LOST News and some off-topic analysis

Hey everyone, July is here!  For me, that means a day off for Independence Day, my wife’s birthday at the end of the month, and Comic Con on the horizon!  Yep, with the Season 5 finale almost 2 months in our rear view mirror, it’s time to start looking ahead.  The premiere of LOST’s 6th and final season is now about 7 months away (that still seems incredibly long, doesn’t it?), and Team Darlton has promised to reveal a bunch about how Season 6 will play out at LOST’s final Comic Con panel later this month.  I’m still frantically trying to secure tickets to the sold out event so I can bring you the latest news from the panel, as well as share with you what I believe will be a very interesting and possibly strange experience.

But even before we get to Comic Con, it’s actually been an eventful June for LOST.  In fact, I’d have to say that it’s probably been the most eventful June (at least that I can remember) in the history of the show.  For those of you that don’t want to know anything about the final season, avert your eyes now.  For those that are eager for any tidbits of info available, here’s what happened over the past month (some or all of which you may have already heard):

***SPOILER WARNING***

First, Matthew Fox confirmed to an audience in Monte Carlo that he indeed knows the endgame of LOST, and that he’s excited about how it’s going to end.  He mentions that the resolution of the Season 5 cliffhanger will be “surprising and probably fairly confusing”, that at some point in Season 6 there will be no more flashbacks, that he knows that Jack is going to go head-to-head with Locke again in the final season, and that he thinks the final scenes of the show will be “incredibly powerful, very sad, and beautiful”.  He also hints that after LOST, he’ll be done with TV, and will focus almost exclusively on movies.

Next, Team Darlton has confirmed that Emile de Ravin (Claire) will be back for Season 6 as a show regular.  That bit of news was informally known for quite some time, but the producers have now made it official.  You can read the full article here: http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/06/ask-ausiello-spoilers-on-lost-the-closer-weeds-true-blood-burn-notice-the-office-and-more.html

After that bit of good news, we were hit with the even better info that LOST’s final season has been bumped from the original 17 hours planned to 18.  The season will be bookended with a 2-hour premiere and a 2-hour finale.  (LOST viewing party at my place!)  You can read the full article here: http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/06/final-lost-season-gains-an-hour-.html

Finally, Team Darlton admits that they’re trying to get all of the original cast back together for some portion of the final season, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) has expressed remorse about the circumstances in which he left the show, and is lobbying for a chance to return and give his character closure. 

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/what-the-keck/eko-meets-monk-1499.html

When Adewale originally left the show, he was dealing with the deaths of both of his parents, and he wanted to return to London to do some directing. 

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-01-eko-lost_x.htm

However, my impression of the split was not one that seemed to be very amicable.  I think that Adewale might have some fences to mend if he’s going to come back.  In any event, here’s hoping that they find a way to bring him back.  I’d love to see a few more scenes with Mr. Eko.

***SPOILERS COMPLETE***

Off-topic Discussion

Alright, so I know that this is a LOST blog, but I’m going to take a slight tangent away from my favorite TV show, and discuss something else in the entertainment industry.  None of what follows has anything to do with LOST, so if you don’t care, feel free to check out here and not be concerned about what you may miss.

Still with me?  Cool.  Let me give you a bit of background before I get too far into it.  When I was younger (I think it started around 11 or 12), I remember one of my favorite events of the week was to listen to “American Top 40″ with Casey Kasem.  I faithfully tuned in right at the start when Casey kicked it off with #40, and listened all the way through to #1.  Typically I was doing other things while I listened…watching a ball game, playing a video game, maybe even doing homework…but I always loved to tune in to the show.

Later in life, I began to grow reminiscent of those times and those songs.  I had a pie-in-the-sky dream that perhaps one day, when I had enough money, I’d go back and buy all of those old songs so I could listen to them whenever I wanted to take a trip down memory lane.  Of course, through the tail end of the 80s and throughout the 90s, that pie-in-the-sky dream was just that…a dream.  To go back and try to buy old catalog albums for just one or two songs…well, that would cost a fortune.

