I kind of feel sorry for Jacob and the Man in Black after watching this week’s episode of “Lost” (8 p.m. Central Tuesday on ABC, followed by the two-and-a-half-hour series finale at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 23). We learned that they are twin brothers who were raised by a crazy woman who claimed to be their mother, but actually was the killer of their mother. And we learned that neither of them are inherently supernatural, but rather that they gained their supernatural powers from the island.
The MIB — in rough shape after a beating from his big brother — is pushed into the cave of golden light by Jacob, at which point his natural body dies and he becomes the supernatural Smokey that we now know.
We don’t yet know how Jacob became ageless (that will probably be revealed in the upcoming final two episodes), but we can assume he gained the ability from the island.
This episode, titled “Across the Sea,” seemingly solidifies “Lost” as a mirror of Western religious mythology with Jacob (blond-haired, always wearing white, always using white game pieces) representing God and the MIB (dark-haired, always wearing black, always using black game pieces) representing the Devil.
Although it’s tempting to criticize “Lost’s” white and black symbolism as being heavy-handed, I’m not going to. We’ll know more after the final two episodes, but right now I think the blunt symbolism isn’t saying “Jacob is good, MIB is evil.” Rather, I think it is saying “Jacob is supposedly good, MIB is supposedly evil.” In reality, both are tragic, pathetic and sympathetic characters, and we can’t say either is pure good or pure evil any more than we could say that about any human being.
But the blunt symbolism allows us to examine the notions of pure good and pure evil and whether those are reasonable characteristics for anyone to have.
I think Jacob and the MIB represent Western religious characters as they really are, not as how believers wish them to be. For example, I always found it odd that Christianity’s God created the Devil, because that means a supposedly pure good being created a supposedly pure evil being. It’s a serious problem with the narrative, because creating something of pure evil is not an act of someone who is pure good.
Furthermore, there’s the age-old debate of whether religious books are human creations or the word of God. “Lost” imagines the Western religious characters’ backstories as if they were indeed human beings, but then it throws in the Eastern religious twist where nature is treated as the supernatural (the glowing cave makes the MIB into a Smoke Monster).
I enjoy all of this because I’m an atheist who likes talking about religion. But you can’t say “Lost” is anti-religious, because John Locke is one of the most fascinating men of faith in the history of television. One of the great accomplishments of “Lost” — and “Across the Sea” is perhaps the best case in point — is that it explores faith versus reason in a way that can be embraced by viewers on both extremes of the argument, plus everybody in between.
I think we can now say that Jacob and the MIB, for all their supernatural powers, are clearly human beings at heart. In reality, it was never the case that they couldn’t leave the island. They were just impressionable kids whose mom told them they could never leave the island. Jacob believed it and embraced it; the MIB didn’t believe it and fought it.
I’d go so far as to argue that Jacob and the MIB represent faith versus reason more than they represent good versus evil.
Now I have to mention one thing I really didn’t like about “Across the Sea”: The MIB never gets a name. The birth mother names Jacob when he is born, but she is surprised by his twin’s birth; she only had one name picked out. And then the island-worshipping woman kills the mother and raises the boys, but still doesn’t name the second twin.
Although the “Lost” writers probably think it’s cool that they got away with not giving the MIB a name, I think it’s ridiculous. Everyone deserves a name; it’s pretty much the first tenet of civilized society. I would’ve liked to have seen the MIB revealed to be named John — it ties in with Jacob’s biblical name, and it fits with the MIB’s use of the deceased John Locke (a man of faith, ironically) as his chosen visage in the present-day events, where the post-death MIB is trying to get off the island and the post-death Jacob is seeking a worthy successor as island protector.
What are your thoughts on “Across the Sea?” And what questions do you expect to see answered in the final two episodes of “Lost?”
Comments
I agree with most of your thoughts on “Across the Sea,” which I have to say I had higher expectations for when I saw the last 15 minutes first than it delivered when I watched the whole thing.
MiB not getting a name doesn’t bother me as much as it does you, but I can see where the writers might have thought they were being cute by not naming him after people have been struggling for years to come up with a way to talk about that character.
