"The Lighthouse"

“This is cool, dude, very old school”

“What?”

“You know, you and me, trekking through the jungle. On our way to do something that we don’t quite understand… Good times.”

Greetings Losties!

Well, Tuesday night we got another chapter of Lost’s final season, “The Lighthouse.” It was… okay? I mean, it had it’s moments – some classic Hurley humor, the revelation that Jacob has been following the candidates via magic mirror forever, feral Claire gets buck nasty on Justin (Captain Cranky Pants’ sidekick), and we find out that LA X Jack has a kid (named David)!!!! But there weren’t any major danger action sequences, no real Locke (or Flocke) action, no love story, and no Benjamin Linus (boooo!). Heck, we didn’t even get any Smoke Monster travel action!

What we did get was two timelines that clearly are setting us up for something, but what the heck is it? Well, from all intents and purposes (divulged from a variety of internet sources – certainly not from the preview, which showed us NOTHING about next week – gasp!), it looks like a battle is coming. That two sides are getting ready to converge at the Temple, dare I say, one black and one white?

Timeline A –

Had Jack home from the airport, dealing with the ramifications of his father’s death (i.e. Last Will and Testament, sad mother, etc.). He was also dealing with some black-haired kid, who he has a tortured relationship with (we totally thought it was Aaron, gone punk) – who turns out to be his piano-prodigy son, David. They reconnect over Chopin and pizza – but not before Jack lingers over a “Welcome Candidates” sign and has a little child-rearing conversation with Dogen (who happens to have a son auditioning for the same conservatory as David). He walks in, and his son is playing Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu," which was the piece young Daniel Faraday was playing in a fifth season flashback! Faraday-Shepard connection? Possibly. And… that’s pretty much all that happened on that end.

Oh! Except Jack asks his mother about when he got his appendix out – because he can’t remember (whaaa????) – and she tells him he had the surgery when he was a kid… So, he didn’t get his appendix taken out on the island, by Juliet? Okay. And David is reading an Alice in Wonderland book (the same one that Jack was reading to Aaron, when they all lived together) – hmmm….? AND when Jack’s mother finds Christian’s will, they learn about Claire’s existence – but not before she offers him a drink (with a drink cabinet featuring MacCutcheon whisky – heh!).

Timeline B –

Sayid learns that the Temple folk wanted him dead. He and Jack don't really discuss how to proceed, but both seem uneasy. After playing a seemingly random game of tic-tac-toe with Miles, which leaves Hurley hungry and looking for food. Now, I don't think the producers would have included this game sequence if it didn't hold some metaphorical significance. Meaning, I think their showing us the base of the Jacob vs. Man in Black issue -- they're playing tic-tac-toe. And the fact that Miles notes that all their games keep ending in a tie, seems like a MAJOR clue to us - that no matter which side advances, the ultimate battle or goal will always end in a Cat's Game (tie). So, all of this that we're seeing, might just be good storytelling, that will ultimately end up in a tie - where nobody wins!

In his quest for a cafeteria, Hurley runs into dead Jacob, who gives him some pretty specific instructions. So specific, that he has to write them on his arm to remember them explicitly. When doing some of Jacob’s work, Hurley is almost stopped by Dogen. But, Jacob appears and tell him not to take Dogen’s shit. Hurley tells Dogen that he’s a candidate and therefore, Dogen can’t tell him what to do. Great line of the night, “Maybe you should go to the courtyard” followed by Dogen uttering a slew of Japanese (possible obscenities) words under his breath. If looks could kill, Hurley would be slain!

I have to say, I'm liking the new Hurley! He's large and in charge - and it's about f-ing time! I mean, he's been the likable jokester for so long that people rarely give him credit for being the leader he's become. He says what the audience is thinking, acts altruistically, and can even talk to dead people -- cool!

Hurley uses some of Jacob’s magical manipulation powers and gets Jack to come with him on a special journey. They sneak out of the Temple, trek through the woods, almost get gunned down by Kate (who’s looking for Claire, but Jack warns her against that), and they make a little detour to visit the Caves (home of Shannon’s inhaler, Christian Shepard’s smashed-up coffin, and the legendary skeletons of “Adam” and “Eve”) – funny enough, Hurley channels the audience for a moment and mentions that wouldn’t it be funny if the skeletons were really time-traveling version of themselves – HA! So, they finally get to the end of their little field trip at “The Lighthouse.” And, it’s a real lighthouse – not a metaphorical place, not the Dharma station we learned about from Mrs. Hawking, but an actual lighthouse.

