Thursday, May 14, 2009

LOST- Finale Jacob's Ladder

Let me start off by saying that this will obviously be a LOST post. I'm sure the title clued you in. But let me start with something UnLOSTish. I was invited to a Girl's Night Out on Wednesday night and it didn't have anything to do with LOST. In fact, I accepted this invitation last Sunday morning at church and it was several hours later before it suddenly hit me what the nagging feeling I had about having some other type of plans for Wednesday night was: LOST Finale. But here's where I might surprise you-- I went to Girl's Night Out anyway.

And you thought I was hopelessly lost.

I went to my Girl's Night Out which included dinner and a movie, and was home in time to tuck my children into bed. And then promptly left again. I was invited to a LOST DVR watch party at my brother's house. Oh yeah. So last night about 10:15, I started watching LOST with Kevin and Janne' with fair warning that there might be multiple pauses for me to explain things. (Kevin and Janne' are new LOST converts. Kevin watched Season 4 and picked up this year. Janne', brave soul that she is, jumped right in this season so naturally has many questions.) There were multiple pauses with the first one occurring about 1 minute and 14 seconds into the show.

About two hours later we saw the reverse LOST logo, black letters on a white background, and we pretty much sat there in silence. What was there to say? We were in shock. I went home and finally got to sleep around 1:30, only to wake up about 6:15-- thinking about LOST.

It was that good.

I think you know by know that any obsession will be discussed here. My apologies to nonLOST fans in advance.

First, I have to say that this episode was too epic, had too much to compress all into one post. There's no way. This morning I decided to focus on one area, or should I say person: Jacob.

{I've been formulating this all day and before I started to write, I read Doc Jensen's EW.com LOST recap and amazingly enough, he touched on many of the things I intended to say, but not all. At first I was annoyed and then I was thrilled. Usually I never think of what he comes up with. Maybe I'm getting smarter. Or not.}

The episode The Incident may have ended with a Bang but it started with one too. The bombshell of who Jacob was. I have to say that I didn't expect to see him weaving, cooking and filleting fish. Never in my wildest theories did my mind go there. But just because we saw Jacob performing this seemingly mundane tasks doesn't mean that Jacob's a mere mortal. Quite the opposite. As Jacob is kicked back munching on his Fillet O Fish sandwich watching the Black Rock sail by, a man walked up and took a seat with him. It soon became obvious that they weren't friends.

"I take it you're here because of the ship" Jacob said and we soon realized that Jacob had brought it to the island.

"Still trying to prove me wrong." The other man said.

"You are wrong." Jacob countered.

"They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same."

"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress." Jacob said.

The other man got a scowl, looked at Jacob and asked "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"

"Yes."

"One of these days sooner or later I'm going to find a loop hole my friend."

"Well, when you do, I'll be right here."

And so he was.

The black and white theme was carried into this scene with Jacob wearing a white shirt and the other man in black. Good versus evil. Everyone knows that the white is the good guy. Or is it?

Flashbacks for the remainder of the episode revealed Jacob visiting a succession of the Oceanic Six (as well as Jin and Locke) at pivotable points in their lives. The first was Kate as she shop lifted a New Kids on the Block lunch box, aided and abetted by a young Tom. Just as the store owner was about to call her mother and the police, Jacob showed up to save the day and pay for the ill gotten loot. He asked "You're not going to steal anymore, are you?" Katie shook her head and Jacob touched her nose and told her to be good. (He never mentions not to murder, so she's still good.) And then she's off on her merry way. Jacob saved the day, or did he?

Next up is a young Sawyer, still a little Jimmy. He's at the funeral of his parents and Jacob walked up as Jimmy was writing his infamous letter to Mr. Sawyer when his pen runs out of ink. Jacob handed him his pen, making sure that their fingers touch. "I'm very sorry about your mother and father James," Jacob said using Sawyer's rarely used first name and then he walked away. Wasn't that sweet of Jacob?

