Benjamin Linus must be one of the more brilliant characters ever to grace a TV show. He’s cunning, malicious, intelligent and knows how to bend the rules like heated steel. But on the other hand, he’s a senstive kid that couldn’t help some of the things that happened to him, things that changed his fate forever. He’s a victim of a loveless life, a ghost in the shell. So, in a way, you can’t help but pitying him – even if he is odious.
The Episode…
The interesting thing about the character, from a dramaturgical point of view, is how they could give him a satisfying end. It was my belief that Ben had done so many things over the last few seasons, that it was nearly impossible to still redeem him. But lo and behold, within forty minutes, he found his redempting without dying. And I believed it.
It was refreshing to see Ben acting like a normal person, a motivated high school teacher, a loving son, a good friend. Sure, he still had the treachery somewhere inside him, but it was to be used for good. And this time, it did save Alex instead of costing her her life. Finally, they interact like normal people. Finally.
I did not expect to see Charles Widmore coming back to the island – I thought that Faraday’s death in Season Five pretty much cleared all of that up: he’s a rich guy with a temperament looking for the island. But in his daughter’s love for Desmond, he saw that he had blood on his hands and redeemed himself. Apparently, I was wrong. The old geezer is back! I can’t wait to see what he’s up to.
I loved the parts with Richard, Jack and Hurley. A normal series would (a thought I already had during the jammed gun scene in “Meet Kevin Johnson” back in Season 4) make the dynamite explode, the boat burn down and have Jack and Richard come out of the flames, action hero style. LOST will have none of that and says: “Less is more, let’s keep it cheap and have the fuse malfunction”. Great. Jack’s creepy motivation made sense backwards, I was put off by it at first but it worked in the end. Is he a believer, or am I being tricked again?
The Questions…
It is certain now: Richard Alpert was on the Black Rock. I wonder if we will still have a Richard flashback? I get the feeling that everything we need to know, has already been said, and the story is told. Would Richard’s story count as a flash sideways, given that it happened before Jughead? It’s complicated. It would be nice to see, as it would shed more light on Jacob and fake Locke – but I’m not sure if they’ll do it.
Frank missed his flight because he overslept. He was probably drunk, too. Damn, I laughed hard at this. Frank rocks.
Next Week…
Next week’s episode is dubbed “Recon”, so it will undoubtedly be about Sawyer. Will we see Juliet again? Whose side is Sawyer really on? I’m excited, but slightly scared he’ll end up with Kate again. It looks like the action’s shifting back to the beach, back to where it all began. Wonder if that’s where the final battle will take place? And what would a final LOST battle entail?
In All…
I think this was the best episode of the season so far. The mythology episodes are awesome, but when the series is done with, it’s going to be the character-driven episodes I will go back to. This one was stellar, Ben’s final scene left me teary-eyed. Stunning performance by Michael Emerson.
Welcome to the team, Ben.
Favourite Quote: Ben: Just let me leave.
Ilana: Where will you go?
Ben: To Locke.
Ilana: Why?
Ben: Because he’s the only one who’ll have me.
If the sixth season of LOST was a movie, I’d say this is the end of act one. The good guys are defined, the bad guys are defined, now on with the middle part of the season!
The Episode…
Finally! I’m going to say this right away: I’m so glad they’re finally out of that temple. I wasn’t a huge fan of Dogen and Lennon – there was just way too much stuff going on for me to want to focus on them. I like them, it just wasn’t the right time. It seemed like the temple was an energy sucker – all the time spent in there amounted to nothing for me: once they had all arrived, it was just a question of getting everyone out before the shit hit the fan. Simple as that.
I like how the writers, at some point during season four, stated that Sayid was a “bad guy”. It’s nice to see they stuck to their word, and have him run to the dark side. He will probably find redemtion in the end, but I think it’s a daring move to shove a fan favourite (not mine, by the way) in a nasty position. I think that for the first time, I’m actually engaged in Sayid: he’s not pretending anymore.
