"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Penultimate Lost: Coincidence for Fate in Lost Angeles

A very satisfying even superb next-to-last ever episode of Lost, mainly because of the excellent double story of Ben, in better alternate reality Los Angeles, and back on the island.

In Lost Angeles:  Ben gets beaten by Desmond, who may want to hit and run Locke in the wheelchair again, all for the purpose of putting these alternate reality people into touch with their true (in my view) island selves.   Ben gets beaten because he stops Des in the car, but that's not the only way he's better.

In a really touching scene, Alex and mother Danielle (good to see her again!) invite better Ben to dinner.  Danielle tells Ben that Alex almost looks at Ben as a father - she lost her father when she was two, and Ben's kindness and support of Alex in school has meant everything to her.   Ben is moved to tears.   Amazing but thoroughly believable in this context.  Ben is finally finding the family and happiness that eluded him on the island.

And Ben on the island is equally satisfying, in the opposite, that is, evil direction.   Richard tries to reason with or distract faux-Locke, who turns into the smoke monster and flicks Richard away, to his death, like an irritating flea.   F-Locke approaches Ben - who essentially throws in with Locke.   He shows f-Locke where Widmore and Zoe are hiding.   F-Locke slits Zoe's throat, and before he has a chance to kill Widmore - who is pleading not for his own life, but his daughter Penny's - Ben shoots him dead.  This is the payback that Ben owes Widmore for sending Keamy to the island, where he killed Alex.  And Ben doesn't want Penny to live.

So Ben on the island is now apparently allied with f-Locke - though, I say "apparently," because you never really know with this Ben.   The one thing that consistently motivates him is revenge for the killing of Alex.   Now that Ben has gotten that revenge ...  But, as far as we can see, the two are allied - f-Locke and Ben - and are off to find Desmond on the island (Widmore told f-Locke that Des was Widmore's "fail safe" for destroying f-Locke), as well as Jacob's successor.

Which brings us to the other big part of tonight's episode.   Jacob's dying embers explain it all to Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, and Jack.   One of them has to step up and become Jacob's successor.   That would be Jack.

Back in better LA, Jack has a cut on his neck, an expression, I think, of the merging of the two realities that has already begun.   Jack intersects with Claire, Locke - and tells him "I think you're mistaking coincidence for fate," when Locke brings their intersection on the plane and now in LA to Jack's attention.  But of course Locke in LA is right.  And with Des as the continuing spark plug of the intersections, we have Desmond in jail with Kate and Sayid, with Sawyer and Miles on hand as cops.  Kate almost sweet talks Sawyer into letting her go, but it's not necessary, anyway.  Des has bribed Ana Lucia (with Hurley's money) to spring Kate and Sayid, and they all drive away in two cars (not Ana Lucia) as per Desmond's plan.

That plan has something to do with a concert to be given by Jack's son, at which all of our original, major first season Flight 815 people and maybe more will no doubt be in attendance.   For what purpose?

We'll find out this Sunday, but, as I said, I'm thinking it's for some kind of merging of the two realities, in which all of our characters will be alive, in one way or another....



6-min podcast review of Lost

See also  Lost Season Six Double Premiere ... Three Questions Arising from the Lost Season Six Premiere: Linkage Between Two Realities,  Dead Bodies Inhabited, Who/What Survived H-Blast? ... Lost 6.3:  Kate and Claire, Tenacious Details, and Dr. Arzt's Arse at the Airport ... Lost 6.4:  Better LA, Wilder Island, Some Partial Answers at Last ... Lost 6.5: Jack's Family and Prester John's Speculum ... Lost 6.6: Sayid the Assassin in Both Realities ... Lost 6.7: A Better Ben in Both Realities ... Lost 6.8: The Third Team ... Lost 6.9: Richard's Story ... Lost 6.10: Cloudy Sun ... Lost 6.11: Reunion of Two Realities Begins ... Lost 6.12: Libby and Hurley and Cross-Reality Communication ... Lost 6.13: Make-Up, Break-Up, Everything is Shake-Up ... Lost 6.14: Jack's Tears ... Lost 6.15: Jacob and Esau/MIB

and Preliminary Predictions for Lost Finale

More Lost - see : The Richard-Locke Compass Time Travel Loop ...

and Lost Returns in 5 Dimensions and 5.3: The Loops, The Bomb ... 5.4: A Saving Skip Back in Time ... 5.5 Two Time Loops and Mind Benders ... 5.6 A Lot of Questions ... 5.7 Bentham and Ben ... 5.8 True Love Ways ... 5.9 Two Times and a Baby ... 5.10 The Impossible Cannot Happen ... 5.11 Clockwork Perfect Time Travel ... 5.12: Ben v. Charles, and Locke' Slave ... 5.13: Lost Meets Star Wars and the Sixth Sense ... The Problem with Baby Aaron and the Return of the Oceanic Six ... 5.14: Eloise, Daniel, and Obsession Trumping Paradox ... 5.15: Moral Compasses in Motion ... Lost Season 5 Finale: Jacob and Locke









Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Rent-a-Car, eBags, eHarmony, eMusic







The Plot to Save Socrates








"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

8 comments:

TheLooper said...

