This is going to be all about Lost. If you don’t want to hear my meandering thoughts about last night’s season five finale, this isn’t the place to be. Just keep on walking, and cast your eyes away.
2010 — doesn’t that sound like the title of a science fiction novel? Of course, it was, by Arthur C. Clarke. That’s the year we have to wait for to see how all this Lost business plays out. Seems like forever, seven months. Far be it for me to wish away the rest of the year but, boy, it is going to be torture.
No whimpers at the end of two hours, but a bang that we all thought might come but couldn’t be sure actually would. Those last few moments were excruciating, as Juliet played Charlton Heston’s Taylor from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, mortally injured and just ready for the whole thing to be over. Heston had it easier–all he had to do was push on the ruby colored organ stop, whereas Juliet had to bash away time and time again. I’ve empathized with Juliet ever since the O6 returned, more and more with each passing episode as her happiness was sacrificed by the overwhelming drive of what “the others” wanted–except in her case, the Oceanic Six bunch were her others.
The setup of the finale was fascinating, dropping in an entirely new mythos about the island. Jacob is, in fact, a real entity, with a real face, and not just some shape shifting figure who appears sometimes as Christian Shepherd. In fact, the very nature of what was revivifying Christian is now a very open question, as are its motives. We have a Horace vs. Set(h), ages-old conflict between two “men,” Jacob and the unnamed man on the beach (Esau?), and it seems they want to kill each other, but can’t. Hmmm, where have we heard that before? Oh, right! Widmore and Ben–apparently they can’t kill each other, either, and their “loophole” was to go after their offspring. Fascinating parallel.
Are we now to assume that “Esau” was the person that Locke encountered in the cabin, the one who went into a rage and said “Help me,” the one we thought was Jacob? And was he confined to that cabin by the circle of ash, and released by someone’s recent incursion (the cursed Hurley)? If that’s the case, then “Esau” (for lack of a better name) cannot be the smoke monster, because smokey had free reign over parts of the island. However, given the reveal of what was in the crate, it seems that “Esau” shares some traits with Smokey–the ability to appear in the guise of someone else and have at least some of that person’s memories.
The flashback character here was Jacob, and we got to see how he influenced the lives, albeit briefly, of the central Oceanic survivors. Sometimes his appearance didn’t seem to have much impact (unless Jack really needed that Apollo bar) but other times he intervened heavily, perhaps resuscitating Locke, telling Hurley how to get back to the island, and perhaps causing Nadia’s death (or, perhaps saving Sayid’s life). Was that Charlie’s guitar case, mayhaps, that he gave Hurley, a covert flotation device?
I loved the scene with Bernard and Rose. Two other people who have managed to get along fine without the drama that Jack seems to bring with him wherever he goes. We’re retired, they explained. Would you like some tea? In other words, just go away and leave us alone. We’re getting along fine. We’d rather die in peace than be a part of another one of your conflicts. All these years later, you’re still fighting, still scheming, still trying to figure things out? Brilliant. Perfect.
I also enjoy the dynamic between Ben and Locke. Ben can be so direct one minute (I thought that you might want to keep the fact that you are planning to kill someone a secret) and evasive another (and he was busted by Sun for this: Am I supposed to believe that? she asks. Probably not, Ben admits).
The biggest question for me at this point is: who do Ilana and her crew represent? How did they know to go looking for Locke’s body, for example. Is there yet another faction? So many entities have been responsible for so many things happening — or facilitated them in some way — that it’s hard to say who would be pleased or displeased about what. If Jacob selected the Oceanic survivors, for example, one could argue that he was instrumental in setting up events leading to his own demise. Widmore caused this, Ben caused that, Christian influenced something else, Jacob did as well…it’s one big knot of cause and effect–but what’s the final goal?
This show certainly makes a person think long after each episode ends.
