S5E16/17 - The Incident

First, I'd like to thank my unborn child for remaining unborn and making this recap possible.

Okay, so where to begin? I suppose when it doubt, begin in the beginning.

(LOST 5: 1-5)
IN THE BEGINNING... there was Jacob. And some dude sat with Jacob.
The dude obviously hated Jacob and wanted to kill him, but couldn't for some reason.
And Jacob said, "Let's have some fish," and there was fish.
Jacob cut the fish and saw it was good, and he separated the light meat from the dark meat.
And the Black Rock moved upon the face of the waters.

Jacob's conversation with his... er.... "nemesis" was the most revealing yet confusing. Anti-Jacob wants to kill Jacob, but can't. Anti-Jacob suggests Jacob brought the Black Rock to the island, adding that no matter who comes the same thing happens over and over, but he will find a loophole so he can kill Jacob.

Dare I even speculate what all this means? I will only say that their relationship seems akin to Ben and Widmore where the two men detest each other, yet Ben himself commented how he could not kill Widmore because that was "against the rules."

(LOST 5: 6-8)
AND KATE SAID, "Let there be an expanse of water to separate the LOSTies from the LOSTies."
So Kate hopped the sub and convinced Juliet to move from the waters below to the island above. And Sawyer protested, but Juliet insisted. And it was so.
Kate called it, "Saving innocent people," and Sawyer called it, "Acting a fool."

So, Kate pseudo-convinces Sawyer and Juliet to tag along back to the island to prevent Jack from detonating the bomb. Good luck with that.

In the meantime, Jacob visits little Katie in the past and pays for a lunchbox she stole, telling her not to steal again. Not only that, but throughout the episode, Jacob pops up in all of the LOSTies lives in a very benevolent-but-non-intrusive kind of way. Gives Sawyer condolences and a pen. Asks Sayid for directions, allowing/observing Nadia get hit by a car. Revives Locke after his eight-story fall and tells him everything is going to be okay. Gives Jack a candy bar. Offers Hurley a cab ride, a guitar, and a sympathetic ear. Asks Ilana to help him while she's recuperating in the hospital (more on that next season, I assume?)

(LOST 5: 9-13)
AND ILANA SAID, "Let me and my shadow gang gather in one place." And it was so.
And Ilana called Frank a "candidate." And Frank wondered if it was good.
Then Ilana said, "Let us visit Jacob in his shack," but the shack was empty so she said, "Burn it." And they did burn it.
And they traveled to the statue. And Ilana asked Richard, who is called Ricardos, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?"
And he answered in Latin. And his answer was good.

I found two varying translations of his answer, one was, "He who will save us all," and another was, "That which must be protected." Regardless of the translation, I think a better answer would have been, "Fruit of the loom." Seriously, what an odd hobby for Jacob to pass the time. Tapestry making.

(LOST 5: 14-19)
AND JACK SAID, "Let us take the bomb to the Swan station that we might detonate it and erase our experience of the past seasons and days and years."
And Sayid became an expert physicist in only a few short minutes thanks to Faraday's journal titled: Nuclear Engineering For Dummies.
And lo did Richard make a hole in the wall, which lead to Dharmaville.
And Sayid said, "Let us hide in plain sight." So they donned Dharma uniforms and tried to sneak away.
But they were discovered. A shootout commenced and Jack killed many.
Though a mortal wound did Sayid suffer.

Or did he? It was looking pretty bleak for Sayid by the end of the episode, but who knows what repercussions the bomb will have on them. I'm specifically hoping it is able to save Juliet. Seriously, that was painful to watch. Physical and emotional. Her parting with Sawyer was tender and tragic and then, severely wounded, she still has the energy to bash the bomb over and over with a rock, pleading for it to detonate.

My theory is that they CANNOT prevent their past (the future) from happening. The Whatever Happened Happened rule is intact. So if by some action on their part, they alter something, they will essentially be "thrown out" of the past because a new time line cannot be created. I'm just grasping at straws, really, but I desperately want the last season to be set in the present and for everyone to be reunited.

Sidenote, did anyone notice that Dr. Chang's hand was crushed? Remember in the Dharma training videos how Dr. Chang has a prosthetic hand and refers to himself as Marvin Candle? Well, I can't account for the name-change, but looks like we discovered how he lost his hand!

(LOST 5: 20-23)
AND LOCKE SAID UNTO BEN, "Kill Jacob."
And Ben said, "Whaaa?"
So it came to pass that Locke planted seeds of anger in Ben's head. And the seeds fell on fertile ground.
And Jacob said unto Ben, "You have a choice." And lo did Ben make his choice and take Jacob's life.

Jacob seems very... I don't know... almost God-like or perhaps angelic is a better term. It's just the whole benevolent bystander thing. Like he isn't allowed to be directly involved with the LOSTies (either by causing or preventing bad things in their past), but he seems genuinely sympathetic and not to mention gave Hurley and Ben a big speech about free will. I don't know... just an observation.

(LOST 5: 24-26)
AND SAWYER ASKED, "What is this place we have come to?" And Vincent answered, "RUFF!"
So it came to pass that we saw the fate of Rose and Bernard, retired to a love shack for the past three years.
And they ruled over the fish of the sea and birds of the air, over the livestock, and over a leftover can of Dharma food here and there.

Yay Rose and Bernard! With all of their talk about being together was all that mattered, I wonder if their bodies are the ones that Jack discovered in the cave in Season One. Though them joining forces with or being brainwashed by the Others would have been a crazy twist, I'm happy that they're happy. Rose rules.

