After watching last night's episode, I came away with way too many questions. This is what I'm going to do- I'm going to watch the episode again right now and give my live thoughts/list all of my new or yet-unanswered questions in real time. This episode was such a waste in light of what it could have been. Do the writers realize that there are now only TWO episodes left in the series? How on earth can they be creating more questions? I think they're setting themselves up for failure, for massive disappointment, as I was disheartened and sort of miffed after watching the latest installment of LOST. In past episodes, scenes including Jacob and the MIB have been really substantial, very satisfying and/or thought provoking. They've been useful and relevant and the acting has been stellar. Finally, we get a glimpse into their backstory, only to find 1) that the blonde kid playing young Jacob isnt a LOST-caliber actor (I dont know if this was just me but apart from really looking like a young Jacob, I thought this kid was distractingly... not good); 2) the writers think enough of us (viewers) to answer the trivial question of who the two skeletons in the cave are from season 1 (Jack and Hugo recently ran across them again in season 6) before even naming the MIB or his/Jacob's faux-mom; 3) ...again about wasting an episode that could be used for so much good- there were so many questions that could have been answered, relevant questions, that stubbornly remain mysteries. I feel like the LOST people are now just being stingy with us, and at this point in the life of the show, I would think that they owe viewers more than that.
My hope is that I either missed some big truth or truths in this episode, or that the writers really can turn it all around in the remaining 2 episodes. I've heard Damon and Carlton say before that some questions just wont be answered- arent crucial, and wont be answered. Well, again, why the heck are you shoving that stupid explanation of who "Adam" and "Eve" are in our faces when there are so many more pertinent secrets to be shared? That was kind of insulting almost, like one more distraction - like a parent trying to distract a little kid who sees a toy they want by pulling out a stick of gum and making it seem like the gum is so awesome, have the gum, forget about the toy. NO! THE TOY IS AWESOME. Give me something I can have and play with for a long time. Who cares about the Island's "Adam" and "Eve", who (as it turns out) aren't very Adam and Eve-like anyhow.
Ok ok. Time to watch. Comments to come.
#1. Who is Claudia, where did she come from? How are people drawn to the Island before Jacob can draw them there- before he had a purpose to call them there? I have a feeling that these are some of those interesting questions that we will not be receiving an answer to.
#2. How long ago is this?? They're speaking in Latin at the beginning.
#3. What's the name of Jacob/the Man in Black's mother?
#4. How did she get the job of Island Protector?
#5. Why is the young Man in Black "special" according to mom?
#6. What a short labor. And babies without umbilical cords?
#7. What's up with the board game? This is probably the biggest piece of symbology in the episode but I kept waiting for the game to be some kind of metaphor for what's going on throughout the show.. never happened. If it's simply showing where those black and white rocks that keep popping up come from, then, eh.
#8. Jacob cant lie to save his life... unlike the MIB... who is special because of it?
#9. "Do you love me, Jacob?"
#10. I like the young Man in Black.
#11. "What's dead?" "Something you will never have to worry about." This implies some sort of immortality. Clearly, the kids are still aging, growing up... so does that mean that she's saying that one day when he takes over her protector roll (as she clearly assumes he will be the one to do so), he'll be immortal? I dont quite follow, because she says that she's made it so that the boys will never be able to hurt each other. Is this an immortality that allows aging, or aging up to a certain point? And if that's not the case, then what does it mean that they cant harm each other yet they are NOT immortal? HOW does the mother have these powers? How does Jacob have the power to grant Richard agelessness.
Pause. On the immortality front, are any of them actually immortal? Clearly, Jacob isnt- he just doesnt age, and cant be killed by his brother. Clearly, the mother isnt. Neither is Richard, who cant kill himself but can be killed. The Man in Black/Locke-thing, we're not sure about. Though Ben was able to kill Jacob, none of our survivors have been able to kill the Locke-thing- and there have been some attempts, to be sure.
Unpause.
#12. Hold up. What is going on with the fairytale that pokes its way into this episode? Seriously, legend is cool and fitting. Fairytale stuff though? Golden CGI light beaming out from a tunnel where a stream is flowing and red flowers are blooming? I remember last night's reaction to this... something like a raised eyebrow, and a whaaaat? Talk about a departure from the show. This whole episode seemed out of place because we really didnt see any of the main characters of the show. Now with the weird magical light, which still remains unnamed and unexplained... is it electromagnetic energy? It seems to be linked to the wheel that has been pushed on several occasions (by Ben, Locke, etc). It seems like a fairly important thing to know, so why cant we just cut to the chase? I mean, if you can call it cutting to the chase after all this time.
#13. Wow, this fairytale scene is complete with harp and chimes in the score.
#14. Why cant the mother protect the "light source" forever?
#15. "One day, you can make up your own game, and everyone else will have to follow your rules." young MIB to young Jacob. Hmmm.
#16. Why can the MIB see dead people? Why CANT Jacob?
#17. Before "present day" when the MIB is actually taking the form of many of the dead people we see on the show, "who" are these ghosts?
#18. Ahh. At around 17 min and 25 seconds, a REAL LOST scene.. trekking through the jungle at night with a torch. I can dig this.
#19. Jacob has a temper.
