Lost Thoughts 5/11 - Across the Sea

The Deconstruction of the Man in Black

So, that's it people. He has no name. The Man in Black will forever be The Man in Black (or MIB for short), which is something that I'm not particularly happy about. Granted, the overwhelming possibility of names would have ultimately been a let down but I feel like the Man in Black is such a nebulous name that I feel silly even typing it. Which I have done four times already in this one post.

But now we know the history. It may be a history that we were not expecting, and a history some may not even like, but ultimately here it is. And I find myself asking even more questions at times. Who were those other people? Was it a random occurrence they found the island or had they been looking for it in an explorers looking for the Fountain of Youth sense? Precisely what IS the Smoke Monster? These are questions that I'm essentially positive we will not be seeing the answers to. It's absolutely too late in the game to address them at this point, especially because there's no question that we'll be moving at breakneck speeds towards the end of it all after next week.

Casting all those concerns aside for a moment, was this episode entertaining? Was it necessary? And did we learn anything from it? I'd argue yes for the first, maybe for the second, and absolutely for the third.

Lost in Expectations

What this episode presented was an interesting parable about two brothers who, despite being raised the same, end up with completely opposite points of view. Their adoptive mother, a woman tasked with protecting this island at all costs from the danger that lies in the heart of the island, has no trust in humanity. And she clearly sees much of herself in The Man in Black, thus grooming him to be her successor. In fact, in the season 5 finale, MIB uses the exact same phrasing "They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same." They ultimately have the same philosophy. Yet, he had no desire for such a life. Despite his status as the chosen one, MIB is more interested in seeing the world, now knowing his true origins and that a larger world exists. Meanwhile Jacob, who is arguably the better son by acting precisely how his mother wanted, is not given the same respect as his more subversive brother. And Jacob does all of this full well and knowing that his true mother was murdered by this woman who raised him. Yet, despite it all, Jacob is much more optimistic about humanity and their chances. He believes in their inherent goodness as opposed to the pessimism of MIB and Mother.

There was certainly an entertaining quality to the whole episode, watching neither of these characters become true bastions of good or evil. Both of them had a bit of a moral ambiguity that I felt would be not be nearly as prominent after the revelation of last week's episode. There was no question. The Man in Black was a bad man. Here he is just a man who wants to leave a place he was never supposed to be to begin with. His plight is certainly something that can be identified with on a basic level. And Allison Janney did a wonderful job as their rather jaded yet loving mother who apparently just wanted to be set free, as evidenced by her final "Thank you" to MIB after her murder.

The Necessity of the Island's History

There are three and a half hours of the show left. Last week's episode ended on this upswing of momentum that was obviously designed to propel us into the finale. And yet, we take a break from all of that to learn about characters who have literally been behind the scenes for the majority of the series. The result was an episode of Lost that on many levels didn't play as an episode of Lost. Much of the information that was learned could have been gained in conversations between characters. I do applaud the writers for attempting to do something very unconventional here in the last few hours. And I would argue that with a few tweaks this could have been an even better episode than it was, although I think it should have played earlier in the season.

One of my biggest complaints about the earlier episodes of the season was that we just had no idea what the stakes were. We didn't know which side was which or why the game was even being played. The writers said they wanted the audience to be unsure as to whether or not we could trust Locke, but after last week's episode it was clear that he was evil and needed to be stopped. The problem was, we didn't get that pure evil feeling from this week's episode either. This episode could have been placed VERY early in the season and it would have set up quite nicely what was occurring without all the uncertainty. And still, we could have believed that Locke's only goal was to leave the island and experience the world.

Information Overload and Some Rare Speculation

So what was gained by this episode? Well, I will say that I found the revelation of Adam and Eve to be interesting and enjoyable. That was one "question" I didn't feel ever really needed an answer though. I was perfectly content assuming that it was a man and wife who were shipwrecked on the island and died in the cave. Why people gravitated to that question is something that is beyond me, but it goes to show the level of detail many Lost fans expect.

There is a mystical aspect to the show that will never be explained, and that's something I have always expected. The question of where Jacob comes from is answered, but where his adoptive mother comes from will never be, which she addressed in her almost meta-comment when she told the birth mother "Your questions will only lead to more questions." I feel that it's something the audience just has to accept.

The wheel's creation was addressed, but still not fully explained, since Mother went and destroyed the well prior to MIB completing it. There was also a bit of a jump in scientific knowledge regarding mixing water and light and getting off the island. Going from "metal does weird things!" to "turning this wheel by mixing the light and water will create the necessary conditions for leaving the island!" seems to be quite the leap in scientific capabilities. Either way, I'm still unsure to who ultimately ended up finishing the job MIB started.

Now normally I attempt to stay away from speculation, since it's not my strong point. I have been wrong far more often than I'm right, but I feel as if the pieces put in place here will allow me to draw relatively solid conclusions based on the evidence we have been presented with thus far.

Here is the history of the island as I see it. The island has alway been there. Someone has always been there to protect it. The mystical forces at work have always been there. And here's where it gets extremely speculative: The smoke monster, an essence of evil, a harbinger of destruction, has always been there. Trapped within the confines of the "heart" the island. This was information Jacob didn't have. All he knew was that he needed to protect the island from people and protect this light. When he tossed his brother into the light, knowing that it wouldn't kill him, that existing essence merged with the essence of the Man in Black and their mutual desire to leave the island became one. The man, who wanted to see the world, and the monster who wants to destroy it. And in that connection, the monster was released from his holding cell and free to roam the prison of the island using the MIB as a vessel.

EDIT: So upon further reflection, I feel as if that theory is completely wrong. That the light at the heart of the island turned MIB INTO the smoke monster. They are not actually separate entities but one in the same. The power that exists at the heart is shared to an extent with the Man in Black. And therefore if he leaves the island, he takes the heart with him. Which apparently will destroy life as we know it. A bad thing.

Some might argue that the monster is not in fact, The Man in Black, but just going along in that body the same way that he is with John Locke. But to those people I ask why would a monster who is using the body of John Locke invoke the imagery, memory, and emotions of the Man in Black? He talked to Kate sharing the memories of his "crazy person" mother. He said he was once a human. He became incredibly distressed when he saw young Jacob in the jungle. Clearly this thing was once a man, and not just simply using a man as a vessel.

Yet, questions still remain. Questions that will never be answered. How was Jacob able to so easily travel to and from the island in the present? What was MIB's dead mother? Was she a manifestation of the island or a ghost in the Hurley sense of the word? Who finished the Donkey Wheel? And what exactly IS the smoke monster? I posited my own personal belief of what the monster is, but indeed that could turn out to be false.

What They Died for and The End
This was easily my longest Lost post to date, and with good reason. It opened and closed many doors on so many different subjects and elicited a number of different thoughts about the ultimate ending of the show. In 11 short days, it will all be over after the final three and a half hours and I am highly looking forward to it. There were elements of this episode that were mildly disappointing, but as a whole I think it stands up pretty well. The thing is that our collective imaginations are far more capable than those of a few writers in California and when a mystery is presented that takes so long to be resolved but is compelling during the act of the mystery itself, any revelation is probably going to be a let down. Especially when we find ourselves believing even a small element of truth in one moment but when the real truth is revealed, it ends up being completely unrelated. I'm happy with how this episode turned out and in a way it made me more comfortable with accepting things as they are. Mostly I'm happy that we finally understand who these characters are that have been so integral to not only this season, but to the entire series as a whole.