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 CANDIDATE

The producers and writers of LOST have assured us that they have a plan and that we will get answers to some of the major mysteries that make up the mythology of the greatest show (in my humble opinion) ever to have aired on network television. After The Candidate, I had to convince myself to keep the faith that this will all end accordingly. Since the beginning of this season I have prepared myself with the knowledge that any one of our favourite characters can die. Couple that awareness with the fact that LOST is ending its amazing run and you have a complex formula for dissolution of everything that we have held near and dear to our hearts since September 22, 2004 and we suddenly find ourselves on a bullet train hurtling out of control. Hang on, my friends, for the ride of your lives!

Immediately following last nights airing of the Candidate there was such an outcry of anger, total devastation and absolute confusion that I think it may have caused an almost epic traffic jam on the internet. I have tried to stay away from all reviews and recaps in order to get my own thoughts sorted out. I am still feeling like I have been cast adrift into a vortex of confusion. Sleep is usually one of my dearest friends, but last night it was fitful and fraught with frequent episodes of sitting upright in bed and asking “what does that mean?” and then falling back down to the pillow in a cold sweat.

FLASHSIDEWAYS/WHAT IF/SIDE TIME

I loved how Jack referred to John as a “candidate”, and was initially confused when his offer to perform surgery and “fix” John was refused. As the episode progressed though, I realized that John was punishing himself, forcing himself to be confined to the wheelchair. It wasn’t until I saw Anthony Cooper that I realized the cause of his guilt. Forgive me, but I kind of giggled at the irony. In Original time, Anthony Cooper caused John’s injury that paralysed him and in the Side time, the roles were reversed and John was the reason his father is doing the best impression of a turnip I have seen in a long while. It’s also a bit ironic that John is the cause of his own paralysis, and I think that it is a foreshadowing of what may be MIB’s downfall (But I’ll get to that in a bit).

It was nice to see Bernard again. As time goes by, we are seeing the connections that our LOSTIES have in the Original time being forged in the Side time. I’m not sure how this will pan out in the Side time, but I’m willing to put my faith in the belief that we get our “happily ever after” there and not in the Original time. I enjoyed Bernard teasing Jack about flirting with Rose, and it underscores the deep seated love he has for his wife. That’s two couples now who are soul mates. Maybe three, if Desmond doesn’t get chucked into jail for the hit and run non-accident.

Speaking of Desmond, we haven’t seen him for a while and I’m wondering if he and Penny truly connected over that coffee they were supposed to have

Claire seeks out Jack at the hospital to ask him a question about her portion of Christian’s estate, which was an ornate music box that played “Catch A falling Star”. This was a double-whammy prop, in my view. The music box played a song that has recurred throughout the entire fabric of the show, and as they looked at it, we could see Jack’s and Claire’s images reflected in a mirror. This is only the beginning for Jack and Claire as siblings and I think that Jack’s invitation that she stay with him will allow for Claire to keep “Aaron” in the Side time. My heart skipped a beat or two when Jack assured Claire that they were not strangers, but family. This bodes well for both of them, I think…I hope.

The final scene in the Side time was so very interesting and outlined that both Jack and John are still unable to “let it go” or “forgive themselves”. In Jack’s case, he is learning and is willing to use that life lesson to help another person. We will see if he really is ready to stop trying to “fix” people and things and not chase after John in an effort to convince him to have the surgery.

Earlier I alluded to John’s self inflicted paralysis as a possible cause of falter for MIB in the Original time. I think that John Locke’s “consciousness “will assert itself in MIB causing an inner struggle of who will gain control over the “body”. This struggle will weaken MIB and thwart his efforts to leave the island and leading to his ultimate failure. I really don’t know how it will go down, but I do have a theory (which I’ll get to later).

ORIGINAL TIME

OH

MY

GOD

As Jack woke and sat up in the outrigger I couldn’t help but think of Frank’s similar sleep sailing experience. As Sayid said, at least he didn’t have to paddle. I’m not sure about anyone else, but when Sayid said that I thought I saw a spark of “emotion” and had a renewed hope that his story of redemption would get off that detour to hell he was on. We know now that Sayid’s story has ended.

