Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Lost - Dr. Linus

Man, was last week’s episode of Lost awesome or what!?! We got answers, redemption and twists all in under an hour. Not only did we get to see more of Ben and Arzt in the Flash Sideways, but we also got our first Alex Rousseau appearance since her very unfortunate (and sad) death. We learned that Alex is being raised by a single mother who works two jobs to provide for her daughter. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long to see Danielle show up in a Flash Sideways scene.

Lost - Dr. Linus - Michael Emerson as Ben Linus & Daniel Roebuck as Leslie Arzt
It was also cool how the writers juxtaposed the end of “Dr. Linus” with the end of “Sundown” from two weeks ago. “Sundown” ended with the formation of FLocke’s “evil” crew, including Crazy Claire and Evil Sayid, while “Dr. Linus” ended with the coming together of Jacob’s “good guys” team. For a minute there I actually thought I was watching a Season 1 episode when Lost’s classic music medley started playing and we had a slow motion Lostie reunion on the beach. Finally our cast has fully come together, albeit in two warring factions. I have to say, the makeup of Jacob’s side was quite surprising. Never in a million years did I expect Team Jacob to include Jack, Ilana, Richard AND Ben. It should be an entertaining crew though, with 3 of the show’s funniest characters (Hurley, Miles and Frank) finally hanging out together on consistent basis.

And did everyone love the scene between Jack and Richard as much as I did? For once I feel like we actually learned something from a conversation on Lost, primarily Jacob’s ability to keep his chosen ones from killing themselves. I am a little torn as to what the expression was on Jack’s face right before the dynamite should have blown up in the Black Rock. Was that a look of true faith or had Jack finally come to terms with the fact he might die? Either way, at this point Jack seems to have completely given in to his destiny and now believes whole heartedly in fate/faith.

Lost - Dr. Linus - Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
The inability of candidates to kill themselves raises an interesting question: was Michael Dawson’s inability to kill himself because he was “touched” by Jacob (meaning he was also at one time a candidate)? Richard doesn’t seem to be a candidate, so I suppose Jacob’s “gift” can be given to non-candidates as well, but that doesn’t explain Michael’s true role on the island. We saw Michael try to kill himself on multiple occasions, only to find out the island wasn’t through with him yet. Then, when he finally was able to die, it was Christian Shephard who told him his time was up.

I originally felt like Michael was protected by Jacob, but as we have learned more about the smoke monster, it appears he may have been protected by FLocke instead. I think this question won’t be answered until we learn if Christian was/is the Smoke Monster or if he is some of emissary for the island. At this point, I’m leaning towards Dr. Shephard being the smoke monster because we haven’t seen him since smokey was trapped in Locke’s form.

Lost - Dr. Linus - Ken Leung as Miles Straume & Michael Emerson as Ben Linus
For me, all of the revelations/questions coming out of "Dr. Linus" tied in perfectly to the episode’s final scene, in which we discover a submarine off the island’s coast carrying Charles Widemore back to the island! You see, with all this talk of rules and gifts, the reappearance of Widemore and Alex in last week’s episode reminded me of another rule, the rule that stated Charles and Ben couldn’t kill each other. I assume this is because Jacob touched both of them, Charles at some point in the past and Ben either when he was resurrected in the temple or moments before he killed Jacob in the four toed statue. But what is the true purpose of this rule and how does it relate to the “gift” Jacob gives his chosen ones? All of this has to be related, right?

Another aspect of Jacob that bothers me is that he appears to be all knowing. For instance, when he convinced Hurley to take Jack away from the temple to the lighthouse, he said he did so to protect them from the danger about to engulf the temple. Jacob also knew the effect being at the lighthouse would have on Jack, and while we don’t know exactly what Jacob has told Ilana, it appears he’s given her hints and clues as to what’s to come.

Lost - Dr. Linus - Jorge Garcia as Hurley Reyes & Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard
If this is true, and Jacob is in fact omniscient, then doesn’t it stand to reason Jacob knew what was going to happen to Sayid and Dogen at the temple!?! The only reason Sayid was even taken to the temple and "saved" was because Jacob told Hurley to do so. Since Jacob apparently knows how all this is going to play out, he also had to know Sayid would die and be reborn infected. I take this to mean he wanted Sayid to become infected and join FLocke’s team. And this, my friends, is The Blot’s first true Season 6 theory.

Lost, among all other things, seems to be about redemption. And from what I can tell, Jacob wanted Sayid to help FLock so he could gain his trust and earn his way into FLocke's inner circle. Then, during the final conflict between Team Jacob and Team FLocke, Sayid will turn against the smoke monster and finally earn the redemption that has eluded him for so many years. Is this farfetched? Am I grasping at straws, hoping one of my favorite characters has not truly gone to the dark side? Possibly, but only time will tell! Namaste...
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