LOST: The Incident (Season 5 Finale)

Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it; those who do, will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, will never...never forget it.
-Curtis Judalet

First of all, I have to agree with Michael Emerson who (plays Ben and in an interview) said the twists in the finale, 'would be enough to keep an audience eating its own soul for the whole hiatus.' Yes, my soul has officially begun to be devoured.

JACOB: Jacob in the light shirt = Christ? Abel? The good essence of the island? and 'Locke'/the guy in the opening sequence in the black shirt = Satan? Cain? The evil essence of the island? Jacob still believes in the goodness of humanity, no matter how long it takes him to prove it, but the other believes humanity is lost to corruption. I wish they would have said his name at some point. I am kind of thinking that maybe he, well, I'll call him 'Cain' for now since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is a little wordy- I think that Cain has been manipulating Locke and possibly others for these past seasons. Why can't he kill Jacob himself? He doesn't have a body of his own, like Satan, but can possess other bodies and manipulate people? I think that if ever there was a time that Richard said 'its what Jacob wants' then its true, but whenever we have has Christian or others show up on the island speaking for Jacob, I think that is Cain. I don't think the ghosts that Hurley sees are Cain though- I think, like Jacob said, that Hurley is truly blessed with a gift like Miles. The main thing that makes me question Jacob's goodness right now is letting Nadia be killed in the Sayid flash- all for the greater good? Kind of interesting to discover that Richard really is just sort of a helper, sidekick whose life was elongated by Jacob. I wonder who he was in real life that he was chosen as a 'desciple' to stick around. What kind of faith did he show to be chosen? Have Ilana and her people also been around for a long time but doing work for Jacob off the island? I wonder how Ilana was so hurt when Jacob came to her. It seems, at this point, that they were telling Miles the truth about being the good guys in the fight about to come.

LOCKE/CAIN: Well I wasn't hugely surprised by the Locke reveal, cause he hasn't exactly been himself so I have been suspicious that he in fact was NOT himself for a while. The minute Ilana's guys pulled out that big box I knew it was Locke's body in it. (Interesting to learn in his flashback that Jacob really did already bring Locke back to life in a way). The twist was who it was possessing Locke though, cause my best guess had been Jacob. Of course, it was the 'Jacob' that we had known up until this episode. Two questions though: 1- he wasn't actually in Locke's body, so how does he appear in physical form as Locke? 2- What about Smokey? Are Cain and Smokey one and the same? At first I thought no because Cain was Locke at the time that Ben saw Alex in the Smoke Monster, but now I am leaning more towards yes because Locke was not in sight during the actual Smokey incident- he went to get a rope and didn't show up again until it was over and it/he had told Ben what he needed to get him to help him. When they went into the statue Ben asked if they knew each other and the answer was, 'in a manner of speaking,' which is a curious way to phrase it. Also interesting was Jacob's response to Ben when asked what it was about him that was wrong - 'what about you.' He didn't state it as a question, so did he simply mean, 'you know exactly what you are and why I couldn't choose you?' which of course made Ben angry? Cain works in manipulation but Jacob lets people make their choices. He must have know what was going to happen- he gave Ben one last chance to make a choice and he didn't struggle when attacked. Is he Asland/Christ and has to be sacrificed? Did Cain, unbeknownst to him, do exactly what Jacob knew had to happen by using Locke and Ben as his 'loophole?' In the opening sequence with the ship of new people coming to the island- was that ship the Black Rock ship? Did Richard arrive on it? Has Jacob just been bringing groups of 'special' people to the island for centuries waiting for the 'right' ones? Are Jack & Co. the right ones?

JULIETTE: Sweet Juliette, I suppose you have finally lived up to your name, essentially dying for lost love. There were several flashbacks in this episode: Kate (perfect little actress for her, by the way), Sawyer, Jack, Sayid, Hurley, Sun & Jin, Locke, Ilana and Juliette. Juliette's was the only flash that Jacob did not appear in. Richard did go to the hospital to specifically recruit her way back when though, so I guess it is safe to assume that Jacob has her in his plan some how. Poor Juliette! She was awesome whooping heiney on the sub and I love how she is the only one that can get through to James. (I will be referring to him as James as opposed to Sawyer because that is what she calls him). As much as it was nice to see Bernard and Rose, I was a little cheesed out, 'we just want to be together ... would you like some tea?' I think that whole scene was really more just to give Juliette one last glimpse of all she ever wanted and believes she'll never have. Winner for most heartbreaking line of the episode: 'if i never meet you then i never have to lose you.' Juliette just wants Sawyer and Jack just wants Kate. I was expecting that the finale would really make us torn up about the love quadrangle- who should be with who, and all that- but on the contrary, it really sort of solidified for me that Jack & Kate are right for each other and James & Juliette are right for each other. If Juliette really is gone, though, then perhaps the triangle will resume. Or, maybe Sawyer will end up a martyr at some point next season and it will be Jack and Kate left standing. The people and emotion of this show really does matter more than the twists and the science- were Rose and Bernard a foreshadowing of next season and the point of it all? That finding ultimate peace in love and human connection is all that really matters?