Jacob gets around. Next up is stopping Sayid as he and Nadia are crossing a street. Nadia was slammed by a car and Jacob touched Sayid's arm. This time Jacob offers no condolences but merely walked away.

I propose that Jacob was not actually performing good deeds. If Kate had followed the natural consequences of her actions, she might not have been in handcuffs on Flight 815. If Sawyer hadn't gotten Jacob's pen he might not have finished that letter after all, leading him to become a conman and a killer with an empty life of seeking vengeance. If he hadn't distracted Sayid, Nadia wouldn't have been hit by a car. In fact, I will go as far as to say that Jacob arranged the car or at the very least, knew it would hit her. Sayid became an empty shell of a man after Nadia's death.

Jacob did make some more benign and even helpful visits. At Jin and Sun's wedding he touched each of their shoulders and told them how special their love was and not to take it for granted. How about Jacob sitting on a bench reading Flannery O'Connor's book of short stories Everything that Rises Must Converge? He waited until he heard the thud of John Locke's body hitting the ground after being pushed out an 8 story window. Jacob nonchalantly walked over to a seemingly lifeless man. Jacob touched John's shoulder and John quickly inhaled. "Don't worry, everthing's going to be all right" Jacob comforted and added "I'm sorry this had to happen to you." But it could also be argued that if Jacob hadn't saved John Locke, then he wouldn't become the monster that killed him, or more accurately, the monster that convinced Ben to kill him.

The only ones left are Jack and Hurley. Jacob visited Jack as he pouted about his father intervening in Jack's OR crisis. Petulant Jack accuses Daddy of embarrassing him. Suddenly all of Jack's daddy issues now seem more to do with Jack and his erroneous perception rather than Christian's actual behavior. In any case, as Christian walks away Jacob hands Jack the Apollo candy bar that got stuck in the vending machine, making sure their fingers touch. (Nice nod to mythology. Easter egg or a mislead?) Jacob also said "I guess it just needed a little push." That's gotta mean something.

And finally, there's Hurley, actually the most informative visit. Jacob shared a cab with Hurley as he's released from jail. Hurley told Jacob he's cursed. Jacob countered that he's actually blessed; he gets to see the people he loves and cares about even though their dead. Jacob told Hurley about Ajira flight 316 and leaves his guitar case behind. Do you think there's a dead body in there?

Ilana was the only non 815 survivor to be visited. Ilana was in a hospital bed with some nasty looking wounds and Jacob came to visit her. It seemed that they knew each other when Jacob said he was sorry he hadn't come sooner and asked her to help him. It was also noticeable that Jacob wore gloves and didn't touch her when he'd been touchy feely with all the others.

I wasn't sure what the touches meant but Doc Jensen, a man much smarter than I, has a theory. He suggests that the touches are what makes sure that the Losties make it through the atomic blast and onto the other side, whatever the other side may be. I think he's onto something.

I know I said this was about Jacob but I can't help but bring up Locke. While I had considered that the John Locke walking around was some island entity, I never considered that it wasn't his body. When the Ilana crew dumped that metal crate and John's body tumbled out I was more than shocked. I was horrified. John is dead. Just add his name to the ever growing list.

Island John knew things because he's seen them before, in a time loop. He knew when to take Richard to meet Time Traveling Locke. He knew where the temple was. He even knew where to find Jacob. Island John is also Smokey. Never seen at the same time, John leaves and Smokey shows up. Island John knows things about people, Smokey knows things about people. And who is Island John/Smokey? Jacob's black shirted Frenemy. So where's Frenemy been? Until a black ash circle was broken, he's been trapped in a cabin posing as Jacob to John. He's also appeared as Christian, and I'm more than slightly worried he's also appeared to Hurley as Charlie, Mr. Eco and Ana Lucia. Island Locke needed the body of Real Locke to get to Jacob. Real Locke was the new leader so had natural access to Jacob. He convinced Locke that he needed to die and he convinced Locke he needed to turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel to leave. Poor John was playing into Frenemy's hands. I really hate to think of John as a oblivious pawn, but it really looks that way.

