Lost - S6E5&E6 Lighthouse & Sundown - Analysis

Going forward through Lost Season 6, I believe my recaps and analysis will become more condensed, focusing on a few theories and observations as opposed to an in-depth analysis each week.

There are three reasons for my decision - the first is due to the overwhelming response I have had to the Lost Blogging Collective project. There are now 15 regular members, as well as the random additions through my Weekly Round-Up, which means you the reader have an abundance of recaps and analysis to read through, many of which are far better at this than I am. So, rather than try to swim in a small pool with big fish, I am instead going to provide my own observations to "fill in the gaps" as it were.

The second reason is that I am wanting to concentrate more on Essay-type postings - expect to see a lot more coming soon. This, I believe, is what I am better at than analysing each episode.

Thirdly, Lost at the moment has thrown us all for a loop - we not only have to try to guess the answers, but often the questions as well. There is simply no foundation to base many of our theories on, and I am not one for blind guesswork. So I would rather take my time to look back over the previous seasons and provide support to the episodes, rather than try to predict the future.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new format and outlook for the blog and hopefully I'll have some Essays published soon for you all to read. Here's my thoughts on Episode 5 - Lighthouse and Episode 6 - Sundown.


All Apologies
What else could I say?


Well, Lost is certainly on a good run at the moment. This was without a doubt one of my favourite Jack episodes, which is saying a lot as I generally don't much like Jack episodes. In fact, White Rabbit and Through The Looking Glass are the only other two off-the-top-of-my-head Jack-centric episodes that I can remember enjoying this much.

Secondly, as you may or may not realise, I have a very love/hate relationship with Damon & Carlton penned episodes. I think you could split them down the middle - half I hate the writing, half I love the writing. As with everything in life, it is unfortunately the negatives that I remember the most - so much so I was watching this episode thinking "I have to make a post about how THIS is how a Lost episode should be written, and scoff at Damon & Carlton again". I could have simply not mentioned this fact, but I feel I have to publicly eat humble pie - with the exception of a fairly useless "Kate" scene, this was a brilliantly written script. It helps that the great Jack Bender directed!

Anyway, enough with the love-fest, on with the show.


Denial, Revisited
Same old game that never ends,
If I could say all the right words,
I know I could make you stay.


Let us begin by revisiting my Crazy Theories from last week's episode. First - Hurley will become the new "Jacob" (or Ultimate Good) and Jack will become the new "Smokey" (or Ultimate Bad - these new nicknames serve for the fact that we have no idea who is good or bad at this point in time!).

I think this episode served to show us that, in an alternate world, Jack could have grown to be a stable, balanced person without constantly needing to be needed. However, back in the 'original' favour world, Jack is a crazy, irrational, violent jerk who is prone to delusions of grandeur. For instance, upon seeing the Lighthouse compass-cum-mirror machine, I for one would be interested to learn if all my friends' names were on that list; who was scratched out, and who wasn't? Were the Dharma folk and the Others that I knew also on the list? Other people from my off-Island life?

Jack, however, only cares that he is on the List, that his childhood home is in the mirror. He doesn't even ponder for a second that it was perhaps his father's name on the list, his father's home, his father whose makeshift gravesite he had just visited a few moments previous to be reminded that his body is still missing and floating around the Island seemingly reanimated. Nope, Jack immediately assumes it is his name on the List, and flies into a fit of irrational rage and judgement of Jacob and his goals.

And Jacob seemed to be expecting this, wanting it almost. It certainly seemed to me that Jacob was grooming a calm, obedient Hurley and a mad, judgemental Jack, giving my theory that we are looking at the next Jacob and Smokey a huge thumbs up from my perspective.


I Am The Walrus
I am he,
As you are he,
As you are me,
And we are all together.


My second Crazy Theory put forward that Jacob and Smokey are either two aspects of the same person, or else it is Jacob who is the 'villain' and Smokey who is the 'hero'. Well, both Lighthouse and Sundown depicted Jacob and Smokey as master manipulators who use their pawns to win at all costs.

Jacob made a deal with Dogen where he would save his son, if Dogen gives up his life to serve Jacob forevermore. Sure sounds a lot like Richard there. Smokey has made a similar deal, it would appear, with Sayid - kill the people who tried to kill you, and I will deliver Nadia from the dead. While this may seem more evil on paper, keep in mind that it is quite likely Jacob's fault to begin with that Nadia is dead.

There was a sweet moment in Sundown where, for almost no reason, it seemed that Sayid would turn his back on Smokey and stay at the Temple. It lasted a matter of seconds, but for that small period of time I thought Sayid could be truly redeemed. I was proved wrong when the mayhem began and instead I think the image that will forever sum up Sayid for me has "crazy horror movie villain" written all over it.


Back to the theory - the more we learn of these two (Jacob and Smokey), the more similar they appear - manipulating lives, using the dead and the living, offering impossible deals, giving vague instructions to lackeys forced to remain loyal through no real choice of their own, dangling carrots and pulling puppet strings. A lot of blood has been shed because of these two and their "game" or "experiment", and I am beginning to find myself aligning with the crowd that believe the Alt timeline is showing us a world, a still imperfect but much improved world, without the influence of Jacob or Smokey - I know which world I prefer so far.


Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
Another turning point,
A fork stuck in the road,
Time grabs you by the wrist,
Directs you where to go.


Now, in the interests of keeping this streamlined, I am going to run through the major plot points of these two episodes and provide a little commentary. First off, Hurley was on fire this episode. His dialogue cracked me up, his mission was vintage Lost adventuring. I also got a kick out of listening to Jorge Garcia's podcast and discovering that the instructions on Hurley's arm were intentionally written, by Jorge himself, to make no sense no matter how often you pause the screen and analyse it - so don't try guys!


Secondly, I'm going to stop trying to make sense of Island geography. White Rabbit Trails made some excellent maps a while back trying to map out the Island properly, and I have been trying to do the same, but between these new structures popping up out of nowhere, to the lengths of time changing dramatically between different camps travelling to and from certain locations - I'm just going to give up now and go along for the ride.