DEAD IS DEAD: Is it? Daniel said that since it was their present, even though they were in the past, they could still die. I think that is true and that we won't be seeing Daniel again. Also, Locke as we knew him has apparently really been dead for half the season. Sayid and Juliette, though, were both only mostly dead when Juliette finally got the bomb to blow and as we all learned from Miracle Max, there's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. Does this go for Jacob as well? Were Ellie and Charles killed and Daniel never born? Which would mean Penny is never born? Or did the bomb just effect the area where the Swan would have been? Since the past has been changed how does that effect the future? Does it really make a difference if the past is changed on the island since the island sort of exists in all of time?

WHERE/WHEN WILL THEY BE NEXT YEAR: Not arriving at LAX like Jack hoped, that's for sure. I do think that they will arrive in the present, but the present for them is three years after Flight 815. I think they will have their memories. The ones who I think might NOT have their memories are Juliette and Miles. Jacob is aware of them both but they were not a part of either flight. Will they retain their memories? With the explosion of the bomb does that mean that the baby problems never began on the island and there was never a need for Juliette to be brought over in the first place? How will Des and Penny be involved? I think we WILL get some closure with the Claire situation one way or another since they have made it Kate's quest to reunite mother and son. I am kind of thinking that James will spend the first part of next season acting like old Sawyer again, mad at Jack and mad at the world because of Juliette, and we will be left wondering for a while if she is alive or dead, and then she will show up at some unexpected time but not have memories of them. Whether it be off the island or as a member of the Others. Sad as it would be, if that really is the last we have seen of Juliette (she was wearing a red shirt), well then, what an incredible send off she was given. She will be sorely missed. Somebody please give Elizabeth Mitchell (and Michael Emerson, for that matter) an Emmy for heaven's sake.

ARMAGEDDON: There seem to be clear sides at this point of good vs evil. Clear leaders, at least, since most of the people (besides Richard and Ilana) don't seem to be aware of the side/leader that they are with. The problem with a battle of good vs evil is that ying needs yang, light needs darkness. No individual person is either good or evil, we are all both. How can this battle really end unless it is just to be some kind of Noah's flood moment of washing the slate clean and beginning again. A rebirth, if you will. (Will you?) Is the island some kind of Eden and man is the reason it is corrupt but Jacob keeps giving man the chance to come and prove they can be, I don't know, good? Worthy? Is it like a little mini world where Jacob/Christ lets people choose to come to him - faith without seeing and Cain wanders around trying to tempt and manipulate? Would I be making any of these connections if I didn't have Christian ideals in my head?

Richard's answer to Ilana's question ("What lies in the shadow of the statue?") was in Latin, He said, "Ille qui nos omnis servabit." Translation: "He who will save us all." Jacob or Cain or someone else entirely? All a matter of perspective, I suppose.

In Sun & Jin's flashback- was Jin like, really nervous cause I am pretty sure that he could have memorized that one line. Heck, I memorized it! We will never be apart because being apart from you would be like the sky being apart from the earth. Sun's was longer. I bet Sun's daddy paid for that ginormous rock.

Jack and James: way to have your little heart to heart while your buddy Sayid is bleeding to death.

One more book to add to my Must Read list: Flannery Oconnor- Everything That Rises Must Converge. I have to say, pretty sweet shot of Locke falling from the building in the background of this scene.

Sigh, well folks, one more beautiful, mind-boggling, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, hair-pulling, eye-watering, hold-your-breath season down, and one final season to go. See you in nine months.


Other Thoughts:

Two weeks ago I suggested that Eloise was a mythological goddess who spins DESTINY on her LOOM. But it looks like Jacob (who is ageless just like Richard) is the DESTINY- SPINNER after all – and he has the LOOM to prove it! And he BRINGS people to the Island to prove the other guy who lies in the shadow of the statue wrong. (As I said earlier, Jacob is FREE WILL and his rival, Locke-as-loophole, is DETERMINISM.)