Oh-kay…. But it turns out this is not a completely ordinary lighthouse – it’s OLD school! No electricity here, it’s all a bunch of mirrors and magic! And they’re all on a giant protractor – whoo! Hurley has specific instructions. Someone’s coming to the island and they need to help them get there. Jacob says to turn the mirror to 108 degrees (108! The amount of minutes Locke had to push the button! The number that 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 32, 46 add up to make!) - but OMG! All the numbers on the big dial have NAMES next to them! We see “Jarrah” written next to 16, “Ford” next to 15, and of course “Shepard” next to 23!

Those numbers from the cave wall correspond to the numbers on the dial – it’s gotta mean something! Plus, on this dial, Kate’s there! “Austen” is number 51! Yay!!! So all those Jacob visits weren’t all for naught J - there’s gotta be some meaning to all this mayhem, right? Right?!?

In case you didn’t have the time to freeze-frame and stare at your television set the way we do – check these out!

• Pryce crossed out at number 14.
• Rousseau crossed out at number 20.
• Brennan crossed out at number 35.
• Stanhope crossed out at 48.
• Austen at number 51. Austen is not crossed out and was not shown in the scene in the cave in "The Substitute."
• Burke crossed out at number 58. (Juliet!!!)
• Faraday crossed out at number 101.
• Lewis crossed out at number 104, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 140.
• Rutherford crossed out at number 32, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 31.
• Wallace crossed out at number 108. - This seems like it should be an significant number, but the who heck is Wallace?!?
• Friendly crossed out at number 109.
• Linus crossed out at number 117.
• Dawson crossed out at number 124.
• Littleton crossed out at number 313, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 212.
• And were my eyes mistaken, but I thought I saw "Dorit" -- as in Naomi, from the freighter???

Jack looks deep into the mirror and sees an Asian place (is it Dogen’s temple? Or Sun & Jin’s wedding locale?) and some sort of church (the church Sawyer’s parents had their funeral in??). When Jack makes Hurley (who’s still consulting the instructions he’s penned onto his arm) turn the dial to his last name “23” his childhood home pops into the mirror. Now, this made me think that the Shepard on the wall and in the mirror might not even be Jack, it might be Christian. Jack made a point of saying that he hasn’t lived in that house for years – but his father did. Now, Jacob might have been watching Jack, but think about the moment when he showed up in Jack’s life? Jack was working with Christian in that operating room – maybe Jacob just threw the poor guy a candy bar, en route to touch the real candidate, Christian. Just some food for thought...Also, what's the significance of looking into a mirror -- it's happened in every episode. In "LA X", Jack looked into the bathroom mirror (only to see that he'd cut himself - shaving?), in "What Kate Does," when using Claire's bag Kate looks at herself deeply, and in the "Substitute" Locke has a mirror moment of his own. Now, in this episode both Hurley and Jack stare into the mirror - and Jack ends up smashing the mirrors to bits. What's the significance? Alice fell through the looking glass into Wonderland - are our island-folk really in Wonderland? Are the Timeline A people looking for a way into Wonderland, while the Timeline B people are looking for a way out? Very confusing - but I think the Alice book is a huge clue about the role of mirrors, and about reality. Me likey!

Now, and this is the part that got Paul pretty pissed off, Jack gets all Jack-like and surly and breaks the mirrors. At this point, Paul goes, “Thanks a lot Jack! Now nobody gets to see their mirror!” Heh! So true, impulsive, impetuous Jack just can’t wait to see if turning the lighthouse mirrors to 108 degrees will help guide the mystery person to the island, he notices the other names, but doesn’t even think to check out their mirrors – WHY? Why is he so destructive, when he clearly sees that Jacob has been watching him and the lighthouse itself is clearly more than just a lighthouse? He broke the mirrors, then goes out onto the cliff to stare at the ocean.

While Jack is having private time, Jacob shows up and has a little chat with Hurley. Hurley learns that he’s been Jacob’s puppet throughout all of this – leading Jack exactly where Jacob wants him to be and now Jack is feeling and doing exactly what Jacob wants him to do. Hurley doesn’t like Jacob’s behind-the-back tactics. Apparently, Jack is supposed to feel like he’s special, because he’s got something big to do. What’s up with Jacob and this constant manipulation? He and the Man in Black are constantly manipulating people – their whole schtick is so perplexing to me – like they can get other people to do their bidding, their dirty work – as long as it’s the other person’s choice, yet, they can’t do anything much themselves. I mean, Flocke kicked Richard’s butt, but he didn’t kill anyone – not yet!