(LOST 5: 27-31)
SO IT CAME TO PASS that Ilana opened the crate in the presence of Richard and lo did it contain the dead body of John Locke.
So Anti-Jacob created himself in Locke's own image, in the image of Locke he created himself to decieve all.
And Jacob said unto Anti-Jacob, "So I guess you found your loophole." And lo was his final words, "They're coming."
Anti-Jacob rolled Jacob into the fire and saw all that he wrought, and it was very good.
And they all rested... until season six.

So the big reveal. LOCKE IS STILL DEAD! Funny how a dead person remaining dead is a surprise twist. Apparently Anti-Jacob has disguised himself as Locke somehow, just like the island is able to assume the form of any dead person. Which brings up the question, is that what all of the "hallucinations" of people have been up to this point? Anti-Jacob trying to trick them? Can Jacob perform this "trick" as well? There are far too many examples to list where a dead person or Walt has appeared to people so it's difficult to sort them all out and the potential motivations behind them. But the short story seems to be that EVERYONE has been a pawn in this cat and mouse game between Jacob and his nemesis. The details of which, I'm assuming we'll discover next year.

Will Sayid die?
Will Juliet die?
Will the bomb somehow bring the LOSTies back to the present?
Who is Anti-Jacob?
Who are the Shadow people?
How does Widmore factor in to any of this?

Plenty of other questions, but those are the biggest I have after the finale.

Thoughts? Observations?

Season Six can't come soon enough.

S5E15 - Follow The Leader

Well, gee. This episode didn’t do much for me. Perhaps because there was such great potential with the promise of a Richard flashback, and we didn’t learn jack squat from him.

Since Jack seems to be back on his “fixing” things kick, he’s bound and determined to carry out Faraday’s plan. To do that, he may have to wade through some of the recently deceased’s physics journal. Not exactly a light read. So, in an effort to help Jack, I will distill this episode into a collection of simple equations.

(Daniel / Richard) = (Eloise – Daniel) = Bummer
That’s right Ellie, you kilt yo baby.

(Jack + Kate) = (Eloise / Widmore) = Drama
Ellie and Charles don’t agree on what to do with Jack and Kate. The one thing I don’t know is whether or not Ellie has given birth to Daniel yet in 1977. If not, I guess she will soon enough.

(Jack + Eloise) = (Jack / Kate) = Squabble
Once Jack convinces Ellie to lead them to the bomb, Kate is dead set against it. Can’t say that I blame her. I mean seriously, what does he think will happen when he does that? And what’s supposed to happen to them if he is successful in preventing their plane crash? Arghh—TIME TRAVEL! Must you suck so?

(Radzinsky + Phil) / Sawyer = Beat Down
Meanwhile in the present, Sawyer finally offers to tell the Dharma folks what they want to know about the Others if he and Juliet are allowed to leave on the sub.

The Others * (Locke + Ben + Sun) = Boar
Always nice for the new president to treat everyone to dinner after a corporate take over. Richard is surprised to see Locke after his three-year absence. There doesn’t seem to be a new leader so I suppose either Jacob or the Island never called for a replacement. It begs the question of exactly what they’ve been doing since Locke disappeared. Seems to me like they’ve just been waiting around for him to return, so why should Richard be surprised?

(Locke + Richard + Ben) = The Three Stooges
I kept wondering aloud how Locke knew this was the time he jumped to when he was shot and Richard saved him. His answer? The Island told him. Well great news. But then (and I’m speaking directly to Locke when I ask this), why doesn’t the Island tell you where Jacob is so you can go find him, yourself? Seems like the Island isn’t always on the up and up with you. Lovers quarrel? It must be awkward trying to rebuild your relationship after three years of being apart. I think you guys should take it slow in the beginning rather than trying to pick up where you left off. I mean, you did die and come back to life. You’re a different person now and quite frankly, maybe the Island has moved on and gotten to know other Islands while you were gone. You can’t expect it to wait on you forever, you know.

(Jin + Miles + Hurley) / Chang = Comedy
Pretty funny when Chang confronts them about being from the future and Hurley fails miserably. Miles observes Chang ordering his wife off the island and realizes it was the only way he could make her leave. So, Chang isn’t a d-bag after all.

((Jack + Kate) + (Eloise + Richard + Other Dude)) / Sayid = (Jack – Kate) + ((Eloise / Richard) – Other Dude) = Sayonara Kate = RIP Other Dude
Richard is none too happy that Ellie is going along with Jack’s crazy idea, especially after Sayid kills one of their own. Sayid is all in for fixing the past/future while Kate has had enough.

((Jack + Sayid) + (Eloise + Richard)) * Bomb = ??
I believe Ellie summed it up best when they finally made it to the bomb. “Now what?” If the Whatever Happened Happened principle still holds true, Jack won’t be successful. And I hope he isn’t, for my sanity’s sake.

(Locke + The Others) = (Locke / Jacob) = Fieldtrip
So Locke rallies the troupes, so to speak, and says they’re all going to visit the mysterious Jacob to get some answers. Meanwhile, Sun asks if Jacob can tell them how to bring everyone back to the present and he says yes. Then, come to find out he has no intention of being reunited with the LOSTies and in fact plans on killing Jacob. Well now… Don’t get me wrong, I’m digging Locke’s rediscovered backbone, however, he seems to be playing an awful lot of Ben-like games now that he’s “in direct contact” with the Island.

Next week is the finale and it promises to be good if we discover nothing more than who/what Jacob is.