If you hadn’t felt the dilemma through the course of the last few episodes, you’ve now officially had it thrown in your face: do you want Kate to give Aaron back to Claire, now that she’s gone totally off her rocker? I’m deciding against it, I hope Kate manages to do the right thing. But what is the right thing? In a show that’s taken six seasons to define what is good and what is evil… not an easy thing to do.
The Questions…
This wasn’t such a hot week for the questions. Again. I guess that’s a good thing, keeps it from getting to expectible.
Next Week…
Without a doubt, next week’s episode will feature a lot of Ben, the vilain I have come to know and love. Incidently, Ben is at the top of my death poll. He’s done so many nasty things that it’s hard to think of something he can do to attone for his sins. I wonder what schemes he’ll be up to in the alternative timeline?
In All…
Great episode, the start of something fresh. Using catch a falling star and put it in your pocket at the end was briliant – and somehow fitting. So now Sayid and Kate have joined the bad guys. I wonder if Kate only followed to observe Claire further? It’s obvious she’s not a bad person – but Bad Boy Locke certainly has his eye on her next. You know, the patricide and all.
Favourite Quote: KEAMY: Hey, you want some eggs? I can, uh… make whatever you want. Fried, scrambled, uh… We still got that poacher? Where’s the poacher? Want poached? ‘Cause I can make you some good poached eggs.
I’m always a bit biased when a Jack episode is about to hit. But this time, I was curious enough what our wacky doctor would be up to in his Sideways story, that I was actually looking forward to it. Looking back, I don’t know if I’m disappointed or just annoyed that Jack doesn’t seem to have learned as much as I thought he did.
The Episode…
The episode focused heavily on Hurley and Jack. Hurley warned Jacob at the start, that Jack would just do his own thing and go with it, and he was without a doubt right: Jack smashed up the lighthouse mirrors, thus rendering the thing useless. It’s the ancient version of the tempest – the Dharma poison gas station – a little tidbit that gets mentioned but never explained. A shame: we’re in six seasons, up to our ears in questions, drowning in them, and we need another ancient building added to the mix?
Apparently, Jacob condones Jack’s behaviour: Jack has to learn it all by himself. I kind of understand this, but I’ve waited five and a half seasons and he still doesn’t understand. Isn’t it time to take our hero by the hand and show him what it’s all about? Jack episodes can never calm me down, there’s something inside me that wants to slap him around the head and tell him to see reason.
But hey, the B-side of this episode was pretty nice: we got to see creepy, creepy Claire again. She’s hitting people with axes, keeping baby squirrel bones in a crib, shows more cleavage than before and has a very, very nasty friend. She’s jumped way up in my list of interesting characters. What does this mean for Aaron? Seriously, you can’t expect Kate to give Aaron back to a mad woman – even if Kate is, well, Kate.
The Questions…
We got tossed a little bone this week: LOST has not forgotten about Adam and Eve. They’ve been absent for about a hundred episodes, but we know they’ll be back. I’m curious – Hurley gave the obvious answer as to how they could’ve ended up there, and Hurley is the audience’s voice… Does that mean Hurley is right, and so are we? That never happens!
Not that many answered questions this week, unfortunately. But I do think that Hurley is the top chosen one at the moment.
Next week…
Sundown. A Sun episode? It would match the parallels this far with the first season centricity. But to be honest, I’d rather have them break it soon. I’m kind of missing the characters I do like: Frank, Ben, Richard… But hey, I guess Sun’s one of those. All she’s been doing is looking for Jin, maybe it’s time for her to do something else?
In All…
A solid episode. But I’m still not that convinced about the lighthouse. Maybe it did appear now because they were looking for it? I am starting to wish for the sideways stories to go somewhere interesting. It’s too much new information and we don’t know if it’ll ever be useful. Throw us a bone here, we know you’re going places with this, but being in the dark for about 20 minutes per episode… it’s kind of mean.
