Jack Saves the Island

A Synopsis of the Series Finale of Lost, "The End" (aired 5/23/10 on ABC)

Brief Overview

Jack and Locke use Desmond to temporarily extinguish the light at the heart of the island. The Man in Black becomes mortal once again and is killed by Jack and Kate, but not before fatally wounding Jack. In his final moments, Jack lights the heart of the island once again, halting the island's destruction so that the remaining survivors can escape on the Ajira plane. Hurley takes Jack's place as protector of the island.

The flash sideways is revealed to be a type of purgatory for the main characters, where they reside until accepting their life and death, and are then able to "let go" and "move on".

copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_%28season_6%29

Flash Sideways

People who had been on the island begin remembering their island selves as they make contact with someone with whom they'd had a close connection on the island.  Then they all head for a chapel.

Sun and Jin recover their island memories when Juliet performs a sonogram test on Sun.  They also then recover their ability to understand English.

Sawyer and Juliet recover their memories when she helps him get a candy bar out of a stubborn vending machine.

Kate, Claire and Charlie recover their memories when Kate helps Claire give birth to Aaron. (Charlie had already been kind of recovering his memories.)

Sayid and Shannon recover their memories with help from Hurley and Boone.

Daniel and Charlotte don't really recover their memories, but seem close.  Especially Daniel.

Eloise seems to be fully aware of what's going on, and is concerned that Desmond will take Daniel away from her.  (In the normal timeline, she spent her whole life preparing Daniel for his eventual trip to the island, despite knowing that her younger self would kill him in the 70s.)

John recovers his memories while recovering from spinal surgery when he wiggles his toes.

Near the end...

John arrives at the chapel.  Ben is outside it sitting on a bench.  He encourages John to try standing and to relinquish the wheelchair.  John stands up and walks towards the chapel's entrance.  John also forgives Ben for having murdered him.

Hurley steps out of the chapel and asks Ben if he'll be coming in.  Ben says that he's not ready yet, still having some things to sort out.  Hurley tells him that he'd been a good "number two", and Ben replies that Hurley had been a great "number one".  Then Hurley re-enters the chapel.

When Jack arrives at the chapel, Kate tells him to enter through a back entrance.  There he finds his dad's coffin.  On opening it, he discovers it is empty.  But he also begins to remember the island.  His dad then appears standing behind him and says that everyone is waiting for him in the chapel. 

Christian then explains to Jack that this flash sideways reality had been "constructed" collectively by all of them to help them come to terms with their lives in this place that was outside of time (i.e. they didn't all die at the same time... some before Jack had died, and some well afterward) and so that they all could reunite before "moving on".

The two of them enter the chapel, which is already filled with many of the major characters from the six seasons greeting each other.  Christian opens the main doors and a bright light spills into the room, enveloping everyone.

Main characters in the chapel: Christian, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Bernard, Rose, Charlie, Claire, Aaron (as a baby), John, Sayid, Shannon, Boone, Hurley, Libby, Desmond, Penny (without their baby, I think), Sun, Jin (without their baby, I think).

Main characters not in the chapel: Frank, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel, Ilana, Richard, Jacob, Eloise, Charles, Ben (though he was outside of it and had his island memories), Ana Lucia, Michael, Walt, Danielle, Alex, Mr. Eko.  Of these, Michael, Walt and Mr. Eko had not been in any flash sideways episodes.

Island Events

Everyone's now looking for Desmond.  Fake Locke and Ben had already discovered that he'd escaped when Ben discovers Sawyer spying on them.  Sawyer then tough-talks them before snatching Ben's rifle away from him and leaving.

Desmond wakes up to discover that Bernard and Rose had rescued him, despite this action having violated their rule to not get involved in everyone's games anymore.  With Rose additionally commenting that she didn't even know what year it was now, but didn't care anyway.

Fake Locke shows up and demands that Desmond accompany him, or he'd kill Bernard and Rose slowly and painfully. Desmond agrees to go with him as long as Bernard and Rose would be left alone and unharmed.

Jack and his group meet up with Fake Locke and his group, and they all continue together to the Source, with Jack and Fake Locke each convinced that he is right and the other is wrong, but both planning to use Desmond.  Jack things Jacob had brought Desmond back to the island to be used as a weapon to kill the Man in Black, while the Man in Black thinks Desmond can be used to destroy the island allowing him to leave.

Meanwhile, Richard and Miles head for the Hydra station island, and find Frank alive and clinging to debris from the submarine explosion.  The three of them continue to the other island where they discover Claire waiting with a rifle.  She at first believes that "he" sent them to kill her... they convince her that they're really there to get the plane started so they can all leave, and invite her to join them but she refuses and walks into the jungle.  The three of the continue on to the plane and begin making repairs.  Duct tape to the rescue!