So, in that positive spirit I am glad to see we are back to good structural buildings and good Smokey CGI. Nothing kills my enjoyment of Lost more than the occasionally terrible CGI scenes, so I was very impressed with Smokey's outings in Sundown. But, I'm getting ahead of myself a little.



Who's That Girl?
Look into my eyes.
Back to plan B.

Now, I can take no credit for this (Fishbiscuitland, however, can), but I think the mystery of David's parentage can be put to rest. Compare these two pictures, and the blueness of David's eyes, and Juliet certainly gets my vote. The first is Juliet's house in Season 3, the second is David's mother's house (Juliet?) in Season 6. Take note of the hats and the mirror.



Last thing I want to say about David's arc - I thought for a moment that the message left on David's answering machine referred to a "Dr Rutherford" and was convinced Shannon's dad hadn't died in this timeline. However, it would appear I was wrong - it was a "Dr Summerland". Oh well, we can but dream sometimes.

Three pieces of praise I want to heap upon the details shown in this Alt story - one, kudos on getting the date right (Friday 24th September 2004), not one of Lost's strong points. Second, perfectly framing this shot to make me believe David was going to look out into the crowd, mess up his routine and hate Jack for the rest of his life.


Finally, this brilliant usage of the word Candidate. It's the little things that make us fans happy.



Devil Inside
Here comes the woman,
With the look in her eye,
Raisd on leather,
With flesh on her mind.


On-Island, we had crazy Claire to contend with. Between her axe-wielding insanity and Sayid's complete meltdown, I'm getting a spooky, horror-movie cult vibe from the Infected crew. I just hope Kate and Sawyer don't start turning into characters from a Rob Zombie film any time soon.


I was very happy to see Justin alive and well (at least for a short while), but then he had to go and ruin it by acting like a typical Other - why he had to make it so clear that he was going to kill Claire, I don't know. Had he been all "me and you Jin, we'll just run away," I think Jin would have been a lot quicker to act. As it stands, his bloodthirst cost him dearly, and he can now be added to the long list of departed Others.


Goodbye, Caeser's #2, #3 and #4, we hardly knew ye. Am I right in understanding that the only "Others" who we know by name now are Richard, Ben, Cindy, Zack, Emma and Ilana? That's pretty sad. The rest of the Others remind me of that large group of redshirts from Season 4 - I can almost see the flaming arrows now.

I'm also left pondering - where are Sawyer and Jin at this point in time, and what exactly are they thinking? I feel rather sorry for Sawyer, Kate, Jin, Sun, Miles and to a certain extent Ben - Jack and Hurley have Jacob looking out for them, Frank seems to be rolling along in the Ilana train nice and fine, but the rest must have no clue what in the heck to think or do anymore. At this point, I'd be throwing in the towel, sitting myself down on the crowd and just accepting whatever "fate" the Island had in store for me.

Speaking of fate, what exactly does Smokey have in mind for the Island? Is he going to nuke it? Destroy the donkey wheel? Sink the Island? Transport everyone to the Alt timeline? My theory, and this is purely guesswork, is a little of everything - he's going to use some new deus ex machina to send some people (Sayid and Sawyer for example) into the Alt world, where the promise of Nadie and Juliet lie. He's going to send some people through the donkey wheel and into the outside, 'original' world (Claire, Kate, etc) where they can hope to rebuild their fragile lives. Finally, when everyone has chosen their destination, he (and perhaps a select few followers) are going to propel themselves into the sky, back to the home planet, and the resulting power needed to do so is going to destroy the Island and sink it to the ocean floor, killing anyone left alive (Rose, Bernard, Vincent). That is, if no-one can stop him first!

Three final things to say about the on-Island events in Sundown - Kate should have really told Claire that Aaron was with her mother, who is out of a coma btw. I think that might have provoked a stronger reaction. Other than that, Kate reminded me very much of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in this episode.


Why didn't Claire just mess up the Other's circle of ash?


And did Ben make it safely into Ilana's secret tunnel?



Killer Instinct
I never doubted for a second,
That it would be hard,
But the will to be alive,
Greater than any ideals.


Okay, now onto Sayid's Alt timeline life. Not a great deal to talk about here - a good mixture of positive surprises (Nadia isn't Sayid's! Keamy is the world's happiest loan shark! Jin!!) and one missed opportunity (I am determined I want to see Mr Tom "Friendly" one more time, and having him as the school bus driver would have been perfect!). Other than that, it was an enjoyable but not life-changing story, which at this point in the season is no bad thing, it just leaves little to really talk about.


Apart from - why is Jin there and not held up at airport security? Where is Sun? When will we get some answers!? I'm hoping we get at least one episode of Sayid and Jin running around like some multi-cultural Starsky & Hutch meets James Bond, roughing up bad guys for information and destroying the head of some shady, underground mafia-type group... and I think that's enough crazy theories for this week.

Skins - S4E5 - Freddie/Effy

To brief those who are not in the know - Skins is a television programme dealing with the madness that surrounds many a teenager's life in Britain today. It shows the story of the kids who are brought up with drugs, sex, alcohol, partying and various mental diseases as the heart of their lives. Often it is funny, often it is outrageous, often it is eye-opening and, like tonight, it is sometimes very harrowing.

I've never had reason to blog about Skins previously (and with all my Lost stuff, I doubt I will find much time to blog about it in the future) - but as this episode says, it is not the past or the future that is important, it is the now, and right now I would like to heap praise upon the writers and young actors for dealing with a topic usually skimmed over in most media - psychotic depression.

In typical Skins fashion, the core story is usually played out in an overly melodramatic, hyper-realistic method, causing the lines to blur between satire, reality and entertainment. To sum up this episode in short terms - Effy and Freddie have been given run of Effy's mother's home while she is away, and are using it to host their own private 24/7 party - drink, drugs and lots of sex. While this is amusing for some time, Freddie begins to come down to reality and face up to his responsibilities at college, while Effy continues her high - waking up every morning with vodka in her cereal.

