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Lostwatch: Faith-Based Initiative

ABC
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Before you read this post, take a deep, deep breath, dive in and watch last night's Lost.Â
"Follow the Leader" was an exciting, engaging episode of Lost—partly, I think, because it set a concrete direction for the end of the season—but because it jumped around so much in order to set things in place for the finale, I'm tempted not to even try to big-picture it in one essay, but rather deal with it in one big hail of bullets. That, and I'm going on about four hours of sleep right now. (Please forgive the typos that probably riddle this post. If I somehow manage not to cut-and-paste my grocery list into this post, I'll consider that a success.) So, yes: the hail of bullets looks like a good idea.Â
Well, one big-picture thing. It always comes back to the Man of Science vs. the Man of Faith, doesn't it? And in this case, Jack and Locke are each in command, with two different groups, in two different decades, with two different Big Ideas to set things right on the Island. Jack's, of course, is science-based, and Locke's, well, faith-based. Jack wants to set off a hydrogen bomb to change the course of history. Locke, in a way, has an even bigger target in mind: he intends to kill Jacob, which seems practically tantamount to killing God.Â
Can they both be right? Can either? If the title is "Follow the Leader"—which one of them is it? Tune in next week. Now here's your big hail of bullets:
* While John Locke gets more and more confident—and ht damn, but I love confident Locke—Richard grows more and more puzzling. Before Ben even told us, we had gotten the sense that he had been around on the Island for a long time, in his role of "advisor." Although he sometimes could seem sinister and ruthless, though, he has always appeared single-minded in his devotion to the Island's interests—as he sees them—and to his people and their preservation. But that long meaningful look Locke shot him when he noted how curious it was that no one was allowed to talk to Jacob suggests that maybe he has been more of a manipulator even in regard to his own people.
* The Christ parallels with Locke have been plenty, but this seems like another: he is challenging the old order of a religion (here Richard, and perhaps also Jacob himself) which insists on serving as the interface between God and the people, and offering the people the promise of direct communication with the divine instead. We know what happened to Jesus—but Locke has already been resurrected. Hasn't he?
* Speaking of which, Richard's gobsmacked reaction to Locke's saying that he died was very curious. Has anything ever freaked Richard out before?Â
* Yet again we saw a scene from earlier in the season replayed, as Locke told Richard how to save and instruct himself at the site of the crashed drug plane. But why, exactly, was it so important to Locke that he get Richard to do this? Is it simply that he's not so much a believer in "What happened, happened"? Also, a picky cavil: the compass, unless my space-time logic is faulty, exists in a closed loop and was never created. (As someone here—sorry I can't remember who—guessed in an earlier Lostwatch thread.) Not sure I like that.
* And speaking of Richard: "I watched them all die." Well, we don't know this to be the case. But whatever Richard has been in the past, he's never really been a liar like Ben. (Has he? Please correct me if I'm forgetting.) If Ben had said this, I would have assumed it was a lie for some purpose. From Richard... well, I don't know what to think, but I am starting to suspect that, however these stories play out, it will not be as simple as, "What happened, happened."Â
* One last Richard observation: good thing Cane got cancelled, no?Â
* So: back to 1977, then. It made sense that someone, at some point, would spill the beans about the O6 members being from the future. But the exchange between Chang and Hurley—in which Marvin Chang used Hurley's simple ignorance of history to trip him up—was just brilliant. "What year were you born?" "Uh, 19.. 31." "You're 46? You fought in the Korean war?" "There was no such thing." "Who is the President of the United States?" "All right, dude, we're from the future."
* I've got to say, I'm disappointed that after showing himself a changed, in-control man after three years on the Island, Sawyer sold his mates out—well, if he didn't sell them out, at least gave himself and Juliet an out without trying to save them. (Whereas earlier he was willing to give up the life he made to help Jack and Kate.) His giving Radzinsky the map to the Hostiles (presumably) makes me wonder: is it possible that he's making possible a Dharma surprise attack on the Hostiles—perhaps foiling the H-bomb plot in the process and ensuring a retaliatory Purge down the road? Or is that too easy? Could it be that whatever Dharma has planned will end up changing history, but not in the way Jack is trying to?Â
* I always forget Sayid is out there until someone gets popped out of the blue. He is truly the Omar of Lost. (Speaking of characters floating around out there, I wonder whether and how Desmond is going to come back into play.)
