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."
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