Island John also played on Ben's grief and guilt and appeared to Ben as his daughter. Alex told Ben to do what John told him to do, which in this case was kill Jacob. Now it was Ben's turn to be a pawn. I have to say that Jacob didn't seem too surprised to see Ben and Island John, and he didn't seem to be surprised by John's disguise. Frenemy found his loop. But what was the loop? I think it was telling John to die and making sure his body came back to the island. Everything was already in place, he just needed John's body, I'm not sure why since he didn't actually use it.

Jacob seemed resigned to his fate, even bating an angry Ben holding a knife. Why in the world would he do that? Because "they are coming." And who are they? The Losties in 1977, or at least the one's Jacob touched. The end is coming, not just the end of LOST but Jacob's and his frenemy's end game.

Is Jacob really dead? He's obviously not a normal human since we first saw him around 1845 and he looks the same over 150 years later. While his body might be dead, I think his spirit is not and he will inhabit someone else. I think that's exactly what happened to Black Shirt guy.

So, which one is good and which one is evil? While LOST makes a point of contrasting black and white quite a bit, we all know that real life is not so clear cut. I think perhaps there is no good or evil, merely two entities fighting over their personal beliefs and using peoples lives to prove their point, carnage be damned. But I guess we'll have to wait about 8 months to find out.

How will we wait until 2010?

20 comments:

Angie's Spot said...

Wow, I am seriously lost. LOL! I've never seen the show, but so many of my friends watch it that I keep saying I'm going to start. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and add it to my Netflix already.

Brandy said...

I'm lost with Angie...and I keep intending to watch but I just cannot commit.

Ah well here's my useless comment anyway. Glad you had a great time during Girls Night Out! I'm still thinking about those raspberry margaritas...

The Royal Family said...

WOW, I love that show... I also love reading what little details someone caught onto that I missed... Anyway I was floored when I saw Locke's body... WOW... I might have to rent an old season to help make it to 2010 and even then it's the last season... WOW

that's all I have to say.

Unknown said...

Excellent blog. Keep rocking.Kalamazoo

Carey-Life in the Carpool Lane said...

What!?!?!?! You mean there is more to the show than some pretty people in the tropics?

I actually watch every episode (because Scott is so into it) but I don't watch it that closely. I certainly hadn't noticed the black/white contrasts or about half the other things you mentioned... I have to admit that I'm usually blogging while I'm watching.

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

Hmmmm, you are going to think I am an Alien from MARS...I have NEVER watched LOST!!!!

Jules said...

How did you get the name of the ship? Must've missed that . . .

There's so much that happened-I'm going to go nuts waiting for the next season.

I really wonder how Claire gets worked into all this. So if man in black is fake Jacob or Christian-is Claire dead?

Unknown said...

We were promised a wedding. What happened to the wedding? 8 months is a long time to wait for answers.

Scott said...

Hurley and Sayid were "touched" between being rescued and going back to the island?

Do you think that has some significance?

Denise Grover Swank said...

Scott, I hadn't considered that aspect. I did notice that Kate and Sawyer's visits were in their childhood while the others were adults, but I attributed it more to the defining moments. What I DO see about Hurley and Sayid is that they seem at opposite ends of the redeeming character spectrum. While Sayid seems unredeemable ("Nothing can save me" he utters as he's dieing before the incident occurs) Hurley seems the most pure of them all. In fact, I've seen several theories that Hurley might be the decisive pawn in the big game between Jacob and his "friend." I'm going to think more about the timing of the touches though. Good point.

BTW, could you possibly be Carey's "Scott?" The one who watches LOST while his wife if blogging?

Denise Grover Swank said...

