Given Some Answers, But Still LOST

In last week’s episode of LOST we got (90% of) our answers regarding the mythology of the show. Disagree? Maybe you do, and maybe there’s some validity to your discontent. Few points were explicitly spelled out for us and major questions were left with some ambiguity. (Like what is the smoke monster?)
But we were provided the gist of the castaways’ predicament. We know Jacob’s back story (Mama’s boy). We know the main conflict (Smoke monster versus Jacob). We know why the castaways were brought to the island (For a scripted drama that would capitalize on the success of CASTAWAY and SURVIVOR. Oh, and something about the good of mankind….)
The showrunners for LOST, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, said that answers will not be meted out in a manner that satisfies follower of the shows with a checklist of questions. To me that means we’ll get an idea of the big picture, but some of the finer points will be left up to debate. If this surprises or angers any viewers of LOST, I would say that it is unreasonable to expect a complete understanding of a magical world. We don’t ask why Superman gets powers from the yellow sun, but we accept it as fact. Similarly, we should just accept the power of the “light” on the Island, and not demand to know its molecular structure. Basically, get over it.
The recent episode of LOST, Across the Sea, basically lets us know that further into the wormhole aren’t more answers, but more questions. We’ll get the correct premise to view the show under, something we’ve been denied before since we had a limited view. This theory was embodied by the original crazy island mom’s (MOTHER) disclosure to Jacob and Man in Black’s (MiB) real mother, Claudia, that: ““Every question I answer will simply lead to another question.” We should have realized all this when we had the slew of issues raised by The Hatch. Eventually you need to just blow it all up, which is basically what’s about to happen on the island anyway…
I’m more intrigued by simple questions; like why doesn’t anyone arrive safely on the island? People are always having their planes crashed and ships wrecked. What’s the deal with that? (Also, why do they call it ovaltine? It should be called roundtine.)
One of the major problems in getting any answers from LOST is that we can rarely trust what we’re hearing. We always need to consider who is speaking, who they’re speaking to and what motives they might have. I think the only conversations we’ve ever heard that can be accepted on face value have occurred between Jacob and MiB. They’re both operating with the same basic understanding of the island and they both understand each other’s motives. The same cannot be said of their MOTHER, who provides us with the earliest understanding of the island.
We learn from MOTHER, played excellently by Allison Janney as the doting mother perfect for a PSYCHO prequel, that she came to the island on accident. If we assume this is true, then we’re left to wonder if she was recruited to protect the “light” she later describes to her adopted boys. I think she was brought to the island, and I think her extended stay is what caused her eclectic personality.
I do think it is clear that MOTHER yearned for company, which is why she saw the new born babies as untainted companions she could mold into her successor. That’s why I think she always intended on killing Claudia.
In the aftermath of that killing I was struck by the contrast of the blankets for the two babies, Jacob and Baby in Black. The show goes out of the way to highlight the difference in colors between these two characters, as if there was a stark difference in what they represent. I believe this is a flawed dichotomy, since they don’t really offer balanced alternatives. It’s not black and white, but rather shades of grey with overlap between the two characters. (I think Lapidus represents the grey. He shall live on! This is all part of my Lapidus=Gandalf theory.)
I think the show tried to emphasize the definitiveness of this differentiation with the attempted submarine explosion. Prior to that incident there was some debate about the motives of Man in Locke (MiL), and whether he was the bad guy we thought he was. Early in this season I thought we might see a switcheroo, with Jacob being revealed to be less good than we originally thought and more credit lent to MiL’s cause. This was essentially eradicated with the submarine explosion, but I still reject the show’s characterization of good and evil as it is embodied by Jacob and MiB/MiL/Smoke Monster.
The actual battle, though, isn’t between MiB and Jacob. The conflict is Jacob’s attempt to contain the smoke monster, which has taken the shape of MiB/MiL. So then you have to wonder, what exactly is the smoke monster??
I think the smoke monster is death. MOTHER said that the “light” contained “Life, death, rebirth. It’s the source, the heart of the island.” What death means is debatable, but to me it embodies evil, which is where I think we see our battle between good and evil, as Jacob is good (at least according to MOTHER).
So what comes out of the cave thing is death. That’s what wants to escape. It’s what Jacob called “hell” in the Ab Aeterno episode. He also tells Richard that it is a “darkness,” contained by the island. Jacob suggests that if it gets off the island it would spread and cause death.
I think we see the first signs of the smoke monster (Smokey) trying to escape in the early actions of Boy in Black (BiB). The first time it pops up is when Jacob asks how he knows how to play the game he finds, and says “I just know.” You see this trend of inherent knowledge more meaningfully in BiB’s belief that there is more off the island than just the island. He doesn’t really have any reason to believe this, since MOTHER has told him that nothing exists beyond the island, which is why I think it was SMOKEY who ingrained the knowledge in BiB. Although it’s possible that his reluctance to accept MOTHER’s understanding of the world stems from the fact that he understands how to lie, and therefore realizes that people could be lying to him. The mere fact that he assumes MOTHER would deny him the game should lead him to believe that there might be other things she would be denying or hiding from him (other people, secrets of the island and who their real mother is).
Regarding the game, it would make sense that MOTHER would claim to have provided the game for BiB and Jacob, as any other explanation would refute the reality she has crafted for them.
The reality she designs for Jacob and BiB is parsed out throughout the episode. It begins with her telling her adopted children that “dead” is “not something (they) will ever have to worry about.” At the time she says this, though, I doubt the validity of her statement. It’s not until she finally gives Jacob the taste of the wine that he given everlasting life and probably a commitment to the island/“light.”

That scene with the wine seemed akin to the last supper, where Jesus has everyone drink from the cup of everlasting life. In that instance the disciples basically bond with Jesus through the experience of drinking his “blood,” which is basically repeated by MOTHER claiming that the experience makes her and Jacob “the same.” It is a little strange that Richard didn’t receive the same warning from Jacob when he drank the sacramental wine. Most likely I think the differentiation stems from the fact that Richard was merely recruited into Jacob’s army, and was not on pace to become the island’s protector. To that end, I wonder how the next protector will live forever or share any sense of communion with Jacob. (Additionally, how will they know what to protect? Did they get to see the most recent episode?)
But back to the reality crafted by MOTHER, which includes the declaration that Jacob and BiB can’t hurt each other. I sort of just trust that statement in much the same way as Jacob and MiB accept it. I think the extension of that “rule” to Jacob’s recruits is a consequence of Jacob crafting his own game. This is based on BiB telling Jacob that “One day, you can make up your own game and everyone will have to follow your rules.” And that’s what we’re witnessing now, Jacob’s little game, but with dire consequences.
Jacob’s little game also includes a test of something his MOTHER tells him and BiB. Upon the revelation that there are other people on the island, she tells her adopted children that “They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same.” This idea is echoed by MiB during the season five finale, which Jacob cryptically responds to with “It only ends once. Everything that happens before that is just progress.” I have no idea what it means, but I think we do know that almost everyone who comes to the island is just a pawn in Jacob’s attempt to disprove his MOTHER’s/MiB’s theory about humans. (The people on Oceanic are an exception to this game.)
(Editor’s Note: At this point, we’re going to dramatically edit this rambling rant that Dave has put together. Now you’ll be able to conclude David is an idiot much faster, but in bullet point fashion!)
What are they protecting????
o They’re protecting the “light.” It’s basically the soul of the world. If you want more than that then you’re never going to be satisfied. It’s magical, and if it goes away everyone dies. Happy?
o When MOTHER says people are trying to harness it, she is basically predicting the Dharma initiative people and the current efforts of Widmore’s crew.
o I think the upcoming episode, entitled “What They Died For,” will explain the struggle over this “light.”
o Beyond keeping the “light” alive, Jacob is also tasked with keeping “death” from escaping.
Not everyone is a candidate.
o Some people will come to the island by accident. Not everyone is a candidate, as represented by Jacob’s number cave and the lighthouse. The people who come to the island “don’t belong here,” according to MOTHER. These people that aren’t potential recruits, but part of the game testing MOTHER’s hypothesis about men.
MOTHER’s hypothesis
o He says she kept Jacob and BiB away from other people so that they would “stay good.” This seems to indicate that people aren’t inherently bad, but that they are corruptible, which suggests the potential is there. I think Sayid represents this struggle, as he is prone to evil acts when other people are around him and believes he can be good when he’s alone.
o So MiB agrees with MOTHER’s characterization of men, but views them as a means to an end. Ok, I understand that, but why does Smokey kill everyone?

Can the Boy in Black see dead people or was that Smokey?
o I do think that BiB was driven by Smokey in his knowledge about the island and his drive to see the “light.” Yet I’m hesitant to accept that Smokey appeared to BiB as his dead mother to join the men on the island. It would make sense if we knew for sure that Smokey could leave the cave, but I want to hedge my bet. That’s basically why I’m open to the idea that BiB can see dead people, including the fact that he’s labeled as “special.” It would make sense that Claudia is a dead soul that is trapped on the island, as her work was cut short by her premature death.
The wussification of Jacob.
o Jacob did not come across in a great light during this episode. My least favorite moment came when he decided to stay with MOTHER, even after she revealed that she’d killed their real mother and he had been presented by BiB with a chance to escape her control. He just gives in to an authority figure in a very unflattering manner. This insistence on trust is later manifested in his emphasis on people blindly following his commands (think Ben).
So that’s basically everything from last week’s episode. Jacob was a mama’s boy who grew into his role as container of evil and protector of the light. Also, our understanding of the skeletons as Adam and Eve is a little creepy considering they were sort of mother and son.
(Editor’s Note: Even his conclusion is too long. Bring on the bullet points!)
• Based on her hair net, MOTHER was a lunch lady off the island.
• We still don’t know who built the lighthouse.
• What will Desmond’s final duty be? (see next bullet)
• Now that we have a conclusion to the island’s mythology, we’ll see how our castaways finally meld with this larger challenge. I think Jack will accept his role as Jacob, Kate will unfortunately survive, Sawyer will die tragically, Hurley will live to let heart disease kill him and the Man in Locke will be crushed by Desmond. How? Well Desmond will harness the good “light” and cancel out the death that Smokey/MiL represent. They’ll both die. How tragic. I’m crying already.