A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-15 Revisited

It's not necessarily relevant last week's episode, but I feel this must be said before the finale (since I don't know what they're going to reveal, and I don't want to be one of those people who says, "I knew that would happen!"), but I can't help but feel like everything that has happened on the island somehow revolves around Christian Shephard. The connections to Locke have already been pointed out, but let's look at them even closer. In order to get certain people back on the island, Locke had to meet up with them and ultimately die. And while most of the characters weren't on flight 815 BECAUSE of Christian (Jack, of course, is the exception here), they did interact with him to some degree. Sawyer shared a drink with him in Australia. Ana Lucia acted as his bodyguard/guide. Jack is his son. Claire is is daughter. Think about it.

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One thing I find interesting is that, in the absence of Ben's leadership, the Others returned to their tents in the jungle lifestyle. Surely in the past three years they must have discovered that the Oceanic crew have abandoned the barracks (assuming that they clued in that they took residents there). Locke asked Ben whose idea it was to move the Others into the barracks, and I don't recall Ben giving a clear answer (shocker). But this does interest me. Was Ben the sole motivator behind the Others undertaking a civilized lifestyle where they actively recruited doctors and scientists? If so, what was his motivation?

Another thing I'd like to bring up, which isn't really related to this episode per se, is Eloise's often forgotten other son. If I'm not mistaken, when Desmond was shacked up in the monastery, the head monk there had a photo on his desk of himself with Ms. Hawking. This was a fun, logical tidbit, as the monastery is where Desmond first meets Penny. And Penny is the catalyst that ultimately sends Desmond to the island. But absolutely nothing has been made of him since, and I find that curious and troubling. Part of me worries that this facet of Eliose's history is going to be ignored and retconned.

Anyway, since I (shockingly) didn’t receive any mail or blog comments regarding last week’s episode, let’s take a look at the review on the EW website. Here is one passage I found particularly interesting (and for what it’s worth, I’m going to apologize ahead of time for jumping all over the place. Just think of it as an allusion to the time trippin island from earlier this season):

Moreover — and I think this idea is richly twisted — Jack's plan would take away something even more important to the castaways. From the very beginning of Lost, we've been encouraged to consider these characters as fallen people desperate for redemption, or at least a fresh start. Jack's plan is a shortcut to absolution. It would also negate the redemption and happily-ever-afters that his castaway friends have achieved. (See: Sawyer and Juliet.)

While this assessment paints Jack with a pretty negative brush, this idea is challenged by one of the website comments:

So why force a person who was good in the beginning (Jack) to live a miserable life because people who were bad (Kate, Sawyer) dont want to go back???

And I think this is an interesting point that is worth examining. Jack is undeniably flawed. While his severe obsessive issues tore apart his marriage and his relationship with his father, he was an overall good guy. He didn’t hurt people and he didn’t take advantage of anybody. His life revolved around trying to save people and fix things. Honestly, if he’s the worst person you’ve ever met, you can count yourself lucky.

How is it fair for this man to give up everything – even when he may not have been entirely happy to begin with – so that murderers can be “saved”? And make no mistake, Kate and Sawyer are killers. A lot of people like to romanticize their story, but Sawyer shot a man in cold blood based on the word of some nefarious character. And Kate….well, where do I start? She blew up her stepfather because…..he was a jerk? Yeah. Along with that, Jack’s motivations aren’t even self-motivated (unlike Kate, Sawyer, and virtually everybody else). When the prospect of erasing the past three years came up, the first thing he mentioned was how all those people that died would now be alive again. Hey Kate, I know that means you won’t be able to meet a couple of cute guys, but perhaps you’d be willing to sacrifice that so that Charlie and Boone don’t have to die.

Speaking of Kate, I was pretty astounded by the amount of hate directed towards her by the online community. One of my close friends has always hated her, but I didn’t realize there was such a huge contingent out there. I will admit that last week’s episode basically made her into the Lost version of Kim Bauer: Whenever Kate is introduced into a scene, the situation gets just a little bit worse. Here is a noteworthy comment, courtesy of Scott Keith’s blog:

If you watch this show from the beginning, Jack and Kate were clearly supposed to be the stars of the show, with everyone else being supporting players.

Now if you watch, this show is clearly about Locke, Sayid, Ben, Sawyer, Juliet, Jin and Sun, Richard, Hurley, etc. Basically, the supporting players have become the stars, while Jack and Kate have become the supporting players (and frankly, boring).

Ya’ see this is one of the instances in which I think people allow their Jack and Kate hate get out of hand. I completely understand that some people may not like these characters, or may find them boring, but you’re absolutely fooling yourself if you don’t think that Jack is still the star of the show.

Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely an ensemble cast, and the series COULD survive without Jack, but who in their right mind could possibly argue that Lost is more about Sun or Jin than it is about Jack? Sun and Jin, collectively, have said about five words all season. And while guys like Sayid, Hurley, Juliet, and Richard are important to the series, they’re the definition of supporting characters. They’re part of the main story, and they may even play a crucial role, but the story doesn’t center around them. An honest, strong argument could be made for Sawyer, Locke, and maybe even Ben, but at its core Jack IS the star of the show, like him or not.

Returning to the EW website (I’m all over the place this week), we have another comment related to the Kate-hate, as well as her supposed love triangle with Jack and Sawyer:

I think its great that so many people are hating on her. especially over this 'assumed' love triangle. KATE is not back for Sawyer. She is there to find Claire. Kate has not made any advancments toward Sawyer. The only issue is the fact that Juliette can't handle her being around.

This is exactly what I have been saying since the Oceanic Six returned to the island. Kate has explicitly stated that she returned to the island to find Claire. One might argue that she hasn’t even mentioned Claire since returning to the island, but I think it’s completely understandable that the whole time travel thing may have altered her plan and priorities. She also hasn’t made any physical advancement towards Sawyer. Sure, they had ONE conversation, but it was basically to resolve a matter that didn’t receive proper closure. I think people are making something out of very little. And the writers are milking it, make no mistake.

Regarding Jack’s quest, here’s an interesting thought from the EW comments section:

If 2008 Ellie knew that Jack would go back to the 70s and try to blow up the island why would she send him back unless it turned out ok? Otherwise why wouldn't she try to change time by not sending him back or at least tell them to warn Faraday that he will be shot if he walks into camp waving a gun around? Richard said he saw them die so it sounds like the whole hydrogen bomb thing will not work.

Since Eloise was willing to send her son back to the island knowing full well that she’d shoot and kill him, I don’t find it especially hard to believe that she’d send a relative stranger to the island to die in an explosion. I have two trains of thought when it comes to Eloise: She’s either richly devoted to maintaining the proper timeline, or she’s desperately hoping that somebody will take a step that will rewrite history so that she doesn’t end up killing her son. Or, most likely, perhaps she realizes that the Incident MUST happen for some greater good.

Shifting gears to the Locke portion of last week’s episode, let’s take a look once again at the EW review:

Locke said. ''And to be honest with all of you, if there is a man telling us what to do, I want to know who he is.'' Correct me if I'm wrong, but did we just witness the completion of a profound role reversal on Lost? Because Locke's rhetoric is that of the rational skeptic, demanding empirical proof before committing his trust to some great and mighty Oz. Jack is now the man of faith; Locke is now the man of science.

I’m not entirely sure that we’ve seen that drastic a change in Locke, not as far as beliefs go, anyway. He’s definitely more confident, but Locke has always been inquisitive about the island. Every opportunity he gets, he’s asking Ben about Jacob or the Smoke Monster or what have you. He’s finally in a position to get one of those great answers for himself, so he’s making it happen. I wouldn’t consider this a transformation into a man of science, as he isn’t asking for proof of Jacob’s existence. Locke KNOWS Jacob exists. Like I said, Locke is now in a position to make certain things happen. In the past, he had obstacles like Ben and the Others, who prevented him from interacting with Jacob. Now Locke is calling the shots.

On the topic of Jacob, I found this EW website comment very interesting. I don’t necessarily believe this theory, but I thought it was worth sharing:

I've figured this baby out (I think!) ... Jack is Jacob. He's gonna get unstuck in time when he detonates Jughead, which will also create the ring of ash around Jacob's cabin. Locke wants to kill Jacob, which would free Jack from timeshifts and thus save him.

I was thinking the same thing, hence all the secrecy about who he is until after the oceanic crew left the island. Also why Christian and Claire are his agents. Can't wait to find out!

More than anything else, I just liked the connection with Jack, Christian, and Claire. It would explain why these two people, who seemingly had no connection whatsoever to the island, are suddenly the messengers. That being said, I don’t think that Jack is Jacob.

Nevertheless, the more I think about it, the more I’m beginning to believe that Locke’s promise to kill Jacob isn’t something murderous. Rather, he’s fulfilling Jacob’s earlier request to help him. Keep in mind, Locke’s death brought him back to the island. Perhaps killing Jacob will, in a way, bring him back to the world of the living.

As I bring this column to a close, let’s take a look at one more observation – one of my favorites of all the ones I’ve come across:

What about Radzinski asking Sawyer to draw a map for him, could this be where the infamous map was born?

YES!! Love this catch. How great would it be if Radzinski looks at Sawyer’s map, only to see the blueprint of the drawing he’d later scrawl on the wall of the hatch?

And here's the latest installment of Lost! Untangled for you to enjoy: