“Lost” for Beginners—Season 6, Episodes 1-8
We’re
down to the wire here, folks! This marks the beginning of my viewing of the
final season of Lost. It just keeps on getting more and more intense, and I
really can’t imagine how they’re going to wrap it all up in just 16 episodes! One
quick note: we’ve now got parallel universes going on, and writing about them
is really confusing. Thus, I’m going to call the “real” world that the
characters have been living in for the past five seasons, the one in which they
are all still on the Island, “Universe A.” The dimension that sees the
characters land safely in LA on Flight 815 will henceforth be known as
“Universe B.” Got it? Good. Let’s begin.
So, in
the season 5 finale, “The Incident,” Ben killed Jacob, and Juliet detonated the
Jughead bomb in an attempt to reset the timeline. It was quite a lot to take in!
We’re left wondering whether the detonation of Jughead does indeed change the
way things happened. As we entered season 6, I found myself really torn on what
I wanted to see happen. On one hand, I would feel really cheated if the
timeline completely changed and none of the events of the past five seasons had
ever happened. This show is too brilliant to just be retconned into oblivion.
On the other hand, I was very curious to see how the characters would have
fared if the plane hadn’t gone down. We know where they were all headed, and
why they were on the plane, and we’re naturally curious about how their lives
would have turned out if Desmond hadn’t accidentally crashed their plane onto
the Island. Would Kate have gone to jail? What would Claire have done with
Aaron? Would Sun have left Jin? Would Sayid have found Nadia? All these “what
if” questions are running through our minds, and we’re just dying to see them
play out. There’s something really alluring about seeing these characters in
normal society, after we’ve seen them in the crazy environment that is the
Island. So naturally, I had mixed feelings going into season 6.
Turns
out, I had nothing to worry about, either way! We get to have our canon cake
and eat it too! Right from the beginning, we flash-sideways between Flight 815
landing safely in LA, and the castaways still on the Island after the
detonation of the bomb. Instead of changing the timeline, it appears they’ve
created an alternate reality. I’m sure the writers must have realized that if
they had just done one or the other, they would have had a lot of very angry
viewers on their hands! So, now we get to see the story continue in two
directions; the tale of the Island continues in Universe A, while we also get
our secret wish of seeing the characters exist in normal society in Universe B.
This is great, because story lines that never got to be actualized before can
be done now; it’s like the characters are all getting a do-over.
And boy
oh boy, do they do it over! Now we get to see the characters get to know each
other in a whole new setting, a much more normal one! After they get off the
flight in Universe B, the characters keep on crossing each other’s paths again
and again. We get to see twisted versions of things that have already happened
in Universe A, and at times this makes it almost feel like a dream sequence. In
a sense, the characters seem to be facing down the demons that have plagued
their Universe A selves for the past five seasons, while at the same time
having no knowledge of their other selves being plagued by these demons. In the
episode “What Kate Does,” Universe B Kate helps Claire deliver Aaron, and in
return Claire doesn’t tell the police where Kate went. I saw this as a kind of
reconciliation for what happened in Universe A with Kate raising Aaron and
surrendering him to his grandmother for the sake of going back to the Island. Similarly,
Jack has a son in Universe B, with whom he at first has a rocky relationship. But
as the episode goes along, Jack wrestles with his inner demons concerning his
own father, and ultimately refuses to make the same mistakes his own father
did, and patches things up with his son.
In addition
to this, some aspects of Universe B are downright opposite from what they are
in Universe A. Hurley calls himself “the luckiest man alive” instead of
thinking he’s cursed, Sawyer’s a cop instead of a con man, and Jin and Sun are
pregnant out of wedlock, instead of being unable to conceive when married.
However, the most interesting and most thorough opposite scenario, in my
opinion, is Ben’s. In the episode “Dr. Linus,” we get to see what his life
would have been sans Island. Instead of being a clinically insane pathological
liar, he’s a high school history teacher. Early on in the episode, we see that
he lives with his father, Roger. You know, the guy he killed in Universe A? Furthermore,
we see Ben caring for his ill father, replacing his father’s oxygen life
support tanks. It’s shown pretty quickly and subtly, and nothing is said about
it, but that was a really intense moment for me. If you remember, in Universe
A, Ben killed Roger using poison gas. In Universe B, instead of using gas to
kill his father, he’s using it to keep him alive. Then we get to see Ben at
work. He’s especially close to one of his students, who happens to be none
other than Alex Rousseau. As the episode progresses, “Dr. Linus” gets woven
into a scenario where he must make a choice: either get promoted to principal,
or help Alex get into Yale. The audience naturally can’t wait to see what
decision he makes. We all recall that in Season 4, Universe A Ben let Alex die
because he refused to relinquish his power on the Island and turn himself in.
Now, in Universe B, he’s presented with a similar scenario: Alex or power? In
keeping with the themes of opposites and atonement for old Universe A sins, you
can probably guess what his final decision ends up being.
Then we
get to episode 8, “Ab Aeterno.” After almost 3 seasons of being completely
baffled by Richard the ageless wonder, we FINALLY get to see his back story
(although they never do explain his weird-looking eyes :P). This is very awesome, but I thought the
best parts of the episode were the scenes with Jacob. This episode really
deepens our understanding of Jacob and the Man in Black; the Man in Black is
apparently pure, unconcentrated evil that can only take the form of dead people
(Season 7 of Buffy, anyone?), and Jacob and the Island are what’s preventing
this evil from being unleashed on the world. Or at least, that’s what Jacob
says. Anyway, what we have now presents Jacob as a sort of God figure.
It was clear to me that the writers
are being heavily influenced by ancient religious texts. When Jacob starts
talking about how he brings people to the Island to prove the Man in Black
wrong about it being human nature to sin, I was instantly reminded of the Book
of Job. You know, God allows a guy to go through unimaginable torture to prove
a point to the devil? That seems to be what Jacob is doing here, and we as
viewers aren’t sure how to feel about it. I mean, we think Jacob is good, but
why is it necessary for him to put people through suffering? Jacob even talks
about how people on the Island in the past have killed each other, and Richard
calls him on it, asking him why he’s never stepped in to stop it. In this day
and age, I feel like these are the same questions a lot of people have in the
world today. Many people in real life want to believe in a higher power, but
just don’t understand why the world has to be full of so much evil if there
really is a benevolent divine being looking after all of us. I wrote an entire research
paper on this topic my sophomore year of college; if I were writing that paper
now, I would discuss the events of Richard’s conversation with Jacob at length.
Anyway, Jacob tells Richard that the reason he doesn’t step in is because he
wants people “to know the difference between right and wrong without [him]
having to tell them.” He goes on to say that if he always needs to step in, it
would all be meaningless.
So there’s some food for thought on
the subject. I found myself really, really thinking after this episode, about
the nature of good and evil, about a higher power, about life, the universe,
and everything, and I hope it makes you think too! Anyway, the point of that
interaction, besides raising a great deal of philosophical questions, was to
show how Richard became immortal. Turns out, Jacob agrees to make him his
intermediary. Richard steps up to the plate, offering to be the one to step in
and guide people on the Island to make the right decisions. In exchange, Jacob
makes him immortal. Okay, so that’s been answered, but now there’s a new, highly
problematic question: If Richard is supposedly there to guide people into doing
the right thing, then why is he Ben’s subordinate 140 years later, just going
along with all the evil stuff Ben is doing? I REALLY hope this gets at least
somewhat explained; I guess I’ll find out soon!
Well Losties, that about wraps up
this post! Join me next time as I take you through the home stretch, the final
8 episodes of the show! Will all of our questions be answered? Will I find the
ending satisfying, or will I be left wanting more? Now that the box set
containing the epilogue is out, I’ll be sure to watch that as well. After all
that, we’ll see what I think as I give my final thoughts on the series. Later,
dudes!