Once the others arrive at the cave containing the Source, Jack and Fake Locke lower Desmond down.  Desmond enters a cavern containing a pool of water having a light emanating from it, and with a large stone stopper in its center.  As expected, Desmond seems immune to the electromagnetic energy in the pool.  He removes the stopper.  The light goes out and the pool of water dries up.  Then a red light appears as the island begins experiencing earthquakes.

Fake Locke gloats, knowing that he was right (the Desmond could be used to destroy the island).  However, turning off the light also made the Man in Black mortal, which they both discover as he and Jack fight at the cave's entrance.  Somewhat frightened, Fake Locke runs off after wounding Jack.  Jack pursues and they fight on a cliff before Fake Locke can reach his boat.  After fighting some more, Kate shoots Fake Locke, and then Jack kicks him over the edge of the cliff.  He falls to a lower cliff and lies motionless... the Man in Black is dead.

After contacting Frank via radio, they realize that anyone who wants to leave on the plane needs to get to the boat now.  Jack says that as the island's protector he's still committed to protecting it, which right now means preventing its self-destruction.  Hurley and Ben decide to stay with him, while Sawyer and Kate jump into the water and swim to the boat.

When they reach the other island, they meet Claire and Kate convinces her to join them in leaving.  The three of them run to the plane which is preparing to take off, and manage to get on.  The plane takes off... Frank piloting with Richard (who now has some grey hair), Miles, Kate, Sawyer and Claire as passengers.

Jack, Hurley and Ben return to the cave.  Jack tells them his plan to restore the light at the Source and try to rescue Desmond.  However, they all can see that Jack is unlikely to live much longer due to his wound.  Jack talks to Hurley, and Hurley agrees to be the island's new protector.  Jack descends into the cave, ties the rope to Desmond and has them pull him up.

After getting Desmond out of the cave, Hurley tells Desmond that he'll get Desmond home, then laments that there's no way to do that.  Ben tells Hurley that he's the island's protector now, and doesn't have to follow Jacob's rules.  Hurley then asks Ben to be his "number two" (fulfilling Ben's lifelong desire to be special), to which Ben happily agrees.

Jack restores the stopper in its place after getting Desmond to safety, which causes the water to resume flowing in the pool, light to return and the earthquakes to stop.  The light envelops Jack.  He wakes up outside the cave, and slowly walks through the bamboo forest, falling to the ground at the same spot where he'd originally found himself after the plane crash.  Vincent the dog appears and lays down next to Jack, as Jack looks up the sky and smiles seeing the Ajira Airlines plane flying overhead, and closes his eyes as he dies.  (This scene exactly mimics in reverse the opening scene of the first episode of the series.)

The series ends with shots of the original plane crash, the only sounds being the wind and the waves.

Commentary about the Flash Sideways

In my opinion, having the flash sideways timeline actually be some sort of purgatory was really lame.  I think it does kind of fit within the overall story of Lost, at least in that it doesn't contradict anything, but it was a lame overly-emotional cop-out.

If it were me, I'd either not have done that at all (that is, just have had season 6 be about island events in the normal timeline... which is what I would've preferred), or would've had it be some weird alternate timeline created by the Incident that had to merge back with the normal timeline in order to defeat the Man in Black.

And having the chapel represent multiple faith/belief systems was lame, too... though it does fit in quite well with the post-modern early 21st century notion that it doesn't really matter what belief system you adhere to, if any, since everyone will go to heaven/ascend anyway no matter what you do in life.  As long as you're "good".  And I also realize the producers probably didn't want to offend anyone by having their depiction of the afterlife be obviously tied to a specific religion.  Though I was amused by seeing the donkey wheel be one of the religious icons on the stained glass window.  That was a fun Easter egg.

I didn't really realize that the flash sideways story was going to be about purgatory until Jack and Christian met in the back room at the chapel.  Until that point, I thought everyone was congregating to somehow merge that flash sideways timeline back into the normal timeline.  Which, now that I think of it, wouldn't have made sense since some of the people in the flash sideways had already died during the normal timeline (e.g. Shannon, Boone, Ilana).

The final scene (I think it was the final scene) of episode "LA X" depicted the island being at the bottom of the ocean.  It's implied in the finale that the flash sideways reality was an idealized version of how each of the castaways' lives would've played out had the island never been able to influence them.  Yet, the island had to exist at some point else there would have been too much change from actual reality.  That, or the scene of the sunken island was just a red herring (which is what I think the sunken island really was all about).

All in all, this ending was pretty emotional, especially with all the reunions that took place in the chapel.  But it was still lame.  I think the season would've been better if the entire flash sideways narrative had been dropped.

Commentary about the Island Events

I'm really glad that Frank had survived the submarine explosion.

Similar to the Oceanic Six from a few seasons ago, this time around it's the Ajira Six: Frank, Miles, Richard (no longer ageless), Sawyer, Kate and Claire.