FLASHBACKS: Wonderful to see some old-fashioned expository flashbacks of our main characters! They were arguably Jacob-centric, as he stepped off the Island to push the pieces around the board to his satisfaction, but his agenda seemed to be to make sure that the Losties got on the various paths that eventually brought them to the Island: Kate became an flirtatious, amoral wench with an affinity for Patsy Cline; Sawyer was a punk consumed by vengeance; Juliet learned not to trust in love; Sun and Jin were lovers with terrible communication skills; Locke ended up a paraplegic dupe; Jack became an emotionally needy fixer; Sayid reverted to his familiar lone wolf status; etc.

Jacob physically touched everyone he visited: Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Jin and Sun, Jack, Locke, Hurley.He chose them and by touching them, enabled them to return to the island...
Jacob's tapestry appeared to depict a winged sun, which is a key icon of ancient Egyptian art. There were also three jars in Jacob's temple. Any chance those are the canopic jars that typically contain the organs of ancient Egyptian mummies? Is the statue the crocodile-headed Egyptian god Sobek, representative of Nile fertility, or is it another member of the Egyptian pantheon? Michael Emerson says it's Taweret, a hippo-headed Egyptian goddess of childbirth, but those teeth look crocodilian to me...Jin said that him being away from like Sun was wrong like the "sky being apart from the earth." In Egyptian mythology, the goddess of the sky is Nut and the god of the Earth is Geb, and as depicted in the image to the right, they are lovers lying together, forever mating and creating the world.

So Jacob has met with all of our Losties at one time or another, seeming like he was trying to help them. Was he the mortal portrayer of Sobek, the statue, the Egyptian crocodile God, perceived as the protector, the repairer of evil, and the God of fertility. Jacob lived and died in Sobek's foot. He seemed to be trying to emulate the God
There have been many references to the Odyssey in the show and another oblique one would appear to be Jacob's hobby of wiling away eternity by weaving a tapestry. The original Penelope (Odysseus' wife, not Desmond's girl) warded off the many suitors who wanted to court her by saying she would consider their offers once her tapestry was finished. She wove during the day…and unraveled her work every night, buying herself endless time to wait for her man. Another classical myth worth mentioning is the Fates (Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos), the three sister weavers of destiny, who manipulate our mortal lives with their spinning, measuring and cutting of thread.
(I always love intervies with Michael Emerson (Ben)- he has such great insights without revealing spoilers): TVGuide.com: In your mind, if Jack were to detonate Jughead and thus keep 815 from crashing, what then? What moment immediately follows that instant? Do we cut to a plane full of mild-mannered people?Emerson: I think it cannot be that simple, if that were a thing that happened. We're wrestling with these ideas of what can be changed with time travel and what cannot be changed. I don't thing a thing lived can be unlived. In one of the recent episodes, someone alluded to the idea that whether it's past, present or future, it is your life in the order it happens to you. I don't think anything done can be undone. This is an issue the writers and we the actors are wrestling with, and I don't have a good answer. Jack seems to be saying that he can erase the events of the last five seasons ... but I think that's unlikely.

Damon [Lindelof, LOST producer], gave us a sense of what kind of Lost questions will be answered, and which other mysteries won't explicitly be explained by the end of the series: "There are certain questions about the show that I'm very befuddled by like, 'What is the Island?' or 'What do the numbers mean?' We're going to be explaining a little more about the numbers, maybe significantly more about the numbers, but what do you mean by 'What do the numbers mean?' What is a potential answer to that question? I feel like you have to be very careful about entering into Midi-Chlorian territory. I grew up on Star Wars; I've seen the Star Wars movies hundreds of times; I can recite them chapter and verse, and never once did anyone ever say to me or did it occur to me to say, 'What is the Force, exactly? Can you explain that for me, better than Alec Guinness does?' I understand, 'When are we going to find out about Libby?' That's a very finite question. 'Who is Jacob?' OK, yes, we've been talking to this guy named Jacob, so those questions then should have answers, but 'What is the Island?' That starts to get into 'What is the Force?' It is a place. I can't explain to you why it moves through space-time—it just does. You have to accept the fact that it does." Can you live with that? The show for me and Carlton [Cuse] and J.J. [Abrams] and all the people writing it—it's not about the Island. The Island is where it takes place. It's about this group of people who crashed on the Island on Sept. 22, 2004 and how they influenced the history of the Island in some ways and had a very significant and pivotal role to play there. You're going to see that role play out, and their fates will all be resolved by the end of the series—that's the story that we're telling. In terms of every little bit of minutiae about the Island itself...There will be questions [left unanswered] after the show [ends]." "Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself out." This information, in more convoluted form, was leaked out via the online games rather than explained on the show itself, said Damon, because, "That would be the worst thing ever. We have to make the show for the hard-core fans who care about the numbers, but we also have to make it for my mom, who just wants Sawyer to take his shirt off."

