A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-8 Revisited - A Second Helping

Last week, in my initial Revisited column, I promised that I would offer a second helping if enough readers voted in my two blog polls and offered some thoughts/theories on the identity of the mystery baby. I was really pleased with the turnout, and I’m very appreciative to those who participated. Thank you! So, as promised, here’s the next installment of Lost: Revisited.

Let’s start with the polls, shall we? With Kate, Jack, and Sawyer all back on the island together – after three years of growth and experiences – I wondered which of Kate’s suitors the viewers WANTED her to end up with: Jack, Sawyer, or neither. I was hoping Jack would “win,” but figured it would be close. I was pretty shocked by the result, though. Of the nine people that voted, a whopping eight said they wanted Kate to end up with Jack. The lone exception didn’t want her to end up with either of them. I’m not only surprised by the blow out, but I had always assumed (for whatever reason) that the savvy Internet fans were rooting for Sawyer. I am happy, though, that after five years I’m not the only one still hoping for the original happy ending.

The second question asked viewers who they THOUGHT Kate would end up with (with the same options available). To be honest, I was even MORE surprised by this result, which was once again a blow out. Of the eight voters, six felt that Kate would end up with Jack, and two predicted she wouldn’t end up with either. Of course, it’s entirely possible (and perhaps likely) that people simply couldn’t separate what they want from what they think will happen, but even so, I’m a bit shocked that nobody thinks she’ll end up with Sawyer. I probably want her and Jack to live happily ever after more than anybody, and even I’m not certain that’ll be the end result. I found this poll particularly intriguing.

Along with that, long-time contributor Kyle offers his insight on this matter:

As far as Kate goes, I'm not sure who she'll end up with. From the beginning I always thought it had to be Jack, but then she pretty much did that. Even sleeping with him again, having seen them together off the island, it somehow feels like "been there, done that". That being said I actually liked the Sawyer/Juliet stuff. So I guess I'm reluctantly choosing Kate and Jack for who I want to end up together, more because I like Sawyer and Juliet than anything else. I guess after five seasons I'm kind of soured on the whole Kate love triangle thing. It worked before but right now I'm at a part of the show where I just don't care about that anymore after all this time, I want some more answers and maybe we can get back to the Kate thing after a little time away from it.

I think Kyle effectively sums up how a lot of the “neither” people feel. Earlier I dubbed Jack and Kate as the “original happy ending,” because, as Kyle indicated, the first couple of years it seemed like that HAD to be the relationship that ultimately happened. And while I did love seeing Jack and Kate together during the Oceanic Six years, even then I was worried that this was the writers attempting to appease the people rooting for this relationship. But, ultimately, I just feel like Jack and Kate have a stronger, more substantial bond. There’s an undeniable passion and lust between Kate and Sawyer, but in my eyes, Jack will always be the one she turns to. And honestly, I have trouble imagining Kate and Sawyer getting married and starting a family. Yet it just seemed “right” when it was happening with her and Jack.

Anyway, moving on from this matter. I also asked readers to provide some thoughts and theories on the baby’s identity. Let’s go back to Kyle for a moment, who had this to say:

I just don't know (but good call on Desmond, that's a great idea and I didn't even think of him). I do feel like it'll be someone special, but who, I just don't know. Maybe it is Jacob with the time traveling stuff worked in...we still don't know what the heck is going on with Richard, he clearly has something going on since he doesn't appear to have aged in 50 years, and to be fair the only thing we know about Jacob pre the "present day" (of the whole series that is) is that Richard seemed to recognize the name in the 1950s while he didn't recognize Locke (i.e., he wasn't Richard returned from the present day). Maybe time travel is the culprit there.

The whole time travel mechanism sure makes it difficult – but fun – trying to figure out who this baby is. I think it’s important to remember that Locke effectively created his own destiny due to his actions when he went back in time. Maybe if this baby is Jacob, something similar happened. Incidentally, the only two main cast members who know about Jacob are Locke and Ben, and it APPEARS that they’re in the present day. This makes it difficult for a Locke-esque event to occur, where present day characters feed information to a special person, who then goes back in time to ensure that his future self fulfills that prophecy. Did that make sense?

