Sunday's upcoming episode of Lost may be the true finale, but I think in some ways, tonight's episode is the last one of Lost "as we know it." I say that because tonight is the last episode where the writers are setting pieces into place for the future. Opening new doors even as old ones close has always been Lost's way -- not so after tonight. (Not that I believe Lost's finale will actually tie up things completely in a neat little bow, but you get my point.)
Even though the table was really being set tonight, there were a lot of thrills and fun moments in the episode. And perhaps oddly, I felt the best of these moments actually came in the Sideways storyline. Put simply, I just loved watching Desmond Hume, the "Zen Awakener."
Watching Desmond pursue his agenda was almost like watching a great heist movie. He's "assembling the team." First, he was back at the school... but for Ben, not Locke. Then the ante was upped as he intentionally surrendered himself specifically for the purpose of picking up Sayid and Kate. Then more wheels within wheels as he made an escape (with the help of an unenlightened Ana-Lucia, and an apparently fully enlightened Hurley, who even recognized someone he'd never "actually" met). Next time, Desmond will be off to the dance, where we know several other characters will be in attendance.
The thing is, I don't even know exactly what "the heist" here is. I mean, I have a sense of what it must be, but I don't truly know the particulars. And that's all straight out of a well-made heist movie too! The whole feeling I got was that I'm about to watch the fun-filled final act of an Ocean's Eleven or Italian Job or some such. (Either version of either, take your pick.)
The Island story had some good moments too. Of course, Jack accepting his role as "the new Jacob" seemed inevitable, and was really only surprising in that I kept wondering if the Lost writers would find a way to subvert expectations. Frankly, if 24 weren't ending next week too, I think the writers there could learn a thing or two here. Sometimes, it's not the best thing to just do whatever is "shocking." Sometimes, it's better to be true to the characters. Jack's been on a journey for some time now. Let's get him there!
But the most interesting stuff on the Island, to me, dealt with Ben. After apparently trying to go it "good," he's slipped back to the darker side. Of course, we can speculate as to whether he's trying to do what Sawyer tried to do to Ol' Smokey earlier this season, and run a con. It certainly seems possible. But even if that's true, there's a dark edge to it. Regardless of Ben's intentions regarding Fake-Locke and The Island, Ben is only too happy to kill his nemesis Charles Widmore. (The presence of both Alex and Danielle Rousseau in the Sideways story this episode served to remind us of just what Ben lost, and why he would jump at a chance for revenge.)
The weakest stuff surrounded Jacob. Maybe I'm still left with a bit of a bad aftertaste from last week's mythologically minded mumbo-jumbo, but I found myself a little annoyed with some of his hand waving this week. Kate was crossed off his list because she became a mother? But Sun wasn't? Or was Jin the only real "Kwon" candidate? Does being a father not count? Or only not count when you've never met the child?
I know, I know... we were explicitly told last week that Jacob gets to "make the rules." I'd have a much easier time just dismissing all this and going with the flow if the show hadn't made it seem so damned important all along that these rules exist, all the while coaching us to sift through them repeatedly for deeper meaning.
Fortunately, there's more than enough good character stuff in play now -- in both realities -- that I can put this one dim spot out of my mind.
And so it's down to just one episode, this Sunday. Hard to believe.
2 comments:
My favorite part - Kate: "But my name was crossed off." Jacob: "That's okay, Evie, that was just a mistake by the prop guy."
And I just want to add that I'm intimidated when Blogger says, "Choose an identity."
I was particularly struck by the parallelism of Jack being chosen for Jacob's replacement. I knew it was coming of course, but after last weeks episode, and then watching Jack talk with Locke on the other side, it struck me just how fitting it was. At the beginning of the series, Jack vs Locke was "Man of Science vs Man of Faith". If we were told right then and there that one of these guys was on the island to fulfill his destiny, it was obviously Locke. From the moment they arrived there, he believed he was there for some grand purpose, even if he didn't begin to understand it. He was the perfect candidate to replace Jacob, and Jack was completely unsuitable. Last week we saw a very similar situation, where Mother had groomed Brother for years to replace her, and always thought he was the perfect candidate. But then something went wrong, and he became too self-centred for the job, so it went to Jacob instead. And like him, Locke eventually became too self-centred and became unsuitable for the job, leaving it for Jack while Locke himself became the "new smoke monster" (in some ways, at least).
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