Lost - so we're following the leader, but who IS he?

Wow - what a week. Stick with me here for a minute... I think this is big. If you want to skip my theorizing, my thoughts on this episode are at the bottom of the post.

Man of Science, Man of Faith is back?
TIME's Lost commentary noted that this episode brought us back around to the comparison of Jack and John Locke as a man of science vs. a man of faith.Ultimately Jack believes in Daniel's science and the ability to change how things happened.

On the other hand, Locke believes in the island, fate, etc. He's still a man of faith.

Or is he? I actually think TIME's analysis is off. Jack may believe in science, but he's sort of blindly believing a scientist who may or may not be crazy and know what he's talking about. Jack is, in my opinion, a man of faith... in science. Without good basis. Hmm... sounds familiar.

Who IS Locke and what is his goal?
And then there's Locke. He is not just a man of faith, as he was portrayed in the first few seasons. As he said, he has a purpose now. He is the leader. And... in a way, when he says he's off to kill Jacob, in the eyes of the people who have believed in Jacob, Locke is about to in essence kill their god. He's sort of the antithesis to a man of faith because he evidently is going to take down the element that I think Ben and Richard have used to control people so long. They have used fear to keep the people superstitiously following their orders. Locke is about to directly address this Jacob - and I bet that he'll show it's all a fraud.

So, in a sense, John Locke is that "man of science" guy. He's about to do away with blind belief.

However, if god (in Lost) were embodied and walking around looking like one of us, then him cutting down blind belief and acting with purpose would all just be him acting on what he KNOWS to be true, because he knows himself. Right? That is what I think "Locke" is doing right now. I think that he is the monster. I don't believe he's Locke at all, I believe it's the Monster in Locke's body. Click on the link to read more about that theory, which I wrote several weeks ago.

In any case, that's why I think the writers have so heavily leaned on the Christ metaphors and comparisons for Locke this season - because they know that he, like Jesus, would soon be the island "god" embodied and walking among the people as one of them. Not at all an actually Christian plot development, it's just a metaphor that hints and foreshadows using similarities in my Christian faith. It's interesting, because I think the monster will end up being real in the show, not some made up gimmick. And, speaking of Christian metaphors, one commenter mentioned that this week sure looked like Locke was Moses leading the Exodus, with Alpert as Aaron, who will be revealed as the guy that leads the people to worship false gods. Interesting, eh?

So - to lay it out, I think that within Lost:
-The monster is a real, mythical, god-like figure that actually had power and control.
- The monstor has taken over Locke's body, and is using Him to influence what happens
- Science is still true, it still describes what happens with time, and explains the unique properties of the island, and people can use it, but it can't control, it simply describes.

What I don't know:
Who is Richard Alpert and how does he relate to the island and the monster?
Ultimately, can the past be changed....i.e. is there some element of free will?

Best moment of last night:
Dr. Chang quizzing Hurley to see if he's from the future. Hilarious.

Oh, and P.S, this reminded me all over again why Jack has always been one of my least favorite characters and I have NEVER liked the romance between him and Kate. He's never been emotionally open, connected, and stable with Kate. Jerk. She should've stuck with Sawyer.

That said... poor Juliet. The past few weeks I've developed sympathy for her. She seems to think that as long as Kate is around, she can't keep Sawyer. Girl, start fighting for him if you really care!

Lost - "Dead is Dead" recap

OH MY GOSH.

Lost's latest episode, "Dead is Dead" has my mind spinning. I'm still not sure WHO is dead, WHEN they are dead, and what it means for the show!

I decided that to lessen my confusion, I need to briefly put things in order, because the show skipped around so much in place and time that I could hardly keep up.

Back in the 70's
Widmore is mad at Richard for rescuing little Ben, but apparently not too mad. They almost interact as equals. Widmore seems pretty superstitious about the cosmic sovereignty of "the island", just as Ben is in the present. Widmore is friendly to Ben.


What... suddenly we seem to be in the 80's? Maybe?
A young Ben but not kid Ben is seen with another kid in the jungle. He storms young Danielle's hide-out and takes baby Alex. He warns her that she'll hear whispers and she should run and stay away. It sounds as though she doesn't see anyone again from this moment until she meets Sayid on the beach. Poor lady. I genuinely feel sorry for her. I think we have her entire back story now.