The finale really wasn't as big as I was expecting.  Though I probably had unrealistic expectations.  Lost is neither scifi nor epic fantasy... it's really more of a drama/soap opera with a little fantasy & scifi mixed in for fun.  When something magical happens on Lost, there's no flash of light, weird incantation or explanation.

As the producers liked to say, the series was always about the people drawn together and marooned on a mysterious island, and not about the island itself.  That is really key to understanding why the series played out the way it did, especially in the finale, and also provides at least some justification for having the flash sideways timeline actually be a post-life purgatory existing outside of time.

Both Jack and Fake Locke thought they could achieve their opposing purposes by having Desmond descend into the Source and "do something".  Which was interesting in itself.  What Desmond actually did, though, was somewhat anti-climactic.  Pulling out a big plug?  That's it?  That was a little lame, too.

When Jacob sent the Man in Black into the Source, his physical body was killed and his soul became the Smoke Monster... a "fate worse than death" as their mother had warned.  Yet when Desmond and then Jack went into the Source, nothing particular happened to either of them.   Perhaps an explanation is that Desmond is already known to be immune to those electromagnetic effects, and when Jack entered that cavern the Source had been extinguished and his restoration of it expelled him from the cavern.

While Jack truly saved the island (as I'd expected would happen for a long time), Hurley replaced him as the island's protector.  I had not predicted that, though saw it coming once he and Ben chose to remain with Jack rather than leave with Kate and Sawyer.  But it's fitting... Jack was the protector when the island needed a hero; Hurley will be the protector now that the island is at peace.

It was a nice touch having the show end how it began, with Jack laying on the ground, the camera focused on his eyes.  Very poetic.  Doubly nice touch having Vincent join him.

Note about the final scene: I learned that the ending quiet scene of airplane wreckage was added by the network itself, and not by the producers, to aid in the transition to local evening news, which started immediately afterward with a commercial break.

Was My Prediction Accurate?

In my prior Lost post, I made a long list of island mysteries I expected to remain unresolved at the end of the series.

I was 100% correct. Unfortunately.

Comments About the Mysteries

While I accept the producers' remarks that Lost was about the people, lost in their lives and stranded on a mysterious island, and not about the island itself, I do think it was a little cheap/exploitative to create so many mysteries that have been intentionally unresolved.  I do believe they did have a high-level game plan that they'd been following all along, but that it wasn't too detailed.  So they made up details as they went along (McGuffins) until they realized they probably couldn't have the show keep going past six seasons.

On the other hand... leaving so many mysteries unresolved does leave a lot of room to be filled by fan fiction.

Dharma Disappointment: My biggest disappointment about the series is realizing that all the Dharma Initiative and Hanso Foundation stuff (as fun as it was) was really nothing more than a huge McGuffin that ultimately didn't have anything to do with anything.

Polar Bears: I think it's funny to read so many comments on the Internet from people complaining about the polar bears never being explained.  They were explained.  Dharma brought them to the island as part of their experiments on animals at the Hydra station island.  Duh.

Project Runway: It was neat how Jacob had the Others construct the runway needed by Frank to land the Ajira Airlines jet.

Jacob's Cabin: Another web site mentioned that the house was probably actually for the Man in Black, who was pretending to be Jacob to (possibly) Ben and others.  If so, this might explain why Ilana and her people became so concerned when they discovered that the circle of ash around the house had a break in it.  (The ash circle would have kept the Man in Black imprisoned there until someone broke that circle.)

Smoke Monster: Based on some other posts I've read and my own opinion, I think that when Jacob tossed his brother down into the Source, the "fate worse than death" was that MiB's soul became separated from his body.  His body was killed by the experience and tossed out/teleported.  His soul manifested as the Smoke Monster, black & monstrous, reflecting how he now felt, perhaps worsened by literally losing his humanity.  That didn't happen to Desmond because he was immune.  And didn't happen to Jack because... I don't know... maybe because he recorked the Source and that teleported him out before separation could occur.  Or perhaps being a "protector" protected him.  I believe the Smoke Monster generally killed whenever it could because it could... a way of expressing his rage against the island and humanity.  Looking back, it really only seemed to spare people it thought it could use or who were protected by Jacob.

Time Travel: Why introduce time travel if it ultimately didn't matter?  McGuffin.

What Happened With Jughead? I think Juliet was in fact successful in causing Jughead to detonate.  The interaction of the atomic energy with the island's energy transported them to the correct current time.  Back in the past, that interaction necessitated completion of the Swan station with its new purpose of corking the island's energy, and changed the island's energy to prevent successful pregnancies going forward. 

Desmond & Charles: I believe that Charles Widmore tried so hard to keep Desmond away from his daughter, Penny, because Charles knew that Desmond would somehow be instrumental in ridding the island of the Man in Black, and wanted to spare Penny the heartbreak of him using Desmond that way.  This, though, is just pure speculation on my part.