Freddie tries to get Effy to clean up her act with him, but she essentially pushes him away - if it were the '50s, she'd be calling him a square. Things begin spiralling strangely out of control for Effy - ranting about death, throwing parties and hiding under the bed, having delusions of "them" breaking through into the "real" world. Having experienced his own mother suffering depression and killing herself when he was young, Freddie begins worrying that Effy is suffering psychotic depression and seeks the advice of his grandfather - in essence, Freddie blames his father for his mum dying as he feels his dad should have "done more for her" rather then trusting her to professional care.

With this in mind, Freddie tries his best to contain Effy's delusions by himself, and to keep her grounded in the real world, but things come to a head during a festival in which Effy suffers a nervous breakdown. Freddie takes her to visit his grandad, who convinces Freddie that the time has come to get Effy to some professional care. Unfortunately, Effy had already managed to sneak away and, in the most horrific scene since Chris dying in Season 2, she has slit her wrist in an attempt to commit suicide.

I seriously worried for a moment that the episode was going to end on this terrible note and that, on reflection, the entire series would have been about Effy's spiralling depression. Thankfully, they manage to get Effy to the hospital on time and she is next seen in a hospital bed, recovering. Freddie goes to see her, but again she pushes him away, causing him to rush back to her home and burn her gruesome mural of death. Cook arrives as Freddie is doing so and, in a very confusing and emotional scene, tries to help Freddie by showing that he is taking too much burden on himself and that he, Cook, will try to help him through it.

All in all, it was a very confusing and horrifying episode, which although it doesn't sound complimentary, it is rather commendable. The writers, director, and above all the actors, did a tremendous job portraying a terrible mental affliction in a brutal and realistic manner. (Although the timescales were a bit strange - Effy seemed to spiral too far from party-girl-on-the-edge to full-blown-psychotic-break within a few hours).

I really don't know what to make of this episode - it is as though the series has taken a strange turn into utter bleakness, but will return to rather relative fun-loving mayhem next week. The show has already touched upon mental disease (Season 1 and 2 era Cassie), and has had its share of dark episodes (Season 1 Episode 8 "Effy" was one of the worst (in terms of content) and probably where Effy's spiral of depression begun; as was Season 3 Episode 8, again "Effy", which was where her mental psychosis really began showing in a violent and manic way).

The show usually has a more light-hearted episode following these darker-than-black ones, and next week's "JJ" looks to follow that tradition. Hints were already dropped this week with JJ, Thomas and Pandora making little remarks and gestures about love and relationships, and it would appear that, finally, JJ's 'girlfriend' will be appearing. (I had read at the start of the season that JJ's girlfriend would be a major new character, but with only 3 episodes remaining (JJ, Effy, 'everyone') that doesn't appear to be the case - still, we take what we can get).

Rumour has it that there will be a Season 5, but with an all new cast. While Season 3 was a big departure from Season 2, at least we still had Effy and, to a lesser extent Pandora, to carry on the 'main' storyline, I wonder what Season 5 will be like with an all-new cast. If the past is anything to go by, there will be a light-hearted season with a dot of blackness, followed by a depressive season with spots of brightness (and I am now beginning to sound like a weather report).

Whatever the case may be, it appears from looking over the previous 4 seasons, Freddie's college report was an apt one - is the Future just History repeating?

Lost - S6E4 The Substitute - Analysis pt 3 - Bulletpoints

So, here we are at our final part of this Analysis: Bulletpoints. Please read the Theories and Episode Review segments if you have not done so already. These Bulletpoints are simply little details that wouldn't fit anywhere in either the Review or the Theories.


I'm Wondering, Fellas
If You've Heard The News


Off-Island
- Perhaps Locke just really likes the rain?
- The whole Locke/Helen/'Jack' scene was so beautifully one - expertly performed and brilliantly written, I just wish the writers could tie up all their loose ends in such a way (Walt, Libby). Here, the writers shrugged off the whole Locke & Jack connection in a simple and wonderful way - without the need to draw it out over 10 episodes, numerous flashbacks and multiple monologues.
- Did the 1977 Others have some mode of transportation (such as a boat)? Did the Island sink in 1977, or at another point in time (ie did the bomb cause the volcano to sink the Island in the 1980s, for example)? Finally, are the 'new' Ethan and Ben normal people in this timeline, or are they undercover Others? - These are three very related questions that should ideally be answered sometime soon.
- We really need to study Anthony Cooper's timeline and figure out how Locke can be in a wheelchair yet still have a relationship with this man.

On-Island
- Frank totally broke the 4th wall - he is like a Season 1-era Hurley, only far less subtle. However, like Ferris Beuller, his addressing the audience is forgivable.
- Smokey repeating Locke's "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do" line (twice!) was a pretty cool moment, but totally left me all "WTF Mate?!"
- Finally, it has been said before, but the Ajira flight leaves me completely confused on all aspects. I am sure I'll need to re-watch several episodes to even begin to understand the entire timeline of events, but I wouldn't be surprised if there turns out to be more than two timelines running concurrently on the show. Even if this turns out to be the case, it still doesn't explain why Sun was left behind on the plane while everyone else flashed back to 1977. I could argue that she isn't a Candidate, but then neither is Kate, so that doesn't make sense. "WTF Mate?!"

Misc
- Speaking of the Locke/Helen scene, I really don't like Carlton and Damon written episodes. "The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham" was the perfect way to tie up Walt, and Abaddon's, storyline. I'm sure if the likes of Elizabeth Sarnoff had been the lead scribe, it would have been handled well. Instead, D&C dropped the ball completely. Even the highly emotional Ben-killing-Locke scene was a bit ridiculous. Ben saves Locke, just to find out that Locke has Jin's ring and knows Eloise Hawking's name, then kills him... yeah, what? Sorry, personal rant over - I just hope that D&C do not write the final episode. I have always been a bit hit-and-miss with whether I like the episodes they have wrote or not, and lately it has been no more than yes.
- On a more positive note, in honor of Sawyer's impromptu disco, all the titles across the three parts this week have been Iggy Pop lyrics. How many of you noticed? Leave your name in the comments section to win a NoPrize, but for now, it's time to -


Get Up
And Get Out

Lost - S6E4 The Substitute - Analysis pt 2 - Episode Review

For this week's analysis, I have had to split my post into three parts - Theories, Episode Review and Bulletpoints.