Jules, the Black Rock is an assumption. The ship looks amazingly like the Black Rock and it's coming to the island. How it got more inland? Dunno. I think Richard came on the Black Rock.

I really, really believe Claire is dead. I've thought so since Season 4. There's no way she would have left Aaron in a tree. No way. And the fact that she was hanging out with Christian just proved it more. But the final straw was when she appeared to Kate in a dream. I know it was a dream, yet Jack and Hurley were seeing dead people, I just made sense to me that Claire was dead too. Who is inhabiting Claire? I dunno. Can Frenemy have TWO bodies? Sounds a bit greedy to me, even for a guy waging an epic spiritual battle.

Jules said...

she did have that creepy smile that all the dead people seem to have

Scott said...

Yeah, that's the Scott. I guess I should create a blogger account at some point.

Heather said...

I am so glad that you came to girls night. Next time you should bring Brandy :)

Hope said...

Great observations! I too think that the man in black is smokey and all the other dead people we've seen.

I hadn't really thought about the fact that Jacob was hurting them as much as helping BUT if he is right and the "end" turns out well for them perhaps he was helping. Perhaps he knew they needed to suffer in order to get the happy ending. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I also think that either Jacob or the man in black must have visited Eloise when she told little Daniel no more piano- since Richard referred to her as the leader she would have presumable seen Jacob before and followed his instructions that Daniel NEEDED to go to the island despite the consequences.

One other thing I have to throw out there... I think Jack and Christian's relationship is too complicated to think that this one moment means that Jack's perceptions of his father were wrong. I think a life time of being second guessed and a lack of faith led to that moment. (Not really pertinent to the mysteries of Lost but I enjoy the character study and the attention to the complexities of humanity as much as anything else on this show).

momma said...

i have never gotten into lost, although since reading your blog, i must admit that i have been more interested in lost.

Unknown said...

Nice post. Couple of things... Have you thought about the man in black being Esau, Jacob's twin brother from the old testament? According to the bible, Jacob's mother Rebecca had a difficult pregnancy and asked god for a reason. She was told that the twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight their entire lives. Jacob = good Esau = evil

I believe that Esau takes many forms on the island and has been plotting for a long time to figure out a way to kill his brother Jacob.

Did you consider that Jacob selected "the six" to be his group to counter what his brother was doing? I believe that Sayid was supposed to be run over with his wife, but Jacob interrupted him and saved his life so that he could be of use during the struggle later on. I also think Jacob saved John Locke. No one can survive that kind of fall.

Just some thoughts.

-Brent

Denise Grover Swank said...

Brent, welcome to my blog! I'm happy to bounce theories off of other people, thrilled actually!

I HAD considered Jacob's adversary to be Esau and in fact called him that when discussing it with other people the day after the Finale. While LOST has many religious correlations (redemption, sacrifice, faith,) I'm not sure it would be so blatantly biblical.

I do believe that Jacob chose "the six" for his own purposes, probably to counteract "Esau's" loop hole. Perhaps Jacob realized the loop hole existed when some of the Losties and Freighties started time traveling back to 1954 with Jughead. Locke did use Jacob's name to Richard. Perhaps it was then that Jacob started thinking about gathering a group of people to help in his fight. Or maybe it was when they showed up in the 1970's, which would be about the time Jacob started visiting Kate and James/Sawyer.

I truly believe that Locke was dead and that Jacob saved him, I'm just not sure why yet. It seems that Locke serves Esau's purposes rather than Jacob's. UNLESS Jacob's "death" is more like a Christ like death that Jacob knew was coming and even encouraged and guided events to precipitate the event.

One last thought: Even though I've theorized that Jacob may not have been completely good in his encounters, I'm not completely sold on the idea.

Thanks for you feedback!

Shannon said...

It was a doozy of a finale, wasn't it?! I can't believe we have to wait 8 long months before the next season... and don't get me started on next season being the last! WAH!

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