One of the reasons I like LOST so much, is because you can rest assured that a) a bad episode is still good compared to most other shows and b) a bad episode will always be followed by a great episode. And because I believe that all is eventually right in this world, I am happy to anounce that, after having watched The Substitute, these rules still stand.
The Episode…
In the Sideways story, we got a lot of refreshing set-up. At a first glance, it didn’t seem like that exciting a story, but a lot of hints were given to the dramatic changes in Locke’s life if Jughead had exploded. Apparently, something in the explosion caused Locke to not have problems with his father. It’s a thought worth pondering: what could this have been? But, more importantly: how did John end up in the wheelchair, if not by his father’s hand? There’s probably some sort of couse-correcting involved, but what kind… it’s a mystery.
Locke having a good relationship with his dad caused another thing: he is still together with Helen. I wonder if she’s going to get cancer and die like she apparently did in the main story? Or was that a lie by Widmore to get Locke back on the island? I liked how destiny shoved him away from Jack and back into Ben’s hands. It was clear that for the final season, the writers would want to squeeze the last life out of the wonderful Emerson-O’Quinn duo, but Ben as a high school teacher? …It blew my mind.
The much more interesting reveal came on the island, however. In 2007, Sawyer willingly allied himself with the Monster, and thus got introduced to not one, but two of the core secrets to the series. Does this mean Sawyer is now a “bad guy”? My guess is that Sawyer will con our Man in Black in the end. It’d be like Sawyer to do that.
The Questions…
This episode made me fall in love with the nemesis. Apparently, he’s not just some diety, but was a man in the past, a man with an obviously backstorywound. Who’s the little kid he (and Sawyer) saw? Was it Jacob? Did they try to kill each other to discover the island’s secrets? I’d say the sickness is probably involved somewhere in there, but I can’t put my finger on it just yet.
In other news, Richard Alpert took an interesting turn aswell. Never before have we seen him this twitchy and in the dark. After Jacob’s “what about you” to Ben and now his supposed betrayal to Richard, I’m starting to wonder which side is dark and which side is light all over again. Is the monster truly a bad guy? Funnily enough, Richard’s mentor role has been taken over by Ilana. She seems to know everything about everything, but isn’t really letting out more than she wants. I can’t wait for more information on her!
And, going to one of the core answers in this episode: yes, it is destiny that they ended up on the island. They are possible candidates to fill Jacob’s shoes. At the moment, Hurley seems the most logical solution. But let’s ask ourselves: do we really want anyone to fill Jacob’s position? Would that be a satisfying ending?
The second core answer – which was not in my questions list because I just figured they’d let it be – concerned the numbers. Apparently, the numbers fit right into Jacob’s love of lists: every number corresponds someone. At the moment, only Sawyer, Jack, Sayid, one of the Kwons and Hurley are still contending. Where is Kate? Wasn’t she touched by Jacob in the season five finale aswell?
Next Week…
If they keep the season one structure copying up, next week will be all about Jack. I wonder if he’ll meet someone interesting in his Sideways? I can’t imagine his life having changed so much – his dad even disappeared just like he did back in Season One. It’s so tempting to look at the cast list whether Christian is on it, but I promised myself I wouldn’t this season.
Anyway, looks like we’ll be seeing more of the temple, the place where the action seems to be happening. Sun, Frank, Ilana, Ben and Richard should have arrived there by now. Poor Sun, missing Jin all over again.
In All…
This episode rocked my socks off. I felt so amazed looking at Jacob’s messy list and the implications it had. But it truly were the little things that made this so great: the little boy, Locke getting along with his father, Helen, Hurley’s car not getting hit by Locke’s because he is the luckiest guy on earth… There’s just so many details, I could watch it over and over again.
Favourite Quote: BEN: Alright, I know I sound like a broken record, but how many times do we have to go over this? If you have the last cup of coffee, you remove the filter and throw it away. Fear not. I will make a fresh pot.
