Season 6 Countdown - Part 1
With the Season 6 premiere announced - February 3rd, 2010, I’m beginning to rewatch the entire series and take down some notes. With the introduction of Jacob and his friend “the Man in Black” or “Esau” (as many people online are calling him), we know have a sense of what good and evil battle has been raging on the island. Esau had tricked John into leaving the island, where he was killed - enabling Esau to take his form and trick Ben into killing Jacob. This “Loophole” has been in the works since the Oceanic Flight 815 smacked into the island. There also some mysteries that have not been wrapped up and I will point them out during my rewatch.
The Pilot (parts 1 and 2)
The first thing I noticed was that Jack was laying in the jungle. On the Ajira flight, Jack and crew vanished (time travel) right before the crash. They all were placed on the island (albeit in sucky situations). Did this same force place the major players gently from the Oceanic plane? I still believe that the Smoke Monster caused the crash, to ensure that mojor players survived, they were placed on the ground.
There was a “Missing Pieces” video showing Christian Shepard standing over Jack’s body in the bamboo trees just after the crash. He tells Vincent (the dog) that there is work to do. It’s clear that ghost Christian is Esau (much like he took over Locke’s body in Season 5). I also think Vincent is possibly Jacob. They both choose forms to in which to play this game.
Also, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, seem to be placed in the jungle, not with the initial plane crash. Just an observation.
Also, it’s interesting to note that the Smoke Monster does not come to the beach. It’s possible the Smoke Monster is Esau’s guard dog. Sure it can read minds and serve as judge/jury/executioner, but only when Esau deems fit. Esau probably dines on souls captured from the Smoke Monster.
And I still don’t know how in Charlie’s pre-crash flashback, it seems that he fell out of the front bathroom and buckled himself in first class - the front part of the plane that broke off into the jungle. Not to mention how Cindy the flight attendant got to the back of the plane when she followed Charlie up front. It also appears that Shannon and Boone where in the back of business class (Shannon tells Boone that they were denied First Class and were made to sit in Business), but maybe they were right after the part that snapped off.
Locke plays backgammon with Walt and explains the entire premise of the series, I believe. “Backgammon is the oldest games in the world…Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark.” Obviously, this is a reference to Jacob and Esau, who are playing Backgammon with the survivor’s lives.
What I never understood is why did everyone automatically assume they were on an island - and why did no one ever think of hiking around the island to make sure a 7-11 wasn’t on the other side?
Tabula Rasa
No mysteries here that haven’t been answered. Except, I still feel there’s more to Kate and the Marshal’s story.
Walkabout
Rose calls Jack “a good soul”.
Here’s the thing with Locke: the big moment of the episode is that Locke sees the monster and will later describe it as “a beautiful white light” and refers to it as “the eye of the island”. I think he was tricked from this very moment. Jacob gave him the use of his legs, but it was Esau who manipulated Locke from the get go.
We also see Jack first see Ghost Dad. Also Esau assuming the form of Jack’s father. This is explored in the next episode.
The White Rabbit
Jack sees his dead father walkin’ around on the island in suit and tennis shoes (the shoes have been explained in Season 5). A chase through the jungle and Ghost Dad leads Jack off a cliff. This isn’t the last time Esau tries to leads someone off a cliff (Hurley in the episode “Dave”). The question here is why did Ghost Dad lead Jack to the caves? Was it positioning? Was it to find Adam and Eve? It was probably to divide the survivors.
I do have a question about the empty casket. Both Christian Shepard and Eko’s brother, Yemi, has their bodies go missing on the island. I would assume this has to do with Esau taking their form - but if that the case, then what about Hurley’s imaginary friend, Dave - or Kate’s black horse? Even in Season 5, Locke’s body is what exposes Esau as the Locke impostor. Why did Locke’s body stick around when Christian Shepard’s body didn’t? Is it a simple as Esau just physically hiding the body?
This is also the episode gives his famous “Live together, die alone” speech. Which is exactly the case with dealing with Esau. Everybody that’s been picked off by Esau trickery (or has come close) has gone off alone. I guess part of the game is manipulation of the soul - whether good can turn bad, or bad can turn good. And it’s easier to trick a soul when they are alone.
House of the Rising Sun
This episode has the biggest unanswered question I have about the series, one that we probably won’t get an answer for until the last episode of Season 6. The reveal of Adam and Eve, the two corpses in the caves. There has been speculation that the corpses are actually one of the Oceanic survivors - Kate and Jack, or Kate and Sawyer, or even Rose and Benard - somehow thrown back in time. And since it’s been established that time travel *does* happen on the island, this scenario is entirely plausible. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and tell who I think is Adam and Eve - Sun and Jin. From the dialog, Jack says that they (Adam and Eve) have been placed there. By who? Somehow, Sun, Jin, and their daughter Ji Yeon, have gone back 50+ years into the island’s past. They all lived and died there, Ji Yeon placed them there. After all, the episode is their flashback. My alternative theory, one I like better but seems more implausible, is that Ji Yeon and Aaron grew up on the island together, fell in love, time traveled back, and had a baby - their offspring, placed them there.
Also, what happened to the white and black stones that Jack found on the corpses? There has been no mention if Jack has these stones still in his possession.
And this episode has the most frustrating scene of the entire season: Kate bends over to tie her shoes and looks behind her and asks Jack “Are you checking me out?” Jack, like the dummy he is, denies it. Kate pushes him and asks to go ahead and say what’s on his mind, opening her door wide open. Dummy Jack misses the opportunity and goes on about his dumb ideas about the caves. First of all, when an attractive woman you like asks if you are checking her out, you say “Yes” - even if you weren’t. If you fail to do this, and she presses you a little further - you tell her she’s on your mind - even if at that moment she wasn’t, you lie and tell her she was. This little incident is how Jack lost her to Sawyer.
Michael utters another important clue to the Lost mythology: “I found this in the wreckage and figured, hey, why let a $20,000 watch go to waste. Which is ridiculous since time doesn’t matter on a damn island!”
The Moth
This is one of my favorite episodes of Lost. It doesn’t really offer any questions to the overall mythology of Lost, but really gives Charlie some character depth. It does bring up the concept of how temptation is nothing unless we give into them, and those choices make us human. This is one of the island’s first redemption stories even though Charlie still bit the big one in the end.
It has one of my favorite Charlie lines (and there are quite a few): “You don’t know me! I’m a bloody rock god!” [then the cave collapses]
Confidence Man
No questions unanswered from this episode. Crazy to see this Sawyer such a dick, to the Sawyer who sees his girlfriend sucked down a well and sobs. His character has come a long ways.
Next: Lost Season 1 - Discs 3 and 4