Looking Back and Looking Forward
"Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father."
"Your father... was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and 'became' Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view."
So why am I starting this post by quoting Star Wars? There are a lot of reasons. One is because as Lost moves forward and we get closer and closer to figuring out the "answers" to this show it is a concept we are all going to have to bear in mind... "from a certain point of view". The answers we get may not be what we want... or they may not be concrete answers at all. There might be several ways to interpret the answers we get. My point is simply this... when you think about Lost, try thinking about it from every possible perspective.
There were a number of things that got me thinking about the "certain point of view" concept this past week. It would appear that Sawyer's character has developed more than any other on the show. In the beginning he was a con man who didn't care about anyone. All he cared about is saving his own skin. We've seen him transition from that info a reluctant leader... into a man who falls in love... into someone willing to sacrifice himself for the person he loves... into someone who wants to help a daughter he shunned and may never seen... into a not so reluctant leader who seems to relish being the man in charge. It looks to us like he pulled a complete 180. But has he? From Cassidy's point of view he didn't sacrifice himself for Kate, he was running away from her. Sure he is hustling his butt off to assimilate Kate, Jack, and Hurley into their cozy little DHARMA world, but is he doing it to help them or to protect his own security. He was a con man at the start of the show and guess what... he is still a con man! The entire life he built for "Jim LaFleur", Juliet, Miles and Jin is a con. So who is the real Sawyer? Is he a respectable leader, or the same old con man? It is a matter of perspective.
Another reason I bring up "point of view" is because as Lost winds down we will be getting more answers and as I said above some of them are going to be more concrete than others. I laugh as I read that back because I have been very outspoken in that at the end of this all I want this to all make sense. Even though I know I won't get all concrete answers I want as many as possible. So last week one question was resolved with a very concrete answer... what happened to Aaron? Kate gave him to his grandma. Really? That's it? No kidnapping attempt? No supernatural powers where he can just disappear? Yes I will admit that upon seeing that loose end wrapped up, I was initially disappointed. Then I realized I was being a huge hypocrite. All along I've asked for real explanations. Well they gave me one... in fact the simplest and most obvious explanation and I didn't think it was good enough... I am a dick. So upon giving it some more thought I am ok with how the Aaron situation was resolved and I have revised my point of view on the end of this show... I want it all to be explainable... but with something I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams. Do you think that is asking too much?
I may also have to revise my theory about the effects of traveling back in time. If you read my posts last week you know that I called pretty much the exact scenario we are in. Everything that is happening now has always happened. Kudos to the writers for the awesome scene with Hurley and Miles to explain it all too. It was so well written and easy to follow. I really expected the writers to make us think that "space/time" would be jeopardized by Ben's shooting even though I knew it wouldn't, but they didn't even try to take us on that ride. I am wondering if that is because they are going to set us up to think that it is impossible for things to be changed only to have that exact scenario play out. I really hope it doesn't happen that way but it would be an easy way to throw a twist in the story line.
The biggest pieces of info from this episode came in the last few minutes with Richard Alpert. Of course what he told us about Ben losing his innocence after going into the Temple is huge. He was changed and would never be the same... one can only assume that what "happens" to him down there is the same thing that happened to Rousseau's team when they went down there. Richard's most intriguing line actually came when he was asked about Charles and Ellie and he said he doesn't answer to them. First, it would seem that Charles and Ellie were referred to as a couple which would lend weight to all of the Widmore being Faraday's father or Ms Hawking being Penny's mother ideas. But that is secondary to the simple concept that he doesn't answer to them. Richard's exact position with the Others has always been unclear. It has always been cure that it is a position of power, but just how much power. We've been made to think that we does the bidding of whoever the leader of the Others is. I am calling it right now... Richard is the "Man Behind The Curtain". He is the one in charge, he is Jacob (or an extension of Jacob) and uses "leaders" as protection and to rule safely from the side without people knowing he is actually the man in charge i.e. R'as al Ghul in Batman Begins. Throw this one under the idea of WAY OUT THERE theories... we've seen several biblical references before on Lost so what if it plays out this way... Jacob, Richard, and the smoke monster are the same thing... they are all the driving "force" behind the island and it's power. Jacob = Father, Richard = Son, Smoke Monster = Holy Spirit. Kind of a crazy theory, but not too crazy that it is beyond possibility.
There really hasn't been too much mind blowing over the lat few weeks because as I stated with Bob & Brian, this all right now is serving to fill in the gaps of the story up to this point. I do expect things to get ramped up and the story to take off a bit more after tonight's episode, but before I get there 2 more quick points about last week. 1) to answer many of your questions... No, I don't know where Rose and Bernard are. By all accounts they should have been time traveling along with Jin, Sawyer and the rest but we have no way of knowing what happened to them at this point. I made a joke today to a friend that I think they are "Adam" and "Eve" who were buried in the caves and that the black and white stones found with the bodies symbolize the 2 of them. I was only joking but the friend I was talking to seemed to think it was a viable theory. Who knows, but I am not counting on it. 2) and this is in response to an email I got from a reader named John who wants to know "why Jack has become such a huge pussy". While that made me laugh, I didn't think it was quite a fair assessment of the situation. Jack is basically playing the role of Locke. He is simply a believer in destiny and is waiting for a sign. Now I love the whole idea of destiny fulfilled, but if you remember anything from this post, remember this. Time will show that even destiny has it's limits. What I mean by that (and this could even tie into the idea that someday someone might be able to "change" things) is that I get the feeling that while everyone on that show has a destiny, it is ultimately going to be up to them to make choices to follow that destiny. I know those ideas are paradoxical in a way, but the more this story goes on I really think it will become more about choosing to fulfill your destiny rather than being at its mercy.
Tonight's episode is "Dead is Dead". It looks to be a Ben focus as he is returning to the island to be "judged" by the smoke monster. The writers have promised the smoke monster would be explained by the end of the season. I don't know that the full explanation is coming tonight, but figure that we should get a good chunk of info. Also, as always Sethislost.com is a spoiler free site. I do not consider what I am about to write a spoiler but it does deal with upcoming episodes so if you don't want to risk it stop reading now...
...I think we may be in for the loss of a major character soon (I don't consider the death of Charlotte as major). I have not read any spoilers, but I do get press releases from ABC about each episode 2 weeks before it airs. The press releases lists the regular cast each week. It never changes. Even when one of the regular cast doesn't appear in that week's episode they are still listed as a cast member. The only time they have been taken off in the past is after they have been bumped off the show. The cast list for this week's episode lists all of the actors as usual. But the regular cast for next week is missing a name. It could be something simple like a typo, but I have a hard time believing that. If you want to know who is missing, check out this press release: http://www.abcmedianet.com/assets/pr/html/033009_12.html and see who's name is not listed. Oh... and the episode that press release refers to is for an episode called "Some Like It Hoth". So we'll end where we began... with a Star Wars reference.
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