* Marvin Pierre Chang's involvement with his son and company is an interesting twist. Think of all the videos we've seen him in, for instance, from the standpoint of knowing that he knows someone tried to warn Dharma away from the Incident. Or does he know? Are those videos part of a future that he may end up helping to change, or prevent? (And if so, what becomes of the white bunny?)
* Apropos of nothing, seeing Ellie in the scene with he dead son and realizing that at the same time she is pregnant with him weirded me out something fierce.Â
* Even more apropos of nothing, the sub sinking into the water was one of the more blatantly CGI-looking FX I've seen on Lost in a long time.Â
* Not that I actually expect Sawyer and Juliet to make it off the Island and run off into the sunset, but it's sad to know that he will know enough to buy Microsoft early, but will not know enough to know to pull his money out of stocks before the market peak of late 2007.
* One housekeeping thing: I try not to be a hall monitor about no-spoilers, but because there is info out there about who may appear in the finale—and the previews showed more than I would like in general—let's stay away from the spoilage, please.
 * Finally, a rare achievement for Kate. If we exclude Marvin Chang's ownage of Hurley on American history, Ms. Austen, of all people, gets off the funniest line of the night: "Since when did shooting kids and blowing up hydrogen bombs become OK?" Indeed!
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1
It might not be as meaningful since it's not a tangible thing, but Daniel's name is also in a closed loop. Eloise knows to name him Daniel because she was told that was his name. So the idea for his name was never contrived. Same thing with the inscription on Daniel's journal, and probably a hundred other little things. The closed loops are not real cool, IMO.
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2
I'm not one who comments much about bad CGI effects but even I was struck by just *how* terrible the submarine scene was.
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Regarding Richard possibly lying, I remember commenting here a few episodes back (under the sn LIandKafka)(Hi again
) about Richard's quick retort to Charles about how "Jacob" had ordered something or was the reason for some decision (sorry for my incoherence, it's late here too and I can't remember all the details but it was in regard to saving Ben). Anyway, I remarked at the time how I wondered about Richard seemed to use Jacob as a way of shutting up Charles and how it didn't make sense given that, in prior episodes, Jacob either summoned people or gave messages via cabin visits. Since Richard had no time to see Jacob or visit him before wounded young-Ben showed up, I thought Richard manipulated the reference to "Jacob." Now, after tonight's episode I wonder even more.
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That said, I love and am deeply fascinated by the Richard Alpert character and wouldn't want to think the worst of him. So I'm more confused than ever.
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On a totally tangent, (and forgive the even greater ramblings), I've long believed in the Richard Alpert as Egyptian "Ra" theory but tonight, I think he's more akin to the Egyptian High Priests and, especially, those faced with the historical actions of Akhenaten. He was the pharaoh who (with his wife, the legendary beauty Nefertiti) led a revolt against the established religion of multiple gods, essentially creating the basis for the first monotheistic religion. He created a new capital but was later overthrown and his statues were all later defaced. He was known forever more as a heretic and a false pharaoh.
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My point: I think Locke and his plan to kill Jacob is a symbolic nod to what Akhenaten tried to do to the old Egyptian Gods. Akhenaten was first allies with the grand priests and, like all pharaohs, he used Ra as a way to cement his position as the leader. Then he turned on Ra and the Gods, going to their capital which he tried to destroy (I think) in order to create a new world order. And, as the "false" prophet or pharoah, he eventually, he lost all. Okay, I know it's probably a huge stretch but Locke taking his army on the Island God's headquarters and not being submissive to Richard the way part Other Leaders have been really made me think of that.