The Source Cork: I read elsewhere a good explanation for the purpose of the "cork" Desmond removed and the effects of doing that.  The woman who'd raised Jacob and the Man in Black said that there was a little of that light in all people.  Jacob had told various people that the island was a cork holding in ultimate evil and/or annihilation.  The light of the Source might have been the collective "life force" of humanity... each individual's "life force" being what would "move on" in the after life.  Pulling the "cork" released annihilation... if left uncorked (and thus allowing the island to self-destruct) people would no longer be able to "move on"... they would cease to exist at death.  The Man in Black didn't necessary want to kill all humanity, but he did want to leave the island regardless of the cost, even if it cost all humanity their souls & eternal life.  Which I think is what was at stake.  Because he'd been disembodied by the Source, the Man in Black was tied to it... his inability to leave the island was not really linked to Jacob (or subsequent protectors) but to the Source itself.  It needed to be snuffed out in order for him to be able to leave.  But when it was snuffed out, he lost his immortality (which had been tied to the Source), thus allowing Jack and Kate to kill him.  (Speaking of which... I was quite glad that the Man in Black actually died.  I despise the modern horror story tendency to have bad guys continually escape death like cats having nine lives.)

Note

The post's title refers to the fact that Jack literally saved the island, first by killing the Man in Black (with Kate's help), and then by restoring the light at the heart of the island (thus halting the island's self-destruction).

Want to kill several hours?  Below are two great starting points in learning more about Lost:

• Wikipedia's article about Lost (TV series)
• Lostpedia - The Lost Encyclopedia 
• ABC's home for Lost... catch up on episode you missed

Penultimate

A Synopsis of Lost episode "What They Died For" (aired 5/18/10 on ABC)

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.

When Fake Locke arrives, he arrives as the Smoke Monster and immediately attacks Richard, tossing him out of sight.  Fake Locke then walks up to Ben, telling Ben there are more people to kill and asking him where Charles is.  Ben gives away their location.

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.)
  

NOTE: The post's title directly refers to the fact that this episode is the second-to-last, i.e. penultimate, episode.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

A Synopsis of Lost episode "Across the Sea", which aired on ABC May 11, 2010.

This episode was amazing!

In a flashback, we learn that Kate and Jack literally ran into each other as kids when they were 9 or 10 at an amusement park (you can see Jacob observing them in the background), and that Hurley had actually met Jacob twice... the other time, Jacob appeared at the chicken restaurant Hurley worked at and ordered a meal.  Then in a flashfoward, we learn that Walt returns to the island, with the help of Eloise, and takes over Jacob's role as the island's protector. 

In the normal timeline, Jack and the other survivors of the sub find Desmond.  Desmond tells them he knows how destroy Fake Locke, or at least permanently trap him on the island.  He also hints at the existence of a flash-sideways timeline.

And finally, a flash-sideways revealed that Desmond helps Charlotte and Daniel meet.  When Daniel and Charlotte shake hands, they both fully remember events from the "normal time" on the island.  The episode ends with the flash-sideways Daniel looking at Desmond and announcing he now knows how to merge the timelines.

Okay... I made all that up.  Ha ha!  But it seemed like it could be true, right?  Right?  Heh.

Here's what really happened in "Across the Sea".

Introduction

Other than a few scenes near the end, the entire episode takes place in the past.  Various clues indicate this to be the distant past, possibly as far as 2,000 years ago.  For example, at the beginning of the episode people were conversing in Latin.  There's no hint of the existence of the Egyptian structures that later appear on the island (e.g. the Temple and the statue of Taweret).  And all the other survivors of the shipwreck that brought those people to the island seemed to be dressed in styles that might have been common around 500 A.D.

This episode, while of course not answering every question that it could have, does answer some big questions.  It depicts:

• origins of both Jacob and the still unnamed Man in Black
• origin of the Smoke Monster
• how Jacob became the island's protector, and what he's actually protecting (kind of)
• source (kind of) of the island's weird electromagnetic properties
• origin of the large underground wheel later used separately by Ben (moving the island) and John (leaving the island and stopping the time jumps)... though not why that chamber is so cold
  
• origin and purpose of all the wells to nowhere around the island
• reason the Man in Black could not himself ever kill Jacob
• reason the Others liked to converse in Latin
• identities of "Adam" & "Eve"
• significance of white & black stones/game pieces

Synopsis

Jacob and the Man in Black are twin brothers, with Jacob being the firstborn.  Their biological mother (Claudia) was a shipwreck survivor and is very close to giving birth.  She was found on shore by another woman who apparently had been living on the island a long time, possibly her entire life.  The women initially speak to each other in Latin before their universal translators kick in and they begin using English.  Claudia goes into labor and the other assists with the birthing.  To the surprise of both women, Claudia gives birth to two sons (the firstborn is wrapped in a light-colored cloth, the second-born in a dark cloth).  Claudia names her elder son as "Jacob" but says she doesn't have a name picked for her younger son.