Enter iTunes.  When I heard about the theory and business model of iTunes, I couldn’t believe it.  I could finally go back and cherry-pick all of the songs I wanted for my life-long dream.  And instead of costing me $10-$15 per song I wanted, it would only cost me 99 cents!  With a cost-effective method in place for purchasing the songs, I now only needed a methodical way of accessing the old charts.  After a bit of digging, I found some books by Joel Whitburn that reprodcued all of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in a decade-long segments.  You can find them here: https://www.recordresearch.com/billboard_chart_collections/billboard_hot100_charts_the_eighties.php

Of course, I snatched them up for the 80s and 90s, started the same process for the current charts, and was on my way.  It’s been a great hobby, and I’ve now collected all of the songs that have ever hit the Top 10 for all of the 80s.  My goal is that by the end of 2010, I’ll have every song that cracked the top 10 of Billboard’s Top 100 from 1980 through 2010.  That may seem anal retentive or overkill to some of you, but to me, it’s pretty exciting.

Anyway, why the long-winded background story?  Well, I wanted to make sure that you understood the level of fanaticism I have about the Billboard charts.  My interest in what appears there is not just a passing fancy…I’m probably what you would call a “student” of the charts and its history.

Which is why it troubles me so much that the folks at Billboard have made what I deem to be a nearly arbitrary decision regarding excluding Michael Jackson from the charts this week.

You may have heard, after Michael Jackson’s death last week, his songs have been generating incredibly high levels of air time.  In addition, his catalog songs and albums have been selling like hotcakes, both at storefronts (where retailers are running out of his work), and online through digital downloads through sites like iTunes.  But despite the increased airplay and song purchases that would certainly put his music on the current charts, Billboard has stated that both The Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts will not track Jackson’s renaissance, because those charts are for “current” music.  http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart-beat-bonus/chart-beat-dierks-bentley-seether-heidi-1003989497.story

Say what?

First of all, I’ve got a problem with the way in which they’re defining “current”.  Isn’t what the public chooses to buy and listen to at the present time the true definition of “current”?  Trying to define what’s “current” based upon what’s recent;y been released is an exercise in futility.

Didn’t remakes of “Auld Lang Syne” by Kenny G in 2000 (to bring in the new millenium) and “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Whitney Houston in 1991 (for Super Bowl 25) become “current” enough to chart on the Hot 100?  (The answer, by the way, is yes: ”Auld Lang Syne” peaked at number 7 in 1999 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_G#Singles, and “The Star-Spangled Banner” cracked the top 20 in 1991.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston#1987-91:_Whitney.2C_I.27m_Your_Baby_Tonight.2C_and_the_.22Star_Spangled_Banner.22 ) 

But what I think is the biggest indictment of Billboard’s decision is the fact that several different songs have re-charted at different times, based upon “current” popularity.

• “The Twist” by Chubby Checker hit #1 in 1960, and then again in 1962.
• The Contours hit the top 20 with “Do You Love Me” in 1962, and then again in 1988
• “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers charted in both 1965 and 1990
• Queen cracked the top 10 with “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1976, and then again in 1992

For each of the last 3 occurences, the re-chart came due to a song being part of a famous movie’s soundtrack.  But even if that were the mitigating factor for allowing those songs to chart but not MJ’s, it’s easy to make the argument that in this day and age, a re-release is not needed.  Digital downloads are as much a part of today’s culture as vinyl, tape, or compact disc was in their respective times, and the availability of Jackson’s work via that format should suffice.  In fact, Billboard does use digital download statistics in their figures for compiling the Hot 100, but apparently only if the music is “current”.

Of course, I do have one last example which cannot be explained by any of Billboard’s smeantics.  And that’s “Into The Night” by Benny Mardones.  For those of you that may not be familiar with the story, “Into The Night” was released back in 1980, to modest success, as the song peaked at #11.  In 1989, the song once again received heavy airplay, simply because DJs in Phoenix and LA wondered what happened to “the guy that sang ‘Into The Night’”, and started playing the record on-air for nostalgic purposes.

Billboard allowed “Into The Night” to re-chart in 1989.  Billboard has not allowed any of Jackson’s songs to re-chart, despite having 6 of the 10 most downloaded songs of the past week. 

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=Hot+Digital+Songs

(note that this chart will be outdated with respect to this post on 7/9/2009)

Airplay figures are hard to decipher relative to the Top 100 since Billboard does not produce a comprehensive airplay chart in a similar fashion to downloads, but that’s the point here.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how Jackson’s song’s resurgence *would have* played out on the charts?  Wouldn’t it have been interesting to see if he could conquer the charts posthemously?  (We know for a fact that we would have topped the Billboard 200, it’s much less clear with the Hot 100.)

Even if Billboard felt as though they absolutely had to stick to their guns regarding their chart methodology (which I’m not convinced explicitly excludes this situation), couldn’t they have paid homage to Jackson by providing us with a “What If” chart, showing how he would have done?