When Jack tells Smocke that he’ll help him but he is not leaving the island, he sets off a chain of events that lead to a very shocking and sad ending. The final half hour of this episode was spent sitting bolt upright and clinging to the edge of my rocking chair with eyes glued to the TV. I’m not blaming Jack for the catastrophic ending, but I do think it was his mistake to lay out his intentions so soon and it allowed Smocke to formulate yet another evil plan to kill off all the candidates.

Sawyer and his group are tossed into the polar bear cage, and you can hear the hum if the portable sonic fence. I don’t ever recall hearing the other fence hum. This is not a good scene as Sawyer explains to Kate that her name was on the cave wall and that it had been crossed off. At this point I realized that Kate’s usefulness was ended to all parties involved save for Kate herself. I also realized that by telling her, Sawyer was trying to protect her. Forewarned is forearmed? I’m not sure.

I am wondering how Sayid killed the power to the portable sonic fence. Did he just pull cut the extension cord? Did he pull the plug? Did he steal all the gas from the generator? Did he poke that stick Smocke was whittling a few episodes back into some moving parts? HOW? This allowed Smocke to wreck havoc at the cages and help free the others. Don’t think he’s not angry about how they all turned against him, by the way. Jack arrives to help everyone out of the cages and lead them to relative safety, if there is such a thing. He explains to Kate that he’s not meant to leave the island but will help them all get to the plane. Obviously Jack didn’t hear the part about ALL of them having to leave TOGETHER when Smocke was explaining how things are going to work. I had bad feeling as Smocke was checking the plane and found the wires that led him to the C4. Question! Why didn’t Widmore just destroy the plane as soon as he arrived on the island? Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a plot device, but that’s the kind of detail that bugs me. Then I had an awful thought that Widmore is secretly working WITH Smocke and they had planned that. But if our LOSTIES took the sub, how would Chuckie leave? I know there’s no way that he would want to STAY on the island once Smocke had been bottled up again.

Also, I believe MIB DID kill all the other survivors on that plane. Remember all the times he would disappear and when asked where he was, he would say he was taking care of something. Think back to the Incident when he told Richard that they would have to go to Hydra Island and deal with the others from the plane. Yeah, I’m convinced Smocke did that.

So, where was I? Oh yes, the plane. I really loved the home made bamboo steps! I wonder if I can have those for my pool…..Anyway, knew that the plane was not going to be the answer to Smocke’s little problem. For a while now I have considered the thought that his main goal was to kill ALL the candidates in fell swoop, thus gaining the freedom to leave the island at his own will. Let’s review the facts, shall we?

Originally there were multiple “candidates” for Jacob’s job, (if you take the lighthouse compass as the list, there were 360 candidates over the years so far) but as time passed and people were killed on the island, or they didn’t measure up, their names were crossed off the list. A bit of trivia for you to stump your friends. There are 15 passengers from 815 on the list and 4 Others on the list that are in reference to the NUMBERS! Don’t ask where I find this stuff, it would frighten you.

LOCKE – 4, REYES – 8, FORD – 15, JARRAH – 16, SHEPHARD – 23, KWON - 42, Austen – 51

Since Kate’s number is 51, which by the way is the transposition of 15, I am assuming that she’s not going to make it to the end and thus not going to succeed in her quest to reunite Claire and Aaron off island. Interestingly enough Claire’s number is 313 and Charlie’s number was 195.

Okay, back to business. Smocke has been very insistent that all the survivors be TOGETHER when they attempt to leave the island and at first I believed that some magical force dictated such. Then I remembered that Smocke DOESN’T KNOW who will be the one to do Jacob’s job and that he had vowed to kill anyone that may take his nemesis’ place. Since he has no idea WHO would become the next Jacob, he really had no choice but to start eliminating them. The “RULES” state that he can’t kill any of the candidates himself, so over the years he has used his belief that humans will kill each other and manipulated the deaths of many people. Which brings us to the doomed submarine ride….