Gotta Break It Loose

"The Substitute" wastes no time in providing great scenes to support my Nature vs Nurture theory. To surmise - I believe that this season, and in particular the 'new' timeline, has less to do with the practicalities of Destiny and more to do with the philosophical debate of Nature vs Nurture - whether a person's actions are defined by their surroundings, their upbringing and their peers (Nurture) or if we are all inherently born evil or good, if our soul exists deep within us causing us to act on an instinctual level (Nature). The two debates - Free Will vs Destiny and Nature vs Nurture - can be somewhat compared - is it our Destiny to live out our inner Nature, or do we have the Free Will to choose, to not let how we were Nurtured guide us through the rest of our lives?

For the first few episodes ("LA X" and "What Kate Does") I had firmly placed myself on the side of Nature in this debate. In Hurley I saw a man deeply depressed and putting on a brave show for the public, just as he had done in the 'original' timeline. I saw Kate, an angry and selfish murderer, Jack, a Doctor with a debilitating 'hero complex', Sawyer, always looking for the long con, and Rose, a woman I thought was lying to her husband about a terminal disease to save him from pain.

Upon closer inspection, I may have chose my side too early. In the characters Locke, Hurley, Rose and Ben we see good examples of Nurture being the deciding factors to our soul. This 'new' Locke - smiling face-down on the ground as the occasional cruelty of life rains down upon him in the form of a garden sprinkler, is smiling. He seems happy almost, able to take a look at his situation and see the humour in it. This is not the same angry-Natured Locke we knew before.

This time around, he has his Helen. He has a relationship, at least in some form, with his father. Fate seems to be stopping him from making bad choices - scraping Hurley's car, for instance - and rewarding him for looking on the bright side of life - with a new job. Although he still has his shortcomings, his feelings of shame, being unjustly put upon by life, his Nature to lie, he has been Nurtured and rewarded for leaving those bad feelings behind and trying to change for the better.

Instead of lying to Helen, Locke makes the choice, utilises his Free Will, to tell her the complete truth of his situation, of his deceit - leaving himself bare to punishment and rejection. Instead, Helen rewards him, Nurtures him, reassures him, and he goes on to a better job and with a happy wedding looming in the near future. Locke, it would appear, is a case for Nurture truly defining a person.



All Aboard For Funtime

Hurley, at least this 'new' Hurley, is the embodiment of a man entirely comfortable with his surroundings and his life. I take back what I said previously - perhaps in this timeline he is genuinely happy and lucky.


Rose, it would appear, has come to terms with her disease in a more open an honest way than she had originally. Perhaps her and Bernard were visiting Australia for some reason other than seeking a healer. She at least appears to be exuding a happy and accepting disposition, one she had not truly developed until crashlanding on the Island during the 'first' iteration.

And then there is Ben. Although we have yet to see for sure, and although 'this' Ben retains some of the 'former' Ben's needling, needing, whining personality, I would be highly surprised if he turned out to be a mass murderer. Sure, he is an annoyance - much like Dr Arzt, who I hope to see pop up in these school scenes - but does he really strike you as a psychotic fiend?


So the argument has now taken a turn to the side of Nurture. Perhaps Smokey is right, perhaps with the Island gone and Jacob being unable to meddle in these fragile lives, our characters can experience a better Nurturing, can develop into mature, healed individuals, instead of the broken, Lost men and women we have come to know. For now all we can do is observe.


Seize The World
And Shake It Upside Down



Back now to the 'original' timeline, where we find a humbled and beaten Richard. Like Dogen and the rest of the Others, it seems the more humanised Richard becomes, the more endearing his character truly is.

For some reason, being humiliated, beaten up and left in fear of his seemingly-immortal life helps Richard connect with us, the mortal audience, without taking away any of his mystery and intrigue. I sincerely hope we get to see more of him this season, particularly I want a whole episode dedicated to Richard. In fact, he is my Do and Don't wishlist for the rest of the series.

Do focus on the following characters - Richard, Smokey, Hurley, Libby, Miles, Walt, Charles Widmore, Christian Shepherd, Mr Paik, Ben, Desmond, Claire, Charlie, Mr Eko, Daniel and Vincent. Well, one can dream.

Don't both with Jin, Sun, Sayid, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Ilana and Frank - not that I think these are all bad characters, I just feel I have seen all from them that I want to see.

As much as this is my personal preference, from a subjective point of view these are who I think will be getting focused on before the end - Jack, Jin/Sun, Sayid, Sawyer, Hurley, Richard, Ben, Ilana, Jacob/Smokey, Miles and Claire, with perhaps an ensemble episode thrown in there somewhere. Let's see how accurate I am when the final episode airs, and remember I want to remain spoiler free - that includes information on what episode titles are and who they focus on, so please, don't leave any information in the comments section!


Nothing Less
I Don't Want Second Best



Now, it doesn't take the most expect sleuth to deduce that the scales appear to be depicting who was 'winning' between white and black. Black seemed to be slightly ahead of white, but all that subtlety went straight out the cave door along with white's stone. Smokey certainly seems confident that he has won and now it is time to claim his prize.

I don't doubt for a second that Smokey is entirely wrong and that Jacob is still very much in this 'game', so, with the obvious out of the way, here is something a bit less obvious to ponder. Compare for a moment the drawings in Smokey's tunnel lair with the list in Jacob's cave, and what do you notice?




It's 1969, Baby


Something I immediately noticed about the List was the absence of Kate, as well as the inclusion of both Pace (Charlie) and Straume (Miles), both scored out. Now, either this means that death is not the only way to be stricken off the List, else it means that Miles is, technically speaking, dead. At least a little bit. Hopefully this will be tied in to his 'powers' in a future episode, but for now it serves for some good debating.

Now, it is my opinion that neither Kate nor Sun are 'good' people. The likes of Jack, Sayid, Sawyer, etc have certainly been driven to do 'bad' things throughout their life, but each one of them have at least repented and tried to make up for it by doing good. Kate and Sun have not.