When Ben brings the baby to the camp, Widmore is pissed. Ben apparently was supposed to kill Danielle and he didn't know she'd have a baby. He's apparently still a pretty nice guy. He stands up to angry Widmore in defense of Alex and questions whether Widmore is really following Jacob's orders (who do they think Jacob is at this point??)

Early 90's maybe?
Ben has taken up the role of Alex's dad, and he's apparently a good dad. He loves her. Widmore is leaving the island, and as we already know, he blames Ben for his being forced to leave. Ben says it's not his fault, Widmore broke the rules (part of that seems to be the existence of Penny as his daughter with an "outsider")and therefore has to leave. Widmore says Ben has broken the rules as well by saving Alex. He says one day Alex will die and then Ben will realize that "you can't fight the inevitable". Yet again, everyone on this freakin island believes in fate. Fate controlled by the island, though? In any case, we know Widmore speaks prophetically and Alex does die and Ben is kicked off the island... but then why is he allowed back if Widmore is not?

Pre-Ajira Crash
Ben calls Widmore and says he's going back to the island, and then threatens to kill Penny. He shoots Desmond, but apparently Desmond is needed still, because he is fine and sneaks up behind Ben when he threatens Penny, and beats him to the pulp-like state that he is in when he boards the Ajira flight.

The Present (or at least, we think it's the present)
Here we start where last week left off - Bloody Ben (hah, I like it, that might just stick) wakes up and looks petrified when he sees a dignified and apparently alive John Locke sitting beside him. Ben says he has broken the rules and has come back to be judged by the monster.

When Locke catches Ben searching his old office (hmm... didn't Cesar search the same place? What are they looking for?), he brings up his own murder. Ben immediately starts acting like a child caught with his hand in the candy jar, and starts making excuses for why he killed John. Yeah... I'd feel awkward too. In any case, he says he knew John would come back to life, but he had to kill John in order to get everyone back to the island (insinuating in the process that where John failed, Ben was successful). It was all "in the best interest of the island". Yeah... I don't buy it. Lies.

Once outside and around the Ajira plane crash people, Ben begins his wheedling ways again, and insinuates to Cesar that John is crazy and might be a dangerous island native. When Cesar later tries to stop Locke from taking a boat, Ben switches tactics and steals his gun and shoots Cesar, telling John he should consider that Ben's apology. Oh man - manipulative Ben is back. In any case, the two take off to the main island in an attempt to get to the monster. Locke seems to have gained some innate wisdom about Ben, his motivations, and the island. He knows Ben's guilt is not over breaking the rules of the island but over allowing his own daughter to be killed.
Locke and Ben run into Sun and Lapidus at Ben's old house. They show Ben the old photo of the Losties in Dharma, and BEN SEEMS SHOCKED. Ah hah, so he really did forget it all. I thought that he might have remembered them and known who they were when the plane first crashed on the island, but it appears that I'm wrong. Ben also seems terrified by the thought of Christian's guidance of Sun and Lapidus, while they return the shock when they see Locke alive and well. John "has some ideas" about how to find Jin and the Losties, but Lapidus is apparently an extraneous character and the producers kick him back to the beach.

Locke enters the secret passage way in his house and seems to pull up a drain and apparently speaks to ... something... and says "I'll be outside", the drain-pulling seems to be the signal that the monster has been summoned, but Ben doesn't know where the monster actually is (Locke does, though... hmm).
Hmm... Ben doesn't know a lot of things after all. He also didn't know Locke would resurrect. He doesn't understand it.

So.... if dead is dead, then Locke really was dead. Locke responds and says that he is now "the same man I've always been." If we take both of them at their word, then Locke has truly resurrected. Not sure what the significance of it all is... but ... it seems like the producers are trying to clarify Locke's life status.

Ben and Locke go under the mysterious temple in the same place the French dude was sucked into by the monster. Ben falls into a cavern, and there sees some crazy hieroglyphics, and then sees 'ole Smokey begin filling the room like a whirlpool. Like Eko, he sees scenes from his life in the whirling smoke, but his are focused on Alex. Ben is apparently emotionally undone, and when the smokey monster fades away he sees... Alex? Or at least Smokey impersonating Alex. She throws him against the wall and tells him to follow John Locke and NOT kill him. Ben swears to it.

Wow.