LOCKE: Actually, I was just hoping for some Earl Grey.
BEN: Tea? Now there’s a gentleman drink. I don’t believe we met. Ben Linus, European History.
LOCKE: John Locke, Substitute.
BEN: Well, Welcome.
I don’t know what it was. Did the season premiere raise my expectations so high, or have I really turned into the thing I’ve dreadest most (an annoying fanboy)? It’s just that the last episode didn’t really set off a spark with me – nor most of the people watching it with me. Why?
The Episode…
During the first three seasons, the thought of a Kate episode coming up was an instant alarm bell: this episode would be boring as hell, feature Kate running from point A to B, kill some bad guys on the way, and generally be a pain in the ass. Season Four’s episode “Eggtown” brought a change to that: the episode featured an actual story I was interested in! The trend continued in Season Five: saving Ben was an interesting feat – even if it did feature running around and away. Again.
But this episode? I just can’t justify the running anymore. It’s too much. The Kate parts of the episode (including the Sideways, who were more about Claire ) were so downright annoying that I was very disappointed – even for a Kate episode. Thank god two things saved it.
First off, I liked the fact that one of the main characters of the second season made his return: the sickness. Yes, apparently there is a sickness, and the whole thing wasn’t just a Dharma trick to get the people to stay down the hatch. We also found out – with the usual bit of LOST extrapolation – that it is related to the Monster. Will Sayid be able to conquer it? He’s the one character where the “salvation” question has been the most prodominant. He’s also the character who, in my opinion, kind of needs it the most. Sawyer said it all.
The second saving moment was – believe it or not – related to Kate, if only slightly. I’m of course talking about Sawyer’s goodbye to Juliet. Man, I really feel for the guy. I like how they’re really building towards his downfall: for that last five seasons, he’s slowly become a better person. Juliet’s death, however, plunged the guy right back into the abyss. I’m excited to see where they take this.
The Questions…
Apart from the whole sickness thing (which I didn’t mention in the questions because I considered it answered), this episode was very low on questions. Now we know that Claire is still on the island, and that she’s possibly gone insane – Rousseau style. That raises the questions: was Rousseau sick? Or was she telling the truth, and were her comrades the sick ones? Maybe I’m looking into it too much: she was probably telling the truth.
Next Week…
Next week’s episode, the subsitute, will probably feature Locke. I wonder if he’s going to call Jack up? I hope we’ll get a bit more insight on who this mysterious Man in Black (or the Monster) is. On the Sideways of things, I wonder if Locke really went on his Walkabout. And: who, if there was no island and hence no reason for Abaddon to recruit John, told him to go on it in the first place…
In All…
There were some interesting things going on in this episodes – some nice reveals. But seriously, if I’ve gotten this far, it means I’m not just in it for the reveals. I’m just not fond of Kate. I guess this is my problem – only my problem seems to be shared with everyone in the room.
I sometimes wonder: where are the Kate fans? If every episode is written for a different audience, then who are the people they write Kate episodes for?
Favourite Quote: SAWYER: He’s an Iraqi torturer who shoots kids, he definitely deserves another go around.
What an incredible trip it’s been – and this is only the beginning of the end. From the moment the episode LA X (a double feature, thank you very much nice people at ABC) started, I was sure it’d not only be a mood setter (like “Because you left”, the fifth season premiere), but a nailbiting, action-packed question answerer. We’re back for the swan song in the final season of LOST.
The Episode…
As per tradition, the season opener dropped us right into the action, confusing the hell out of us. At first, seeing Jack on the plane kind of disappointed me – after all, you know who you’re watching and when you’re watching, but as soon as he went into the bathroom (right after the crash didn’t happen) and spotted blood on his neck, I was sold. But the real shocker only came afterwards, when we were literally thrown out the window, into the water and witnessed what happened to the island: the bomb blew up in 1977, sinking the island and killing everyone. So it worked!