LOST: Follow the Leader

Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace. -Eugene O'Neill

Shucks, I wanted a Richard flash back of him dressed as a pharaoh. PS, if he's all immortal and the island heals or whatever, why does he need reading glasses? Also, kind of disappointing that he is not all-knowing and didn't know where Locke had been the last three years. If he really didn't, that is. The Others get less and less mysterious to me- now we know they have just been going through secret tunnels to get around. When they were talking about the tunnels all I could think of was the party scene in Nacho Libre!

Well, so, judging by the way Charles was touching Eloise's belly just before she led them to the bomb, it seems that she was in fact with child, with Daniel, when she shot Daniel. I really like the casting for young Ellie and Charles. Whenever we see the Others camp and all of them running around now, I always get excited for the possibilities of who they all are. It would be sweet if we heard one of the 70s Others referred to as, say, Christian.

I have to say, I didn't completely mind Jack getting beat up a little bit. I'm glad Jack has a goal and it trying to take some initiative now and all, but he is sure driving me nuts right now. That's rough, Jack, telling Kate you would basically rather forget her and all of your time together completely. Nice to see a sincere smile out of him when Sayid decided to come along. Aaah, Sayid, it hasn't been the same without you these last few weeks, my violent, tormented friend. Still not sure if things can be changed in the past. We already know that the things happening right now really did happen- evacuating women and children from the island (which I suppose could explain where Ben's little friend Annie went, if they ever come back to that). So, is what Jack is trying to accomplish just history repeating itself thought he thinks it is different, or is he going to accomplish what Daniel wanted and next season will be like a new Season 1 where they don't know each other? Except that this time, we would already know a lot about them. Wow, that would make me feel like an Other.

Favorite line of the night from the surprising voice of reason, Kate- 'since when did shooting kids and blowing up hydrogen bombs become okay?'

I love how John has a constant smile on his face like he's high. When he was comforting Sun on the beach I just wanted to give him a big hug in that moment. Getting cocky there with the whole Jacob speech though. (Those Others really are lemmings- maybe Smokey has had his way with most of them). So if the island is speaking to John, is it telling him to kill Jacob or did he just come to that on his own? Did the island tell him HOW to kill him? What is the point of lying to Sun about his intentions? Just to keep her from running off and doing something rash? Also, did he invite Ben with him and Richard to flaunt his island connection or because despite his seeming surety he really is wary of Ben being out of his sight? Interesting that he told Ben his real plans. It is very much like John to be blatantly honest, but with New John, could it be that he is now the one manipulating Ben? I got a little chill with that moment of camaraderie with Richard and Ben about John being trouble- watch your back there Locke. You might get a knife in it like the one you put in Naomi. More of making the same thing happening by recreating what you think is supposed to happen with John having Richard go and help him. How can you be so sure John, that just because that already happened to you that it is what SHOULD happen. If you hadn't sent Richard off to tell you to go bring back the others and die doing it, you probably would have stayed on the island and Sawyer and Juliette could have stayed in their Pleasantville and Miles could have gotten to know his father. I guess the big problem there is that maybe if you hadn't turned the donkey wheel the island would have kept rapidly time jumping and poor Miles, Daniel, (too late for Charlotte) Sawyer, Jin and Juliette's heads would have exploded.

I love Juliette and Sawyer, both so cool under pressure. They had some sweet moments in this episode, with him calling her sweetheart and looking out for her and their conversation in the dock. When he said, 'ladies first' I held my breath for a moment thinking he was going to send her off without him, but nope! He really is content leaving the island and everyone to be with Juliette! But now Kate ... I know it wasn't your intention, but way to fuel the fire that is the love quadrangle. She does seem to still love Jack though. A lot of people are still suspicious of Juliette, and while I think its probably true that she still knows some things that she hasn't said yet, I don't think that she is being purposefully deceiving to protect the Others or anything like that. I think all she ever wanted was a normal life where she could help people and be loved and that she had that for a while with Sawyer. She always has it for a while and it never lasts. I'm definitely worried about her and of what she is capable of doing to protect her own. She's very good at putting up her walls and putting on her indifferent face, but she is much more emotionally fragile than she likes people to know. I am also kind of wondering (though I hope not) if she will get killed and make 'James' revert back to 'Sawyer.' They have said that a main character and also a main-ish character would die by the end of this season. I think Daniel was the main-ish, so I am getting worried. It doesn't look like the sub is going to get far, so a drowning of one of our three on the sub is out. With gun-happy Dharma, a goal to blow a hydrogen bomb and a group trekking through the jungle to confront an unhinged phantom ruler... well, there are plenty of options for potential demise.