The woman than murders Claudia, and raises the boys as if they were her own children, teaching them to be distrustful of other people.

The episode's title, "Across the Sea", refers to a conversation between Jacob and his mother.  She's raised both boys to believe there is nothing across the sea... that all there is to the world is the island.

While hunting one day, the boys (now approximately 13) discover that there are other people on the island.  Their mother tells them that she'd wanted to keep that secret from them in order to protect them because, according to her, other people are dangerous, inherently bad, and cannot be trusted.

She then blindfolds them and takes them to a cave/tunnel.  A stream flows into the tunnel, while a warm golden light shines out from it.  She explains that that light is life, there's some of it in all people, but people are greedy and would want more of it if they knew of it.  If the island's light were taken or snuffed out, all life everywhere would perish.  Her job is to protect the island and its light, and one day one of the boys will take over that role from her, just as she took it over from her mother.  She also informs the boys that through unspecified means she has prevented them from ever being able to kill each other.

Later while playing, the Boy in Black sees his biological mother's spirit (Jacob does not see her).  Claudia's spirit tells the Boy in Black the truth about his birth, her death, the world across the sea, and how the other people arrived on the island (they were fellow survivors of the shipwreck that had brought her to the island).  After confronting his mother about all this, he decides to go live with his own people, while Jacob decides to remain.

senet game board

Time passes, and the brothers are now adult men, probably between 30 & 40.  Jacob has been occasionally visiting his still unnamed brother, who is still living with the other shipwreck survivors and their descendants.  While the brothers play a game (which the Boy in Black had found on the beach many years ago), the Man in Black tells Jacob that people are in fact as bad as their mother had always claimed, yet he'd still rather be with them.  He also tells Jacob that he found something exciting he wants to show Jacob.  He and the others in the village have discovered the island's unusual electromagnetic properties and have been trying to find the source, believing that it could be a means of leaving the island.

Jacob informs his mother of all this.  She returns him to the tunnel of golden light, warns him that entering it would lead to a fate worse than death, and informs him that it is time for him to take over her role as the island's guardian.  She pours a glass of wine, mutters something in Latin, and hands the cup to Jacob to drink.  He drinks and is now the guardian.  He obviously is not happy about that.

She then visits the Man in Black, who is working in an underground man-made cavern.  He tells her that he could never find that tunnel of light, but decided he might get to that energy another way... by digging wherever an electromagnetic anomaly was found.  He tells her finally succeeded.  He removed a stone from another wall, allowing golden light to shine into the cavern.  She then notices the large wheel on a side wall.  The Man in Black tells her that he and the other men have devised a plan to make the hole in the bigger, install that giant wheel and some other equipment they've made, and that they'll be able to then use the island's energy to leave the island when they turn that wheel.  She knocks him unconscious while pretending to say goodbye to him, and then apparently kills everyone else in the village, fills in the cavern, and destroys their equipment.

Ben turning the big wheel

When the Man in Black wakes up, he goes to the cave she and Jacob live in and kills her.  Jacob retaliates by beating his brother, dragging him to the tunnel of golden light, and dropping him in the stream that flows into it.  Soon after the Man in Black floats into the tunnel, the ground rumbles and the Smoke Monster streams out of the tunnel.

Jacob finds his brother's physical body, drags it back to where his mother's body was left in their cave.  He places both bodies next to each other, and lays next to them a pouch the game pieces from the game he and his brother used to play.  Scenes from the first season episode in which two skeletons (named Adam & Eve by John) were found in a cave laying side-by-side with a nearby game pouch by Jack and Kate are then shown.

Comments

A recurring theme in the episode is that Jacob believes his mother favors his brother over him, even after his brother leaves to live with the other shipwreck survivors.  She never denies this.  However, she does admit at the end that Jacob was all along destined to be her replacement, even though she'd only just then realized that.

Another recurring theme is that the Boy in Black, as well as his adult version, have a "knack" for understanding how things work.  For example, he knew the rules for playing the game he found on the beach.  And he knew how to construct a device that would allow someone to leave the island without a boat.

Why didn't the shipwreck survivors ever build a boat?  Perhaps they ran into the same kind of problem that Desmond encountered when he tried to sail away.

Why did Claudia's spirit only appear to the Boy in Black?  Why couldn't Jacob see her?  Is it related to his ability to understand how things work?

Interesting tidbits from Wikipedia...

Claudia, in Roman Mythology, is the mother of Romulus and Remus (and the names of the Romulan homeworlds in Star Trek). Claudia is also the name of the character played by Allison Janney (who played the unnamed woman who murdered Claudia and raised the twins) on The West Wing.

Next week's episode is "What They Died For".  It is the final episode before the finale on May 23, 2010.  It looks like Fake Locke changes plans while Jack and company free Desmond from the well.  Still don't know what's been going on with Richard, Ben and Miles.

