I know it's been far too long since my last post, and I'm about 2 months late with this recap, but things have calmed down in my life a little bit (aka I recently took a week off work), so I've managed to squeeze in an extra couple hours to do this post. So, without further ado, let's examine the finale.
What an episode! We finally got to meet Jacob, who appears to have played an important role in the lives of our Losties... but I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's go in order.
Q: What lies in the shadow of the statue?
We finally got the answer (in Latin), which translates to "He who will save us all." Is this a reference to Jacob? He's been living in the foot of the statue for (presumably) hundreds of years. Could this also be a reference to Locke (the real Locke), whose body is now laying on the beach, next to the foot? I'm actually re-watching all 5 seasons (surprise, surprise), and I'm half-way through season 1, and Charlie told Jack that if he had to put all of his faith into one person saving them all, it'd be John Locke. Then again, how can he save everyone if he's dead? Unless, of course, he isn't...
Is Locke Dead?
I mean, technically, yeah... he's dead. But... I think we're asking the wrong question here. The right question is....
Did the detonation of the bomb work?
For those that can't remember back to May, here's a quick recap of the plan-- The Losties were stuck in 1977, at the time of the "incident". The incident is what led to the pushing of the button, which led to Desmond pushing the button, which led to the crash of Flight 815, which led to seasons 1-5 of LOST. Essentially, they planned to detonate the Jughead bomb in order to "fix" things so that their plane never crashed on the island. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Jack and Kate never would've met; Kate would've gone to jail; Sawyer would've likely been arrested for killing the guy in Sydney; Hurley would've continued to be cursed; Aaron would've been given up for adoption; the list goes on.
So how does this tie into the "Is Locke dead" thing? If the plane never crashed, Locke would still be in the wheelchair, and would not be dead. So, if the bomb really reset things, then the Locke / Jacob events don't really matter.
I know I'm going in circles here, but you've got to see the issue that they face, which (to me) only seems like there is one solution. If the timeline is reset, then the Locke/Jacob storyline (and everything we've seen so far) is meaningless. If they don't end up on the island, then how would we learn the history of the island next season? But if the bomb didn't work, then the second half of season 5 was pointless. They've essentially got to make it so that the bomb goes off, but that everything that's happened so far counts. Is it possible that, as a result of the bomb being detonated, the Losties were blasted ahead in time to 2008, meeting up with the Locke/Jacob timeline? Could that be what Jacob meant when he spoke his dying words, "They're coming"?
Jacob's Nemesis (Esau)
Ok, so who is Jacob's nemesis? He is given no name in the episode, but the online LOST communities have been referring to him as "Esau" (pronounced "ee-saw"). Biblically, Esau is Jacob's twin brother, who vows to kill him. This appears to be the origins of the black vs white theme. Jacob is dressed in all white, while Esau is dressed in all black. And while it seems obvious to assume that Jacob is the good guy and Esau is bad, I want to make sure to mention that it's possible we're being misled.
Also, the Locke we've been watching all season is actually Esau in disguise. He is unable to kill Jacob himself (same reason Ben is unable to kill Widmore?), so instead he gets Ben to kill Jacob for him. But that was no easy task. (Buckle up.... it's gonna get rough.)
Esau (as Locke) took Ben to the temple so that Ben could confront the smoke monster and be forgiven. After Ben and "Locke" separate, the smoke monster appears. The smoke monster here is likely also another manifestation of Esau. The smoke monster lets Ben go, and he is soon confronted by the ghost of Alex (who is ALSO Esau), who tells Ben that he has to do everything that Locke (Esau) tells him. ... If you need to read that again, please do so now.... I'll wait for you..... ok.... got it? Good. Let's move ahead.
If we've seen Esau manifest himself as Locke, Alex, and the smoke monster, can we assume that this isn't the first time we've seen this guy? Is he the smoke monster all the time? Can Jacob also manifest himself as someone else? This just flipped our LOST world upside-down. I'm ok with the idea that Esau is the smoke monster, as long as Jacob also manifests himself as a white light (the one that Locke saw back in season one). Since the first season, we've seen A LOT of creepy ghosts and things on the island, and it seems reasonable now to consider that they may all be either Esau or Jacob. The question we face now is... who's who?
Touching Flashbacks
In all flashbacks in the finale, we saw how the Losties encountered Jacob in their pasts, and the important role that he played. More importantly, you should all note that he touched all of them during the flashback. Here's a quick rundown of each:
Jack: After Jack's infamous "angel hair pasta" surgery, he was trying to get an Apollo bar from the vending machine, but it was stuck. It was Jacob who eventually got it it down for him.