Meanwhile, Jin’s leg is all jacked up from Claire’s bear trap – which she frees him from, bandages him up, and then proceeds to get all feral on him. After dragging Captain Cranky Pants’ friend, Justin, back to her little lair (which incidentally, has a dead boar skeleton laying in a cracked-out baby cradle – ew!) she manages to sufficiently freak Jin out, being all crazy and whatnot. She accuses Justin (and the Others) of stealing her baby – which Jin sort of clarifies for her, saying that Kate took Aaron off the island and he’s safe with her. He changes his story, saying that Aaron’s at the temple (and NOT with Kate), after Claire buries a hatchet into Justin’s gut – deftly killing him with no regret. She tells Jin she’s been in the jungle, sort-of alone, for three years. Her only company has been her father (dead) and her friend (who I totally knew was Flocke). And at the end of the episode, her friend, Flocke shows up – giving Jin a wry smile. Although, Jin doesn’t know that Locke’s dead, so he’s still calling him John. This could mean some VERY bad things for Jin... But even moreso, that he, Claire, and Flocke seem headed to the Temple - where nothing good can happen... Specifically, because straight told Hurley that he and Jack needed to NOT be at the Temple because something BAD was about to go down. D'oh!

Wowsers!

Now, in their podcasts (yes, I totally listen to the podcasts – they’re hilarious!), Damon and Carlton have spoken at length about the two timelines NOT being independent of one another – it’s not an alternate reality, where one of the storylines is real and the other fake. They’re seemingly BOTH real and dependent upon each other – which would make those little déjà vu moments make sense. I can’t wait to find out the connection between these storylines and have them fuse into one linear storyline. I like what they’re doing, but I’m anxious to get some real answers and stop with the extended storytelling. I’m ready for a definitive conclusion, I don’t know about you guys, but this epic NEEDS an ending, and fast!

Rumor has it that next week is supposed to be a DOOZY of an episode – I’m hoping for a big showdown between the two groups, all going down at the Temple. It’s a Sayid-episode, so there’s gotta be some bloodshed, right? Not that I want anything to happen to any of my favorites, but if Ilana or Neil Frogurt get hurt, I’ll be okay with it.

That brings us to…

Tara’s Big List of Questions!

1. How does Claire know the Man in Black is not John Locke?
2. Why does she consider Flocke her friend?
3. Didn’t Claire realize that the real John has left the island?


4. What action does Jacob want Jack to perform?
5. Why did Jacob need Hurley? Just because he can see dead people?
6. Has Hurley always been able to see dead people? Or was that a gift that Jacob gave him, in anticipation of dying himself?
7. Why did Jacob manipulate Hurley, why not just tell him?
8. Why does Jacob not want Jack and Hugo to be at the Temple? What the heck is going down over there?
9. Why didn't Jacob want anyone else to be away at that time? Did he know that Jin and Sawyer weren’t there?
10. Was anyone else afraid that Hurley was going to get his arm wet and wash away all of Jacob’s careful instructions?
11. Who built the lighthouse and when was it constructed? And for what purpose? Just for Jacob's creepy spying?
12. Am I the only one who finds Jacob's spying a bit creepy? And are you buying the nice-guy persona he's selling? Part of me feels like the producers wouldn't make things as easy or as clear-cut as white being good and black being evil...
13. How was the signaling mirror able to reflect places in the outside world? Is it a magic mirror?
14. Is someone new coming to the Island? Or was that a big fat Jacob Lie?
15. Why does Jack not remember his appendectomy? As a kid, you'd surely remember something as big as your first surgery, right?
16. Was the appendectomy the connection moment – that moment where the characters in the LA X timeline seem to recall a glimmer of something else in their lives happening (i.e. when Kate saw Jack at the airport)?
17. Was Christian Shepard the more important Shepard?
18. What did Christian Shepard leave to Claire in his will?
19. Who is David's mother? His ex-wife, Sara? Or someone completely different? He kind of looked like he could be Kate’s son, although we know he doesn’t know Kate in this reality.
20. Why are David’s mother and Jack separated?
21. What was the significance of Dogen’s son at the audition?
22. What does it truly mean to be a candidate?
23. Can only candidates kill other candidates?
24. Why did saying he was a candidate, silence Dogen and grant Hurley unlimited access to anything and everything?
25. Has Jacob really been keeping tabs on 360 people? Or just 180 people?
26. Is that mirror thing on a protractor (180 degrees) or a compass (360 degrees)?
27. What will Sayid do, now that he knows the Others at the Temple are trying to kill him?
28. Whatever it is that Jack’s going to have to do, will Hurley have to help him?
29. Are Sawyer and Jack becoming the new Man in Black and Jacob? They’re certainly joining teams!

Alrighty, in the interest of keeping things short (too late!), I’ll end it here. I’m hoping next week has me hurting to say more. This week was decent, but not stand-up-and-shout-exciting (not like last week’s episode!) – but you guys know me, anything without my beloved Benjamin Linus just isn’t quite Lost-tastic! Something tells me he’s gearing up for a comeback, or at least a great storyline in the episode, “Professor Linus.” Lord help me, he’d better not die! L

Until next week Losties!

Namaste.