NOTE: This post's title refers to the tunnel leading to the source of golden light in the heart of the island.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Island

A synopsis of Lost episode "The Candidate"

Lost episode "The Candidate" aired on ABC on 5/04/10, otherwise known as Star Wars Day. The current timeline narrative focused on a unsuccessful and ultimately tragic attempt by Sawyer and friends to leave the island.  The flash-sideways focused on Jack & John.

Flash-Sideways

As has been their habit, the show's producers once again created a misleading episode title.  The candidate is John Locke... Jack tells him that he is a candidate for a new experimental spine surgery that Jack's believes could ultimately restore to John full use of his legs.  John refuses.  Jack, even in this timeline unable to let things be, has to find out why.  He eventually discovers that John cannot forgive himself for causing his dad, Anthony Cooper, to end up in a vegetative state due to a plane crash caused by John right after having earned his license to fly.

Some interesting revelations:

• Jack & Claire run into each other.  Claire shows Jack that the only thing their dad had left her was a music box.  I think this is significant, but right now I don't know how.
• While researching the cause of John's paralysis, he runs into Bernard, who'd performed emergency oral surgery on John.  Bernard refuses to breach patient confidentiality, but does tell Jack the name of the person who'd been brought in with John.
  
• Just before regaining consciousness, John can be heard muttering some comments he'd made while on the island in the normal timeline, such as "push the button" and then later "I wish you had believed me".  Perhaps this plays into why Desmond ran him over... his attempt to have John experience his own near-death experience and begin having flashbacks of his time on the island.

Normal Timeline

Jack, Sayid and Fake Locke are now on the Hydra Station island.  Sayid explains to Jack that everyone else in their group had either died during the mortar attack or had run off into the jungle.  Then Fake Locke appears, telling them it's time to go rescue the others from Widmore.

Meanwhile...

different Sawyer

Widmore locked up the others in cages, the same cages Sawyer & Kate were locked up in previously.  Sawyer's not too happy about, and demonstrates how to take a rifle from someone.  Widmore appears, holding a gun to Kate's head to convince Sawyer to cooperate.  Widmore then tells Sawyer that while he, Hurley, Sun and Jin are on a list of people he needs to protect, Kate is not and thus is expendable.

After they're locked up in the cages, Sawyer confides to Kate that, in the cave where names of all past & current candidates were written, Kate's name had been crossed out.

Soon, the power goes out at Widmore's camp, which includes the power to the pylons that keep out the Smoke Monster, who appears and starts killing guards while Jack unlocks the cage and tells the others to follow him.

They rendezvous with Sayid and Fake Locke and make their way to the crashed plane.  Fake Locke goes ahead of the group to take care of the guards, then enters the plane and discovers that it contains C4 explosives in a pack.  Telling the others that there could be more explosives on the plane, Fake Locke insists that they'll instead leave the island using Widmore's submarine.

While on their way there, Sawyer pulls Jack aside and tells Jack his plan to leave the island without Fake Locke, and wants Jack to help by knocking Fake Locke into the water once they're at the dock, to which Jack agrees.

At the dock, Jack does knock Fake Locke into the water while the others rush toward the sub.  A gunfight breaks out between their group and more of Widmore's men who were hiding in the jungle.  Kate gets shot (in the shoulder, I think), so Jack carries her into the sub.  Meanwhile, Claire gets separated from the group, trapped on the dock due to the gunfire.  Sawyer decides Claire can't reach them without risking Fake Locke getting on board, closes the hatch and orders the sub to leave.  As Claire runs after the sub, Fake Locke grabs her and says to her that "you don't want to be on that sub" and then smiles in an evil creepy way.

We soon found out why he said that to Claire.  On the sub, Jack opens his pack to get out some medical supplies to mend Kate's bullet wound, and instead discovers the C4 Fake Locke had taken from the plane.  Attached to the explosives is a timer counting down from about 3 1/2 minutes.

Due to his earlier conversation with Richard, Jack is convinced that the the bomb won't really work.  That, instead, Fake Locke is hoping that they'll try to disarm it, and in so doing cause it to explode.  Jack tells the others he believes that this had been Fake Locke's plan all along... to get them all together and to then trick them into killing themselves because Fake Locke cannot do it himself (probably due to Jacob's protection).

Sayid confirms that the bomb appears to be rigged to explode if the wires are tampered with.  Sawyer doesn't want to wait for their doom and yanks out a wire.  The clock stops, everyone breathes a sigh of relief, then the clock resumes its countdown only now doing that much faster than before.

Hoping they could toss the bomb out of the sub, Sawyer orders the sub to rise but it cannot rise fast enough.  Sayid then tells Jack about Desmond still being alive sitting at the bottom of a well, and that they need to find him because Desmond must be dangerous to Fake Locke.  Jack asks why Sayid is telling him this, and Sayid grabs the bomb and runs as far as he can away from them before the bomb explodes.

