Last night's Lost "Across the Sea"
This is a re-posted comment from io9.com where I sometimes blab my opinion to other people's articles & ideas:
I was excited for this episode, things I was expecting (perhaps based on previous spoilers and speculation):
.1) Who originally inhabited the island? I expected Egyptians, Greeks, living together, and this would lead to the statue acting as a lighthouse/beacon for those trying to reach the island. Who'd we get? Bad men. From "over there."
.2) Who are Jacob and MIB and why are they special? Okay, I'm fine with accidental special people made special by the original special person. I did especially like Rousseau 1.0's admonition that every answer would lead to a question. Okay, someTHING special is on this island and it calls on people to protect it and ensure its continued protection.
.3) But why is the island special, or what makes it so? Glowy lifesource light that exists within all men and is birth, life, death, and rebirth. Very Gnostic symbolism. I recall from the first or second season Abrams saying that everything that happened in Lost could conceivably happen in the real world and math and science could explain it. With the exception of the Smoke Monster and the mysticism that has cropped up this last season, I've bought into that. Time travel is mathematically possible, and perhaps if there's an accidental time traveler, they do indeed need to get back to their appropriate time asap. A natural version of Locke's hatch light wasn't what I was expecting, but, okay, I'll go with it.
.4) How did MIB become Smokey? This was the big one, this is what I was really looking forward to. Tragic figure just wants to find out what's out there. That's the human spirit right? Jacob seems resigned to his fate, and I get enough of that BS on Flash Forward. Rousseau 1.0 BELIEVES in her duty and she's not going to let anyone defy her, not even someone she loves. After getting knocked the eff out by mommy-dearest, MIB finds "his people" murdered under a cloud of black smoke as the village burns. I thought I was going to get an epic anger fueled transformation, MIB was going to HULK out and become the smoke of his fallen brothers. Not yet, he has to kill mom. I did like that she thanked him, like in death she realized how terrible her duty was and now she was released. Jacob gets pissed and knowing he can't kill MIB remembers Rousseau 1.0 said to go into the light was worse than death. Here you go brother, take a dip.
Now, there's only two episodes left, so there will be no explanation as to why the smoke monster sounds like an ancient drawbridge crank and flashes memories on little teevee screens in its body. I can speculate that machines are inherently scary so it's just a sound to illicit fear. Perhaps the smoke monster itself is the direct antithesis to the light of the Earth and if it spreads across the land only darkness will reside in the hearts of men. In which case Alec Baldwin will need to get that prosthetic nose back out.
So, you remember in the Dark Knight when the people on the boats were supposed to blow each other up or at midnight BOTH boats would explode? And the Joker had Batman right where he wanted him and said "Here.we.go!" And then nothing happened. And there was that absolute look of disappointment on the Joker's face? That's how this felt. Cheesetastic pulpy fantasy? Okay, as braindead popcorn fodder it was enjoyable. But that's not why I've been watching Lost all this time, it's been thought provoking and discussion worthy. Now all I'm doing is complaining. L'sigh.
I was excited for this episode, things I was expecting (perhaps based on previous spoilers and speculation):
.1) Who originally inhabited the island? I expected Egyptians, Greeks, living together, and this would lead to the statue acting as a lighthouse/beacon for those trying to reach the island. Who'd we get? Bad men. From "over there."
.2) Who are Jacob and MIB and why are they special? Okay, I'm fine with accidental special people made special by the original special person. I did especially like Rousseau 1.0's admonition that every answer would lead to a question. Okay, someTHING special is on this island and it calls on people to protect it and ensure its continued protection.
.3) But why is the island special, or what makes it so? Glowy lifesource light that exists within all men and is birth, life, death, and rebirth. Very Gnostic symbolism. I recall from the first or second season Abrams saying that everything that happened in Lost could conceivably happen in the real world and math and science could explain it. With the exception of the Smoke Monster and the mysticism that has cropped up this last season, I've bought into that. Time travel is mathematically possible, and perhaps if there's an accidental time traveler, they do indeed need to get back to their appropriate time asap. A natural version of Locke's hatch light wasn't what I was expecting, but, okay, I'll go with it.
.4) How did MIB become Smokey? This was the big one, this is what I was really looking forward to. Tragic figure just wants to find out what's out there. That's the human spirit right? Jacob seems resigned to his fate, and I get enough of that BS on Flash Forward. Rousseau 1.0 BELIEVES in her duty and she's not going to let anyone defy her, not even someone she loves. After getting knocked the eff out by mommy-dearest, MIB finds "his people" murdered under a cloud of black smoke as the village burns. I thought I was going to get an epic anger fueled transformation, MIB was going to HULK out and become the smoke of his fallen brothers. Not yet, he has to kill mom. I did like that she thanked him, like in death she realized how terrible her duty was and now she was released. Jacob gets pissed and knowing he can't kill MIB remembers Rousseau 1.0 said to go into the light was worse than death. Here you go brother, take a dip.
Now, there's only two episodes left, so there will be no explanation as to why the smoke monster sounds like an ancient drawbridge crank and flashes memories on little teevee screens in its body. I can speculate that machines are inherently scary so it's just a sound to illicit fear. Perhaps the smoke monster itself is the direct antithesis to the light of the Earth and if it spreads across the land only darkness will reside in the hearts of men. In which case Alec Baldwin will need to get that prosthetic nose back out.
So, you remember in the Dark Knight when the people on the boats were supposed to blow each other up or at midnight BOTH boats would explode? And the Joker had Batman right where he wanted him and said "Here.we.go!" And then nothing happened. And there was that absolute look of disappointment on the Joker's face? That's how this felt. Cheesetastic pulpy fantasy? Okay, as braindead popcorn fodder it was enjoyable. But that's not why I've been watching Lost all this time, it's been thought provoking and discussion worthy. Now all I'm doing is complaining. L'sigh.
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