” used wine. It’s not the beverage that provides the power, but the incantation. I still haven’t got a clue what was said (I’m assuming that was Latin) but did you see Jack’s eyes briefly widen after he sipped the water? He now knows the entire history of the island, MIB, Jacob, Richard, the others and why Ben’s eyes are so buggy. He may even know where Mikail’s cow is hiding for all I know. Do I think he has a plan? Yes. Do I think that this time his plan will work? Yes…..as long as he can convince James, Kate, Sawyer and anyone else who wants to defeat Smocke to play together in the sandbox.

Meanwhile, we finally got to see what Ben, Richard and Miles were up to. I felt so sad to see Dharmaville (maybe Jack can fix it up and re-name it Margaritaville and install a giant waterslide and rollercoaster) in such a sad state. Did you notice the plants in the rail planters on the gazebo? Oh! And the nice table in the middle of the yard? Why the surface looks undamaged! Inside Ben’s bungalow, behind the bookcase and in the not-so-secret room, Ben loads up Miles’ back pack with C4.

This is where Widmore comes in and I was sure that Ben and Widmore would realize that they’re working for the same cause. Man was I ever wrong. Miles grabs the C4 and heads for the jungle after the warning that Smocke has arrived. Me thinks Miles and his back pack full of explosive material will be a factor at point on Sunday. Smocke smacks Richard and sends him flying into the trees. I think we’re to assume that he’s now dead, the possibility being made a reality now that Jacob, is gone? Anyway, Smocke sits and chats with Ben on the porch.

Okay, I was not surprised that Ben told Smocke where Widmore was hiding. Ben is all about self preservation and feeding thos megalomanical tendancies of his. Smocke offered him the ultimate prize of being the care taker and big boss of the island once again. It’ll be awfully lonely with no one to boss around and the sub has sunk, so there’s no real way to bring any play mates to visit. Something tells me that Ben may not survive the transition.

Just when I think I have it all figured out, they go and change the rules. Speaking of rules, I think Jacob changed the rules when he gave Chuckie permission to return to the island. And Smocke threatening to kill Penny? How dare he? By the time Smocke is done there will be more orphans running around the world than we can keep track of. Widmore, for all his bravado and dedication to protecting the island, caved awfully darned fast and whispered (like a school girl) what Jacob had told him. Really? Whisper? That’s so that we don’t know what’s to come, but I think they could have addressed that a bit better. No use complaining now the writers have all moved on.

Were you as disappointed in Ben as I was when he shot Chuckie and claimed that he didn’t get to save his daughter? Did you laugh from your toes when Smocke told him that he already knew what Jacob wanted? Do you think that Ben will once again, in order to save his runs-like-a-girl butt, jump the fence and help whom ever is winning? And considering that Smocke offers the job of island custodian to Ben, then tells him that he’s going to destroy the island, I can see Ben changing his mind and going to the other side.

Yeah, me too.

DID YOU NOTICE?

Ben’s black eye can be seen in both time lines. Apparently this is because Henry Ian Cusick accidentally punched Michael Emerson for real while they were filming the scene at the school.

Mira Furlan is back and, despite something like a 38 episode absence, and in the side time, she still appears crazy. At least, she did to me.

In Season 2, Desmond turned the “failsafe” key in the Swan and now he’s being considered Jacob’s “failsafe”.

Ben’s left arm is in a sling after being beat up by Desmond, which mirrors 316 when Ben boards the plane.

Alex compared Ben to Napoleon Bonaparte. In Dr. Linus, he was teaching a lesson about Napoleon.

This is the second time Kate has been released from jail and given a dress to wear.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

BEN: I lived in these houses a long time, Miles. I think I can remember how to get there.

MILES: Well, I lived in these house 30 years before you did; otherwise known as last week…and I have no idea where the hell we are.

BEN: Guess it’s a good thing, you’re following me.

BEN: What’s wrong?

MILES: It’s just--I--you know, I get wonky around dead stuff.

NURSE: This may sting a bit, Mr. Linus.

BEN: It’s Dr. Linus, actually.

MILES: These are both great plans, but I’m gonna go with surviving. . . If you need us, we’ll be running through the jungle.

BEN: After you. . . Charles and his lady friend are in here. . . She’s armed. But I’m guessing that’s not a problem for you.