The sub ultimately is destroyed and sinks.  Hurley, Kate, Jack and Sawyer make it back to shore.  Frank was last seen on the sub, so don't know whether he survived.  Sun had been trapped on the sub, and Jin decided he'd rather die with her than live without her, especially now that they'd just been reunited after having spent three years apart.

The episode ends with Fake Locke telling Claire that the sub has sunk but that there are survivors, and he needs to leave and finish what he started.

Next week's episode is "Across the Sea".  It is supposed to focus on the struggle between Jacob and the Man in Black and reveal the Man in Black's real motives. And, I think, Jacob teaching the Man in Black how to play backgammon.  Or Othello.

Comments and Questions

Three main characters died in this episode: Sun, Jin and Sayid.  Frank may or may not have died.  After many episodes of assurances from Fake Locke, this episode leaves no doubt as to the Man in Black being evil, and that dire warnings about him are probably true.

What have Ben, Richard and Miles been up to?  We haven't heard from them since they had headed off for the former Dharma/Others camp for more explosives.

When Michael warned Hurley about not blowing up the plane, was it because he knew that Fake Locke would then instead use the sub?  Or, was it because they will still need the plane for something?

Though hinted at by Jack and later by Fake Locke, I believe that the Man in Black is trapped on the island (well, islands) as long as Jacob or any candidates remain alive.

In the flash-sideways, is John's dad the same Anthony Cooper who had caused the deaths of Sawyer's parents in that timeline? (May not really matter.)

I still think that Jack will be the actual replacement for Jacob.  And that this all has something to do with Egyptian mythology.

NOTE: The episode title is a reference to the sci-fi movie and TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which heavily featured a submarine.

The Long Swim Goodnight

A synopsis of Lost episode "The Last Recruit"

Lost episode "The Last Recruit" aired 4/20/10 on ABC.  A main theme in both narratives was that of main characters being drawn together.  The flash sideways narrative, unlike prior installments, followed multiple characters, depicting their lives intersecting.  In the island narrative, Fake Locke's camp merged with Jack's camp.

Flash Sideways

Desmond crossed paths with Claire, introducing her to his lawyer friend Ilana, who it turns out had been looking for her for the reading of Christian Shephard's will.

Jack crossed paths with Clarie & Ilana when he showed up for the reading of the will, too, and learned that he had a sister.  Surprise!  Jack the crossed paths with John after being called in to operate on him.  (Desmond had run over John in "Everybody Loves Hurley".)

Ben and John shared an ambulance ride.  On exiting the ambulance, John passed by Jin & Sun.  Sun seemed quite afraid of John, for as yet unknown reasons... my guess is that her near death experience (she was shot in "The Package") has caused her, too, to experience flashbacks of the island.

Kate, James and Miles crossed paths in the police station.  Then Miles and James crossed paths with Sayid.  They were after Sayid as they had evidence that he'd killed Martin Keamy and his henchmen in a restaurant.

The Island

Fake Locke and Jack have a walk-and-talk, followed by Claire and Jack having a walk-and-talk, and Jack meeting Claire as his sister for the first time.

Zoe confronts Fake Locke at his camp, demanding that Desmond be returned to Widmore else they will begin a remote bomb assault.  She then orders a launch to demonstrate their ability to carry through on that threat.  After she leaves, Fake Locke orders Sayid to kill Desmond.

Fake Locke sends Sawyer on a mission to fetch a boat and bring it to a rendezvous point.  However, Sawyer is still on his own team and instead arranges for himself and his friends to use the boat to go to the Hydra station island, leaving Fake Locke and his followers behind. Claire tags along as she has abandonment issues.  Jack jumps overboard when he tells Sawyer that he doesn't think they should leave the island.

Sawyer arrives on the Hydra station island with Sun, Kate, Claire, Hugo and Lapidus.  Jin & Sun reunite.  Widmore orders Sawyer and his group held at gunpoint while beginning an bomb assault against Fake Locke right after Jack returns to that group.

Questions Answered:

• The Smoke Monster was Christian Shephard every time someone saw him on the island.  (Now for a fun exercise, think about every appearance by Christian Shephard on the island, with this new information in mind.  Kind of like watching The Sixth Sense the second time.)
  
• The Smoke Monster can only appear as dead people.
• Jack is the last recruit.  I predict he will take Jacob's place.  Though I suspect the episode's title also/mainly refers to Jack rejoining Fake Locke's group.
  

Questions Remaining:

• Did Sayid kill Desmond? (I think he didn't. And that that will be very important.)
• We still don't know what happened to Christian Shephard's body. (Zombie?  Nah.)
  
