Thu 14 May 2009
Yesterday was a very “bitter sweet” moment for me, bitter because LOST was going to leave my life until the year 2010, and sweet, of course, because I was going to watch the season finale of LOST! Much before the show was aired, I was quite confused on what to expect. I had read on many news outlets that the show would finally reveal its mysterious character “Jacob”, as well as define more precisely the pieces that would put together a “war” on the island. Also, given the previews that were aired about the finale, it obviously did not look as exciting as I knew it was going to be. So let’s take a look at a finale…
Probably my favorite scene of the episode, and the most powerful as well, would have to be the opening take. Showing Jacob, and the “unknown” character conversing with one another, while what seems to be the black rock approaching the island. I have already re-watched this conversation like 10 times, and with every time you will discover something new. As many have pointed out, the contrast starts at the very beginning. Jacob wears a “white” shirt, while his companion is wearing “black”. As we have seen in LOST from the on-set of the show, they play a lot with symbolism and contrast. After his companion declares his desire to kill Jacob, the viewers pretty much receive an indication on who is “good and bad” in this situation. Presumably, we are either in the time period in which the black rock arrives to the island. This would lead us to believe it was in the late 1800’s, but given the size and condition of the giant statue on the island; that doesn’t quite add up to me.
To be perfectly honest, I was quite skeptical when I heard that they had cast an entirely new actor to portray the infamous Jacob. I simply did not think it could work. Think of it….they already have had 5 completed seasons, with just 1 to go; one of the most important/influential characters of the series….will be someone we haven’t seen before??? To me, that just couldn’t work. But I guess as the show progressed, he kind of grew on me. Maybe it had to be a new character? If Jack, Locke, Christian, etc; ended up being Jacob, there would definitely be way too many inconsistencies throughout the series that would make it very difficult to explain it adequately. Given the final scene, in which what appears to be a reincarnation, smoke monster version of the mysterious companion from the first scene; we see Jacob die at the hands of Ben. Now, it is pretty much certain that Jacob does not die, but what is the significance of this “death” then? When Jacob utters “They are coming”, is he referring to the “Others, Richard, and Ajira survivors” outside, OR Jack, Sawyer, Kate, etc being flashed into the present following the impact of the hydrogen bomb.
One thing is clear; the direction of the series is entering an entirely new direction. Whether for better or for worse, it appears we are now given a glimpse of the “bigger picture” of the show. It is clearly not all about the Oceanic survivors, the Dharma Initiative, Hostiles & Others, etc; but there is now an entirely new dimension that has been created with the introduction of Jacob. Many are on the opinion of Biblical Connotation of Jacob, where he is blessed by God in favor of his twin brother. I doubt the creators of the show will use this type of reference; however it may serve as strong symbolism for the crazy LOST fans that need something to bite their teeth with. It appears to me that Jacob seems to be playing some sort of role of “God”, where he tests humanity with the decisions they make, and the outcomes that are realized. For example, even as Ben was being enticed to kill him, Jacob not once tried to sway Ben’s decision. His only response was “You have a choice”. He was allowing Ben to exercise his free will.
We are left with many questions after this episode, and much anticipation for the next and final season for the show. Is Jacob truly good? Or will the creators pull a switch on us, and perhaps make his companion the one fighting for good. Who/what is the smoke monster? Is it separate from the island? What is the significance of the visits Jacob makes to the selected characters shown? How come Jacob never shows himself to the people on the island? What exactly is the purpose of this island? What is going to happen to the Dharma people in the 70’s? Was it a flash that occurred, or did the bomb really set off? Where is Desmond/Widmore/Claire/Christian Sheppard/Walt/everybody else??? Who is this “war” between? We can all brain storm our answers … because 2010 is still a long way ahead !!!
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May 14th, 2009 at 10:01
I liked the finale but I thought the entire story could have been told in 20 minutes and not 2 hours. There’s beauty in brevity.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:05
I agree with you on one point, Jacob should have been one of the survivors or at least one of the others. How do you introduce such a pivotal character at the beginning of the last season?
May 14th, 2009 at 10:13
what is in the guitar case?
May 14th, 2009 at 10:20
The guitar case was something that belonged to Charlie….not sure what its importance is though. I thought maybe it was utilized to represent Charlie on the Avira plane??? Just an idea
May 14th, 2009 at 10:25
It’s Marcellus Wallas’s Soul!
May 14th, 2009 at 12:32
Damn man, I’m trying really hard not to read it since I haven’t watched this season yet
May 14th, 2009 at 13:22
Take the week off work and catch up!!!
May 14th, 2009 at 13:47
Sure! Does that fall under “sick” or “stupid” days off?
May 14th, 2009 at 17:41
I just finished watching the final show on the “ABC LOST” site. Didn’t catch it on tv.
I can’t see juleat dieing. And I don’t really think she does. My thinking is they are being flashed into the time with ben and “JOHN”.
But I think maybe this “JOHN” is actually the man at the beging of the show.
Can’t wait till next year. This is gonna be hard.
May 14th, 2009 at 18:05
The smoke monster is the evil guy (anti-Jacob ) basically, the whole series is about Jacob vs the evil guy, and everyone on the island are pawns in this larger chess game. The evil guy can take the form of dead people and manipulate then into doing things fit his own benifit(he appeared as Christian to tell lock to die and come back, he appeared as alex to let ben know to follow whatever “evil Locke ” says .
May 14th, 2009 at 18:09
Anti Jacob was first presented wearing black–> evil, while Jacob wore white–> pure. Just as the devil could not kill Jesus and got a human to do it, so follows the storyline of Lost.
I assume that Jacob represents life, and the evil guy death.
May 14th, 2009 at 18:49
Jacob visited everyoe except Juliet.
Jacob could in fact represent life since he conferred eternal life to Richard.
It would also seem that ilyana and her crew are coming after the evil guy, judging by their reaction after seeing the hut was empty. They wanted to show evil Locke that the real Locke is dead and they know who he real is.
Who will become the new jacob? Lipidus overheard the new people talking about being candidates for something. I say Juliet, jack, claire or hurley ( all are pure of heart)
May 14th, 2009 at 21:01
can someone tell me why Ben killed Locke in first palce, it seems there is a connection between his killing locke and being chosen to kill Jackob by devil.
May 14th, 2009 at 21:40
According to the producers in yesterday’s special before the finale, Ben intended to kill Locke because he left Locke in charge of the island while he went into exile. But seeing Locke back off-island, he saw his chance to take Locke out of the picture once and for all and go back to the island and take back his position as the leader of the Others.
He stopped Locke from committing suicide because Locke had some information that he needed before he could kill him (i.e. HOW to get back on the island), once Locke gave him that tidbit (re: eloise hawking), he could go through with taking Locke out of the picture. The moral of the story? Ben’s a rat, and Jacob knows it.
May 14th, 2009 at 22:04
Slave ships would have been running in the 1600-late 1700s, slave trade would have been ended by late 1800s which is beyond the 1865 end of the civil war and other countries ended slave trade well before we did
May 15th, 2009 at 08:38
Wasn’t the black rock a TRADE ship, not a SLAVE ship.
May 15th, 2009 at 09:56
I think it was a TRADE ship that contained Slaves in the inside (when the lostees went looking inside the ship)
May 20th, 2009 at 21:37
I like how we never meet Jacob before this episode. Think about it. How awesome was Return of the Jedi because after all those years we finally got to see the Emperor in person? We never get to see Sauron in the LoTRs books.
That being said, how gay is it that the guy who manages to pull all these people together is off’ed by a F***ing knife???