Smocke switched his C4 filled pack with Jack’s back pack. We all saw it happen and that is when I knew for sure that Smocke had planned to confine the candidates and let them either be killed by each other or Widmore’s men. And how convenient that poor Claire was left behind (that really rankled me since she was defending them). Jack was right when he told Sawyer that the C4 would NOT explode. I know that many of you believe that it would have since it was Jack who carried it onto the sub that it would go off, but since Jack did so UNKNOWINGLY it makes perfect sense that it would not have. Unfortunately for Jin, Sun and Sayid, Sawyer didn’t believe it and pulled the wires, thus setting into motion the disastrous events that followed.

WHY?

Why?

Why?

There are an awful lot of people who are bitter and angry that Sun and Jin (myself included as I sobbed into half a box of tissues) did not get their happily ever after and were unable to leave the island to raise their daughter. But think for a minute. In the Side time they have the opportunity to embrace their futures and raise their daughter together, so in a way, they have achieved it and their story arc is finished. We got to see that Desmond had managed to reach deep within the darkness of Sayid and provided him with the means by which to have his Nadia back. Let’s hope they are reunited in death because we know that in the Side time they will be apart forever.

That leaves us with Lapidus and his status is unknown at this point. He was hit rather hard by that door and I think knocked out, so I’m thinking that he’s dead too. This is distressing to me. We have not seen how his life pans out in the Side time, so I’m hopeful that he has a chance at happiness.

The last we saw of the remaining candidates they were washed up on the dark beach and mourning the loss of their friends. I’m sure, as he had in the flashsideways while talking to John Locke, Jack was wishing James had believed him. I know I was thinking it.

DID YOU NOTICE?

Locke wants to kill Jack in the original time and Jack wants to help Locke in the side time.

Original Locke regained the use of his legs from the crash of 815, Side Locke was paralysed in a plane crash.

Original Anthony Cooper caused John’s paralysis. Side Anthony’s vegetative state was cause by John.

While unconscious, John Locke mumbles; “Push the button” and “I wish you had believed me”. Jack repeated the wish to John later, which caused him to pause.

This episode breaks the record for the largest number of MAIN CAST characters being killed at three, also this season (for obvious reasons) is the first season to kill off more than one original main character.

This is the first episode since the premiere of Season 4 where ALL the main characters appear in the same place at the same time. Go check!

There were 4 bricks of C4

QUESTIONS

How did Widmore know about the list?

Where are Cindy, Zach and Emma?

Is Frank alive?

How’s Jack going to help Kate now?

Why wasn’t the sub more visibly guarded?

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

JOHN: Why?

JACK: Because I think you're a candidate.

SAYID: Welcome to Hydra island. At least you didn't have to paddle.

WIDMORE: I have a list of names. Ford, you're on it. As are Reyes and the Kwons. Kate Austen? She's not. It doesn't matter to me whether she lives or dies.

WIDMORE: You may not believe it, but I'm doing this for your own good.

SAWYER: You're right. I don't believe it.

BERNARD: Do you mind if I ask you why you're so interested in Mr. Locke, Jack?

JACK: Um... he and I met about a week ago. We were on the same flight back from Australia--

BERNARD: Oceanic 815.

[Jack looks shocked]

BERNARD: I sat across the aisle from you. If memory serves, you were flirting with my wife, Rose, while I was in the bathroom. It's pretty weird, huh?

JACK: Yeah.

LOCKE: You know, I would ask him, except I don't think he's gonna give me a straight answer. But I can't imagine that his intentions are good. If we move right now, we can break your people out, run for the plane, and be off this island before Widmore knows what hit him.

LOCKE: Because I could kill you, Jack. Right here. Right now. And I could kill every single one of your friends. And there's not a thing that you could do to stop me. But instead of killing you, I saved your life. And now I want to save them too. So will you help me? (LIAR)

HURLEY: And we're dead... (when the power to the sonic fence goes off)

HURLEY: Well... wait, now he wants us to leave the island?

LOCKE: No, Hugo. He wants to get us all in the same place at the same time... a nice confined space we have no hope of getting out of... and then he wants to kill us. (foreshadowing?)

Jack: Why don't you come stay with me?