So did you ever think it wouldn't be Jack that takes Jacob's place? That answered my questions I posed last week when I was wondering how any of the candidates would ever find the source and drink the juice with no Jacob there. Leave it to the show's creators to fix that problem so simply.

But now I'm very curious, UnLocke wants to use Desmond to destroy the island. So far Locke ALWAYS seems to be causing more havoc at the end of every season, and typically in a bad way. He blew open the hatch at the end of the first season, at Hurley's expressed displeasure, as well as Jack's. This lead to him believing the button was just a hoax, thus causing another incident that Desmond had to save them all from. At the end of the third season he tried stopping them all from leaving. The fourth season he helped Ben move the island and throw everyone back to 1974. Then, with Ben's help again, this time as MIB it turns out, he kills Jacob. Now, he's going to do the most unthinkable prospect yet, ending the island. At least he will try.

So that breaks it down, Locke has always been the bad guy. Jack has always been good.

Of course, Jacob's ploy now with Jack and company, is that they have to get to Desmond first.

I loved that Jacob admitted he messed up. That's very "good" of him. When a man is willing to fess up that he's wrong, he's either married or he's honest!;) Probably both. Besides, Jacob made it clear that he released something very bad on the island and it was his place to fix it back right again. That's why he's helping Jack and the Losties. Of course now, all bets are off for Kate, Sawyer and Hurley on the island and whether or not they will live to see the end.

So we're back to the crux of the series in and of itself: Jack vs. Locke, or I guess UnLocke in this sense. It's going to be an awesome ride Sunday night watching how these two unfold in their battle of reason with one another, now both having done a complete 180 degree turn in persona.

With all the talk of what people died for, that candidacy really meant nothing (per Jacob's words to Kate that she could have the job if she truly wanted it), and Desmond drawing them all together one last time, merge away people!

I still want those last two questions answered though and I hope Jacob will explain it...what is the island and what is it for?

Lost Finale said...

my question is this: back in across the sea we learn that mib coudln't find the source for all those years... then we find that neighter could jack - until he because the protector. leads us to conclude that only the one can see it or access it... so that being the case, mib never had access to the source after his death... this being the case, how could he ever put it out? perhaps the only way to put it out would be (or one way, maybe) if mib left the island... but what exactly kept him from ever leaving? coldn't he have left the same way ben and locke left before (through the source)?

TheLooper said...

Ok, this may be way off the mark here, but I had to propose this theory that my mother came up with tonight. It's so awesome, hysterical and utterly disappointing at the same time I just had to suggest it here because I haven't heard anyone suggest this possibility.

Like I said, it could be way off base, but here it goes:

A lot of fanciful things have been occurring on this island, basically since the moment Oceanic 815 crashed. They are leaving and back again and leaving again, people die and seemingly come back to life, a smoke monster inhabits the island from out of nowhere, people can live forever, and for the course of most of the series it seemed like the producers were just making this whole thing up as they go.

That last part might be the key to everything and although they made it seem like they knew exactly where it was going 3 years ago, that could have been part of the ploy.

Because to my mother, these flight of ideas and highly imaginative situations, along with the inclusion of bible stories, myths, legends all seem to follow suit with....wait for it...a child playing with a playset.

She proposed that what if the island is a toy playset with two children playing with action figures as they make all of this up as they go along, the way all kids do? Think about it, just for a second. It's probably not possible this could be the end because the producers have repeatedly said they wouldn't do a trick or cheat ending like that, but what a fascinating idea! The producers also said time travel wouldn't be involved and bingo!

That's in the tradition of Rod Serling right there! She said the wheel that moves the island is actually a radio flyer wagon. All the ships, the crashed plane and such are toys too. The alternate reality is just for the heck of it, nothing really significant. It would explain why Jacob just suddenly, miraculously reappeared to all the Losties, just like a kid might do who was simply making this all up for fun. I went on to say that what if the two boys are not Jacob and his brother, but Aaron and Walt (one white, one black) having a little fun just playing a game with each other, like little boys often do when they have a war with one another, which has definitely been going on with this series from day one.

I just had to post this because I haven't seen it anywhere and after some of the reports from cast members and the director that the end might be somewhat confusing and disappointing to some viewers, you have to at least consider the outside possibility that this could be a potential ending of the show. Which would follow suit with what I thought...a third reality where none of this ever happened!:)lol

Carrin Mahmood said...

