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Lost: What They Died For

Locke: "Maybe this is happening for a reason. Maybe you're supposed to fix me."
Jack: "Mr. Locke, I want to fix you. But I think you're mistaking coincidence for fate."

I decided to let go of my anger with "Across the Sea" and just let the last few hours of this show wash over me. Might as well enjoy it since this is it. If they don't tell us stuff, so be it.

Fortunately, this episode was a blast.

Jack's transformation is complete. Our man of science took a huge leap of faith and became the protector of the big glowy thing. He's the guardian of the Island now.

I've always enjoyed the cast-heavy episodes with all of the characters running around and interacting, and this episode was all I could have asked for in that department. And we got tons of closure. The episode began, like the pilot, with Jack's eye opening. We learned that when 815 crashed, Jack was near the glowy thing, like it was meant to be. Jack sewed up Kate's wound, like she sewed up his wound in the pilot.

And the closure continued in the flash sideways. Jack, Claire and David sat down to a breakfast as a family. Ben made a possible love connection with Danielle Rousseau, which was just adorable; when she told him he'd been a real father to Alex, he started to cry. (Probably Ben's warmest moment ever.) Kate was in a cage with Sawyer on the outside. And Locke asked Jack to "fix" him; I knew that one was coming.



Desmond pulling off a multi-character jailbreak by bribing Ana Lucia was as fun as it could possibly be. What is Desmond doing? Widmore told MIB that Desmond is a "fail-safe." Like the season two pushing the button turning the key fail-safe? Can Desmond destroy the Island and kill the Man in Black? (And PLEASE don't let the story end that way.) Is his function in the flash sideways as a fail-safe, too? Why did he want Locke to "let go?" Is that Smokey-related, as in let go of your body?

Ben, as usual, is the Lost wild card extraordinaire. He shot Widmore, and avenged his daughter's death. Was it to stop Widmore telling the Man in Black about Desmond, though? Is Ben planning to suck Smokey in :) and find a way to kill him? Or has Ben turned to the dark side again? (And did Jacob really visit Widmore, or was that another lie?)

I've been trying to understand the deeper meaning of Lost for a long time now, and I'll probably never know what it is. But it isn't really good versus evil, is it? It's more of an eternal battle by flawed, ordinary people to keep evil at bay. (See, wasn't that a clever pun, considering that there's a bay and everything?) Jacob said that the Losties had been alone, unhappy, unfulfilled. Now they have redemption, friends, purpose. They're different people now. Sort of like the people in the flash sideways... wait a minute.

So anyway. Damon and Carlton, I'm trying. I've reduced my expectations significantly, and I'm doing my best to go into the finale with an open mind. Well, okay, there are two things I really really want, and if they give me those, I'll be happy. I want to know what the flash sideways universe is. And I want some of the characters I've grown to love to make it out the other side. Not live "happily ever after," because no one really does that and it's unrealistic. But I want them to enjoy their lives, to finally be the different and better people that they've become.

Is this too much to ask?

What have we learned?

— The ghosts trapped on the Island can disappear or be freed if their remains are completely obliterated. (Yet another Supernatural parallel.) Doesn't explain Richard's wife, though, does it? Or the Walking Dead visiting the Oceanic Six. Or Jacob visiting the Oceanic Six, for that matter. Wait, I was going to relax and enjoy. Never mind.

— Jacob crossed Kate's name off the cave wall because she became a mother. He didn't scratch out Kwon, though.

Character bits:

Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley were the Final Four, a la The Biggest Loser on an opposing channel. I laughed out loud when I thought of that one. Is Jack the winner or is he actually the big loser here? And hey, I just realized that these four were the same four that Ben kidnapped. Another callback.


Desmond was at a harbor again. He's always at a harbor.

Ben finally avenged his daughter in one universe, as he acquired the same daughter in the other.

Widmore and Zoe were killed. What happened to Richard? Was he whapped to death by Smokey? Can he die? We didn't see his body, though, and you know what that means.

Sawyer felt horrible about Sun and Jin. And I just realized that the death/suicide of a couple leaving a child behind resembled the deaths of his parents.

Jack still had blood on his neck, which made me uneasy. And I couldn't help but notice that Ben's injuries in the flash sideways were the same as his injuries on the Island. It's sort of cool, though. Ben has spent so much of the series with cuts and bruises on his face that it would be weird if he didn't in the finale.

Alex told Ben he looked like Napoleon. How appropriate to his other self.



Did Sayid get Desmond out of the well?

Bits and pieces:

— This episode, like the pilot, began with Jack's right eye opening... and blinking a lot, which was new. I looked through my list of eye scenes and Jack has gotten the most, since this was his fifth. Locke got four, Claire three, Desmond and Michael two each, and a number of other characters got one, including Ilana, who was never a candidate.