SAWYER: Tell me something, Jacob. Why do I gotta be punished for your mistake? What made you think you could mess with my life? I was doin’ just fine til you dragged my ass to this damn rock.

JACOB: No, you weren’t. None of you were. I didn’t pluck any of you out of a happy existence. You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me. You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.

SAWYER: And I thought that guy had a God complex before.

KATE: James.

SAWYER: Yeah, I know.

HURLEY: I’m just glad it’s not me.

Screencaps provided by GetLostPodCast and Lost Media

Sunday is almost upon us, but before we get to that, don't forget to enjoy the enhanced Pilot Part 1 &2 on Saturday night. Make sure you have lots of tissue handy.

Me? I have a truck load of tissue, plenty of fudge, Coke Zero, rum, pop corn and Rolaids on hand. My HD TV is ready and waiting. My comfy chair has been cleaned and padded with fluffy pillows. The footstool sits nearby and the power cord to the laptop will be plugged in.

At 11pm, on May 23rd, the world will hear a collective wail of despair as it all officially ends.

Oh yeah, and the DVR is loaded and programmed to all of it. I have the feeling that I'll want to see this one over and over and over and over.

Before we watch tonight......

I'd like to make a prediction.

As you know, I work VERY hard to remain spoiler free. This week has been very difficult as practically everyone wants to reveal what's going to happen in What They Died For and the finale. While I respect some people feel the need to know what is going to happen (thus be prepared for any shocks or surprises), I am the polar opposite. Since LOST is less six days away from the big ending, many sites aren't hiding the spoilers any longer. It's a no holds barred situation out there and I've found my LOST surfing seriously curtailed in an attempt to stay "out of the loop"

This does not mean that I don't sit and think about what's about to happen. In fact, I spend more time than I should trying to figure out what we will see next. So, in the spirit of looking like a total brainless twit, I am going to predict what happens tonight.

Are you ready?

Oh! Before I get to my prediction, look what arrived at my house today in preparation for Sunday!

You can see how sad I am becoming.

Okay, tonight someone is going to have some explaining to do and I think that Jacob will appear to Hurley and spill all about why the candidates were chosen and what is going to need to be done to stop Smocke. Jack was right, by the way. the only way Smocke can leave the island is if all the candidates are dead. Then, and only then, will Smocke have the ability to depart.

Speaking of Smocke, I think he's going to be going on a rampage in the next little while and I think he's going to start with Widmore. Chuckie boy, I think, will be a sacrifice the island demands.

Where are Ben, Richard and Miles? Yeah, I think they have great big bulls eyes on their backs too. I'm just wondering, since Jacob made Richard immortal, can he die? What about Miles? I fear he will not make it out of Ben's basement.

Ahhh, Ben. How I love thee, let me count the ways....

Er, can someone help me out here?

Just joking. I love Ben and all the machinations (for SJ) he gets up to. Since season two I have been anticipating his next move. But, most of all, do you know what I love about Ben?

His sense of self preservation. He's changed sides as many times as Jacob and MIB have played Senet throughout their youth. Keep an eye on Ben, because I think he'll be hopping the fence to the other side again before this is all over.

I made a great big pan of fudge for tonight (sigh) and have my truck load of Kleenex ready.

Let me know if I forgot anything.

ACROSS THE SEA

Okay, I freely admit that this was not an episode that will ever make it onto my favourite 116 episodes list. I think it ranks down there around the bottom, alternating places with Exposé, and team Razzle Dazzle for 118^th and 117^th place. I’m sure these two episodes will remain on the bottom of my list for all eternity.

That being said, we learned a metric tonne of information from Across The Sea that, for some of you, may have changed the way you look at Jacob, his brother and their relationship with the island. Yeah, like the fact that they were twins was a surprise any of us. Thanks Damon and Carlton for that confirmation. We also learned that the boys that Smocke, Sawyer and Desmond are seeing are “reflections or ghosts” of the people Jacob and MIB used to be.

Again, I’m not going to recap the episode. You’ve all seen it and have likely read more recaps than there are existing episodes of the series. I’ll just give you my thoughts on what I got from it and the resulting questions bouncing around in my mind (or what’s left of my brain after LOST got into it).