Overall, I’m simply disappointed that Billboard could not find a way to intgrate this unique situation into their charts as a way to provide a historical record of this event.  While Billboard struggles to explain their arbitrary decisions to audiophiles around the country (and even the world…Jackson has popped up all over the UK chart, which does not have the same restrictions that Billboard does), it seems to me that Michael Jackson, even after his death, is the one that’s showing Billboard exactly who’s “current”, and who just might be irrelevant.

So ends my rant, but if you want to read more on the charts, and specifically, this week’s Michael Jackson controversy, I recommend “Chart Watch” on Yahoo.  http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/35893/week-ending-june-28-2009-hes-still-setting-records/  I won’t be blogging about the charts anytime soon (at least not until after LOST is over, and probably not even then), so if this was at all interesting to you, I recommend you run on over there for a weekly fix.

That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll be back in about 4 weeks with an in-person report on the LOST goings-on at Comic Con!

LOST Discussion: Top 10 Dangling Threads

Hey there everyone!  Not sure about the rest of you, but I’m still riding the buzz of the season finale from over a week ago.  It still feels like there is much to be interpreted, and of course, we have no idea where the show is going to go after the shocking turn of events in the finale.

But as you all know, next season is the last season of LOST, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep things fresh for all of you during the hiatus.  My goal is to come up with at least one intriguing post every month during the show’s break, and hopefully more.  We’ll talk about interesting events, where some of the characters have come from and where they may go, and I’m even hoping to try to go to Comic Con this year, and give you a first-hand report of the LOST event.  And if you’ve got anything you want me to break down in detail before the last 16 or 17 hours of LOST airs, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!  I’d be happy to give you my unique take on things.

In any event, I’ve got something a little different for you in this post.  About a month ago, I gave you my top 10 list of unanswered questions.  Some of those have actually been answered in some way since the finale aired.  But in this post, I want to do something just a slight bit different.  I don’t want to ask questions about some of the larger plot threads, like what happened when the bomb went off, or what’s going to happen now that Jacob got stabbed.  No, this post is going to be about some of the smaller dangling threads that the writers haven’t yet answered.  You know, some of the things that you may have forgotten about with all of the chaos of the finale.  And maybe, just maybe, if we pull on them and unearth the answers, they may just tell us something about the larger plot overall.  So let’s get to it!

10. Why can’t Ben and Widmore kill each other?

As I asked in my finale recap, did you actually miss Widmore in the finale?  Would you have even imagined that the finale wouldn’t include him, and that you wouldn’t have even noticed?  But really, he’s been much too prevelant to the storyline both as an Other in the past, and as Ben’s adversary in the present, to be completely absent from the sixth and final season.

But what is he up to?  Is he destined not to ever return to the island?  And more importantly, what’s the deal with he and Ben not being able to kill each other directly?  Is it the island protecting them both?  Or is there more to it than that?  By any chance is their relationship tied into the relationship of Jacob and Man #2?  I’m not going to venture any guesses like I did in the top 10 questions column, but I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some of your theories in the comments section below.  Regardless, I don’t think this thread will be dropped, so keep it in mind as Season 6 unfolds.

9. How did the statue turn into a lone 4-toed remnant?

The statue became a great focus of Season 5, and amazingly, in the finale we discovered that the base of it is actually Jacob’s home.  Most of the questions surrounding it now are about what it may or may not be, and what that means with respect to the overall mythology of the show.  But what is just as intriguing to me is how it was reduced to a single 4-toed foot.  Did it happen when the h-bomb went off?  Did the Black Rock fire upon it?  (They had lots of TNT, right?)  Or is there some other explanation?  Regardless of what the answer is, I’m suggesting that you don’t lose track of that point while discussing how much sense it makes for it to be Tawaret.

8. Walt’s dream/vision of Locke

So, how many of you remember this?  In the episode, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”, Locke visits each of his island friends back on the mainland.  One of his earlier visits takes him to Walt, who warns him of some impending danger: “I’ve been having dreams about you.  You were on the island, wearing a suit, and there are people all around you.  They wanted to hurt you, John.”

While I won’t go as far as to say that Walt’s dream will inevitably come to fruition, I will say that you John Locke fans have a little bit more evidence to point to that the Locke we’ve always known will be back somehow in Season 6.  Beyond that, maybe we’ll get to see Walt return to the island in Season 6?  Just thought I’d remind you of that so you can have it in the back of your mind as things unfold next year.