Or did it? Apparently, in some other timeline – or, actually, in the right timeline (meaning the one we’ve been following for five seasons), the explosion didn’t work. Apparently, the bomb’s explosion didn’t sink the island but used the electromagnetism in such a way that it tossed our survivors back to 2007. I guess this is the Schrodinger’s cat principle, only with a deep underground shaft as a box and a hydrogen bomb as a cat. Time cannot decide whether the bomb prevented or caused the incident. Obviously, this is faux science, but if you’ve been swallowing this stuff for five seasons like I have, you learn to let go and just roll with it.
It has to be said that, without the shadow of a doubt, the faux-2004 story was the more interesting one throughout the episode. The first hour was riddled with copies of Season 1, only slightly changed to make it feel irritable. Most notable amongst these moments was the introduction of Desmond, whom noone seemed to have seen other than Jack. Interesting.
On the other hand, the happenings on the island were much more of an introduction than a continuation of the story: Jacob is dead, there is Smokey Locke, we’ve reached the insides of the Temple (not entirely convinced about this yet, by the way: sure, they used to be pirates, but I’m not too fond of the Asian guy), they revived Sayid (duh)… It all felt a bit like set-up. Except for one thing: our black guy is the monster.
The Questions…
Looking at the questions, I’m amazed at how many were addressed in some way. My favourite one is the obvious nudge towards Desmond’s story: apparently, Henry Ian Cusik is a credited cast member for this episode. That’s pretty interesting, considering he had less lines than Boone or any other former cast member (safe for Claire). Does that mean Eloise will have been right all along, and Desmonds trip is not over yet? Oh please, let it be so!
What happened after Juliet banged the bomb is still a bit of a mystery. There are two timelines, but how will this play out in the end? Is one line real and one fake? What is this building towards? I’d be pretty disappointed if fifty percent of the season turns out to be fake, but I’m sure they have something interesting up their sleeve.
And hurrah: the faux timeline means that Locke is still alive and well (even if paralysed) somewhere! I’m very excited about the idea of Locke and Jack becoming the best of friends, I hope they pursue this idea further. On the island, in 2007, however, Locke is really and truly dead. His place has been taken by… someone, who happens to have the power to change into a smoke monster. Interesting! This is hinting towards an explanation I’d been hoping to get for ages now: how Locke “looked into the eyes of the island” and “the beautiful thing he saw there”. Was this our black man playing a trick on Locke?
Finally, on a less interesting note: yes, Richard was one of the passengers aboard the Black Rock. A slave, apparently. I hope we get a flashback about this; I’d love to see Richard in that time period and how it came to be that he stopped aging. But if we never see this, I can live with it aswell; the crumbs we’ve been getting suffice.
Next week…
Next week’s episode is titled “What Kate Does”, an obvious nudge towards the Season Two episode titles “What Kate Did”. Did she do something different in the Faux 2004? And why? I’m not too fond of Kate episodes, but seeing her get in the cab with Claire was an interesting idea. That means we will see Claire again – certainly off the island, but maybe in the 2007 timeline as well.
I’m also very intrigued by this “Lennon” character, mostly because he’s performed by John Hawkes, an actor I love very much. Most people seem to know him from Deadwood, but I immediately recognized him as “the guy who put his hand on fire” in Me and You and Everyone we know by Miranda July. This role’s completely different than that movie, though. So I vote: less Asian guy next week, and more Lennon!
In All…
It’s great to have LOST back for one last time. I’ll be glad when it’s over, but I love it when new things get introduced: they always do it so graciously, in typical LOST style – even if the things they introduce are always very, very different. I mean, with the introduction of the “faux LA X” (a false flashback or a flash sideways, we don’t know yet), I think we’ve seen all possible narrative ways of playing with time now, right?