I know that there a lot of viewers out there who were bitterly disappointed with this week’s episode. Perhaps they were expecting some great spectacular story of mythical proportions of how MIB came to be the smoke monster and where his home is and how it relates to our current island inhabitants. I do know that many were angry that STILL we do not know his name, although I don’t really think his name is integral to the weave of the fabric of the story. What’s important is the fact that he has always wanted to leave and has been prevented from doing so for a very specific reason.

Across the Sea will be an episode that grows on people over time, as we watch it again (which is miles ahead of Exposé if you ask me). Eventually, after reading Doc Jensen`s analysis, Erica Olsen`s analysis, etc, people will see the necessity of an episode such as this one.

We saw a woman wash ashore on the other side of the island from her ship mates, and I believe that it was no accident. She didn’t ride the waves and I think was “brought” to that side of the island by “Mother”. It’s pretty convenient that Mother found her so quickly and was able to help her give birth. While Mother was surprised by the birth of the second baby, I can see that her plan to groom, if you will, her replacement took root immediately following the birth of the babies.

As I thought about Jacob and his brother being born on the island and never knowing any other people, I realized that they would not know of the outside world and therefore would never want to leave. After all, if there is no evidence of anything beyond the pristine shores of their island, why would they even entertain the thought of leaving?

I found it difficult to tell when Mother was speaking truthfully and when she was being deceitful. She lied to the boys by telling them that there is nothing across the sea. I’m positive that it was she who appeared to Boy in Black as Claudia as part of her plan to figure out which boy would be her successor as protector of the island. If this is true, then she was the smoke monster from the beginning, and it is in her actions that MIB became the smoke monster. Since they were boys, she has been played the boys off each other, even swaddling Jacob in a light wrap and No Name baby in a dark wrap (they sound like burritos, don’t they?). They were dressed as opposites from the very beginning which foretold the tale of their futures.

I think, from the very beginning, it was Mother’s plan that Boy in Black would leave to live with “his people” and learn that what she had said about the light and humanity wanting more was true. MIB needed to go be with his people, become attached to them, learn from them and then, when Mother “took care of them”, he needed to seek vengeance against his mother for killing them. Just as Jacob needed to knock MIB unconscious and toss him into that incredibly fast moving stream that carried him into the cave of glowing light.

Mother had told Jacob that the light was the source. It was life, death and rebirth, but that he must never go into the cave as a fate worse than death would befall him. That fate, by the way, is becoming the smoke monster for all eternity (and obviously that is a fate worse than death, IMO). Mother, I believe, was the smoke monster first and this is evidenced in the fact that she was able to pull MIB out of the well, fill in the well and then destroy the village and kill its inhabitants.

Perhaps each incarnation of the smoke monster retains the memories of it’s previous manifestations. You know, I just can’t stop thinking about that song by the Poppy Family called Where Evil Grows. A specific line keeps playing over and over in my head.

“And it never shows the place where evil grows….Evil grows in cracks and holes, and lives in people's minds”

I can’t help but wonder if the golden glow in the cave is a disguise. Boy in Black thought it beautiful. Mother agreed. What if that is what John Locke saw when he first met Ole Smokey?

I think that very soon after Jacob tossed his brother into that stream and saw that column of volcanic ash cloud and lightening roaring out of the mouth of the cave, he figured out that Mother had manipulated them. Instead of protecting the island, Jacob must now protect the rest of the world and keep his brother “corked” and unable to leave.

I've made it so you can never hurt each other.

I need to address this thought. I was distressed when Boy in Black asked what death is, and Mother told him that he wouldn’t have to worry about that. If she truly made it so that neither Jacob nor his brother could hurt the other, how is it that Jacob was able to beat on his brother? How was he able to knock him unconscious and send him floating into the golden glow? Is MIB not dead when Jacob so regretfully places the bodies in the cave? Or is it just his human form that is dead? And, after so many years, he reappears in his human form to talk with Jacob on the beach at the feet of the Statue. What or how did Mother do to make it so that Jacob and MIB would live on into eternity?

HERE’S WHAT I WAS HOPING WE WOULD LEARN

I was hoping that we would learn more about the ancient influences that we have seen on the island. Who built the statue of Terewet, the tunnels, the temple, the caves in which Smokey lived?

Why was it that Jacob was able to leave the island to visit those LOSTIES he has visited, and how was he able to do so?

I was hoping that MIB’s claim that Jacob took away his humanity would have a mythical, god like tale behind it.