— Jacob made Jack the guardian with water. No wine necessary.

— Old, sweaty dynamite in backpacks hasn't worked out so well. Now we're getting C4. Better and less accidental boom.

— Washington Tustin High School?

— Jack and David are going to a concert. Is that the same event as the benefit at the museum Miles is attending? And, I assume, where Desmond is taking Kate? David's mother is going to be there, so I bet we're going to see her. The big money is on Juliet, but they could still surprise us.

— I could swear Sawyer called Locke "Flocke." If he did, and it was an acknowledgement of the fans, awesome.

— Did Hurley give Ana Lucia $145,000? I didn't catch the number.

— Did they decide to air the finale on the 23rd because Jack is the candidate and that was his number?

Quotes:

Ben: "I lived in these houses a long time, Miles. I think I can remember how to get there."
Miles: "Well, I lived in these houses thirty years before you did, otherwise known as last week, and I have no idea where the hell we are."

Miles: "What's that? A secret-er room?"

Hurley: (to Jacob) "Did you see a kid run by here with your ashes?"


Jacob: "You should get your friends. We're very close to the end, Hurley."

Miles: "These are both great plans, but I'm gonna have to go with surviving. If you need us, we'll be running through the jungle."

Alex: (to Ben) "Why would someone want to hurt you? You're, like, the nicest guy ever."

Man in Black: (after killing Zoe) "You told her not to talk to me, and that makes her pointless." Again with the talking to him thing.

Ben: "He doesn't get to save his daughter."

Definitely four polar bears,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

22 comments:

  1. I hadn't noticed how attractive Mira Furlan was prior to this episode. This was the first time I saw her clean and groomed.

    I think I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not getting any answers to my lingering questions, which has ruined the series as a whole for me.

    Up to halfway through this season, I was ready to place LOST in my top five favorite TV series of all time, but with so many important, unanswered questions, I think it's going to end up being one of my least favorite of all time and a series I won't watch over and over again, as I do with BUFFY and FARSCAPE and THE SOPRANOS and DARK SHADOWS.

    I feel cheated.

    Unless the final episode is packed with exposition, even if it ends that way I had hoped with Juliet and Sawyer reunited and content, it still won't make up for the slap in the face from the writers/producers.

    Too many subplots and characters were introduced and teased only to be killed off or written out before being given an origin or explanation.

    I think the writers/producers fell into their own hype and couldn't figure out how to adequately explain the many elements they introduced, so they dropped them or hid them in pompous pondering and false depth.

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  2. I guess we'll get no answers about why Smokey wanted Eco to repent and why he was angry when he didn't.

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  3. I think you're right, Billie. It's best to just sit back and enjoy it. It's gonna take a lot more than 2.5 hours to explain everything out in a satisfactory manner to everyone. People are inevitably going to be disappointed.

    I loved tonight's episode though. My favorite line came from Rousseau when she told Ben that he's coming with them even if they have to kidnap him. What a nod to Ben's original introduction!

    Thanks for all of your lost reviews. I would have never started watching the show if it wasn't for your blog.

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  4. Well, I certainly understand how everyone is feeling cheated and frustrated, yet I am going to be a "man of faith" and believe that these writers are too clever to completely leave us hanging. Obviously, not every question will be answered, but I think many will be.

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  5. The finales are always packed with information and turn stuff on it's head so i expect no less from the series finale.

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  6. Much much better. I now have a bit of hope that we'll get a decent finale. But a lot will be left hanging. I'm with HellBlazerRaiser: the writers just put too much out there, and the series as a whole will suffer for it (and no, a laundry list of explanations next Comic Con will not make up for it).

    If anyone is compiling a list of unanswered questions, I think it's going to remain really big after next Sunday.

    @Yau-ming's blog!!: we DID get an explanation for that. Mr. Eko was caught DUIing in the island, and since he wouldn't repent and smokey hated wine, he had to die :P

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  7. Hee, in last episode's blog I emphasized the importance of 'remains' in dealing with the Man in Black, and now we got this thing with Jacob and his burning ashes. Perhaps I was right and the way to 'kill' the Man in Black is by burning his ashes too. This would be an enormoua justification for putting Jacob's origin episode and the identities of adam and eve so late in the series, and signifies the necessity of his late exposition.

    What I love most about Lost is the 'low fantasy' aspect it has garnered over the years. There are mysteries, and phenomena so wild that they might seem like magic, but it's always just out of sight. You never see Locke explicitly become the monster in the same way they probably never explicitly elaborate on what exactly the heart of the island is. This, I understand, may be unbearable to some.