I have stated my feelings on this many times before, so for now I will simply say that I think Jin (or Ji Yeon) is the Kwon in question.

On another note, I have to wonder - do Jacob and Smokey make the trip down the ladder every time they need to cross a name off the List? I would have loved to have seen a spooky 'auto-cross' feature happen when someone loses Candidate status, but I guess these guys like their chalk.


Then again, if your main hobbies are playing centuries-long games and making epic tapestries, perhaps a long trek into a dangerous cave to cross a name off a List falls under the category of "fun"?


No Fun
To Be Alone



A lot of people seem to have a problem with Ben's eulogy. I personally found it very poignant and beautifully revealing. I have high hopes that Ben can still come out of this season a winner, a hero, or at the very least repent somewhat and side with the 'good' guys, whoever that may be.

Then again, his immediate reaction when confronted by Ilana is to lie. Nature vs Nurture rears its head again here as, no matter how many times Locke, Jack, Smokey, 'Alex', Alex, Juliet etc try to convince Ben to change, no matter how many times he is humbled, been manipulated, and appeared to change, his essence will always remain that of schemer, liar, manipulator and shock merchant - selling sensationalist statements, such as killing Locke, without any hint of context or explanation. I can only wonder how Sun, Frank and Ilana are feeling right now.

Probably the same way the rest of us feel - we all have questions, but none of us have the answers. We're all very much still Lost.

Lost - S6E4 The Substitute - Analysis pt 1 - Theories

What an episode this turned out to be! Normally I would have wrote about half a page of notes - this week it totals 5! As such, I have decided to split this Analysis into 3 segments - Theories, Episode Review and Bulletpoints.

As a new feature, I am going to begin each analysis with my Crazy Lost Theory Of The Week. This week, however, there is a quadruple dose of crazy! First off, I am going to go completely out on a limb and predict my own theory for the finale of Lost - Lost will end with Hurley accepting his calling as Candidate to become the new Jacob and protect the Island from evil, led by the new 'Smokey' - Jack!

Well, okay, maybe not that crazy, but I certainly believe that out of all the Candidates, Hurley is the most likely to be selected as the new protector of the Island. To begin with, he has an obvious relationship to all the Numbers (and I for one am very glad to see them coming back into the plotline! They have been sorely missed).


The rest of the characters have nothing more than a fleeting relationship with the Numbers, for instance Jack being seated in row 23 of the original Oceanic flight 815 (even that is a poor connection, as in this 'new' timeline he appears to be in row 24).

More importantly, Hurley clearly cares a lot about every single person on the Island - he has gone out of his way to integrate everyone into the group, even the likes of Sawyer and Charlie.

Since the beginning of Season 4, Hurley has made it his determined mission to change his status from lovable liability (Charlie: "You're too big! You won't fit in the boat!") to caring colonel (Miles: "Hugo has assumed the leadership position, so that's pretty great."). I believe it is no mere coincidence that Jacob chose him to lead the Losties into the Temple. If anyone is going to be taking over from Jacob, it is Hurley who gets my vote.


Though I Try To Die
You Put Me Back On The Line



My second Crazy Theory is hopefully a point that will raise some discussion - what if we have it all wrong? What if Jacob is the real 'bad' guy, or my personal belief, maybe both Jacob and Smokey are aspects of the same being. Fishbiscuitland puts it very eloquently, the gist of which is thus - Jacob represents Satan in his traditional form (an angel who believes that free will, even if it represents making all the wrong choices, is far more important than fate, even if your destiny is to make all the right moves). Smokey, in this context, represents the traditional Christian God - no will other than that of his.


This throws up some really interesting juxtapositions. For starters, having the wild, punk-loving, free-living conman Sawyer teaming up with the fate-enforcing Smokey is an interesting pairing, especially considering that possible former-slave/errand boy Richard turned his back on Smokey in favour of the more choice-giving Jacob, which brings up my next point.

Jacob and Smokey are two parts of the same person. It seems to me that in "The Incident", Jacob was rooting for a definitive endpoint to the looping/game playing ("It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.") whilst Smokey was trying to convince him that nothing will ever change - the game continues on forever ("They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.")


Now though, it would seem that Smokey is trying to find that definitive ending ("I want to go home.") and if Smokey is to be believed, Jacob is trying to find a Candidate to take over from him and continue the loop. If we try to analyse these two characters in the context of Free Will vs Fate, Jacob seems to firmly be on the side of Fate, having touched these characters at pivotal points in their lives, points that would ensure their arrival upon the Island.

But, when the highest price was at stake, his own life, Jacob gave Ben the ultimate choice - to kill him, or walk away ("I want you to understand one thing. You have a choice."). Smokey as well seems to be all about the choices - giving Sawyer 3 of them in the Cave o' Names - simultaneously painting Jacob as an uncaring puppet-master, pulling at the strings of Fate and destiny. One thing that shines through both of these examples of choice - just like with many of the choices Sawyer, Locke and Ben have given each other throughout the course of the series - these are very manipulative moves dressed up as choice.


The similarities between Smokey and Jacob remind me of the rather famous anime/manga series "Dragonball". To put it shortly - the main villain in Dragonball is the evil side of the God character, who has been expunged and taken form as a separate being.



I'm The World's Forgotten Boy



If it is true that Jacob and Smokey are one in the same, then perhaps this mysterious boy represents a time when the two were consolidated into the one. In "Dragonball", an unnamed character tries to ascend to the role of guardian of Earth (commonly thought of as the God role). However, he harbours too much evil inside of him, as all beings do. To try to make himself worthy, this person splits himself into two separate beings - Kami, the good side, and Piccolo, a being of pure evil.

This allows Kami to become guardian/God, but the Demonic Piccolo wreaks havoc upon the world. Throughout the series, Piccolo stages many attacks on Earth, before being eventually defeated. As he is dying, however, he creates a spawn/child called Piccolo Jr. This new Piccolo is even stronger than the first, and causes even worse havoc on the heroes of the Dragonball world. Eventually, mostly through proximity to the 'good' guys, Piccolo reforms as an anti-hero figure, and in a moment of desperation, the two sides, Kami and Piccolo, finally merge to harness their complete power and become whole again.