7. Richard Alpert’s 3rd pre-1977 trip off-island

 

In the finale, Richard says, “I’ve gone off the island three times, two to visit him.”  The interesting thing to note about that statement is that it comes in 1977.  Since we can rule out his trip to Mittelos Bioscience to recruit Juliet, we know that we’ve seen both of those trips: once when Locke was still a baby in the hospital, and the other when Alpert gave Locke the Dalai Lama test.  While I can’t think of anything that would be of any significance to the overall LOST mythology, it’ll still be interesting to see if we’re shown that third off-island trip, and anything else about Richard’s background.

6. Hurley’s / Jacob’s guitar case

Alright, here’s one I have no clue about whatsoever.  Actually, scratch that.  I have *almost* no clue about it.  What I do know is this: we’ve seen it enough, and Hurley has gone out of his way to keep it with him, that it will absolutely come into play in some fashion in Season 6.  Maybe he’ll see Charlie and get to give it to him.  Maybe there’s something in it that will help Jacob out.  But whatever it is, look out for it next year…I’m sure it’ll play an integral part in a scene somewhere.

5. Why didn’t Sun go back to 1977?

I raised this question as soon as it happened, and have to admit that I almost forgot about it myself.  Just in case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, let me give you a quick reminder: when Ajira Flight 316 came into the vicinity of the island, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid were all flashed off the plane and sent back to 1977.  The question is, why not Sun?  She was part of the Oceanic 6, she was part of the group that were touched by Jacob…why did she stay in the present?  I’m not sure if this will ever get answered, or even if it does, if it will mean anything in the overall mythology.  But I’m definitely curious, and it’s something that I’ll be looking out for in Season 6.

4. Jacob’s touches and visits to the LOSTies pasts

OK, here’s where things start to bridge the gap between simple dangling threads and items that more deeply impact the overall mythology of LOST.  On top of that, I’m sure this isn’t something that has left your mind since the finale aired.  But at the same time, it’s a great specific question to ask, even if we don’t have the answer.

And while we don’t have the answer, I will tell you two things that I definitely think it’s *not*.  First, I don’t think it has anything to do with the LOSTies getting on Flight 815.  While Jacob did touch many of the LOSTies prior to the flight, he also touched both Sayid and Hurley *afterwards*.  So it’s not about targeting them for the flight.  Additionally, it’s not about them being targeted for return to 2007 from 1977.  Remember, Sun was also touched, and she’s already there.  I’m sure there’s something more to it, but I have no clue what it is.  If you have any guesses, please leave a comment below!

3. Gunfight on the canoes

Not sure if you all remember this, but earlier in Season 5, when Sawyer & gang were flashing through time, they found a campsite with an Ajira water bottle.  They needed transportation to the Orchid, so they took one of the canoes instead of trekking across the island directly.  They were then immediately followed by an unknown group, apparently in an attempt to get their canoe back.  However, knowing what we now know from the finale, there certainly may be more to it than that.  And remember, Sawyer was able to shoot one of them…

There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll see this scene again, this time from the opposite perspective.  I can’t wait to see how it plays out with some more information about what went on…

2. Ben’s trip to the Temple / the Temple in general

Despite all of the answers we got throughout Season 5, the most we got about Ben as a youngster was that he was taken to the Temple by Richard.  And in fact, we still haven’t seen the actual Temple itself yet.  So, the question is, what *did* happen to Ben during that trip?  And what the heck goes on at that place anyway?  We’re pretty sure it’s tied to “The Sickness” somehow, but rest assured, when we do get to see the Temple, and what goes on in there, it will be a big reveal indeed.

1. What’s up with Claire?

So…have any of you actually forgotten about Aaron’s mom with all of the excitement from this season?  While I don’t think any of you would, I certainly couldn’t blame you if you did.  She’s flat out disappeared this past season, with only a couple of references regarding her whereabouts.

Remember, back in Season 4, Keamy from the freighter appeared to blow up the house she was living in at The Barracks…while she was in it.  Next thing we know, she’s abandoning little baby Aaron, on going off with apparition Christian to Jacob’s cabin (which may or may not actually have been inhabited by Jacob), and pretty much acting about as strange as could be.  Since then, she’s been gone, with no physical appearance at all in Season 5.

But two things that happened this season lead me to believe that we’re going to see her in some form in Season 6.  First, she’s the whole reason why Kate returned.  Kate’s story doesn’t reach its conclusion unless she finds Claire, and I expect that she will.  Also, Sun managed to discover Charlie’s DriveShaft ring in the finale, and that story also doesn’t come to its conclusion unless she’s able to pass it along to someone that matters…namely, Claire.