Claire: Stay with you? [ Jack nods.] I mean, we're…we're strangers.

Jack [laughs]: No, we're not strangers. We're...we're family.

JACK: Locke…We did exactly what he wanted.

OBSERVATION: We have been led to believe that water is not a good thing for Smocke while he is in his smoke form, so, if my thinking that John Locke from the Side time will assert his “consciousness” into the Original time and force MIB out of his body, he will have no form to take. If that happens on Hydra, all Jack has to do is ensure there are no other forms he can take and remove all forms of travel off that island. But I’m probably wrong.

Next week we get Across The Sea. I’m both fearful and excited to see what happens next.

SUNDOWN

Or, My Head Exploded And I think The Dog Buried My Cognitive Thinking Somewhere In The Back Yard

It is the morning after we have all seen Sundown. I am sitting in a piddly coffee shop on the main floor of the local hospital and they are NOT sharing their WIFI with me! I KNOW they have it because I have it before. I had planned to use my time here productively and re-watch online, but since Café Movito is being chintzy with their WIFI (shameless berating), I have decided to start collecting my thoughts (the ones that I can gather without using the vacuumcleaner and a metal detector) and try to find some sort of understanding to the speeding train wreck/ crossing the sound barrier sonic boom plane crash/ catastrophic Swan implosion that was Sundown (and I mean that in a good way Damon and Carlton).Considering there wasn’t too much movement or action the last couple of episodes, Sundown threw us in head first within minutes and didn’t stop until Smocke, as they are calling the combination of Locke and Smokey, calmly led the Others away from the temple. I’d like use some smart Biblical reference here about good people being led astray, but my head hurts and I the last version of the bible I read were the children’s stories and I can’t remember anyone other than Moses leading the masses. Besides, I’m pretty sure there is no comparison here.

At this point in the game I am questioning the whole somewhat shaky understanding that Jacob was good and Smocke is bad, yet I’m pretty confident that Team Darlton wants us to be as dazed and confused as humanly possible. As we are all aware, nothing is black and white or clear cut or even unquestionable when it comes to LOST and the twists and turns that its super creative (and delightfully evil) writers have produced. THANKS A LOT, GUYS FOR THE MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS!

Basically, in a nut shell (and we all know I’m nutz) Sayid in side time travels the globe translating oil contracts. His beloved Nadia is married to his brother and they live with their two kids in suburban LA. They own two “dry cleaning” shops and appear to be living the American Immigrant dream. But all is not on the up and up with brother dearest and he has taken out a loan with a very shady character (Martin Keamy you are slime in any time), and despite having paid back the loan is being forced to pay extortion money now. When Sayid is threatened things turn ugly and, yet again, Marty pays the ultimate price for his errant ways. But wait, there’s more!

This is the first time we see Jin in Side time since he was led away by the customs officials in LA X, so we can assume the “obscene” amount of cash was satisfactorily explained away and that he was able to avoid incarceration. So, off to finish Paik’s bidding and deliver that “priceless” watch post haste, right? Yes, and who could be the recipient of said watch? Either Marty was “friends” with Paik (I can totally see that, by the way, since they both exhibit such cold ruthlessness), or Jin lost the cash and was looking for more to make his escape. I’m probably wrong.

After Sayid dispatches Keamy and his minions he hears banging and follows the noise to a cooler, where he finds poor Side time Jin, tied up and silenced (sort of) with duct tape across his mouth. That had to hurt royally when he pulled it off don’t you think? I’ll bet Jin’s thoughts were not publishable in any language! I have a thought on how poor Jin came to be mixing it with the Romaine lettuce and cole slaw and I’m not sure I like it.

In original time we see the Sayid we all know and love. Obviously he has recovered enough from both the drowning and diagnosis by electrocution/white hot cattle prod, to demand some answers. There aren’t many 815ers left at the temple and Sayid feels it’s time to either win Dogen over or leave. We learn a little about Dogen and how (and why) he came to the island. Speaking of the Japanese Samurai, I was surprised that he isn’t older than I had expected. He came across as a wise and ancient soul, having collected many many years of experiences and learned important lessons along the way. Instead, we learn that he was a banker and had killed his son in a drinking and driving accident then sold his soul to Jacob in exchange for his son’s life.