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Other random, probably totally incorrect thought: technically, Locke cheated the test to be leader, didn't he? *He* didn't actually kill his father; the Others don't know that. But just like Jacob's orders weren't followed entirely when *Ben* moved the Donkey Wheel instead of Locke, what if Locke is the "false leader" of the Others??? Which would make his decisions heresy in terms of Island theology?
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Taking all this further and combining theories: one(obviously) can't be dead to be a Pharaoh or come back from the dead -- The Book of the Dead notwithstanding. By the same measure, I assume the leader/Pharoah of the Others can't be dead. Richard's shock over Locke's announcement was akin to the High Priest of Ancient Egypt being told that his pharaoh had come back from the dead, and thinking: "It can't be right and this man can't be the One after all. I'll have to stop this heresy before it destroys everything."
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Gosh it's way late and I'm probably being crazy. Forgive my crazy and LONG analysis. -
3
I don't see why the closed loops are such an issue. As a physics buff, I find the idea of objects and information existing without a beginning or an end in time delightful. If anything, I get annoyed by the contradiction in philosophy brought up by the loops. If we're now adopting the "you can change things after all" attitude, it doesn't seem logical to me that John should be able to instruct himself (via Richard). That closed loop would imply that there was no "first" John, so changes to the course of events shouldn't be possible. Make up your mind, Lost!
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4
Can't say why, but tonight left me with the distinct idea that all that stuff at the end was not about Jacob, John or Ben, but about Richard, and that he is not at all what he has always been assumed to be, as in a)a god, b)a priest, c)a pirate, d)immortal. It further struck me that while he appears frequently, I don't remember getting the absolute sense that his presence is necessarily sustained among the Hostiles/Others. As an advisor, I think it's possible he just always shows up when something pivotal is happening. And that leads me on to the idea that he would need to know WHEN to show up and what to do when he's there. The rest of this logic isn't hard. To know all that he has to be, like the O-6, from the future and, in fact, further into the future. He has learned somehow to control the time jumps (not just pop about willy nilly, nose bleeding, in a big, bright light.) By jove, I think I've got it! The evidence has been there all along. The O-6 have been jumping through the years themselves, and without aging. What if he's trying to fix what the O-6 did while trying to fix what the Dharma/Hostiles did? Wow!
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5
@Covelebm: I quite agree, I don't understand how John is able to instruct himself about himself, when he was first instructed by Richard who was instructed by John, who was....
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The closed-loop theory is starting to make my head spin after the John instructing his time-bopping self via Richard. It hurts even more so with regard to the compass. In this episode, I thought Locke said that Richard was getting his compass "back" after the Locke flash (and, I fully grant you, I'm too tired to be up-to-date on all the compass exchanges right now,) but didn't there have to be an *initial* point of origin with the compass to begin with? But when did Richard give the compass to Locke with the message for him to give it back to 1954 Richard? It wasn't during this "heal the bullet wound" time frame, I don't think. Wasn't it during the next Flash Jump when Locke saw Richard, or am I getting confused? Either way, there was supposed to be a big point about showing the compass in this episode but I'm afraid I'm too confused, *time wise.* -
6
One quick word about the closed-loop thing: if time exists simultaneously, there is no "initial iteration" - any sort of time travel never didn't happen.
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General thoughts to come in a few hours. -
7
So Hurley never paid attention in history class. While he rewrites Empire he can't remember Jimmy Carter or Korea. But anyway, I liked that Miles came clear with his father, and that this issue was further resolved during the evacuation scene. Richard (cool scene with that ship in the bottle) does not know what to make of Locke 2.0, it is obviously pretty important that dead is dead… and John smiling at Sun and lying her in the face the same instant was pretty cool, but a little bit disturbing. If he lied to Sun, and not to Ben, that is. I wonder what the hostiles do all day long in their tent cities, be it 1977 or 30 years later. There were nice edits between the two timeframes, always centered on Richards movements. Good that his shirt was grey in the past, and blue in the present.
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8
So, the time loops make sense on the physics, end, a thing doesn't need a creator or a birth to exist, but what about Daniel and the O6? If they change time and the plane lands and they never reach the island, they still have to go back, some how, in time, to close that sequence, because if they never go back to the island from the year 2007 then they never effect the change in 1977, unless this explosion shifts from one theoretical universe to another. this is the first time a stretch in physics on this show has actually bothered me, but i just cant get my head around this one.