#20. "You'll never be able to leave this Island." Mom to little MIB. Truth? and Why? And was the ghost of his real mother trying to kill him by either getting him to leave (which he apparently cant do) or by driving someone else to kill him as he tries to leave- all because he is a candidate? Was the real-mom-ghost an old Smoke Monster who was just trying to escape the Island too, and needed all protectors/potential protectors dead? That just seems a little off, and a little too much of a leap or assumption to make. As far as we know, it's only the MIB who wants to leave - and not some possible other smoke monster being - because he wants to go to where he comes from (why? you've got me... if he has known the Island as his home for his entire life, I could see how he might be curious to see what's across the ocean but dont understand his sudden hatred of the Island).
#21. Isnt Hawaii beautiful?
#22. The mother had her baby on the Island and lived, or was going to if she hadnt been murdered. Maybe she was so far along that she wasnt affected by whatever tends to kill all other pregnant women.
#23. Yes.. Jacob will stay with his mother... for a while. What's the significance? He ends up staying for 30 more years.
#24. Tell me your thoughts on the loom.
#25. Tell me your thoughts on the mother's reaction to Jacob when he asks what she thinks of his tapestry.
#26. Love the first interaction we see between grown up Jacob and his brother. The brotherly back and forth... "well, then I'm sorry I asked about her."
#27. MIB has some muscle.
#28. "That's easy for you to say... looking down on them from above." MIB to Jacob.
#29. MIB talks about "his people" being greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy, selfish... these words describe their mother and the actions we have seen her take with Jacob/MIB.
#30. MIB says that the people are a means to an end- to get off the Island. This is different, at this point, as it doesnt appear that there are rules to his being able to leave (again... that we know of, that have been laid out- his mom did say that he cant leave). I dont understand why he hasnt built a boat after all this time. Really? Wait instead to figure out how to channel the electromagnetic activity underneath the surface of the Island? There have got to be easier ways to reach his goal.
#31. "No, it's impossible.. there IS no way off the Island." And the MIB's response is to yank his dagger from its sheath and huck it at a well. See? See Jacob? The knife sticks to the rocks. I told you there's a way off.
#32. "How do you know all this? How do you know it will work?" "I'm special, mother." And that's it. That's it? That's our explanation?
#33. Why does the MIB think that he doesnt belong there?
#34. Honestly, how does that woman overpower the MIB? She's weak and scraggly looking, he's been digging and working hard for 30 years, muscle man.
#35. "What's down there?" "Life, death, rebirth... it's the source, the heart of the Island." This would be a great little explanation, or a great start at least, if we knew what the Island is. The source of the Island? After all this time it still doesnt mean a lot to me.
#36. There's that flask of wine again. I read in some blog a long time ago that Jacob and the MIB always offer the candidates they've come upon a drink, and the writer was pondering the significance of that. I wonder if there really might be some kind of significance.
#37. Thank you, Jacob, for asking that woman why her "time is over". No thanks to you, lady, for ignoring the question.
#38. Why doesnt Jacob have a choice as to whether or not he's going to take over as protector?
#39. OOOOOH what does it MEAN? Now, you and I are the same. WHATTT DOES THAT MEAN
#40. Did the mother really fill in that well by herself? And kill all those people, and burn the village? Since she and Jacob are "the same" now, did he help her?
#41. Why is the MIB freaking out with the board game in hand? Is it meant to be a symbol of his mom in that scene? His anguish as he realizes what she has done?
#42. We didnt know until she got stabbed that the mother wanted to die. Apparently. It wasnt like Richard, who was trying to kill himself/get someone to help him die. Why was she happy to be killed?
#43. Jacob. Jacob, Jacob. Anger issues. Interesting, the transformation we see with Jacob. He is hot-headed with Richard, too. But anytime that we've seen him after that, he has always been calm/collected/in control.
#44. There's light down that tunnel. When Jacob throws his brother in, the nearly instant reaction is that a train of black smoke comes shooting out. Jacob later talks about how the Island is like a cork stopping the wine (Evil, Malevolence, etc) from spilling out all over the world. When the Evil that he speaks of is uncorked, everything else ceases to exist. So can someone help me tie these points together?
#45. Jacob's parting words are to his brother, not his mom.
thats not his mudda... is that his mudda?
ReplyDeleteinteresting point on the mib possibly being a candidate and the black smoke is the thing trying to kill them all off so it can leave. cause the mib seemed to love jacob despite everything, there was never that moment when he appears to turn against him, which would have explained the animosity between the two in the richard flashback. and it was kinda lame at the end when they made it seem like an epiphany when we discovered it was 'adam and eve'. it was almost as lame as the red sox....to harsh?
-pat
TOO HARSH.
ReplyDelete...and i've read this a couple times. What I come up with is this- it's the MIB's goal to leave the Island, and I think that he is the smoke monster. I dont think that the smoke monster preceeds him. I have come back around to this using the info that I've been given- if the smoke monster's goal truly was to kill off candidates, there's no way he would have chosen to take the form of MIB, who cant hurt Jacob. he could have just killed MIB, or gotten someone else to if those happened to be the rules of the game, and taken over the body of one of the dead villagers.
MIB wanted to leave for 30 years before we saw the smoke monster come streaming out of that tunnel. it could just be a great coincidence that both the MIB and the smoke monster shared the same goal as separate entities. But I'm not thinking so.