This, simply, is the basis for my theory - Jacob and Smokey were once whole, and are now two separate beings constantly at war with each other. Neither represents Good nor Evil, Fate nor Free Will. They are the ultimate contradictions of each other.

(On a sidenote, if you completely disagree with me on this point - perhaps then this kid is some kind of "Referee" figure in this game, ensuring the rules are adhered to? Let's just hope he isn't another Sheriff!)


What we do know of Smokey makes little sense until we begin to consider how Jacob could factor into things. We first meet "the smoke monster" as a terrifying Judge, Jury & Executioner figure, slaying the likes of Eko for refusing to repent, while saving Locke. There is also the matter of the "flashes" - he has subjected Eko, Kate and Juliet to these "flashes", yet we are still not sure what they exactly are. We originally believe them to be the 'monster' judging the persons soul, deciding if they deserved to live or die. Then, as we began to understand that Smokey can take on different forms, we considered whether it was scanning the victim, stealing their identity for later use. Now, I wonder if he was double-checking whether the person was a Candidate or not, and thus 'fair game' to be slaughtered.

The pilot, Seth Norris, certainly didn't seem to get much of a judgement. I wonder if Frank (assuming Bram is correct and he is a Candidate) would have been subject to the same mistreatment, or be given a 'free pass'? (I also like to think that if Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje had wished to stay in the show, Mr Eko would have been a Candidate and thus saved from this smoke-based demise).

Smokey is later revealed to be somewhat of a slave to his own destiny - being at the beck and call of Ben Linus, described as a 'security system' for the Island and serving to protect it. But wait, isn't that what Jacob is supposed to be doing?


Perhaps SmokeLocke is correct, perhaps there is nothing to defend. As Benny Biggs at Finally Lost puts it, what does the Island need protected from if no-one can see it or reach it without Jacob's permission?

Perhaps this has all been one huge game - a game of Chinese whispers, with each "Jacob" choosing candidates simply because the previous "Jacob", or indeed "Richard", figure told him to do so. It has long been believed that Jacob and Richard represent the Dalai and Panchen Lamas - each one seeking out the reincarnation of the other.

Imagine being a child, a young Locke or Ben or Richard, and being told that great things are expected of you, that you are the representation of an old and mysterious ruler. Imagine being a Charles Widmore, an Eloise Hawking, a Dogen - how would you react, faced with decades of apparent evidence?

I'm sure many would continue on the lineage as they have been instructed, but consider for a moment the Richard/Locke/compass paradox - Richard presented a compass to a young Locke as part of the "Lama" test, which Locke failed. Later, Richard forces the compass on Locke, at the behest of Smokey, who he is obeying as at one point in time Locke proved himself to be the Leader and Richard believes Smokey to be Locke. Following along so far?

Now, Locke travels back in time, gives Richard the compass and proclaims that he will eventually be the Leader. This sets Richard in motion to try to find Locke and discover if he will become the Leader and, although Locke fails every test put in front of him, Richard blindly believes him to be the Leader and follows his words, even when he is no longer Locke, he is Smokey. This blind following leads Richard to hand over the compass to Locke and start the loop all over again.

At no point was the compass introduced or removed from the loop, and at no point was Locke ever supposed to be the Leader. Smokey has manipulated something at some point in time to create this loophole and supposedly win the game, and all of this based on Chinese whispers and blindly following those that came before you.

This craziness in particular is tough to wrap the mind around, so we will be leaving it behind shortly. I appreciate we have drifted from the theory of Jacob and Smokey being the same person and into the land of Crazy Chinese Whispers Theory, so it is almost time to move on. First though, consider this more linear timeline - at some point, there was an Incident and a Button was created. Radzinsky pushed that Button, and told Kelvin Inman that the Button must be pushed. Kelvin doubted Radzinsky slightly, but passed on the knowledge to Desmond. Desmond doubted it even more, but passed on the knowledge to Jack and Locke, who continued to doubt. Locke in turn passed on the knowledge to Mr Eko, who believed it to be true. This created conflict, furthered along by the manipulation of Ben Linus and the revelation of the Pearl Station - one designed to make the Button seem untrustworthy.

Removed far from the original source, it was left to Locke and Eko to argue blindly about whether the Button should be pushed. Eventually, Locke won the argument and the Button was not pushed. He was wrong.


Remove yourself far enough from any source, no matter how genuine, and it is hard to believe anything. Jacob tells Richard to tell Ben to tell Locke to tell Jack that the Island needs saved - eventually someone is going to go out on a limb, test their faith, and start hijacking helicopters and blowing up atomic bombs.


Perhaps there is nothing to be saved, perhaps there is everything. Does anyone know who the original "Jacob" was and how we can contact him?


I'm Face To Face
With The Unknown



Third (or fourth? Fifth? I'm losing count!) Crazy Theory Of The Week brings us to the physical aspect of the Rules of the game. It has been a long-held belief of mine that Smokey cannot take the form of any living person, nor any corpse that has been buried. This is why we have not seen Libby or the Marshal running around the Island, yet Yemi, Christian and Locke are fair game.

Now that Locke has been buried, apparently Smokey is "stuck" in Locke form. I would like to believe that this is due to Locke being underground, but then it would make no sense for Ilana to care so little about burying Locke. It also doesn't make sense to think that this is due to Jacob dying, as Ilana was bringing Locke's corpse to the Temple to show everyone what they are facing. Like I say, the whole Ajira aspect confuses me a lot more than even the time travel does, so I am going to take a leaf from the Lost writer's "Book Of Walt & Libby" and completely ignore it for the time being.

To get back to the point, while Smokey cannot take the form of the living or the buried dead, I believe that Jacob can, to some extent. This may explain Hurley's visions of Ana-Lucia and Mr Eko, as well as Shannon's visions of Walt. There are a lot of inconsistencies in the Lost world of visions, ghosts, zombies and whispers, but I think this theory has some legs to it.