As for the final episodes, I expect to learn pretty quickly why Kate was not a candidate, although I don’t really like that character enough to care too much. Obviously something is in store for Jack, but what? Who will live/die/return to some previous state?
I don’t know whether to expect any more appearances from the kids: Walt, Aaron, Ji-Yeon? What do you think?
I’m still not convinced that this season should have devoted so much time to the alternate time line universe, because I would be surprised if that is wrapped into the real world in a satisfying way. (Shocker: Everything will be back to the way it was!)
That said, I have given up making predictions about this show. Not because most of the time the answer will pop in your head right before it’s revealed, but because I have more fun just going along for the ride. And if this season is modeled in a similar way to others, which tended to turn into action shows more than mysteries in the final few episodes of a season, we already might know just about everything we’re going to know about the island and all that is left is to see what will happen to our 815ers.
As for wild speculation (now that I said I don’t do predictions anymore), I’ve heard they’re running the pilot episode right before the finale Sunday. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed this season is the way it has incorporated elements from the rest of the series. Do you suppose there could be some reason for the first episode and finale to be seen together?# Posted By Another Matt | 5/18/10 10:38 AM
Well, tonight you got your answers about Kate (her name was crossed off because she’s a mom and not enough of a loner anymore to be a good candidate) and Jack (he takes the job from Jacob because he decides guarding an island for some vague reason from a supernatural smoke monster with vaguely defined powers is his purpose in life).
I think you are right that we already know everything we are going to know. The finale will mostly be about Smokey trying to destroy the island using Desmond, and Jack and the gang trying to find Desmond first. Smokey will perhaps knock out Desmond, strap a bunch of C4 to his back, float him into the cave of light and blow it up.
Once the island blows up, maybe everyone will do one of those time-jump things, and they’ll jump into their AlternaBodies. Except the ones who are already dead — Sayid, Jin, Sun, etc. — will suddenly drop dead in their AlternaBodies.
And then they’ll cut to a shot of the Lincoln Memorial, and then as the camera pans in closer, you realize the statue isn’t Lincoln, it’s Locke. And then the show ends.
You asked me if I think the kids will pop up on the season finale. I would assume not, because there are only 2.5 hours left and if they were to play a significant role there would’ve already been scenes featuring the kids this season.
I am intrigued that in a recent EW interview, one of the writers said the ending is something no one has guessed.
Ultimately, though, “Lost” — like any TV show — was about the journey, not the ending. For example, I look back fondly on “The X-Files” even though the final episode was stupid. Same with “Seinfeld.” Same with all those countless “cancelled too soon” shows that never had an ending.
A decade from now, we will judge “Lost” on its entire body of work, not just the last episode. I think that as much as we wanted to believe “Lost” was (or would become) an amazing show, it ultimately was just a decent character drama with some nice scenery and a few quirky storytelling devices.
As far as it being a show that re-invented how stories are told and blew audiences’ minds by being three steps ahead of them, that has never been the case. We kind of wished it would be that good, but in the end, it never was quite that good.
It held our attention for six years, and for that I tip my hat to “Lost,” but let’s not get carried away with our praise or our expectations for the final episode. It’ll be emotionally satisfying, intellectually somewhat disappointing, and it won’t change the way we look at TV or the world.
According to my DVR, the season finale event consists of one of those two-hour “Isn’t ‘Lost’ great?” specials and then the 2.5 hour series finale. So I don’t think the finale will tie into the first episode, except in the broad sense that the journey that began with the crash is ending with the escape (maybe by plane, maybe by time-jump; maybe both). Mostly, I think the finale will just wrap up the threads from recent episodes.
If you have any lingering questions about the Numbers or Dharma or The Others or the Island’s powers or the donkey wheel or the Ben vs. Widmore rivalry, you already got all the answers you’re going to get.
The finale will be Smokey, Jack and the gang, the Cave of Light, the Alterna-World, one last look at where the characters end up, and that’s it. We might as well accept it now and temper our expectations.
But maybe, just maybe, there will be more to the finale than that, and the ending truly will be something no one dreamed of. (And, of course, that’s the mindset that has kept us watching for six years.)# Posted By John Hansen | 5/19/10 1:56 AM