Looper, So funny about your mo's theory. I was just going down the "rabbit hole" thought process or God forbid Dallas dream scenario.

It could be all made up, but I like it better thinking it is a real albeit somewhat alternate reality. But then again who cares what I like or M*A*S*H would still be on!

I thought it was interesting that Jack drank from the water... didn't Jacob have to drink wine last week? Either way very Christilogical upper roomish accepting the cup and all that implies.

Very nice answer to the "why them" question!

I still think at the end of the day only 1 lostie can survive, hopefully it is the better person from which ever realm, and they are rewarded just for having gone through the journey.

Carrin Mahmood said...

So...questions I have been thinking about which probably won't get answered...
1. Do you think Alison Janey (that was her wasn't it?) and Jacob and MIB/Esau also had a better alternate life in some ancient reality (ie Jack and other losties)

2.Is Faux Locke still Jacob's brother with newly aquired smoke skills, and a new body...or is his spirit gone and we just have sokey inhabiting dead guys? and why did he need John Locke's body if MIB was there for the taking...seemed like a fine body to me.

3. If his main goal is to get off the island and he can do everything except cross electric voltage...why not let him go. Jacob's and now Jack's job is to protect the light...wouldn't that be easier with smokey gone!

4. Who did we see in a way earlier episode watching a ship come in, talking to Jacob? Was that smokey in brother? or just brother?
The tie line seems to indicate smokey i brother SIB (ha funny) but then that brings me back to why did he need Locke's body if he had one! (We've learned candidacy isn't all that important...oddly enough might I just say)

5. I wonder if some piece of music at the concert will be what gives everyone the clarity and power to remember both lives


AHHHHHHHHHHHH Can't wait for (and dread) Sunday

TheLooper said...

Hey White Bear. About your questions:

1. Since the alternate reality did not occur until the Losties tried to detonate the H-bomb and thus split off the realities into one with the island and one where the island sunk, what happened with Jacob, MIB and the guardian still occurred, so nothing changed there.

2. UnLocke or Faux Locke (smokey) made it clear in the first episode of Season 6 that it can still remember the memories of the people that it copies as a disguise. So smokey is MIB, Locke, Christian, Alex, anyone it has ever duplicated that has died. It keeps part of their essence, mannerisms and such, but is simply something else entirely.

3. You're forgetting one thing, smokey originated from the light (or so it seems). As long as the light of the island shines, smokey is trapped there because he seems to be part of it. Also, there will always be a protector of the light as well who smokey cannot kill on his own. As long as there is a protector and the light, smokey will be bound. Apparently those are the rules. Jacob's game. He seems to only be able to be released if and when the light goes out forever at the heart of the island.

4. The ship in the episode "The Incident" at the end of season 5 featuring Jacob and MIB was the Black Rock, Richard's ship. We now know that ship crashed on the island in the late 1800's. Jacob has been there at least 2000 years, as identified in the re-run of "Pilot" tonight on ABC (I didn't know this before tonight), and since probably about 40 years went by before Jacob became the protector and his brother became smokey/MIB, and it was roughly 1800 years before the Black Rock crashed, it had to be smokey impersonating Jacob's brother as they talked on the beach.

Now, about Locke's body. Whomever the protector becomes, it appears this smokey monster has to be their polar opposite. Jack and Locke have always been at odds with one another, much the same as Jacob and his brother were. Smokey probably already knew Jack was the one that would replace Jacob and thus copied Locke purposefully to oppose Jack. Plus, it made things much more interesting to have Locke killed by Ben, only to be alive again on the island (which for a time I thought the island had brought him back to life because he was "special" and boy was I wrong). Ilana had also said that smokey was trapped in Locke's body from now own, probably much the same way smokey seemed trapped in Jacob's brother's body for centuries.

5. Now that's a very interesting question about the music, White Bear. We're going to find out soon enough if there is anything important to that. Maybe it will be "You all, everybody!"lol Doubt it, but still funny.

I could be wrong about the answers White Bear, but that's how I've rationalized things with myself. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Carrin Mahmood said...

Wow Looper! Thanks, I should have gone back and re-watched them all. So many details it takes a village! Glag I'm in Central time zone only 40 minutes left!

TheLooper said...

Hey White Bear, it almost was you all everybody!lol

I can't wait until Paul's next post about the finale tomorrow! This was a fabulous way for the show to end and it just makes sense with all the symbolism we have seen up until now if you really stop and think about it.

But until tomorrow, I'll add my thoughts after Paul adds his.

Bravo and good-bye Lost. We'll see you in about 50-60 years, hopefully.

InfiniteRegress.tv