I'm The Kid That No-One Knows



This final Crazy Theory comes from Dave at the Finally Lost comments section, and it is (thankfully) a short one - literally.

Dave posits that, as Jacob touched both Sun and Jin, the "Kwon" on the list is actually neither of them - it is Ji Yeon. I personally doubt it, but I wanted to leave you on a lighter note while you await part 2 of this mammoth post.

Lost - S6E3 What Kate Does - Analysis

Just as I had guessed, this week's episode was yet another re-tread of the same old "Kate on the run" storyline.

Repetition leaves very little new ground for a Lost analyst like myself to unearth any new theories, however rather than see this as a negative thing, I think "What Kate Does" feeds in quite nicely to the overall vibe this year of destiny vs free will - does Kate go on the run out of choice, or does she harbor some deep instinct, one that is constantly forcing her into fugitive status?


Homework:
This video is from 2009's Comi-con, traditionally the home of Lost's first mentions of the coming season and videos portraying the overall theme of each season. This year's Comi-con featured three videos - 1) an advert for Oceanic Airlines (in the air since 1979; a perfect safety record), 2) an advert for Mr Cluck's featuring new owner Hurley (remember those numbers? The Outback Roasters meal costs 4 42) and finally 3) America's Most Wanted - Kate Austen on the run.

Let us analysis Kate's video for a second. As in the 'original' timeline, Kate had planned to kill her father/step-father Wayne by way of arson, only this time instead of blowing up his house, she blows up his place of work, and instead of killing Wayne, she kills his apprentice, Ryan.

Fate, as the host so subtly puts is, intervened.

"Fate,
Up against your will, Through the thick and thin, He will wait until,
You give yourself to him."

I do not believe the use of the word fate here is unintentional. Perhaps it has always been (What Kate Did) and will always be (What Kate Does) Kate's destiny to try to kill Wayne, but this time around, something has changed. Wayne lives on.

Does this make Kate a less sympathetic character? There was always a small part of me that could relate to Kate's story. None of us can, or should, play "God", but there are people on this Earth that you can't help but think deserve to die. Whether Wayne was one of them is debatable, and also a moot point. In this scenario, Kate is nothing more than a foolish killer, not to mention arsonist. Wayne lives on, but his innocent employee does not. How can we justifiably call Kate a 'hero' in this world?

One final question - isn't it strange that her exact weight and exact height are listed, yet her age is "late 20's"? Makes you wonder whether these alternative scenes are in the 2004 we think they are.


Further Research


I feel it is worth mentioning that the Others are calling their pool of water a "spring". Traditionally a pool is man-made, and it would make sense that one of either Jacob or Smokey made this pool, but a spring, on the other hand, traditionally comes from a natural source. So the question is this - is the Island a product of Jacob and Smokey, or are Jacob and Smokey a product of the Island?


The Others
Before we get into Kate going on the run (twice! Hey, it's what she does!) let's first look at the other characters. We had: Sayid being tortured; The Others being mysterious; Jack being the hero/martyr; previous Season shout-outs; Jin understanding; Sawyer reminiscing; and the return of Danielle.. oh, wait a minute!


We'll return to Claire Rousseau before the end, but first let us talk about Sayid. My thoughts on his test are that whatever they did to him had the power to knock out/kill a normal human being. The fact that he survived this test proves that he is "infected" - infected with what, or whom, is another matter.

Now, assuming Sayid is Smokey (or Jacob). Perhaps the pill that was made for him is truly poison for a normal human being, but for a person in Sayid's position it could perhaps be medicine. Dogen never outright said it was universally poison, he just said "poison". (Is it an unwritten rule in the Lost universe to never include context when discussing something important?)

However, the fact that the pill was presented to Jack in a paper sheet (for protection, or mere aesthetics?) points towards it being a universal poison. Miss Scarlett, regular commentator over at NCJL, started my gears moving when mentioning Sayid playing on Jack's guilt - both Sayid and Dogen had a little game of Jack-tennis going on, batting him back and forth between the two and using his guilt as leverage. Perhaps Sayid really didn't want to take that pill, and playing on Jack's hero complex was the most subtle way to avoid taking it.

((I'm going to break the fourth wall slightly here - I think the Lost team did a poor job in the lighting/framing department with this episode. Personally, I put it down to director Paul Edward's style - looking at his previous episodes is like watching a show about shadows. A few things that needed to be more clear were what Sawyer pulled out of the ground (more on that later) and whether Jack swallowed the pill or not. At least the former was cleared up with some later dialogue, but the latter was only further muddied by Lennon's "He swallowed it?" line. This might just be my personal opinion, but I wonder who else felt the same way?))

Anyway, on a lighter note - Jack sure seemed overly willing to accept the tea, despite the Others poisoning left, right and centre. I wonder just what it was they made Zack and Emma feed them earlier?

Despite all of this, my instincts were telling me that Sayid is an idiot for trusting Jack (hey, the man doesn't even trust himself!), and that Jack was an idiot for not trusting the Others (hey, they did bring Sayid back from the damn dead!). Sayid has always been 5 steps ahead of Jack in the smartness scale - when he revealed to Jack back in Season 2 that he knew Michael was a spy, Jack should have just resigned as leader that very second.

Whether these Others are worthy of my trust remains to be seen but, like Erika over at LongLiveLocke, I loved Jack's "step aside" scene and don't feel very threatened by these Others. Discovering that Dogen was "brought" to the Island "like everyone else" certainly went a long way towards humanising them. I can easily see the likes of Jack eventually joining their ranks, continuing on the cycle of psychotic recruitment practises and being sent running through the jungle to infiltrate and kidnap another group of survivors the next time a plane/boat crashes - what a scary visual that would be!


Goodbye Yellow Brick Road


"In this world of hate and shallowness,
Where enemies become your consolation,
And those of us who win the game give up their minds,
I don't call that winning."

As I mentioned previously, I don't think they handled the Sawyer-box-retrieval scene very well. I first thought that he had pulled out a baby's sock and almost began bawling at the thought of Juliet having a miscarriage some time previously adding to Sawyer's woes. As it turns out, it was merely an engagement ring and what should have been a solemn scene seemed almost lessened by that.