Hurley: After being released from jail, he and Jacob shared a cab ride. Jacob left Hurley with the guitar case that he was carrying on the plane.
Kate: When Kate was a child, she and Tom (her best friend) were trying to steal a New Kids on the Block lunchbox, when they got caught by the store clerk. Jacob paid for the lunchbox, and Kate was free to go. Note: This is also the same lunchbox that Kate and Tom used to bury their time capsule, which Tom kept his plastic plane in until they dug it up years later. (That's the plane that the marshall had in his case on Flight 815).
Locke: After his father pushed him from an 8-story window, Locke smacked the ground, and Jacob appeared to revive him with a simple touch of the hand. Whether he really brought Locke back to life or if it was just good timing, we don't know. I'm guessing he was brought back to life.
Sawyer: While writing the infamous "Dear Mr. Sawyer" letter, his pen dried up. Jacob was there to provide him with a fresh ballpoint, to ensure that Sawyer finished writing the letter.
Sayid: After he and Nadia stepped off of a curb, Jacob grabbed Sayid to "ask for help", ensuring that Sayid wasn't hit by the same truck that killed Nadia.
Jin and Sun: Jacob made a cameo at their wedding, wishing them good luck and telling them never to take each other for granted.
Now, I don't know the significance of Jacob's touch, but you should note that all of those people are still alive on the island. Is it possible that they needed his touch in order to come to the island?
Lord of the Ring
Sun found Charlie's DriveShaft ring that he left behind. Is this a sign that we'll soon be seeing Claire again? I can't imagine that they'd bring up the ring without having Claire back to get it. I know she's supposed to be back next season... I just don't know how soon (first episode? 15th episode?). I'm voting for episode 1.
ROSE AND BERNARD!
I'm so happy to see Rose and Bernard back! They've been living with Vincent in the jungle for the past 3 years, saying that they didn't want to work for the Dharma Initiative because they're retired. This caused a lot of buzz in the LOST fan community that Rose and Bernard are likely the Adam and Eve from season 1. To me, it seems a little too obvious. I know this is supposed to be one of the bigger LOST mysteries, so I can't see them putting it out there so soon.
Is Jacob dead?
I can't imagine you could be stabbed and thrown onto a campfire and live to tell about it. Then again, if you have some form of island-magic, I think there might be an exception for you. I've been having suspicions lately that Jack's reason for being on the island is to save Jacob. The problem here is that Jack's still in 1977... or is he?
Four-Toed Statue Confirmed!
The LOST crew has confirmed the identity of the 4-toed Statue as Taweret, the Egyptian Goddess of childbirth and fertility. This ties in well with the fertility issues on the island. I'm a little confused, though, as this statue is considerably old (at least a few hundred years), but the fertility issues on the island didn't always exist. They weren't there in the 1970's (when Amy gave birth to Ethan on the island), but women couldn't carry to term on the island in the early 2000's. The big question here-- what changed? Is it possible that Ethan could be born on the island because of research by the Dharma Initiative? Maybe they found a way to fix it?
The Big Question
The MOST IMPORTANT thing in the finale was the opening sequence. As Jacob and his nemesis are sitting on the beach watching the Black Rock in the distance, they have the following conversation (courtesy of lostpedia):
Jacob: I take it you're here 'cause of the ship.
Nemesis: I am. How did they find the island?
Jacob: You'll have to ask 'em when they get here.
Nemesis: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
Jacob: You are wrong.
Nemesis: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
Go ahead.... read that a couple more times. It's clear that Jacob is trying to prove his nemesis wrong on something. And he keeps bringing people back to the island to help, but it never works. Jacob won't give up though... he's determined. And while it's easy to assume that Jacob is good and Esau is bad (as discussed above), I keep reading that conversation thinking, "This sounds an awful lot like Jack and Locke talking." Jacob is the man of faith, while his nemesis is the man of science.
The big LOST mystery here is, "What is Jacob trying to prove?" I think this isn't going to be answered until the final episode, as I think it'll reveal A LOT about why they were brought to the island, which is (of course) one of the biggest mysteries on the show (now that we got the answer of where Rose and Bernard are).
***********************
Ok, so I finally finished the recap of the finale. And just in time for Comic Con this weekend. I'll be posting some brief things after Comic Con to let you all know what went down. Plus (fingers crossed), I'm re-watching the series (from season 1 all the way through) and formulating a "Big Theory". I've got it laid out in my head and I'm trying to work in all the details, while hopefully not being proved wrong. If any of you have theories or questions, send 'em to me and I'll try to address them in the blog. That way, it won't be completely dead for the next 7 months.
Thanks again for reading! And thanks also for your patience!
-drew.
1 comment:
FINALLY. You've been missed.
Phil Tittola
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