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9
I hate the thing about the compass as well. Although, Richard said it was more rusty than when Locke gave it to him in '54. So wouldn't tham mean he gave him a different compass. But they sure made it seem like it was the same one. I also don't like it when people can see their past selves (i.e. Locke and Miles). I was distracted by the CGI shot but not anymore than I was distracted by the miniature freighter blowing up in last season's finale.
---The good thing about this season coming to an end is that we will finally get out of this time traveling storyline. At least I hope we do. I don't want to spend season six watching characters talk about "ifs" "What ifs" and such.
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10
Anyone else catch the music in the scene pictured above? I'm not clear if we've heard that before; it was sort of anthemic. Coupled with the iconic trail of people walking across sand, waves on one side and jungle on the other, we have... the Exodus. And Locke is Charlton Heston/Moses. Which would make Richard Alpert an Aaronic figure, the helper to Moses and ultimately promoter of false gods, and also himself the first in the line of priests. (Not to mention that we already have a prominent Aaron on this island, who has unexplainedly disappeared but who was certainly a target of interest for "Jacob" early in the series). You play with time and relationships enough and anything's plausible, right? Is Claire Richard Alpert's father? Was he the original Aaron; now bound to jump through time correcting past mistakes? Like in Quantum Leap? All we need now is for Richard Dean Anderson to make an appearance, repair the Heroin Express with bubble gum and bamboo, and fly everyone off the island for a perfect 80's-meta experience.
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11
@10…
The theme is around since the season one soundtrack,
it was called "Hollywood and Vines" back then. -
12
The only reason Sawyer "sold out" his friends was because they stopped beating him and starting beating Juliet. Before that happened he didn't say a word.
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13
Ladies and gentlemen, Kate Austin, The Amazing Hostage!
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I had hoped we were going to be seeing a 'new and improved' Kate after the great moment of declaring that she was going to go back to the island and find Claire, but it seems that she's reverted to the same old Kate. Changing her mind, running around the jungle with no real goal, screwing up everyone's plans and then getting caught.
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That got me thinking about some of the other charactes though. We've seen a lot of apparent change in some of the major players, but it seems like they may be reverting to their former selves now. Kate went from seeming that she had a true purpose to making decisions that are symbolically choices between Jack and Sawyer. And once again, she can't make up her mind.
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Jack had seemed to let go of his control freak ways until Farraday dangled the possibility of erasing the entire island incident with a giant reset button of detonating Jughead. Once that idea was out there, Jack once again turned into the guy who wants to fix everything and has stubbornly latched onto one idea. So much for the laid back janitor.
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Locke seems to have shed his old persona to become the confident leader he always longed to be. However, with his declaration about killing Jacob and his complete disinterest in finding out how he's back from the dead, I fear that once again, John Locke is a sap. This time, I think the island is the one playing him. I'm afraid that island is using him and that once the island's goals are completed, Locke's borrowed time is up. Wouldn't it be exactly like Locke to think he's finally accomplished everything he wanted only to find out that he's been used again, and then *bam*, he's dead.
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Sawyer seems to desperately want to be the better man he turned himself into, but despite his best efforts, he keeps getting put into positions to betray people. Either Jack or Kate. Or maybe Julia with the return of Hostage Kate. (Loved his line about buying Microsoft and betting the Cowboys in the Super Bowl.)
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Oh, and one more thought. One guy who definately isn't going to be down with Jack's reset button plan is John Locke. No way is he going to take a chance on being back in his wheelchair as a nobody again, even if it could possibly bring back Boone and the other dead castaways. What's going to happen if '07 Locke finds out what '77 Jack is trying to do? -
14
@brfalcon - you actually just explained WHH in a nutshell, along with why the producers chose the WHH time model (as opposed to the Butterfly Effect/Back to the Future model). That's also why I'm not really anxious over the finale. I definitely want to see what happens, but they won't be able to change things. In Jack's attempt to change the future, he's simply going to act out what has always happened.