Dogen sends Sayid out to kill Smocke and when that fails (and really, we kind of expected that, right?), Smocke makes Sayid an offer he can’t refuse. It’s ironic that he voices that he is a good man to Dogen and then surrenders to his evil side as soon as he is offered a sweet deal by the competition. It’s too bad that he’s struggled so long to regain his self respect only to give up in a moment of weakness. Do you really think Smocke is going to keep his promise and Sayid will see Nadia again? Dead is dead, right? Although, on second thought, she could come back as a polar bear or a Hurley Bird, I guess.

Poor misguided Claire. First of all she’s lured into the forest by the ghost of her father and leaves her baby behind. Then, when she isn’t found, Kate takes Aaron as her own and takes care of him off the island. Meanwhile, it appears her loving father has abandoned her and Smocke has befriended her (I wonder how that friend request would look on Facebook) and lies and tells her that Aaron is in the temple. No wonder she’s a bit nutty and rotating on a wobbly axis! But, she’ll do anything to get her baby back and whatever Smocke wants, Smocke gets at this point.

I know that I said I was growing to seriously dislike what Kate does a few weeks ago, and I still think she’s a loose cannon, but in this case, I think she may have done the right thing. She told Claire the truth, and in the face of certain “black freight train smoke” kind of danger, Kate could only think of helping Claire (even though she didn’t actually need it, bit it is a redeemable act). It’s what kept her alive and, I think, why Smocke didn’t kill her as he rolled over the pit or during the aftermath when they were all leaving the temple.

I’m wondering how Ilana, Frank, Sun and Ben got into the temple, since the spot in the wall we saw Hurley looking at appears to be some sort of hidden room. As an aside, I was curious about the symbol on the wall where Ilana took them to be safe and did a little research. The symbol is an ancient Egyptian Hieroglyph (I found this in a book called the Egyptian Book of Hieroglyphs no less!) that is called a Shen Ring. It is a symbol of eternity and protection, but also represents dual concepts of time. The first concept being the periodical time (based on the rise and fall of the Nile water levels, so maybe a year) and then the infinity (a life time or career?). Interesting, huh? I haven’t quite figured out if this is an inside joke by the writers, or if we should pay some serious attention to it.

Creepy things!

How creepy was Sayid’s smile when he told Ben that it was too late for him? And the haunting “Catch A Falling Star” as Sayid, Kate and Claire walk through the temple courtyard amidst the death and destruction? I still get chills.

DID YOU NOTICE?

Omar and Keamy are the first two characters to be killed in the side time and are also dead in the original time. Also, Omar was accidentally killed by a grenade tossed by Keamy in the original time and was accidentally killed by his associate in the side time. Poor dude can’t win.

The SUV that takes Sayid to “visit” Keamy, has the same license plate as Jack’s Bronco (recycling at its best).

If Kate had just stayed at the temple, Claire would have come to her.

When Dogen explains “the scale” to Sayid, he holds up his hands. One represents good and the other represents evil. The hand he uses for “evil” is covered by a black glove while the hand he uses for “good” is bare.

I know you all saw him, but just in case, did you see Jack at the hospital when Sayid and Nadia were arriving?

QUESTIONS:

Why can’t Smocke be killed the same way as Jacob? Why wasn’t there any blood on the dagger when he pulled it out of his chest?

How did Dogen’s death allow Smocke to enter the temple? What was keeping him out?

Since it wasn’t the Others who saved Sayid, who or what did? Jacob? Smocke? Another entity that we have yet to meet?

Where are Sawyer and Jin? They were last seen in the company of Smocke, so what happened to them? Have they been recruited or doesn’t Smocke trust them?

Why didn’t Richard make it to the temple to warn them? Where is he? Did he realize it was too late and go into hiding? Where did he go, the barracks, the Black Rock, the beach for a sun tan?

Why was Jin being held by Keamy? Where’s Sun in the side time?