Meanwhile, back in the other camp we see our hot chick (forgot her name, I still think of her as the wife from The Namesake) partnering with apparently a bunch of the other Ajira passengers. Apparently there are a group of them that were planted on the plane without knowing each other, but they identify each other by the ability to answer the phrase "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Lapidus is not a plant. How much do you want to bet they're all working for Widmore? We don't know of anyone else working behind the scenes at this point, even Abadon is dead.

When I get more time, I am going to write a post about what we've learned and what mysteries are yet to be solved. We're almost down to one more season!

Lost Thoughts

Destiny Calls Lost
Originally uploaded by halilgokdal

* I managed to squeeze in watching Lost online before work this morning, which may or may not have been a good idea. I didn't watch American Idol, but I know Tattooed Mormon Joy went home, and at this point I have to say she deserved it. So - no surprises there. *

Anyways, back to Lost. It's a week without a lot of revelations. The producers seem to be trying to clarify some of the time questions and wrap up some of the Jack/Sawyer/Juliet/Kate stuff. I think they've gauged the reaction to Juliet and Sawyer and they're sticking with it - boooooo. I've always preferred it the other way around, but no one agrees with me. In any case, now we finally know what Sawyer whispered to Kate and we know where Aaron is, and that seems to be safe and somewhat unimportant to the rest of the plot.

I tried to listen closely to Miles and Hurley's hilarious discussion about time. The best line of the night came out when Miles asked asked Hurley what he was doing and Hurley says he's checking to see if he's disappearing.

So - Miles is emphasizing that you CANNOT change the future. It is the way it is. It's all fate. The only break in that insistence comes when Hurley challenges him by asking why a grown up Ben didn't remember Sayid, particularly when Sayid goes to torture him. Miles seems genuinely stumped - which leads us to ask - Why doesn't Ben remember Sayid?

I think we have three options.

- Ben actually does remember Sayid, he just lets what happens happen because he is that much of a believer in fate. This makes sense to me because it sure seems to me like Ben remembers some of the others when they arrive at the island - he's sure of who they are as soon as he sees the plane crash! Still, that doesn't seem to be what they're hinting at here.

- Ben doesn't remember because time works in loops - so when they went back in time the universe adjusts itself so that things happen differently but with the same ultimate results. This - the way it worked the first time around without them in the story is not how it will work this time with them in the story, BUT the ultimate results will be the same. So - the first time around, there was no visit of Sayid to the island, so of course Ben doesn't remember it, it didn't happen. It's happening now, but in a different loop. Sorry, this is complicated, it's well explained on this site: Time Loop Theory

- Ben doesn't remember because it didn't happen. They are wrong and you really CAN change the future, so by going back in time they are changing the whole story. This is intriguing because anything could happen, but the producers have directly said that you can't change the future, so I don't buy it.

- Ben doesn't remember because he's been brainwashed - see a couple of paragraphs down.

There's still a lot of this lingo about fate and how things happen and characters do things "because I was supposed to". Watching all of this has been really interesting to think about questions of the sovereignty of God and how He is outside of time, and what that actually means. It's interesting!

It all got interesting when our new nice Sawyer helps Kate take the fading little Ben to Richard, leader of the Others, the Hostiles. Now we know how Ben got from Dharma to the Hostiles. What really got me was Richard's warning to Sawyer about what would happen if they gave Ben to them. "He'll forget this ever happened, his innocence will be gone, and he'll always be one of us."

Hmm.. what does THAT mean? Why will he forget? What makes him lose his innocence?

Richard's side-kick says, "If Charles finds out...", which leads me to say - is Charles Widmore leading the Others at this point? Is he a young or old Charles Widmore? And then I couldn't quite make it out, but I thought he mentioned "the healer", which I assume would be ghostly John Locke - aka Jacob? And maybe that's why there's all kinds of whispers when John went to see Jacob - because he's attempting to talk to himself through time?

*ahhh... other blogs clarified. He said "ellie" not "the healer", which is probably Faraday's mom. So - she and Widmore are working together, ON the island.

And, last of all.... Richard takes Harry Potter Ben into ..... dun dun dun.... THE TEMPLE! Did I not write about the temple last week? I knew it was significant! Looks like it's about to be de-mystified though!

Our last scene seems to be a jump into the future, where a resurrected John Locke looks at dusty Ben Linus and says "Hello Ben, welcome back to the land of living". Now, this begs the question - when Ben is healed, does he somehow jump into the future and adulthood, or is all of this the producers playing with our mind, and it's a completely modern day situation where creepy John is taking care of wounded Ben?

Your thoughts?