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@Kemper - if Locke is as omnipotent as he appears to be, he's either aware that Jack is simply acting out history or not aware of anything, since history has already happened, and Our Heroes will just be showing up in 2007/08 in just a few hours. -
15
My buddy Dave and I were joking about how hilarious it would be if everyone DID die, and S6 was focused around Team Shadow of the Statue.
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Though until Kate ended up on the sub, a little part of me was hoping that Sawyer and Juliet really could just get off the Island like that and live happily ever after (insert scene of S&J 30 years older on Ajira 316 and ending up back on the Island).
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Speaking of S&J, I feel even sadder about their potential to end up together. The producers are laying it on pretty thick that they've got each other's back and that they love each other. Sigh. -
16
I'm actually a little disappointed, I expected more background information from an episode with Richard as "featured" character. Probably that just means Richard's character is one of the very last puzzle pieces if we do not learn about his motives in season 5.
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While the closed loops were just a little disturbing, actually seeing Richard shocked (as opposed to confused but calm when meeting random people from the future) was VERY disturbing. 10 minutes before the end, I actually expected the cliffhanger to be Locke pointing at him and saying "Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Richard Alpert."
Well, maybe next time. -
17
*Richard "Jacob" Alpert, that is.
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18
@ Dave - Assuming that WHH remains the flavor of the day, I agree. (But I find it hard to believe that this whole season has just been a time travel exercise in WHH with all the characters just butting their heads against the same wall the entire year so I've still got some Farrady style hope that WHH can be changed.)
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Even if Jack fails and WHH, then it still shows how committed he is to trying to 'fix' what happened to the castaways. And we know that Locke is going to be more committed than ever to preserving his place on the island. ("I've got not interest in reuniting with my people.") You gotta assume that when the two finally meet again, it's going to make their previous conflicts look like a picnic. -
19
@Kemper - If you're thinking in a pure endgame sense, then yes, the whole season has been nothing but proving WHH (much like how S4 was nothing but finishing Jack and Kate's conversation in 2007). The Lost has never been a pure endgame show. Yes, it's always been building to it, but it's all about characters and their interactions and the journeys that they're on. In that context, S4 and S5 have done a lot for us.
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Who says that Jack failing results in WHH? I've just been assuming that Jack succeeding is the Incident itself. -
20
@Dave - By Jack failing, I meant that Jack fails to stop 815 from crashing. So there again, WHH.
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I'm also assuming that if WHH is unbreakable, then Jack trying to set off the H-Bomb does cause The Incident. Which means that Jack will have set off the chain of events that cause the crash. Oh, that's just brutal...
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This brings up another point. Since Farraday knew about The Incident, but was desperately trying to set off Jughead to 'stop' it, you'd think he'd realize that the two were connected, right? But he seemed to think he'd prevent The Incident by detonating it, not cause it. That seems odd coming from the guy who knew all about WHH. So I'm guessing Jack and company will miss some crucial step that Farraday was going to do? -
21
Not a lot of subtext here, so this will be short:
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Why does Locke want to kill Jacob? Some possibilities:
Kill Jacob to free him. Recall that when Jacob was introduced, there was a ring around the cabin, and we argued over whether it was to keep something out, or to keep Jacob in. Perhaps the only way to free Jacob (or free Jacob 2.0, anyway) is to kill the corporeal Jacob 1.0 part.
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Kill Jacob to rule. I will remind you (it has been a while) that there have been signs that Christian 2.0 was not necessarily on the same side as Jacob. I'm not sure the O6 would have ever left the Island if it wasn't for Christian 2.0 - though, for all we know, the entire process was a gambit to plant the Shadow of the Statue crew on The Island. So yes, Locke 2.0 has unnatural knowledge - but who can say the 2.0 part is necessarily working on the side of the angels?
