There will come a time soon where I will stop blogging exclusively about LOST especially with the series finale only 3 days away. That time however, is not now. I found the last hour long episode of the show to be both mesmerizing and revealing. It's one of the first episodes I can recall that answered more questions than it asked, and just about every scene it in was critical to the series's arc. It had sadness, death, hope, humor and a sincere feeling that the end is nigh. Indeed, in the last 4 days I've listened to (on a podcast) and read (in the New Yorker) interviews of the creators (Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelhoff), watched multiple episodes and even found a program "Before they were Lost" on a random channel I didn't know I had, that has the cable programming guide at the bottom. I've been obsessed for a while, but I guess it's official now.
There's a million pictures of Jack Shephard on the net. I went with the above one because it's a reminder of how far Jack and the show have come since the whirlwind of the Pilot. The scene with the remaining candidates finally talking to Jacob in his last moments was my favorite. He explains why they were brought to the island defying Sawyer's assertion that they were doing "just fine" before they got there. They were "like him" alone and flawed. It begs the questions, was the entire plane filled with similar people or were there collateral casualties so these candidates could come to the island (that's awesome alliteration!). I think of Bernard and Rose who didn't seem flawed at all except for Rose's cancer. For as good as Jacob may seem when you talk to him, a LOT of death and misery has come from his desire for a successor. I don't think he's as "good" as sometimes he seems in the same way I don't think the Man in Black is as bad he seems (see my last entry) despite the clothes they wear. Welcome to Lost and the real world where shades of gray abound.
In any event, Jack, with a barely visible trace of hesitation, accepts the job. In some ways you always knew it would be him. "If you think he had a God complex before" Sawyer says during the christening. (For the record, Miles quip about "a secreter room", Alex's comparison of Ben to Napoleon and Rousseau's threat to "kidnap" Ben for dinner also rate high on the comedic scale). One of the interesting things about this episode was the return of 2 former leaders to power.
Jack hadn't been himself since the leaving the island, hitting rock bottom above when he was ready to commit suicide. Even when he did make it back to the island he immediately had to defer to Sawyer and the Dharma Initiative. The title he was given, "Workman" couldn't have symbolized it any better. After meeting Faraday he snapped out of his spell briefly to lead the charge to blow up the Swan. This, most notably, resulted in Juliet's death and he went back to deferring, this time to Hurley and a little bit to Sawyer again. He sat back and observed which he admitted was hard for him, but in the end, he picked up on some of the "rules" and figured out what was going on on the island better than anyone else. His ascension back to a position of power reminded me of someone else in the show.
For most of this season, Ben has been a reactionary, uncertain and scared follower. A shell of his former self. In some ways you can't blame him. After all, he was manipulated by who he thought was Locke to kill Jacob. Shortly thereafter he found out Locke was the smoke monster and watched him kill most of Ilana's men. Then he witnessed Sayid after he just killed the leaders of the Temple, was ratted out by Miles about Jacob's death and made to dig his own grave. These sequence of events would rattle even the best of men, but it was, nonetheless, a strange sight to see after watching him masterfully manipulate others around him for 3 seasons. Finally in this episode, he gets his feet back under him and takes some control back. It must have been bittersweet to shoot Widmore after all those years. NOTE: in the episode where Ben visits Widmore in his bedroom Widmore says "you know you can't kill me" to which Ben says "Then I'm gonna kill the next best thing, your daughter". Was there a rule made ala Jacob and MIB? The conspiracy theorist in me says yes and MIB didn't know about it so Ben shot him before he would have to spill the beans. I think it's unlikely we see Widmore alive again (I give it a 20% chance), but something to think about.
Ben also may be manipulating MIB as crazy as that sounds. He's eager to kill more people and since he's given his life to the island I find it hard to believe he will help him to destroy it. I found the scene where Miles passes over Alex's grave to be significant. Miles hears something (presumably Alex) and starts to say "I don't think you're gonna like..." before he's interrupted. I think Ben will find himself in a Darth Vader like position where he will either be able to kill Jack and the others and Miles will have a critical role to play in telling Ben what Alex said. My call is that this will cause Ben to snap out of it like Vader or more recently when Desmond's words snapped Sayid out of the Dark Side from their conversation at the well.
After all the questions that were answered in that show, the biggest one left is WHAT IS THE SIDEWAYS WORLD??? Desmond seems to be the chessmaster there. (By the way, the best promo for Lost I've seen is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RecTEQ7BNg8. It was originally filmed in Spanish and there are a few different versions. This is the English one). Desmond seems to be gathering all the important Losties in the same place (Faraday's concert?) for a purpose. To surmise what that could be, I have to take a step back and think about what we know about the sideways world:
1. The island is at the bottom of the ocean in that reality.
2. That reality is NOT if they had simply landed instead of crashing. (Jack has a son, Sawyer is a cop, Hurley did not win the lottery, but made his $$$ through chicken stands, Locke's dad is not a con man, etc etc).
3. Charlie was the first person to have a glimpse while choking, Desmond, Faraday, Libby, Hurley, Ben, Sun and possibly Locke in some way have seen a flash of island life.
4. Jack keeps waking up with bloody neck wounds. Is he dreaming about island life? What's the connection?
5. Eloise Hawking seems to be wise to everything and told Des to stay away. Very significant. Hmmmm......
6. Desmond is a failsafe in the island world. He's the only one that seems to have consciousness in both worlds and we don't know where is island counterpart is.
The sideways world is such a utopia compared to the island version of the characters it must be what they are striving towards but will that reality become THE reality if MIB is destroyed or if the island is destroyed? I mean, the island at the bottom of the ocean means the light at the center of it (and in every man?) is out, no and that's supposedly a very bad thing? Is it possible the island's destruction is a good thing? My friend and fellow Lost follower, Ivan, correctly points out that the concert is going to be a huge deal. Among the attendees will be Eloise, Widmore, Faraday, Desmond, Penny, Sayid, Hurley, Kate, Jack and his son (performing), probably Claire with Jack, probably Charlie because of Claire, Miles, possibly Sawyer if he hears the escaped fugitives are there. I don't know how Jin and Sun would be there and ditto for Locke or Ben but in any event, it looks like it will be pivotal.
Given that the writers have said they are going into seclusion for a while after the show, I am convinced we are in store for an ambiguous ending Sopranos-style. I am completely fine with this and expect nothing less. After all, one of the best things about the show is the ability to debate about it with friends and why should that stop just because the show is ending?
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