In this way, the show has increasingly become a series about narration; about how to pursue a concept so far that it becomes an idea of its own. Maybe that’s why, despite the obvious flaws the show has, I like it so much?
When we left our Losties, there were two groups roaming around on the island, without the possibility of them meeting. The reason? One of them was in the present, whereas the other was in 1977. Big shocker!
Poor Ben. He just doesn’t see he’s being conned. He doesn’t see the forest for the trees, but to be quite frank: neither did I. I did not see it coming that John Locke was actually not John Locke, but Jacob’s nemesis, looking for a loop hole in order to kill him. It’s interesting, because not only did it raise a thousand questions about John Locke, more than that: it shifted millions of questions about Jacob to this new, mysterious “man in black”. Obviously, of both cliff hangers, this was the most shocking and daring one. It’ll probably also be the one they build upon for the series’ final moments – just my two cents.
On the other, 1977 did most definitely have the tear-jerking, short term shock effect: in the final moments of the fifth season, Juliet – alone and slowly dying – detonated Jughead. This will obviously be the first question leading up to the sixth season: what happened when she did? Did she create a new timeline? Or restore the original 2004? Will Oceanic 815 land in Los Angeles? Time will tell!
The Ten Questions
Just like every year, I’ve got some questions I hope to see resolved in the next season. And, because this is LOST’s supposed final season, I have pulled out all the stops and tried to find the most pressing mysteries still surrounding the island and its characters.
Who is the „Man in Black“?
This is most definitely one of the biggest questions in the season five finale. He got introduced as such a threat, that by the end of the episode, when it was clear that he was inside John Locke’s body, his identity became one of the central pieces of the island’s mythology.
My Guess: This guy reaches into the core of the show and was already hinted at in the Pilot episode by Locke himself: Backgammon. One side is white. One side is black. Wonder if the black guy is automatically the bad one? Interesting that I’m asking the “good-or-bad-guy” questions in a show that, thus far, had none of these. I’m excited to see where they take this!
What happened when Juliet blew up the bomb?
As already said, this will be the first question asked going into the sixth season. It’s the reason there’s no promotional stills for the first episodes, and why shooting (and almost even casting) is kept a secret.
My Guess: I would personally lean towards an alternate universe theory. Something along the lines of: at first we make the audience believe that they truly did change the future, but there will a catch. Something will off and destiny will lead them back to the island. Even if their flight landed in LA.
What is Richard Alperts secret?
Richard Alpert is slowly starting to reveal his true form. Everything is still an enigma though: why doesn’t he age? Where did he come from? What is he doing there, exactly?
My Guess: It’s gotten pretty clear that Richard is one of the Black Rock’s survivors. Jacob gave him the gift of not aging, in order to get something back from him. Protection? Advice? The questions about the Black Rock might not be at the centre of attention, but I do hope we get a solution anyway.
What is the smoke monster?
Every time we see the monster, we find out something more about it. So far, we’ve found out it’s a security system, protecting a temple, being able to take the form of the deceased, showing people their biggest moments of redemptive need. And if you’re not sorry for your sins… you die.
My Guess: it’s almost a religious object. I think it’s one of the those things that will remain partially unsolved. I mean: how do you explain that Egyptians created a column of flying smoke in order to make an aggressive confession chair and not lose your credibility as a writer?
Does John Locke still exist somewhere, somehow?
One of the nasty after effects of the season five finale was the fact that John Locke is – we think – dead. This is weird: I’ve invested so much into his character and I liked him so much, but now I’m at a loss: am I supposed to be happy because Terry O’Quinn is still there, or am I supposed to be sad because I won’t see Locke again?
My Guess: As Locke is such an important character to the show’s mythology, there’s going to be a catch. At the very least, we will see John Locke again. They kind of owe us that, no?
Will we find out whether Desmond or Walt are truly special?