Horace, I'm glad your hair is in a ponytail. It makes you a little less pansy annoying. A little. I also love the Sasquatch pose of Kate in the video they showed Sawyer, haha.

Love Hurley trying to keep up with the logic of Chang. I'd still like some back story on why he is hauling a (Charlie's?) guitar case around with him. We still don't know why/how he ended up so calmly on the plane to come back. Again, Charlie? Oh, and I'm glad Miles got some daddy closure. We don't see a lot of THAT on this show.

Other Thoughts:

Great blog, great theory, check it out: http://www.docarzt.com/lost/lost-theories/exploring-an-epiphany-faraday-charlie-through-the-looking-glass/
John referred to his wounded self as "him" not "me." He no longer thinks of himself as the same as before his transformation- i.e. his death and rebirth.
Furthering the idea that Jacob is Christian. I'm not sure how this works timeline wise, but a few episodes back I suggested that Locke needed to be murdered because Christian was also murdered. If Christian is indeed an incarnation of Jacob, then Locke needing to murder him would back that up.

Ben is so jealous of John! Their argument about who's met Jacob and who talks to the island was hilarious! The irony is that Ben actually gave John his new abilities by killing him and bringing him back to the island. John Locke is taking over control of the game, and Ben is the one who put him in power...

So now we have the age-old question: If you could go back to the Garden of Eden and return to a life free of pain, would you? LOST translation (via Jack): “Put things back the way they were supposed to be. All the misery we’ve been through will be wiped clean.” But then you’d also have to give up the depth of experience having knowledge of both good and evil brings. LOST translation (via Kate): “It wasn’t all misery.”

Talk about ruining a sweet, romantic moment between Sawyer and Juliet. Kate's the biggest 3rd wheel I ever saw. Awwwwwwkwark!!!!Eloise’s catchphrase: “Let’s get started.” She said it to Ben, Jack and Sun in the church that houses the Lamp Post. Tonight she says it to Jack, Sayid and Richard in the Temple that houses Jughead.
I kind of like how it was noted that Richard has been a kind of advisor for a very long time...we know that leaders of the Others come and go (Widemore, Ben, now Locke) but Richard is a CONSTANT...Also, with the maze of tunnels under the island it explains how Richard easily escaped detection when he got into the Dharma campsite the night Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Faraday arrived 3 years ago...why all the tunnels and more hieroglyphs? I don't think Richard is an Other, he's more connected to the island and I believe it's Egyptian background...I'm also wondering how Widemore and other Others got on the island? I think there was probably a group of Others that Richard worked with when the Blackrock wrecked, and somehow Widmore gets there in the 1950's related to his military experience (he was a young man in military uniform the first time we met him in 1954) - the island must somehow direct people there when it needs to...

Widmore knew Eloise was pregnant. This is what he said (I always have the closed-captioning on). "What? Are you insane? I'm worried about you. Not in your condition." (as her touches her belly)

Was that a replica of the Black Rock that Richard was building into the bottle? Does he have a special affection for the Black Rock? Maybe it was the vessel that brought him to the Island. Shipwrecking on the Island in 1845 certainly would have given him opportunity to be its advisor for a “very, very long time.” ( I like the idea of him being even older than that )
I am just wondering about John Locke....Goes back to the line two weeks ago when Ben told Sun 'DEAD IS DEAD..."....Maybe,John IS dead and someone else's "spirit" is inhabiting LOCKE'S BODY??? Espeicially after that WHOPPER last line! And what about RICHARD'S line to Ben-"John seems more trouble than we thought..." I think that LOCKE is trying to put RICHARD on the spot IN FRONT of everyone to "prove" JACOB is a "MADE UP MYTH" to serve someones purpose. Another "theory is every time JOHN believes something is not true-it ends up he is DEAD wrong and he regrets it-season 2 and the STOP PUSHING OF THE BUTTON is one clear example.