I have a feeling last week’s Lost episode may have been the tipping point for all those on the fence about the final season, and, by the conclusion, it may have left even a few of the faithful with ink smudged on their forehead and ready to break hundreds of years’ worth of bad luck in mirrors. In the season’s fifth hour, ‘Lighthouse’, episode-writers and show-runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse combined an emotional “sideways” story with an Island adventure story laced with meta-commentary. While the wink-and-nodding bordered on distracting, it actually ended up being pretty damn illuminating. But for the all the good stuff, ‘Lighthouse’ regretfully had one nitpicky moment that has to rank at the top of my ‘All-Time List of Frustrating Lost Moments That Don’t Involve Ana Lucia.’
Daddy Issues
The LA X-verse story followed Jack still dealing with the fallout of Christian’s death. But it was the sudden introduction of David, the broody piano-genius son of Jack, that added another surprising link in the dysfunctional generational chain of Shepherd father-son relationships. The crux of the story was really about Jack getting over the past, and committing himself to the future by not being like his father. Jack wore the pain of the “hope versus guilt” conflict in every scene with David. Unlike Sideways Locke from last week (engaged to Helen, ready to invite his father to his wedding), we get a Sideways Jack that felt completely true to Jack Prime — even with the addition of a potentially disorientating moppet. The cathartic reconciliation between Jack and David still felt like the good doctor has made a pivotal turning point, moving away from the guilt that has consumed him throughout the series, and that continues to effect him in another reality.
I know I’m late to the party pointing out the many allusions and references to Jack’s Season 1 flashback episode, ‘White Rabbit’, that were in ‘Lighthouse’, including Jack reminiscing in the cave about Christian’s ghost, to the appearance of a literal rabbit-shaped key-holder thing. After reading Doc Jensen’s illuminating analysis on the mirroring going on between ‘Lighthouse’ and ‘White Rabbit’, I find it really intriguing how the structure of Season 6 might continue to further reflect Season 1. The order of characters featured in Season 6 has already synched up to the order that they were rolled out in Season 1 – which should mean that this week’s episode is likely a Jin/Sun episode, linking it ‘House of the Rising Sun.’ But what will we get next week for an episode that should mirror ‘The Moth’ – the first Charlie-centric episode? Will the Charlie last seen revived by Jack make some kind of full episode reappearance in the LA X-verse, or at least a cameo?
Another interesting parallel between the two seasons is Claire’s axe-wielding, confused quest to find Aaron, which seems very likely to sync up with Season 1’s finale ‘Exodus’, where Rousseau abducted Aaron from Claire.
We Are All Hurley
Hurley is obviously one of the show’s fan-favorite characters, partly because he gets some of the great comedic lines, calling The Island-weirdness as many of us see it, as well as getting to ask the questions we’re all thinking. Take for instance the episodes’ main Island-verse story, which I loved because it was Jack and Hurley kicking it old school, trekking through the jungle on the way to do something they don’t understand. It was good times.
You know what took me out of the moment a bit? When Hurley said the above statement pretty much verbatim to Jack. Hurley’s theory on the skeletons in the cave (and the hypothetical question about “time-traveling back to dinosaur times”) was another moment ripped from Lost message boards and water cooler theories. While it’s slightly distracting to have a character directly “speak” for the viewer, it also adds some levity to a show that we don’t need to take totally serious all of the time. But as fun as some of Hurley’s comments where, he failed the viewers in action when he we needed him most. Which brings me to my one complaint about the episode, which happened in the lighthouse. The stone lighthouse was cool and mysterious and classic Lost, but it also had one of the most improbable reactions from a character in Lost, WHEN HURLEY DIDN’T AT LEAST LOOK TO SEE WHO NUMBER 108 WAS. Sorry about the caps-spazz, but even as Jack destroyed the place, Hurley could have at least looked to see who’s name was written down at the 108 spot. It was the entire reason he believed he was sent there by an all-knowing ghost! Hurley’s supposed to do the stuff we would do on a crazy Island full of weird stuff, and there wasn’t a person watching at home that didn’t want to see who number 108 was. I just don’t buy that he would have no interest in at least sneaking a glance to see who’s name was written on the Wheel of Super Creepy Stalking – especially since he was told they were coming to The Island.
(Okay. Deep breath. Yes, I know the scene has already been screen-capped to death, and apparently 108 is someone named Wallace—which isn’t as revealing as I thought it would be when I was watching it– but c’mon Hurley, don’t’ let us down again, please.)
But despite that, the viewer-as-Hurley-thing paid off with an interesting wrinkle by the episode’s end, when Jacob revealed that he manipulated Hugo into getting Jack to tear the lighthouse apart. It was an interesting allegory for many fans’ experiences with the show. If Hurley is us, then that makes Jacob = Darlton, which means the Lighthouse mission is pretty much the moment where each viewer realizes that all the notes they’ve scribbled, and episodes we’ve followed might be leading us to something else entirely, or it maybe just ends up giving us a better perspective. It’s our call whether we either have to have faith to follow along, or get angry and smash stuff. Or both.
Jaykub
I don’t think anyone really expected there to be an obvious Good Guy versus Bad Guy scenario between Jacob and The Man In Black and it was good to finally start throwing some sand on Jacob’s white shirt, with the way he lied to Hurley, manipulated Jack with the “you have what it takes” line, and that he seems ready to let his followers in the Temple get killed.
In conclusion, I offer one hypothetical question to fill you with enough nerd-rage to smash a lighthouse of your own:
If/when they reveal the identity of David’s mother, would it be more annoying if it was Ana Lucia or Bai Ling’s psychic tattoo artist character?