I was hoping to learn how both Jacob and MIB came to be seemingly immortal.

Most of all I was hoping to learn the “rules” by which they seemed to live their lives.

My assertion that the loophole MIB had found was finding someone else to kill Jacob turned out to be correct. Yay me. Neither could hurt the other, but mere mortals could fell them. An interesting concept that takes away their god-like immortality in one fell swoop. Neither Jacob nor MIB are blameless and both have caused a lot of deaths over the years, but I believe that only MIB has actually killed with his own “hands”. To see what Smokey can do in a confined space we need only go back and watch what happens when Ilana and her crew enter the foot to confront Smocke. And then there is the temple.

Jacob’s culpability lies in the fact that he continually brought people to the island and failed to help them to survive. He failed to tell them what was expected of their presence. The only person he has ever used his own hands to kill, if it can be classified as killed, is his brother.

Do I believe that Smoke/MIB/Smokey is evil? Yes I do. Despite having a home, a family, MIB has only ever wanted another home. Even before he went to live with the shipwreck survivors and learn their ways, he has always wanted more. That is why Mother put the game on the beach. That is why she appeared to him and led him to the village. That is why he lived amidst people he despised and mocked the very qualities that he possessed. He wanted more.

Mother said that there is a little bit of the light inside all man. I think that light is contentment. That’s the only thing I ever want more of.

DID YOU NOTICE?

This is the first time in the history of LOST that no main character appear in original footage, and only Jack, Kate and Locke appear in archived footage.

Claudia is the third woman to arrive on the island pregnant, give birth and have her children raised by another.

Claudia’s abdomen didn’t get smaller after she gave birth to TWO babies. Surely it would have deflated at least a bit.

Did you notice the giant sea turtle on the beach with young Boy in Black and as his mother approaches, the turtle is no where to be seen.

When MIB is visited by “Mother” in the well, she is bathed in light and he shown in darkness.

MIB seems to adopt the “man of science” attitude by using technology to find a way off the island, yet he takes over Locke’s body, who was a “man of faith”.

Mother is examining a black stone from the burned Senet game just before MIB stabs her in the back.

The knife the MIB carries is the same one given to Richard in Ab Aeterno and to Sayid by Dogen.

There was at least one little girl in the village, which means that Mother/Smokey murdered the children as well when she destroyed the village.

QUESTIONS:

What was in the wine that made Jacob become the protector?

What was Mother saying as she poured the wine?

How did MIB explain his reappearance to Jacob after his body was laid to rest in the cave?

Why did Jacob only say goodbye to his brother and not Mother?

Where’s Vincent?

QUOTABLE QUOTES

MOTHER: Every question I answer will simply lead to another question. You should rest. Just be grateful you're alive.

MOTHER: Of course he did. Jacob doesn't know how to lie. He's not like you.

BOY IN BLACK: Why? What am I like?

MOTHER: You're... special.

JACOB: What makes them dangerous?

MOTHER: The same thing that makes all men dangerous. They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt... and it always ends the same.

MOTHER: Light. The warmest, brightest light you've ever seen or felt. And we must make sure that no one ever finds it.

BOY IN BLACK: It's beautiful...

MOTHER: Yes it is. And that's why they want it. Because a little bit of this very same light is inside of every man. But they always want more.

JACOB: Can they take it?

MOTHER: No. But they would try. And if they tried they could put it out. And if the light goes out here... it goes out everywhere. And so I've protected this place. But I can't protect it forever.

BOY IN BLACK: Then who will?

MOTHER: It will have to be one of you.

MOTHER [grabbing Boy In Black]: My love, you need to know this. Whatever you have been told, you will never be able to leave this island.

BOY IN BLACK [forces himself away from his mother]: That’s not true. One day I can prove it.

MAN IN BLACK: Oh, you mean my people. You wanna know if they’re bad. That woman may be insane, but she’s most definitely right about that.

JACOB: I don’t know. They don’t seem so bad to me,

MAN IN BLACK: That’s easy for you to say. Looking down on us from above. Trust me, I’ve lived among them for 30 years. They’re greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy, and selfish.

Next week's episode is called What They Died For, and it sounds so horribly ominous. I'll need chocolate, tissues, and probably several days to get over what I may see.

*sigh*

On May 24th I will be wearing my "Warning: I am going through LOST Withdrawl" label.