Also from my blog, Bob had this to say:

The baby on the island could be any one and the idea of Daniels Mother isn't out, it wouldn't be the first time in Lost someone has changed their name. After all if the child is someone important then when / where is Amy with child during the purge?

Before i start ranting, just a quicky... I thought Dr. Chang ran Dharma on the island?

Also to pick up on your point of it being 1977, is it? Remember the returning group crashed on the island in 2008 / 2009 the second time around, without a white time jump, and their new co-castaways, which all them seem to have forgotten would appear to be in another time as well. Maybe this is some sort of Dr. Manhattan thing (all time co-existing at the same point, dpeending on your perspective). The baby being Desmond would be interesting, but if as has been said before Widmore sent Desmond to the island to get him away from Penny, was this just coincedence? (although I don't think the true relationship between Widmore and Dharma has been revealed yet, I don't think he is simply an other who has been exiled, and also the time frame of being exiled to the real world by Ben, making a fortune and marrying having penny doesn't fit, especially with some of his comments to Locke about the time differences.)

Richard actually becomes more interesting when you think about some of theings said by him. He appears to be the leader of the Others yet says they select their leaders at an early age - so has he ever truly been their leader or simply a loyal acolyte of Jacob?

Anyway now I've ranted - the baby... not a clue to be honest, a twist on it being Daniel or Desmond would be too obvious,or rather too straight forward for this show. We've seen another new baby this series as well, Chang's baby, so it could be a case of who are these. SO far everyone at some point has something extra to draw them to the island.

Enough random thoughts...

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Amy and Ellie are not one in the same. Amy certainly doesn’t appear to be 20-somewhat years older than Ellie, and the two don’t appear to share any physical characteristics. And plus there’s the whole accent thing. So I don’t think the baby is Daniel. I will also note that I do believe that Jack, Kate, and Hurley are in 1977 along with Sawyer, Jin, and the rest of the Left Behinders. Not sure about Sun, Ben, Locke, and the rest, though.

I am interested in seeing how Dr. Chang and a young Ben fit into this current Dharma story-arc, though. Wouldn’t it be strange if Ben grew up with a young Jacob? Might this possibly explain why/how Ben is able to communicate with him, but nobody else is?

I’m not familiar with the specifics regarding the Dharma hierarchy, but I’m pretty sure that Horace is the head honcho. I have a feeling that Dr. Chang, if anything, simply leads a particular sector of the Initiative (similar to how Sawyer leads the Security force).

Also on the topic of the baby, our good friend Andy provides his insight:

I wanted to weigh in on who Amy's baby might be. I like the idea of Ethan, but all the evidence is making me lean toward Jacob, what with Horace being responsible for building Jacob's cabin and all. Maybe a young Jacob accidentally gets exposed to whatever force is underneath The Orchid. This could enable him to exist in all time periods, but only in his disembodied form.

Another thing to possibly consider. Juliet delivered Amy's baby via cesarean section. We just got introduced to a new character named Caesar. Coincidence?

This show very rarely works with coincidences, especially when it comes to names (I’m still trying to figure out what the meaning is behind having a Daniel, Dan, and Danielle on the show simultaneously), so that’s an excellent point about Caesar. It does seem odd that the show would suddenly introduce us to a new crop of characters, just as we’re starting to wind down and focus on the major issues revolving around the familiar characters. And they have seemingly gone out of their way to introduce us to Caesar in particular.

Nevertheless, if I were a betting man, I think I’d have to lean towards Jacob as well. I could just imagine a young Ben – and perhaps adult Ben – manipulating an infant Jacob to ensure that he never loses control of the island.

Anyway, I want to once again thank everybody who participated. Enjoy the new episode this week!