QUOTES:

Claire: Are you going to hurt them?

Smocke: Only the ones who won’t listen.

Sayid: Since I’ve been here, I’ve been drowned, beaten and tortured at your hands. Why would I ever do anything for you?

Miles: Welcome back to the circus!

Miles: Right. Claire. She strolled in here a couple hours ago acting all weird. Still hot though.

Frank: We’ll play catch up later. You wanna live, you better move your ass! (I like this one)

Frank: You do hear that, right? You got a plan or are you gonna keep staring at the wall?

Ilana: I have a plan. (sounds like Ben, doesn’t she?).

So, I WAS wrong. I had assumed Sundown would be Sun and/or Jin centric, but instead we got Sayid. Not that I’m complaining. I forgot to take into account the fact that season one was LONGER and was comprised of several more episodes (still not pleased with that BTW).

Next up? Dr. Linus, and I can’t wait! The mere fact that Benny Boy has a doctorate is causing my curiosity and imagination to run wickedly wild.

See? Isn't that a creepy smile?

The Thread of Jacob

You like it? I did it myself. It takes a very long time when you're making the thread, but, uh... I suppose that's the point, isn't it?

Making the thread; (verb) to pass continuously through the whole course of (something); pervade. As in, Jacob created a thread that brought the survivors together. As in, Jacob is using long loose stitches to hold his fabric together. In sewing we call it basting. Often, when a seamstress is creating gathers in a garment, she will baste the fabric then pull the threads to draw the extra material into folds.

I see each of Jacob's touches as one stitch in the basting process that creates a common thread that runs through our Losties. In season six, we will see how the thread is pulled to gather them all into one place.

It took years for Jacob to touch each of our survivors lives. Kate and Sawyer when they were quite young. Jack, John, Sun and Jin when they were adults. Six visits were prior to the crash. Which tells me that Jacob had hand picked them for the island very early in his quest to set into motion his plan to counter AJ's loophole.

Hurley and Sayid were visited after they were rescued from the island. I'm not sure of the significance of this yet, but I do know that both were reluctant to lie about their ordeal and neither really wanted to return to the island. That is, until Jacob visited Hurley in the taxi the day before Ajira 316 and, I'm assuming here, he had Illana convince Sayid that he was going to Guam.

Each of our survivors at some point of in their lives have felt the touch of a being older than most countries. They have a common thread that runs through them and it guides and protects them. It will help them to remember the people they were, who they have become and what they've learned along the way.

We can assume, for now, that Jacob touched Ben when he was young and nearly dead from the gun shot wound inflicted by Sayid. This could be significant to the success of Jacob's plan. I've stated that I believe that Ben was the loophole AJ had been looking for.

A single thread is unremarkable when standing alone, weak and easily broken. But when skillfully woven together, all the threads become one and exponentially grow in strength, difficult to break. This will be important in the coming season as I believe each of our Losties will need to come together and unite their different strengths. Kind of gives new meaning to "If we can't live together, then we'll die alone" doesn't it?

In season one this was meant as a way to get the survivors to work together, find something they were good at and do it for the good of everyone. In season six, it could mean exactly the same thing. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Saywer, Sun, Jin and possibly Sayid will need to figure out what their strengths are and how they can combine them to win the fight of their lives for the good of everyone.

I believe the thread Jacob has created will pull his people together, much the same way a thread is used to create gathers in a garment, for without the thread, the garment falls apart.

I know this thought does not bode well for our Ghost Whisperer and our fertility doctor, but I am hopeful that Jacob visited them at some point in their lives. As I've said before, I just can't believe that Miles' story could be over. There is so much more we need to learn about this man. The same can be said for Juliet, for I can't bring myself to accept her fall down the shaft and the brilliant white light ending.

What do you think? Could Jacob's touch be some sort of invisible cord that will draw the Losites to where they need to be?

What will happen when they arrive at their destination? How will they arrive in 2007? And for that matter, will they go directly to 2007 or will they flash through time in much the same way as some did in the beginning of season 5?

With every thought I have I come up with at least ten questions. I'm going to have to start carrying a clipboard around with me to record them!