When I was first finished with season five, I was really disappointed that Desmond had such a small role. Now, apparently, he hasn’t even been contracted as a member of the cast anymore. Yes, Desmond’s romantic story arc is over, but his mythological arc not so much: why is he special? The same question could be asked for Walt: is he really special?
My Guess: I hope to see Desmond again. I think we will – I hope that will clear everything up (even if I doubt it). With Walt, I actually have trouble thinking of a moment where it was decided that he was actually special. The bird could have been a coincidence, the “him showing up in places he wasn’t supposed to” was really the smoke monster… Very, very doubtful.
Who are Adam and Eve?
When we saw Rose and Bernard in 1977, we knew is was going to be them. But now, as history’s been changed, is the answer really Rose and Bernard?
My Guess: It’s really Rose and Bernard.
What’s up with Ilana? What about Frank?
It’s the same question every year: “What is up with the new cast members?” This year, the biggest enigma is obviously Ilana: who is she? How did she come to meet Jacob? Why was she severely burned and in need of healing? And Frank: how did the 22nd of September, 2004, come to pass for him? Why was he supposed to be flying Oceanic 815, but didn’t?
My Guess: Frank used to be an alcoholic, so I guess that’ll be in there. I truly doubt we’ll see the long expected Frank Flashback, though. Ilana is a different nut to crack: her flashback will be of vital importance in order to understand the story. What it is though, I really could not imagine.
Is it destiny that they ended up on the island?
This is a question that has been asked since season one. Yes, I know, it has been made clear that they crashed there because Desmond didn’t push the button in the Swan, but still: why has destiny always been bringing them back to the island? What is destiny? What are they there for?
My Guess: As a writer, this would be one of the hardest questions to answer without going overboard on the mythology or corny writing. I’m guessing there is a form of destiny, they do have a connection to the island. Why or what, though…
Will they, in the end, get off the island?
Even if the show’s premise isn’t really about getting off the island anymore, I do wonder: how will they end this thing? What will be the final image? How will they pull it off and what should we be waiting for with said ending?
My Guess: for some reason, I keep picturing Aaron and Yi Jeon in my mind, walking over the island, which is completely burned down. But that’d be silly and it’s the reason why I don’t write this show. Also, I don’t live in LA.
And that’s another wrap. The last season finale leading into another season – all that’s left now is the final season… and the series finale. And, in typical LOST fashion, this one did not disappoint. It left us with plot twists to ponder about for the next few months, and delivers the most enigmatic cliffhanger I’ve ever seen on this show. But more on that later, let’s stick with our structure and start with the beginnings:
The Episode….
Let’s start with our centric character: Jacob. He was undoubtedly at the centre of this episode, and gave us a serious nod towards the existence of destiny on this show. You can feel that Jacob and his nameless nemesis are at the core of the LOST mythology – their characters are probably symbolic, and if they are, I’m willing to bet one of them is destiny and one is free will. Or something. Maybe the true nature of the show won’t be so complicated in the end?
I had a lot of fun watching the finale. I do have to say that it doesn’t beat the one we got last season. I think that’s the writer in me talking: I loved the whole “the beginning is the end” set-up, where the story seemed to be doing a loop and caught up with itself. It was a bit of poetry. This finale was none of that – but then again, neither was the season. Season five was all about the science fiction – so the finale really does seal the deal.
A lot of people got annoyed over character motivation on this one. I personally loved the wobbly state of mind the characters seemed to be in: no one seemed to know what was going to happen anymore (just like the audience, by the way) so they just went along for the ride. With all due consequences (which might just be erased from existence after all – who will tell?).
My only gripe is that I’m not really sure whether I’m buying into this whole “Evil Locke” thing. Sure, it was quite a shocker, but on the other hand I (and a lot of fans with me) really liked Locke and didn’t really see this as a fitting end for the guy. Then again: I always figured he’d be evil in the end; O’Quinn has a knack for tackling evil roles. Guess I’ll have to sit this one out, see where it goes and then decide.
