I'll just get this out of the way. I was right... Jack is replacing Jacob as the island's guardian. I was pretty sure of that after I'd watched "Lighthouse".
Synposis Overview
Ben finally takes his revenge on Widmore after accepting the Man in Black's request for assistance. Jacob explains the purpose of the candidates, and Jack volunteers to take his place. The search for Desmond reveals that he has been rescued and the Man in Black plans to use him to destroy the Island. In the flash sideways, each person ends up on their way to a concert.
Flash Sideways Synopsis
Jack awakens, finding blood stains on his neck. (This is the second time Jack has noticed some sort of unexplained damage to his body. The first time was when he found a scar left from an appendectomy that, in the flash sideways world, he never had.)
While eating breakfast with his son, David, and half-sister, Claire, he receives a phone call from Oceanic Airlines informing him that his dad's coffin had finally arrived at the airport. It's then revealed that the call was actually a hoax call made by Desmond. (Note: during breakfast, David reminds his dad of his concert that evening.)
Desmond is next seen sitting in his car at the school that both John and Ben work at. Soon after seeing John (just returned from the hospital), Ben confronts Desmond, assuming he's returned to the school to run over John again. Desmond beats him up, and then tells Ben that he didn't want to hurt John, but rather was trying to get John to "let go". While de was punching Ben, Ben sees memory flashes of when Desmond had beat him up in the normal timeline.
While Ben is being treated in the school's infirmary, John sees him there and they talk about what had just happened, with Ben repeating what Desmond had told him... which had been what Jack had told John after treating him at the hospital. John goes to see Jack at the hospital, telling him that it fate might have caused their paths to keep crossing in order to encourage John to allow Jack to operate on him. Jack states he doesn't believe in destiny, but happily agrees to do the surgery.
Meanwhile, when Ben leaves school, Alex sees him in the parking lot and notices that he'd been severely beaten up. She offers to have her and her mom, Danielle, drive him home after inviting him to their home for dinner. After dinner while still at their home, Danielle tells Ben that since Alex's father had died, he's been the closest Alex has had to a father.
Desmond arrives at the police station that Miles and Sawyer work at as police officers, to turn himself in for having run over John and assaulting Ben. They put in a holding cell. Sayid and Kate are both also being held there. Later, all three are removed to be transported to another holding location.
While traveling in the police van, Desmond tells them that the van will be dropping them all off somewhere, and that if they each agree to do what he says once getting there, that he'll free them. They both think he's delusional/joking but agree to his bargain.
Almost immediately the van stops. Anna Lucia opens the back and demands from Desmond her payment for freeing them. Desmond assures her that it'll arrive soon, while she frees each of them. Hurley soon arrives in a Hummer and hands a large envelope to Anna Lucia, while obviously recognizing her from the normal timeline though she does not recognize him.Desmond tells Sayid to leave with Hurley and tells Kate that she's going with him to a concert.
Normal Timeline Synopsis
After recovering from being washed ashore, Jack tells Sawyer, Hurley and Kate that they should all head inland to search for Desmond, reasoning that if Fake Locke wanted Desmond dead, that they will need to keep him alive.
While walking through the jungle, young Jacob confronts Hurley and demands from Hurley the pouch containing Jacob's ashes. After handing the pouch over, young Jacob runs away. Hurley chases after him and discovers adult Jacob standing by a campfire. Jacob tells Hurley to go get the other three, and to hurry as once the fire has burned out, they won't see him again.
Hurley returns with Jack, Sawyer and Kate. Jacob tells them that the reason he pick them each to be candidates was because they were like him... broken and feeling alone in the world with nothing really to live for, and that their need for purpose and belonging could be met by replacing him has the island's protector. They needed the island as much as the island needed them. He also told Kate that the only reason he crossed out her name was because she'd become a mother to Aaron, and that if she nonetheless chose to replace Jacob she could still do that.
Jacob then explains that he had brought the Smoke Monster into existence a long time ago. And that the heart of the island needs to be protected from it, else everyone will die. This is what everybody else has died for. One of the candidates needs to willingly choose to replace Jacob as the island's protector... Jacob states that he himself had not been allowed to choose to decline.
Jack quickly steps forward to volunteer to replace Jacob. Jacob takes him to a stream, tells Jack where to find the heart of the island, and offers Jack a cup of water over which he'd mumbled something. Jack drinks it, and Jacob tells Jack that he is now like him.Meanwhile, Richard, Ben and Miles reach the old Dharma village. Ben tells them that he has a large stash of C4 explosives in a hidden room in his former house. While getting out the explosives, they hear a noise and discover that Charles and Zoë have entered the house. When Ben threatens to kill Charles, Charles claims that if he dies than all hope will be lost. He explains that Jacob had visited him and told him he needed to return to the island, and what Charles would need to do to stop the Man in Black.