• Why did Widmore order his people to hold Sawyer and the others at gunpoint?
• Were there any survivors of Widmore's attack against Fake Locke (other than Jack and John)?  (I think there weren't.  They haven't had lines for weeks.)
• Is Claire still crazy?
• What are Ben, Miles and Richard up to?
  

Next week, ABC teases us by repeating "Ab Aeterno", the episode that revealed Richard's back story.  Other than wasting a week, the only reason I can think of is that Richard plays a big part in the remaining episodes.   After that, "The Candidate".

Note: This post's title is a reference to the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, and to Jack's swim back to the island.

Fried Chicken Dynamite

A synopsis of Lost episode "Everybody Loves Hugo"

Lost episode "Everybody Loves Hugo" aired April 13, 2010. The flash-sideways portion of the episode continued directly from the theme of last week's flash-sideways narrative... that under the right circumstances, people who had been on the island during the normal timeline can experience memory flashes regarding the island.  And Desmond seems to be on a mission to help people experience those flashes.

In this episode, Hugo meets Libby when she escapes from the field trip she was one with people from the funny farm.  Libby began experiencing memory flashes of the island when she saw a TV commercial featuring Hugo (who is a wealthy philanthropist).  Desmond, now on a mission, encourages Hugo to talk to Libby some more, he does, and then also experiences the same kind of flashes (which Desmond observes from a discreet distance).

Then Desmond tries to kill John Locke by running him over at high speed.

Ah, but why, Grasshopper?

My guess is that Desmond somehow knows that the real John Locke is dead, and decided that this one needed to die, too, in order to bring the two timelines together.

Meanwhile, back on the island...

Michael warns Hugo about the need to prevent Richard and the others from blowing up the crashed plane, implying that really bad things would happen if they were to succeed.  So Hugo blows up the Black Rock. Michael also apologizes for murdering Libby.

Fake Locke is surprised to learn that "the package" is Desmond, especially when Desmond isn't too sure why.  But I think Fake Locke does.  Fake Locke then goes on a walk-and-talk with Desmond, and pushes him down an empty well.  Just like happened to Joseph.  Hmmm...

Sawyer was impatient.

Sayid is getting suspicious.  And is still acting oddly.

Little Jacob shows up to taunt Fake Locke.

Jack realizes that he doesn't really need to be in control of things anymore.  Then is surprised at seeing John.

And every one Fake Locke needs in order to leave the island are now together in one place.  Bwuhahahaha!

Next week... "The Last Recruit".

Note: This post's title is a reference to the movie Napoleon Dynamite, Hugo's financial success with a fried chicken restaurant chain in the flash-sideways, and to the use of dynamite as a plot device.

The Traveling Scotsman

A Synopsis of Lost episode "Happily Ever After"

Lost episode "Happily Ever After" aired April 6, 2010.  My prediction was half-fulfilled... Desmond did call at least one person "brother" but it was a Hobbit, not Jin.

"Happily Ever After", I must admit, was not what I was expecting.  I'd assumed the episode would follow the narrative format of most of this season's prior episodes... jumping back and forth between what's going on on the island and in the flash-sideways.

I'd also assumed that the episode's title was meant to imply that Desmond and Penny were happily together in the flash-sideways world.

Instead, the episode more closely followed the format of "Flashes Before Your Eyes"... nearly the entire episode took place in the flash-sideways narrative.

Another shared aspect between the two episodes occurred when Desmond meets Eloise.  In both episodes, she acts like someone who a) knows what's really going on with Desmond, and b) aside from that knows much more than she's willing to tell.

I'd read elsewhere that the show's producers had promised that there was a lot more to these flash-sideways than merely depicting what people's lives would've been like had the island sunk 30 years ago. And that the flash-sideways would get tied back to the main island narrative.  "Happily Ever After" is the first episode, I think, to have revealed clues as to how the flash-sideways and the island will tie back together.  And why there even is a flash-sideways.

Well, enough analysis... time for the synopsis.

• Desmond wakes up and tries to kill Charles.
• Jin asks what's going on.
• Desmond is then dragged literally kicking and screaming into a wooden shack in which someone had just been accidentally electrocuted.
• Jin asks what's going on. Yes, again.
• Charles flips the switch to power the giant donuts Desmond is sitting in between, at least until he breaks his chair and begins kicking and screaming, because then he's no longer sitting.  But he's still between the donuts. Mmm... Donuts... Then there's a flash of light, like when Ben moved the island.
• Charlie drives Desmond into the water and shows him a note written on the palm of his hand, "Not Penny's Boat".
• I decide I'm getting tired of hearing "You All Everybody".
• Desmond later has a vision of Penny.
• Daniel tells him he's in love with a red-haired woman he's never met.
• Penny shakes Desmond's hand causing him to faint.
• And Sayid tells Charles' team to run away and tells Desmond to come with him.

Next week on Lost, "Everybody Loves Hugo".  My prediction... this episode, possibly, revolves around Hugo.  Maybe.