The Questions…
It’s funny to see how certain things get a new light shed on them after a while. The first question (How Locke ended up in the coffin) just got a new question handed to it: How did Jacob’s nemesis enter Locke’s body? And: is it really Locke’s body? There seem to be two of them on the island.
The same thing seems to happen with the third question: How do they all return? The question now becomes: where do they return to? Are they going back to LA X? Or back to island times anno 2007? There is no way of knowing what happened when Juliet detonated the bomb. Not even a small hint.
Did the Losties end up on the island by coincidence? Some flashbacks (notably Sawyer, Kate, Sun, Jin and maybe even Locke’s) seem to suggest there is some destiny involved. Sayid and Hurley had their defining “touched by Jacob” moments after they were rescued. Is there some sort of pattern going on there?
Were we given a remotely coherent answer to who Jacob is? I reckon this finale makes the whole matter even more complicated. But at least now we know he’s a real (as in: physical) being. Is he a God? We don’t know.
The Cliffhanger: what’s next?
What a very, very interesting cliffhanger. When I watched it for the first time, I was completely emotionally invested in it (mainly because I hadn’t been keeping track of time and thought it’d last a bit longer). I’ve always said Juliet is the perfect tragic character, and now she’s met her tragic end. Of course, whether she is truly dead is a question that remains unanswered.
In fact, the question whether anyone who’s died so far is dead, remains unanswered. If Juliet triggered the bomb, and if Daniel was right, history as we know it has been altered. It’s been altered in such a way that Flight 815 never crashes, which causes the last five seasons to not have happened at all.
I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing. How can the final season part ways with the other ones and still bring the series to a coherent end? The writer in me says it’s not a good idea to feature such a game changer near the end of a series, as I’ve seen series get destroyed by them: the horcruxes and wand lore in the Harry Potter series, for example. It has the risk of feeling a bit like a Deus ex Machina. Obviously, though, I don’t know what the writers are still planning on doing. I trust them enough to know they won’t spend the last season off island – they’ve proven their worth so far.
But then again, the pessimist in me is holding on to his heart, as certain things in the season finale were placed without context and hence felt wrong. The revelation as Locke being… well, “that other guy”, was presented in such a manner that I just have to believe that where they’re going with this is any good. If this is truly the end of John Locke, it’s a shame and an anticlimax too. Unless they’re taking this beyond the realm of awesome.
But did that all actually happen if Juliet successfully altered history? I hate this finale, there’s nothing definite I can write about. But that’s what I love about this show – there’s always a challenge.
In All…
A very nice, emotional episode. Had me hooked for the entire duration. The problem with it (the big Jughead audience middle finger in the end excluded) is that you have no way of telling what information was still relevant. Jacob has been killed, but history might have been altered. Will the universe course-correct? Where will our Losties end up? And when? And why?
Nothing really mattered in the end. I couldn’t help but feeling some of it might just be pointless later on. But hey, benefit of the doubt has got me five seasons in and I’m obviously still excited, so I’ll sit this one out until next January.
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.
There you have it. Another layer has been added to Sun and Jin’s ever changing backstory. Now we know who Sun learned her English from. And the tragedy that made their already rocky relationship even worse: infertility. So… the island is apparently to Jin what the Nyle is to Kanaan: a huge boost in cultivationability. If that is even a word. It should.
It appears that Henry Gale (from Minnesota) is not the nicest of people. But then again: how would you be if you had experienced the things he had? First he gets shot by an arrow, then beaten to a pulp. I’d get a bit cynical too if that’s the way I can control the people around me. Stellar, absolutely stellar performance at the end. I wonder what Sayid, Ana-Lucia and Charlie will find?
Was it just me, or was there a very long pause when Jin asked Sun whether the baby was his. Obviously, if she’s been with someone else, she can’t know whose baby it is if she’s only found out about the pregnancy while on the island. Somehow I think the title of the episode is misleading. We have yet to find out the whole truth.