5 stars from me! The season premieres and finales are always amazing!
Ilona, I know you said in chat that you didn't like the Ben/Jacob/Locke scene, that it felt rushed. I really liked it!
To me, it didn't feel that rushed. The person who we just find out in this episode isn't really Locke, just posing as him, has been manipulating Ben from the start. "Locke" has been attacking Ben's ego, his self worth, his importance to the island and Jacob, his beliefs, and belittling everything Ben thought he stood for in the eyes of Jacob and the island. He built up Ben's anger and resentment, drudging up how Jacob never allowed Ben to meet him, wasn't there to help when Widmore's hostiles showed up. Didn't do anything before, during, or after the events that led to Alex's death. He also swore to the person he thought was the ghost of his daughter that he'd do whatever Locke asked him to do.
So why hesitate, especially when Jacob not only doesn't bother denying nor apologizing for everything, but instead only adds to the pile of stuff "Locke" put on him by simply replying, "What about you?" in such a dismissive way.
So let's talk about Jacob and this person posing as Locke. Do you know who this fake Locke really is? Wish I'd have thought to ask you but it's the middle of the night for you so I'm just gonna assume the possibility that you maybe didn't.
Let's start from the beginning. All the way to the pilot episode. Remember when Locke was explaining how to play Backgammon to Walt? "Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark."
Light and dark. Black and white. Those have been a huge point off symbolism throughout the show. Who knew that Locke's explanation of an ancient board game was also explaining what was happening on this island between two mysterious figures, who, like Richard, appear not to age?
We finally meet Jacob and see his is the light/white. He's wearing all white right down to his sandals. He's light in appearance, fair-haired and in that beginning scene, appears to be the light/white/good in demeanor. The other man, who has not been named, appears to be his opponent. He is wearing black, his hair is dark, and his demeanor appears dark, right down to straight up telling Jacob he's gonna find a loophole so he can kill him some day.
So when did this conversation at the beginning take place? Did you notice the ship that was offshore that the two men watch and spoke about? That was the Black Rock! All fine and intact, in the ocean and not shipwrecked in the middle of the jungle. We found out from that auction scene when the painting of the Black Rock was up for bid, that it had left England March 22, 1845. So this scene must have been taking place around that time! It is 2007 when Ben meets Jacob. That means that Jacob and his rival are well over 162 years old.
So back to who this Locke imposter is. Who do we know has the ability to show up in the image of people's pasts? Whose been using that ability to manipulate people into thinking and acting the way he wants them to? Good ol' Smoke Monster. And now here stands the being we know as Smoke Monster, as the image of Locke, telling Jacob before he dies that he promised he'd find a loophole. Who made that promise? The Man in Black, back on that beach, over a hundred years ago. So this man without a name, which viewers refer to as Man in Black or MIB, has been around since the beginning. He's the freakin' Smoke Monster.
Apparently, Jacob and MIB can't hurt each other. We don't know why. All we know is that MIB really wants to kill Jacob but can't. He wants to kill him so badly that he went to extraordinary lengths in order to make the loophole happen. And poor Locke was completely used as a tool of this loophole all the way from childhood. At the beginning of the season, we see scenes of Richard telling Locke how important he is, that he's meant to be leader. Pushing him to this goal of what looked to be his intended destiny. But then later, we see this resurrected Locke telling Richard where to go and what to say to Locke's past self throughout time and I began to see that this wasn't destiny doled out by Jacob or the island, but by "Locke" himself. It was MIB posing as Locke who told Richard that he had to go and visit Locke as a child, give him that test. Find him in the jungle and remove that bullet, reminding him again of his importance and the importance of returning to the island. Poor Locke's entire life had been as a pawn in MIB's loophole game, right from the start, and Richard had played right into it.
This MIB is one determined sociopath driven to his goal of killing Jacob without a single shit given for all the pawns he's used along the way. Mainly using Locke, the only person who Ben ever felt threatened by, to drive Ben into doing what he couldn't; kill Jacob. Apparently Jacob isn't immortal. It's just that for some reason, they were unable to kill each other.
Jacob's been off-island! He's visited the survivors throughout the decades, making sure to touch them both physically and mentally. Wasn't sure if you noticed that he made it a point to physically touch each one. He visited them during pivotal times in their lives and spoke to them which may or may not have put them on the deciding path of who they ended up becoming. What did it mean? What did it do? After seeing these scenes, we know that they were all meant to eventually end up on that plane and crash on that island.
I can't wait to learn more about Jacob and MIB!
It was so great to see Rose, Bernard, and Vincent again! I loved their whole scene, how they spoke so opening about how they're just over it all. So-and-so is gonna do this. We're gonna stop so-and-so. They're so over it. XD I was happy to see them alive and content with the life they made for themselves.
Aw, when Sun found Charlie's ring in the crib, I teared up again. I was so heartbroken that Claire didn't find it when they fled. It felt like the gesture had gone to waste and would never be realized. I really hope Sun holds onto it!
I love these flashbacks that play out stuff mentioned so long ago. Like that surgery that Jack told Kate about. And at the same time, we see that it's Jack's dad who taught him the counting to five thing.
We also got to see how Pierre lost his hand! I don't know if you remember, but in the early orientation films, viewers saw that it appeared that Dr. Marvin Candle had a prosthetic hand. Turns out, we were right! I love these writers.
Also, Richard mentions that Eloise is pregnant. How sad and ironic that she killed Daniel while she was currently pregnant with him.
The ending! Omg, I cried, like always, when Juliet was dragged down. I can't believe they actually did it. They detonated that bomb. But will it change everything? Will Oceanic 815 land in LAX, creating a different future? Or an alternate future? I've always loved time travel. So many different rules and aspects that shows or movies can take with it. Looking forward to seeing how this works out.
I loved the end title card. The Lost logo complete opposite. Usually black background with white writing, now white background. Sort of a negative of the original title card. There's your black and white again! What does it mean? It gives me the feeling of a new and different story. An alternate to how things were.
We started with flashbacks, then flashforwards... what will the final season have for us? I think this is the first time that a season has ended with me not having any clue at all what might be happening. Ending with a bomb going off and no hint at the ramifications leaves this completely blank slate!
Favorite quotes/moments:
Sun finding Charlie's ring.
FRANK: Who the hell are you people?
ILANA: We're friends.
FRANK: So you smack all your friends in the face with a rifle, shove 'em in a boat, and kidnap 'em?
ILANA: Only the ones we like.
(revealed that Locke's body is in the box Ilana and her crew have been carrying around)
SUN: I don't understand. If this is Locke...
who's in there? MIB (in Locke's image): Hello, Jacob.
JACOB: Well, you found your loophole.
MIB: Indeed I did. And you have no idea what I've gone through to be here.
