The Episode…

Is it that time of the year already? It seem like only yesterday when Season Five made its flashing debut with Locke asking Richard the question: “When am I?” Now, the Richard story comes full circle as the newly resurrected Locke sends good old Alpert in to save Locke’s life. Now we know how Richard knew. He was telling the truth all along. ” You told me.” And now we know the significance of the compass to Richard. “It points North, John.” Simply awesome. That compass has been floating through space and time with no one to have created it. Awesome.

I can’t say this episode was breathtaking. It was set-up, just like every year: a very strong episode that leaves the big reveals to the next one. Jacob. Jughead. The statue. Its shadow. The undoing of the entire series so far. And, while the story tags along: probably something interesting about Richard Alpert. More on that in my conclusion.

John Locke isn’t John Locke anymore. He’s new and improved, a sort of John Locke 2.0. While watching this episode, I couldn’t help but notice that Jack seems to have become the new John Locke: strolling through the jungle, doing crazy things and believing in destiny. I like this new Jack. And is it just me, or has Kate become a wall
flower – or just the new Jack? When Kate entered the sub, Sawyer and Juliet tossed each other a “we have to travel with her?!” kind of look. I loved it.

I don’t like Kate and I like how everyone seems to acknowledge that. Kate’s definitely been the most annoying character of the season so far, and I think I’ve pretty much given the character her final chance. She’s got to do something really spectacular in the finale to get on my good side again. I hope Sawyer stays with Juliet. I hope they have cute blond little seventies babies. I want to see those babies.

The Questions…

Did the Losties end up on the island by coincidence? I think this question is starting to get a bit shaky, and pretty much boils down to your definition of “coincidence”. If we live in a world made of course-correction and determinism, does coincidence still exist? In a way, the entire run of things was a coincidence: the incident, Desmond, the crash… But if you look at it differently, it was meant to be: it was destiny – predetermined to happen. What a literary question – unheard of in a mainstream TV series. Let’s see if they explore this further in the finale.

An important question going into the finale will be the identity of Jacob. Locke’s statement that he wanted to kill him crashed on us as a bomb, but in a way it’s not that crazy. For the last three seasons, Jacob’s been an invisible force, a sort of anti-God, making the Others do certain things. Or is it the other way around: do the Others do things, and say it was Jacob will? In either way, Jacob has definitely derailed into something decadent. Or has John’s resurrection put him on a different side? An anti-Jacob side?

In All…

There were three leaders in the last episode. There was Jack, looking for the bomb. There was John, leading his people on a mission to slaughter a God. But in my opinion, the real leader of this episode was Richard Alpert. And – in both times – he’s not feeling good. He’s not feeling good at all. His authority and good reasoning is being questioned, and he knows nothing good will come of it. Is Richard also one of the walking dead? Did he come from the Black Rock?

Favourite Quote:
Juliet: I love you.
Sawyer: Well I love you back.