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Kill Jacob for self-determination. It's been a while since the Valis mention, but I will again point out that the core belief of the Gnostic faith is that God is not running reality, Satan is (and God is off slumbering/waterskiing/whatever). The entire modern-day reality of The Island has been shaped by their leaders telling the people what to do, solely because (supposedly) God/Jacob told them to - and Locke 2.0 thinks it is time for a new order.
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(Although, writing this out, something just came to me. I've already mentioned that Christian 2.0 is not bound by time and space (see him operating in both 2007 and the Atlantis era), and now Locke 2.0 has knowledge of exact timing in "the future". Who says Jacob had to be from the past - what if the shiny metal box the SotS crew is carting around in 2007 has Jacob 1.0's body inside?)
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And yes, Richard's shock at Locke's resurrection is extremely intriguing. If Richard's agelessness is indeed due to his past resurrection, does that indicate Richard is worried that Locke will take Richard's job, and not just Ben's? If Richard is unaware of past resurrections, then what is the source of his agelessness?
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One thing that struck me about the American History test failure - between Chang/Miles/Hurley/Jin, there wasn't a single white guy in the scene. Then I realized there wasn't a single woman either (they were, or were about to be, in chains or desperately searching for their man). Still, progress! -
22
@Kemper - Ah, I see what you're saying.
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I was wondering the same thing about Farraday. I had just written it off as he had finally snapped and gone really crazy, but maybe he did have a master plan that Jack is just incapable of carrying out.
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Change of pace: so who is Jacob? I had assumed that he was the embodiment of the will of the Island, but if Locke (if that's his real name!) is getting his orders from the Island, do we have a suicidal Island or something? -
23
@Tom - I had interpreted Richard's shock at Locke's resurrection as that Ben learned his thoughts on death (Dead is Dead) from Richard, and Richard apparently thought his source of knowledge to be infallible.
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If Locke was lying to Sun about trying to get their people together, would it be unrealistic for him to be lying to Ben about going to kill Jacob? This new Confident Locke seems to enjoy pushing the buttons of people who think they know what's going on, so why not turn Ben's world just a little more upside down? -
24
I, for one, love watching the timeloops get closed. I also totally agree that WHH, and that Jack's obsessive pursuit of changing things is exactly (a la 12 Monkeys) what causes the Incident and the plane crash to eventually happen.
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I don't think that proving WHH means that this season has no point. I agree with Dave that while this show has an endgame, its not just an endgame show. I also think that in their experiences in the past, they are going to gain information and insight that is going to prepare them for the showdown with the statue shadow folks, making the line "the wrong side will win" make a lot more sense. If Ms. Hawking and Charles Whidmore got a lot of their information from the journal, then this means that their past selves had knowledge of future events, but their present (post-Ajira) selves only really have knowledge of "past" events (Ajira and before) - at some point their intel runs out, and they're all about setting the stage for a future conflict about which they do not have intel from time travelers - their endgame, their attempt to retake (or protect) the island. What Happened Happened, but once they finish closing the timeloops then Whatever Happens Happens and nothing more is predetermined... I can just see them waiting patiently all these years to play their parts so they can finally be free to move forward with a long-term plan.
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Or not. whatever. I loved when Sawyer called Juliet "sweetheart"
And Kate's shooting kids and blowing up bombs comment was awesome. The CGI was kinda pitiful, but whatever. Chang interrogating Hurley was my very favorite scene ("OK, dude, fine, we're from the future"), and I love that Myles was able to finally get some closure and understand that he, himself, was partly responsible for setting into motion all the things that happened to make his earlier life so painful, which is much like I see Jack's actions with the bomb, he's just gonna be the one to actively create the chain of events that led to the plane crash that causes him so much pain, and his whole purpose in being sent back was to be just who he is - obsessed, stubborn, driven, etc, so he could start the whole chain of events. -
25
Yes, James, so glad "Cane" got cancelled. Poor Nestor Carbonell, however, probably makes less recurring on "Lost" then featured on Cane. I hope they bump him up to a regular in season 6.
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And "Marvin" Chang, James? So many pseudonyms to keep track of. His name is Pierre Chang, aka Marvin Candle or Edgar Halliwax.
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