Finally, don’t forget that Desmond had a vision of the future that included Claire getting on a helicopter and leaving the island.  While the thought was that the helicopter he was referring to was the one Lapidus came to the island on, that certainly doesn’t have to have been the case.  There’s still a chance for his vision to come true, and I expect it will prior to the end of the series.

So that’s my list!  I’d love for you guys to comment on any part of it, or to come up with some other topic for me to write about next.  Either way, thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you all again soon!

LOST Recap: Season 5 finale: “The Incident, Part 2″

Just in case you’re hitting the site for the first time here, please make sure you check out the recap for the first half of the finale here before reading through this entry.  It makes much more sense when it’s read in order.  That being said, let’s jump right in to the second hour of the finale!

“Close your eyes, count to 5, and then fix her Jack.”

Not sure about the rest of you, but when this scene was first described to us way back in the first season, I didn’t envision it with Jack’s dad being there, and giving him the suggestion of counting to 5 to get past his fear.  To me, it loses a but of its impact knowing that Jack wasn’t his own calming influence, but instead, his father needed to be there in order for him to gain control of his emotions.

Of course, the bigger news of this scene is Jack’s encounter with Jacob.  No major change to the pattern here though.  Jacob asks a question, comes in physical contact with Jack, and goes about his business.  The one thing “missing”, is Jacob encouraging Jack to perform any actions, or to steer him on the right course (as it seems he has done with the other LOSTies).  Nope, this time, all Jacob does is say, “I guess it just needed a little push”…

“5 minutes, that’s all…say what I gotta say, then you can do whatever the hell you want to.”

The conversation between Jack and Sawyer is pretty fascinating to me, not for what answers it gives related to the mythology, but more because it shows just how truly confused Jack is.  He’s so desperate for a purpose now that he’s simply creating one because the situation feels right.  Sawyer thinks Jack wants to set off the bomb to “fix” something that has happened.  That certainly would make some measure of sense, assuming it was a big enough problem.  But no…that’s not it at all.  Jack wants to hit the reset button only because it’s his destiny.  He was meant to do it, so he’s going to do it…the “why” doesn’t matter.  Of course, when Sawyer calls bull on that line of reasoning, Jack spits back a line that leaves pretty much all of us incredulous: “I had her, but I lost her.”

Whaaaaat?  Really?  You’re that fired up about detonating a hydrogen bomb that will likely kill everyone…for Kate?  Even though you could get her back simply by talking to her and working things out in the present?  Honestly, I don’t know what the real reason is for Jack to set off the bomb, and I think he doesn’t know either.  In fact, I think that’s the message the writers are trying to send to us.  Jack is completely conflicted at this point, and he actually is having a really hard time justifying any of his actions.

And of course, it’s just that complete lack of logic that compels Sawyer to try to resolve the matter with fisticuffs.  The battle carries on for several seconds, and is actually more even that I thought it might be.  Jack appears to get the upper hand for a second, until Sawyer plays dirty with a kick to the groin and takes control.  He’s about to pummel Jack into unconsciousness until amazingly…Juliet flip-flops.  Again.

So count this as time number 2.  Juliet originally wanted to take the sub out and try to have a real-world life with Sawyer.  But, for some reason, she thought she made a mistake and wanted to go back and help stop Jack.  Now, she’s thinking that perhaps she goofed again and wants to go ahead and let him erase the past.

“No stupid, they’re getting a divorce”

Two things to note about Juliet’s flashback.  First, and probably most obvious, is that it’s the only flashback of the episode that doesn’t include Jacob.  Based upon the events of the finale, that’s probably not a very good sign.  Second, and perhaps a bit more subtle, is the line delivered by Juliet’s mother.  “Just because two people love each other, doesn’t always mean that they’re supposed to be together.”  The thought that people are “supposed to” do something makes a very strong implication about fate, something I think is key to this entire episode, and may end up explaining why Jacob was not in this scene.

“If I never meet you, then I never have to lose you.”

Well, at least Juliet’s reasoning makes a ton more sense than Jack’s does.  And it’s for that reason that makes Juliet’s demise at the end of the show that much more tragic.  But more on that later.

“One wallet, 227 dollars cash, one ball-point pen, one fruit roll-up”

The longest of the Jacob flashbacks belongs to Hurley, and I believe that it’s also the most recent in relative time for all of the LOSTies.  In any event, the conversation is almost as if Hurley is getting a visit from a psychiatrist.  Almost everything that Jacob says to Hurley is in question form, or a statement that attempts to get him to think about his circumstances.  The only solid opinion that Jacob gives to Hurley is that he’s not crazy.  And then he leaves with him a choice…he can get on the Ajira flight…or not.  Again, he makes physical contact with Hurley, and then leaves…giving Hurley the option to decide what to do next.