    Still, what cave of light was Jacob talking about? Didn't the light go out when Smokey was born or did it replenish itself in the however many centuries have passed since then? And does Desmond's unique resistance to electromagnetic events render him immune to whatever lies beyond that light? All I can say is I wonder greatly how they are ever going to cram resolutions to all these questions in 2 hours worth of finale. Answer; they probably don't, but it's okay to hope.

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  8. I too wonder about the Kwons..werent they parents before Kate was. Or maybe Jacob is a feminist and doesnt think being a dad is as important as being a mom...LOL

    2) so ...laundry list question number one..what the heck happened with walt? He was supposed to be this big thing in the island I really figured hed eventually return. Why did this just suddenly get ignored? Did little Walt ride his bicycle under the influence?

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  9. The light is the electromagnetic phenomenon as seen in Across the Sea. Also the finale will be 108 minutes long plus commercials.

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  10. What I love most about Lost is the 'low fantasy' aspect it has garnered over the years. There are mysteries, and phenomena so wild that they might seem like magic, but it's always just out of sight. You never see Locke explicitly become the monster in the same way they probably never explicitly elaborate on what exactly the heart of the island is. This, I understand, may be unbearable to some.

    That's not something I am hoping for answers to.

    I understand the conceits of SF and fantasy stories.

    What I want answers to are bits about the characters.

    They introduced too many characters shrouded in mystery and wrote them out or plain old dropped them before we were given an origin or explanation for why they did what they did or knew what they knew.

    That's poor storytelling.

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  11. @Yau-ming's blog!!: we DID get an explanation for that. Mr. Eko was caught DUIing in the island, and since he wouldn't repent and smokey hated wine, he had to die :P

    Adebisi....OOPS!!!....Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje only signed up for one season and asked for his character to be killed off.

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  12. 2) so ...laundry list question number one..what the heck happened with walt? He was supposed to be this big thing in the island I really figured hed eventually return. Why did this just suddenly get ignored? Did little Walt ride his bicycle under the influence?

    Exactly!

    The same goes for Eloise and the hows and whys of her getting to the island and knowing what she knows about everything and why she left the island.

    Widmore and how and why he got there and rose to power.

    I want to know why the Others were able to move silently through the jungles, why they seemed to have more than human strength at some points, how the Dharma Initiative found the island, if Ben's little girlfriend survived the purge, etc., etc., etc. But we're not going to get any of them and that's ruined the show for me.

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  13. Another laundry list question: what was up with Libby?. And why was she in Hugo's ward?.

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  14. Do we know why Jacob couldn't have just used one of the Others as a replacement? I missed the answer to that one... assuming there was one.

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  15. It did sound like Sawyer said Flocke! but i think it was just "If Locke", maybe he made it sound like Flocke specially for the fans :)

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  16. I saw this on losttalk.net and found it very interesting. It's not my theory, the credit goes to CAPEGIRL.


    ....What if and this is a BIG IF - in the Season 4 Flash Forwards about Jeremy Bentham and such, that Locke was SMOKEY? What if he had found his loophole then and time traveled off the island. That would make Ben the killer of Jacob AND Smokey. What if that is Jacob's loophole. He uses Ben as a pawn the way Smokie did? Because in that timeline, everything sucks IMO. In the current flash sideways, it's not so dark. Jack has purpose as a loving father, Kate is on the run, but not necessarily in such a desperate way, Sawyer has purpose, Miles isn't scamming people, Sayid is not great, but certainly not 'searching' for Nadia the way he was. Jin and Sun have freedom and love and are expecting a baby. Locke has found redemption, Hurley seems purposeful. What if that is how it is supposed to be? And the flash forwards with Ben as a vigilante and Sayid as murderer for hire and crazy Jack beard are not them just getting off the island but the fate if Smokey gets off as well??

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  17. Howdy Billie,

    I thought this was a great episode...at the beginning of the year, I was really just, "meh," with the Sideways stuff, now I am completely enthralled by it. I believe the money Hurley gave to Ana Lucia was 125K, but I'm not sure.

    Also, to whomever mentioned it...I don't think the Light went out when Smokey came out...I've watched it a few times, and I think that was just Smokey himself blocking it, or a shadow of some sort.

    And as for what happened to Walt? I believe the easiest answer is he hit puberty and grew up too fast. I saw an interview with him on IGN this week and he looks like he's 20 now. That wouldn't work when the castaways have only been gone, what, a little over 100 days?

    Anyways, can't wait for the finale! Was thinking of buying a Dharma Jumpsuit to wear just for it, hehe.

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  18. Billie and others who feel disappointed, cheated, or otherwise let-down:

    Like you, I'm resigned to the fact that we won't get answers and that this show is all set to end without resolving most questions.