Charles then sends Zoë to hide their boat and equipment and watch for the possible return of Fake Locke. She discovers that Fake Locke has just arrived before she has a chance to hide their boat. She returns to Ben's cabin with the news.
Ben tells Charles and Zoë they can hide in his secret room while he and Richard try to talk to Fake Locke. Miles decides his best chance for survival is to run away into the jungle before Fake Locke arrives, and leaves.
Fake Locke confronts Charles and Zoë and begins interrogating them. Charles tells Zoë not to say anything, and Fake Locke immediately slits her throat, saying that if she cannot say anything then she's useless. He then asks Charles to explain what his plans are, threatening to kill his daughter, Penny, if he refuses. Charles agrees but only if Ben leaves the room. Fake Locke tells Charles to just whisper his plans into his ear. While doing that, Ben shoots Charles dead while stating that Charles doesn't get to save his daughter. Fake Locke says Charles had already told him what he needed to know. Ben asks him if there are others he can kill.
The two of them head to the well Desmond had been left in, and discover that Desmond had been freed. Fake Locke says that he's actually glad that Sayid had betrayed him and allowed Desmond to live. He explains to Ben what Charles had told him... due to his unique resistance to electromagnetism, Desmond is a "failsafe" to ensuring that the Man in Black cannot win if all other plans were to fail. Fake Locke tells Ben that he intends to find Desmond so he can use him to destroy the island and finally leave.
Commentary & Questions
- Is Richard dead? Or just unconscious/injured? And is he still unaging now that Jack is the new protector?
- Has Ben really joined Fake Locke? Or did he merely want to see Charles dead, and is now just along for the ride so he wouldn't be killed, too? Above all else, Ben is a self-preservationist. Though, since Fake Locke told him he's going to try to destroy the island, will Ben now turn against him?
- The reason Jacob chose them to be candidates ended up being surprisingly un-mystical.
- Interesting stuff regarding flash-sideways Desmond.
- He definitely seems to know what's going on with normal-time Desmond, and to be actively working to help that Desmond and to thwart the Man in Black.
- What are his plans for Kate, Sayid and Hurley?
- Hurley's comment about Anna Lucia implies, to me, that Hurley now remembers more events from the normal-time island.
- Why is he trying to get Jack to go out to the airport?
- Is the concert he and Kate will be attending, the same one that Jack's son David will be performing in?
- Miles reminded Sawyer of a benefit concert that night that Miles' dad, and Charlotte will be at. Is this the same concert?
- I bet Daniel will be at that concert, too.
- Assuming flash-sideways Jack repairs John's spinal injury and John regains his ability to walk, how might that affect events in normal time on the island?
- Why did flash-sideways Jack have a healed cut on his neck?
- Is Frank alive?
Next Week
The next, and final, episode of Lost is aptly titled "The End".
Here's a list of unanswered questions that I predict will remain unanswered at the end of the series finale:
- Was every appearance by Christian on the island actually the Man in Black? Or just some of them?
- Has there been any particular rhyme or reason to why the Smoke Monster does not always kill?
- And why did the Smoke Monster kill everyone on the Black Rock except Richard?
- Why did the Others purge the island of Dharma people after co-existing with them for so long?
- What really happened to Rousseau's companions after they'd entered the Temple?
- Who built the statue of Taweret, and why?
- What's the deal with all the Egyptian stuff?
- What was the purpose of the vaccine, and why were there quarantine warnings on the inside of some of the Dharma stations? Did it have something to do with the Smoke Monster?
- Why did the Dharma supply drops continue after the Purge?
- Why were the Others always so determined to kill outsiders as their first option?
- Who was the real Henry Gale?
- Why were the Others unable to have children for a while?
- What's the deal with Walt?
- How was the island able to heal some people, and yet seem to drive some others insane?
- Why did Ben develop cancer? Was it caused by Jacob to force Ben to be at Jack's mercy?
- What exactly is the Smoke Monster? (Yes, I know it was a manifestation of the Man in Black. That's not my question.)
- How long have there been guardians on the island?
- Why did Dr. Chang keep using different names on the Dharma training videos?
- Does the Source have anything to do with the Orb from the Brisco County, Jr. show? (I'll leave it an exercise to the reader to figure out why I might have written that.)