“Nothing can save me.”

While on the face of it, it sure seems like Sayid’s comment is about whether or not he’s going to make it to next season, but I think there’s more to it than that.  In fact, I think Sayid’s comment is much more about where he is in his own head than about his mortality.  Sayid has come to grips with the fact that he has done some horrible things, and has not had the chance to atone for it.  He considers himself a “bad” person, and thinks that even if he had the opportunity to change, he wouldn’t.  I haved a feeling that Sayid’s going to surprise us all starting in January 2010…

“Only our leader can request an audience with Jacob, and there can only be one leader on the island at a time.”

Regardless of what “John Locke” says, I don’t think these rules are arbitrary.  I think there’s a specific reason why Jacob only allows one person to visit him at a time, and it ties in with my general theory of what’s going between he and “John Locke”.  I know, I know.  You want to know already!  That is, if you haven’t already guessed where I’m going with it.  But be patient, my big reveal is just around the corner…

“Has it occurred to any of you that your buddy is actually going to cause the thing he says he’s trying to prevent?”

Ah, you’ve got to love Miles.  Always trying to lend credence to the Whatever Happened, Happened motto.  Well, as most most of you know, I’ve been firmly in that camp from the beginning.  So, did the events of the finale cause me to reconsider?  How about absolutely, positively, NOT.  And in just a bit, I’ll explain how the events of the finale can still fit in to that rationale.  (But at the same time, I’ll admit that I could certainly be wrong…)

“Good for you, you got here fast.”

I really love how the writers are able to build a scene to such dramatic tension, and then just let it play out with pretty much zero dialog.  Another awesome gunfight, and way cool that the rest of the LOSTies didn’t leave Jack hanging.  But the really important point to take out of this is that Juliet (and the other LOSTies) change their mind yet again.  This actually marks the third time that Juliet flip-flops in the episode.  The rapidly changing events surrounding her really are messing with her convictions, aren’t they?

But I think what I loved the most about this entire scene is the sense of anticipation (or perhaps dread?) that is written all over the LOSTies faces when the bomb falls down the shaft.  Maybe it was because I had the very same emotion when Jack dropped the bomb in hopes of detonating it.  In any event, it really seemed to capture the moment incredibly well.

Of course, that was just the beginning.  The bad-assery jumps to a completely different level after the bomb *doesn’t* detonate.  It’s like the end of Season 2 all over again, as the electromagnetic anomaly starts pulling anything and everything electromagnetic into it, causing mass destruction, and at least one gruesome death.  And, as you know, it brings about the demise of Juliet.  Her character was truly tragic, as all she seemed to want to do was to help others as a doctor and a friend, and in this case, it ends up costing her her life.

But what struck me even more as I watched the scene was how much I finally came to enjoy Elizabeth Mitchell’s acting performance.  I think I’ve mentioned this before in a previous entry, but I really didn’t like her character early on.  And I found myself contributing that mostly to her acting.  But this whole season, she’s been nailing it, and the finale was no different.  If this was indeed her last moments on the show, then I’m certainly pretty bummed about it.  It felt like she was just now hitting her stride with her character, and now she’s headed elsewhere.  If nothing else, she’s got me interested in checking out her role in the new “V” remake.  Here’s hoping that she’ll be back in some way during next year’s final season.

“Which one of you is Ricardos?”

Alright, so I should have seen this coming a mile away.  Especially since I predicted long ago that “John Locke” was not really John Locke.  But I was as stunned as anyone when they opened the crate, and out came John Locke’s dead body, just as it was at the end of last season.  No, John Locke has not been resurrected.  No John Locke is not the man so in tune with the island.  In fact, John Locke has been dead since Ben strangled him just before the Ajira flight left LA.  Crazy stuff.  But then, as Sun asks, who *is* the man in Jacob’s hangout?  Yeah, it’s Man #2, and he’s got a surprise for Jacob, one that he’s been waiting to deliver for a long, long time.

But before I get there, let me just comment on what was in the shadow of the statue.  For those of you that haven’t done the translation yet (are there even any of you out there?), Richard says, “He who shall save us all.”  Clearly these shadow folk are in Jacob’s camp, and are ready to do battle with Man #2.