It also didn't help that Kate was also there, stealing the attention as always. I'm beginning to disbelieve that she ever came back for Claire to begin with - if Sawyer had been willing to forget about Juliet and play happy families on the beach with Kate, would she have even mentioned blondie?


She's Going The Distance


Meet Claire Littleton. Claire is a young, pregnant, Australian woman on her way to L.A. to meet a couple who are ready to adopt her unborn child.

Claire is also possibly involved in some psychic trickery designed to force her away from her home country and her mother (who may or may not be in a coma) and to face up to her responsibilities as a mother. Or was it designed so that Claire would ditch her responsibilities as a mother and instead hand her baby over to this woman:

sorry, I mean this woman:


A lot of possibilities, and only one definite - the baby was, is and always will be, called Aaron, no matter who the 'mother' eventually turns out to be:


Now it is here that Fishbiscuitland is one very large step ahead of us all - she has deduced that the woman who was going to adopt Claire's baby, one Lindsey Baskum, is an anagram for Used By Malkins, as in Richard Malkins, the psychic who saw Claire and convinced her to go on Flight 815. Now, either he is a very, very unlucky conman or he is a very, very smart psychic. Taking a leap of faith, I think we can glean from this episode that Claire is always destined to raise Aaron, or at the very least to deliver him to Kate. Only time will tell.


She's Going For Speed
Although she was on the surface the lead character in this episode, I actually have surprisingly little to say about Kate. Her handcuff scene with the mechanic was just strange. For starters, I don't think that was really a bathroom that she went into:


Secondly, there was a wasted opportunity here to show Tom aka "Mr Friendly" once again. (Kudos to Miss Scarlet once again for raising this notion). Besides flashing Jack a weird glance of recognition, not a lot happened with Kate in LA "X".

I did laugh out loud at one scene though - when Kate and Claire turned up at Mrs Baskum's home, as bad as I felt for both Lindsey losing her husband and chance at a happy family, and also Claire, who certainly deserved at least a phone call, it was Kate who once again stole the scene:


"Lady, I may have murdered someone back home, but you let this woman fly all the way to America without even a phone call?! SCANDALOUS!!! I may have held her at gunpoint mere moments ago, its true I may have induced an early and dangerous labour. I stole all her belongings, left her stranded in a dangerous, foreign city with no food, clothes or money, but you have suffered a major shock and you have acted slightly selfish about the whole thing. You, woman, are pure evil. I have half a mind to burn down your home/place of work!" - Kate Austen, defining double standards.


She's All Alone
All Alone In Her Time Of Need


On-Island Claire, finally you make your triumphant return. It would appear Claire was in the right place, at the right time for Jin. There are obvious parallels to made with Danielle here - the hair, the off-Island pregnancy/on-Island birth, their children being raised by "another", even the name are similar (Aaron/Alex). Are the writers setting us up for a brief Claire/Aaron reunion, perhaps ending in a horrific helicopter-related (Desmond/Charlie shout-out) death in front of Kate? I sincerely hope not.

One thing I was wondering about - when the Others told Jack his sister was 'claimed', did they make any mention of his father? Do they even know about Christian? I personally find him fascinating - was he an off-Island other, or just another soul dragged to the Island? Is he claimed by Jacob, or Smokey, or both? And what is his ties to Vincent? (I still maintain that Vincent will be revealed to be far more than a dog by the end of the series - perhaps he was killed and 'claimed' during the plane crash? Which brings me to..)


When There's No More Room In Hell
The Dead Will Walk The Earth

The Lost writers have always joked about there being a 7th "Zombie" Season. Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees. So far we have had Christian, Yemi and Locke as bona fide confirmed zombies, but on top of that we now can count Claire and Sayid (the confused glances that Miles was giving Sayid reminded me of his trek through the jungle with Sawyer and Claire in Season 4 and the looks he was giving her then) as possible zombies.

Throw into the mix the complete unknowns such as Walt, Vincent, Richard, Ilana, Harper and Ben, all of which have hints at powers, if not full-on zombification. Finally, you have the 'ghosts' of Hurley, Miles and Michael, including Libby, Ana-Lucia, Charlie and Mr Eko and you now have the makings of a true zombie show (looks like The Walking Dead may have to wait a while).

Finally, could all of this perhaps explain Mikhail's resilience? Probably not, but he is worth a mention. So, for those of you keeping score at home, we now need to decide who is alive and who is dead, and who is claimed by Smokey and Jacob and who remains unclaimed. Who is an Other and who is a candidate? The mind boggles, but I have one theory pushing to the front - if a body is buried, it is 'safe' in this game, but while it lays vacant on this Earth (or burned in the case of Yemi) it is fair game for Smokey to inhabit it.


The Sun Has Gone Down
And The Moon Has Come Up


Poor Jin. All he wants to do is protect his friends, find his Sun and get the hell home to see his daughter. If there is one character you can say has changed for the better, it is Jin. Far more so than Sawyer, who immediately reverted back to his old self the moment Juliet died, Jin just may end up being the epitome of change on the show. I hope his character gets a lot more focus soon - I would love to see a purely Jin-centric episode, however I imagine Sun will still feature heavily in his "X" story.

Looking back, there was not a lot of mystery to delve into this week, but there was certainly a lot more to this episode than many give it credit for. There is never a great deal of story movement going on with the more character driven episodes (think Kate, Jack, Sayid, Jin) but I personally love any episode that involves Claire for the very reason being that she seems to take no notice of the madness going on around her - she takes everything and everyone at face value, and that is a good attitude to adopt for this kind of episode.

One final note - Fishbiscuitland has posted this amazing video, and I think we all owe it to ourselves to take a minute to breath, watch this video and remember - Lost wont boil down to one singular answer - it is the experience, the questions and the emotion that has made this journey worthwhile.

Until next week, adios!

(PS. I will be very impressed if anyone can name all the musical references I have made in this post. I'll give you a hint - there are more than 2 of them. Give it a go and see how many you can find!)