    But I've found peace because I think I have found the reason why it is so.

    1. Search for "Anthony Spinner" on this page:
    http://bit.ly/LostSpinner

    2. And then google 'Anthony Spinner' to see the story already reported in the media:
    http://bit.ly/AnthonySpinner

    Apparently, the script for L O S T was originally written by this guy, Anthony Spinner. And apparently, ABC just copied it after turning him down thrice.

    So, now it makes perfect sense that the "authors" that we know couldn't keep the story straight when it went past the first season and they had to go beyond the original script.

    This is sad, but completely makes sense.

    But the redeeming thing for me is that I have enjoyed the experience overall, thanks largely to you, Billi Doux!

    You rock! Thank you for making L O S T so enjoyable, in spite of its ups and downs and controversies and the above revelation.

    I hope to find another show that I like that you're covering. And then I'll be back!

    Thank you!

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  19. And as for what happened to Walt? I believe the easiest answer is he hit puberty and grew up too fast. I saw an interview with him on IGN this week and he looks like he's 20 now. That wouldn't work when the castaways have only been gone, what, a little over 100 days?

    That's the external, real world reason.

    There should be an in-story reason.

    LOST has introduced more plot elements that they arbitrarily dropped than any other show I can think of and that has left massive holes in the series.

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  20. I've decided to focus on the things i like. So here goes.

    As always I enjoyed the flashsideways. Ben was fab. I especially loved him trying to make a citizens arrest. I burst out laughing when Desmond was put into the cell next to Kate and Sayid and the jail break was just fun. I can't wait to find out what Desmond has planned and i honestly think that the writers have a plan that i'm going to be happy with.

    Jack taking over from Jacob on the island was pretty much a given but it was still nice that he chose to do it. I'm hopng that this means that the others will all make it home. And the thing that Jacob said about crossing Kate off the list because she become a mother made me think that the Kwon on the list must have been Jin. Ben was once again fascinatingy unpredictable. And when Locke mentioned needing Desmond to destroy the island i immediately thought about that shot of the island under water at the beginning of this season. Is that how it's gonna happen ?

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  21. With the series about to end I would like to thank you Billie for the great reviews over the years.


    That said you guys are being way too negative about all of this. There have been TONS of answers this year, more than any other season. Almost every single question has now been answered for us.

    Who is Jacob? What is the smoke monster? Why doesn't Richard age? How did Richard get to the island? How did the Black Rock get to the island? Why did the statue break? What do the numbers mean? Who were Adam & Eve? What are the whispers? Who is Christian on the island? Where is the temple? What happened to Cindy and the childre?

    There are plenty more this year that I can't even remember I am sure.

    Yes there is still the mystery of Walt, but I expect him to return in the finale in some capacity.

    But besides that one the remaining questions are minor ones. Do we really need to see who built the statue? Not really, it's most likely the original "others" that were on the island.

    As far as Eko's death. He was killed because he didn't repent. He wasn't sorry for anything he had done and while upset with Yemi's death he said he wouldn't change anything, so there was no leverage that the monster had on him. He served no purpose.

    Compare that to Sayid (Nadia), Ben (Alex), Jack (Christian), Claire (Aaron) and Richard (his wife) and you can see that smoke monster used the death or absence of a loved one to try and control and use people. He used Richard's wife to try and make him kill Jacob. He used the lure of Nadia and Aaron to get Sayid and Claire to do what they wanted and he made Alex tell Ben to do whatever he wanted.

    With Eko there was nothing to use as he didn't repent for Yemi anymore. He was the ultimate man of faith and it got him killed.

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  22. Billie - Love your blog! It has made this last season of Lost a lot more interesting. That said, I have a few points of observation to share -
    * We never really saw Charles Whitmore bleed...Ben shot him three times and he fell behind a shelf in the closet. Real bullets, real contact - really dead??? I wouldn't have put it past CW to have worn a tropical weight flak jacket.
    *Richard flew through the air - can he die?
    *In "Across the Sea" when Jacob and MIB reunited (after MIB had lived among the villagers) my money was on MIB as the good brother. He showed compassion and understanding for "man's" faults and he wanted to help them get off the island and back to their real home and families.
    *What did Ben's daughter whisper to Miles when he found her grave in the village? The look on his face was classic Miles, "Need to run to the jungle".
    *My money is on Walt as the one who put the rope down Desmond’s well, since Sayid told Jack the Desmond was "in" the well. I mean, they have to pull Walt back in somehow, don't they?
    *Who is Jack's wife/David's mom in the side-ways flash?


    Even if all the loose ends don't get tied-up (yes, I know they should have thought they would have explain all to us in six seasons) I am really looking forward to tonight’s finale.

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