“You found your loophole…”

“And you have no idea what I’ve gone through to be here.”  Ah, but I think he does, “John”.  However, it was a very cool series of events you put into play to make this happen though.  So let’s take a little trip down memory lane and see just what you did to get there.  First, let’s go all the way back to Season 1.

As far back as the pilot, we have been given hints surrounding the concept of a larger game at work.  In the second half of the pilot, Locke teaches the game of backgammon to Walt, and describes it as “two players, two sides.  One is light, one is dark.”  Marry that scene with the one we got at the beginning of the finale.  Jacob is clearly wearing white, while Man #2 is wearing black.  Now add the line given by Man #2 to Jacob: “You’re trying to prove me wrong, aren’t you?”

I fully believe that these two are playing a high stakes game of some sort to try to prove that one or the other is correct.  Many of you have probably already deduced this.  But much of what I’ve seen on this gets into the discussion of good versus evil.  Personally,  I’m not ready to buy into that, unless perhaps, it’s taken in a less that absolute way.  Instead, I actually think it’s a battle of fate versus free will.

About 2 months ago, I told my wife that I thought I had finally figured out what LOST’s endgame was.  I thought that Jack would end up detonating the bomb, but simply cause the Incident that he was trying so hard to prevent.  And at that point, he would come to believe that nothing he could do would change the course of events for him.  He’d give up his free will and believe that he was fated to do whatever actions he would take, and essentially stop trying.

While in principal I still believe that this is going to happen (more on that shortly), I think that the writers are actually going to take it to another level.  We’re going to be shown that everything that has gone on in island events has been part of this “game” that Jacob and Man #2 have been playing, with Jacob trying to prove that mankind is not “fated” for anything specific, whereas Man #2 is attempting to prove that mankind is fated to cause their own demise.

The events that we’re shown in Jacob’s flashbacks (and in his final scene) all point to him trying to prove the free will axiom.  Sure, he seems to have some supernatural abilities (like reviving Locke and giving agelessness to Richard), but at no time does he force the action.  He always gives the people he interacts with the chance to do what they want.  He wants to show that everyone had the opportunity to make their own choice, regardless of what that choice is.  Kate had a choice to stop stealing, but she does not.  Sawyer had a choice to stop writing the letter, but he did not.  Jin and Sun had a choice to not take each other for granted, but they did not.  Even Ben had a choice to not kill Jacob, but he did not.  In fact, in Jacob’s final scene, he almost has a knowledge of what Ben is going to attempt to do.  He is the one that walks up to Ben, not the other way around.  And he does absolutely nothing to try to stop Ben from stabbing him…in fact, you could almost say that he egged him on.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that all of this is due to Jacob wanting to prove that despite the shortcomings of individuals at times, he believes that they can learn and grow from those choices (”It only ends once.  Anything that happens before that is just progress.”)  He believes that free will is the eventual champion, and that mankind is not limited as to what it can become.  Man #2, however, is playing the game for fate’s side.  He believes that mankind is destined for their own downfall (”They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt.  It always ends the same.”) 

But what are the “rules” of this game?  Well, that’s something I don’t think we have enough information on, but I do think that some of them have been shown to us.  The first one, for example, seems to be that either of these two can take the place of the dead…but only if they died on the island, or if their corpse was brought to the island.  Let me give you some examples.

First, I think that the initial visit of “Christian Shephard” to Jack was actually Jacob using Christian to speak to Jack.  In fact, I think that the majority (if not all) of the visits from Christian have been via Jacob, and not Man #2.  However, I also believe that Man #2 has this same ability, at least since the ash line was disrupted.  Allowing myself to sidetrack for just a moment, let me say that I think that someone (maybe even Jacob himself) managed to keep Man #2 stuck inside the cabin area inside the ash, thus negating his ability to use the powers of the island to do his bidding.  But since the ash was broken, he has been able to manipulate the pieces of the island as much as Jacob.

But what I also think is a “rule” of the game is that neither side can kill each other directly.  And with Jacob staying in his hangout, and only allowing one leader into his abode at a time (and theoretically one of his choosing), he’d never have to be concerned if someone was going to try to kill him.  Thus, Man #2 needed someone to do the dirty work for him.  And thus the story of our LOSTies.  Man #2 likely granted Locke the ability to walk so that he would perceive the “island” as a mystical place, and be willing to do whatever it asked of him.  In fact, it’s highly likely that everything that Locke experienced since he came to the island was to convince him that he should do *whatever* the island asked of him, regardless of what it was…including having to die.

At the same time, Man #2 set a plan in motion to give Locke the leadership of the Others at some point in the future.  He showed Locke’s ability to get in tune with the island to all of the people that mattered.  Additionally, he allowed Locke to jump through time to meet influential members of the Others so that they would envision a time when Locke would take the reigns.

With both plans in motion, Man #2 hoped that Locke would be seen as the eventual leader of the Others, just as he managed to kill himself and have his dead body transported to the island.  This would allow Man #2 to become a doppleganger of Locke (just as he has of many other dead island folk), and march his way right to Jacob unquestioned.  Both plans had to be in motion, and both had to come to fruition at nearly the same time for it to work.

But one last piece of the puzzle had to fall into place.  He had to be able to bring someone with him, and that someone had to be both a somewhat trusted member of the Others, and also had to be willing and capable of murdering Jacob.  Despite Man #2’s ability to get into the Jacob’s dwelling, he still couldn’t kill him directly.  Enter Ben, the man who has been manipulated by “the island” his whole life.  To me, his tragic tale is not one of circumstance, but rather a devious plot by Man #2.  It’s likely that he’s been targeted for this task from the moment he was brought to the Temple by Richard after being shot by Sayid.  More than likely, he’s never had a chance.

So that’s my grand theory.  The apparitions, the whispers, the smoke monster…I think they’re all able to be used for both sides to try to prove their point and try to “win”.  If you think of it that way, then “Locke”’s disappearance around the smoke monster makes a bit of sense.  Man #2 is only able to use one of the tools of the island at any one time.  After all, have we ever seen more than one apparition at a time?  Have we ever seen an apparition and the smoke monster at the same time?  I think the only thing that comes close is when we saw Christian and Claire at the same time…but then again, are we sure that Claire’s dead?

I’d love it if all of you readers took a minute to think it over, and let me know what you think.  Feel free to poke any holes in it, as I’m sure there are some things that I’ve missed that may contradict it.  But one last thing to keep in mind if my theory happens to be correct: Jacob could very well been simply using the human form we saw as a doppleganger of someone else that is dead on the island.  In fact, I would think that it’s quite likely.  I would argue that it’s more than possible that Jacob is not dead at all…that Ben simply killed the vessel that he was using.  Think about it from this perspective: if Ben unexpectedly decided to kill “John Locke”, would you think that either Man #2 or John Locke would be dead as a result?  I wouldn’t.

“C’mon, you son of a bitch!”

Wow, was that a brutal last scene with Juliet, or what?  As if her drop into the shaft wasn’t emotional enough, she didn’t end up dying right away?  That’s just wrong.  But of course, it had to happen that way.  Because she has to be there to pound the h-bomb enough times for it to go off.  And just so I’m clear on the subject, I do indeed think the bomb went off.  But as I stated earlier, I think the “Whatever Happened, Happened” axiom still applies.  That bomb was always supposed to go off over the electromagnetic anomaly.

So you may be thinking, how in the heck can that happen without the whole island blowing up?  Or, at least, the pocket getting obliterated?  Well, here’s my explanation, as crazy as it may sound: The pocket absorbed the energy.  Before you laugh too hard, remember that the pocket’s main ability seems to be sucking items into it, like a mini black hole.  Granted, the energy from an h-bomb is larger than anything that has come in contact with the pocket before, but think about it this way.  If the pocket is large enough that the hole drilled into it is just a pinhole, then perhaps we’ve only seen a very small part of its pull.  If perhaps, something blew the lid off the pocket, then maybe its full electromagnetic absorption abilities would be seen…and it would pull in the entire explosion.  And then perhaps it would need to release that energy every 108 minutes…just sayin’.

Something else to think about is that we know the Swan location to have some temporal capabilities as well.  Desmond initially received his time flashes after he turned the failsafe key in the Swan station.  I don’t think that it’s beyond the realm of possibility to think that the h-bomb blast coupling with the anomaly somehow factors into the LOSTies being able to jump forward in time to their rightful place.  Of course, I can certainly see how some might think otherwise, and it’s tough for me to argue.  But that’s how I think “Whatever Happened, Happened” can make sense, and also tie in with Jacob’s line that “they’re coming”.

So that’s that!  I think I covered everything, but if I didn’t, please leave a comment and ask!  This is the last off-season, and our last chance to seriously debate what’s going on in the show without having all of the answers!  I’d love to spark some discussion that can continue on for the 8 months the show will be on hiatus.

In any event, thanks again for reading!  I appreciate you stopping by!