5241

I think we’re already seeing overlap of the two timelines. The complete disappearance of Christian’s body, Desmond appearing on the plane and then suddenly disappearing, Jack having a feeling he’s met Desmond before but not knowing how (although in the original timeline Jack did meet Desmond while having a jog around a track at some nearby high school or something: “See you in another life, brotha.” This doesn’t mean it happened in the alternate timeline, so we can’t count on that), Jack’s initial jumpy reaction after the bomb flash, Hurley’s mirror-self having absolutely great luck while his other self has nothing but terrible luck, and again overlapping stories in the alternate timeline with all the major cast members (aside from a few which they probably couldn’t convince to return).

Although I really hope Mr. Eko makes an appearance. That would really just take the cake.

5242

I’m skeptical of the Jacob is now Sayid theories. When Smoke-Monster-Anti-Jacob walks around as Locke, he’s not doing it in the actual Locke’s body. The rules could certainly be different, but so far I’m leaning toward that being regular Sayid.

5243

If that’s your one big puzzle than you may have missed that in the sideways/alternate time line the island is completely submerged under the ocean, which is all shades of messed up. I presume that means with the Swan never being created - the island some how sank? Wha?

Or is that an easy one and I missed something?

5244

Loved the opener, and I have a feeling I’m gonna love this season.

The only real way they can end this and still maintain the whole “everything is based on science!” stance is this: Jacob and Blackie are aliens.

Really, this all stems from the classic Arthur C. Clarke statement: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” We’ve been seeing that in the show all along - tech that can move islands, create sentient smoke monsters, etc. It would also tie into the Chariots Of The Gods vibe I get from the island structures - these two aliens have been there for so long that they’ve become Earth legends and have influenced Earth religion and mythology.

Given that, Blackie’s statement - “I want to go home” - can be taken at face value. He literally wants to go back to his home planet.

Perhaps the struggle between Blackie and Jacob has been that. Blackie has been influencing islanders to help him get back home, slowly building tech and harnessing whatever power is inherent in the island. Jacob, meanwhile, might be following the Prime Directive, where he only wants to observe instead of influence.

Or I could be wildly, wildly wrong.

5245

Actually, I rather like that idea - kudos. I would further put forth that Jacob not only didn’t want to interfere, he actively enjoyed his time on our planet? Maybe that’s why the smoke monster wanted to kill him so bad - he actively didn’t want to return home?

5246

This… I think. There were some hint dropped during the LAX stuff. Charlie tells Jack, “I should be dead” for instance. I enjoyed it. It renewed my interest in the series and I’m ready to watch it through to the finale.

5247

Awesome! They’re actually pulling a Schrödinger’s cat scenario on prime time TV. Few things that popped into my head:

  1. I’m so glad we finally got to see the flight attendant and kids again. Good to know that wasn’t brushed under the proverbial carpet.

  2. In the finale of the last season, Jacob said, “They’re coming!” right before he died. Who was he talking about? His body guards? Or an even larger threat to the island?

  3. I think Jack recognized Desmond from the stadium not the other universe, but why did he and Christian’s body disappear and what is up with the cut on Jack’s neck? Poor shaving?

  4. I thought Richard may be from the Black Rock ship, but in the S5 finale Jacob’s bodyguards called him Richardus. Sounds like a much older name.

  5. I miss Faraday. :(

5248

They don’t have to be from another planet, though. We’re well into the realm of time travel and spacial distortion and alternate realities. I think they could easily be from a parallel Earth, the island itself being some kind of inter-dimensional craft.

5249

Is there some kind of rule that any temple east of Europe has to be staffed by at least one wizened sensei? I was fine with the number of characters I already had to keep track of - I really didn’t need Master Splinter layered on top of everybody else.

5250

Not bad, but I’m feeling a bit off about this. There was a crytograph released about a month ago about what MIB’s motivations were, and the easiest to decipher was that he “wants to go home.” Home can be anywhere now; the past, the future, an alien race… so what do we derive from that? Jacob seemed to be a benevolent presence on the island, but at the same time allowed so many people to be killed. And again, for what? Jacob’s last statement to Ben before his death, “What about you, Ben?” literally sealed his fate. Would Ben have killed him if he said he was sorry for what he went through, or if he was sorry he never appeared to him? It’s so murky at the moment that I have no idea. And that is exactly what they wanted everyone to think.

5251

What? You didn’t like super-cliche, bonsai cutting, robe wearing, Mr. “I-don’t-rike-how-engrish-tastes-on-my-tongue?”

5252

Frogurt cameos ruled. Yay Frogurt!

5253

My 9 year old watched this with me for the first time last night, after having gotten sucked into the re-cap episode he demanded to stay up late and watch it with me so I let him. He thought the island was itself a time machine and these two people were from the future. I asked him if he thougtht in the future some people could shape-shift and become smoke monsters and he said “sure, if they wear black. Duh.” LOL.

5254

This is my thought. This really felt like “oh, SNAP we forgot about those guys.” I’m just having a hard time with everything that’s happened on this island (granted only 108 “days” have passed, but it’s 5 years of TV) these guys just sat there minding their trees and ashes.

5255

Well, there was the scene after Ben turned the nob to summon Smokey, he turns to Sun and says something like, “What’s coming, I can’t control.” And just as he says it Unlocke comes walking out of the jungle right where he’s expecting Smokey.

Also when Unlocke and Ben go into the temple Unlocke conveniently disappears looking for something to help Ben out the hole when Smokey appears.

It was pretty obvious what Unlocke was if you were paying attention.

5256

So if negaHurley doesn’t have the curse, what the fuck did he go to Australia for?

Yeah, I know …

5257

He had expanded Mr. Cluck’s to Australia.

5258

It also looks like the Widmore and human factional stuff is becoming an unraveling end. Will there really be a point to Desmond’s destiny that they made such a big deal of for an entire season? Seems like there was no real intention to all the past politics.

And what the fuck was up with the Jacob defense force? What were they doing rolling around on the mainland harassing Losties instead of being on the island? Given their motivations, I mean …

… Yeah, I know …

5259

You know, it seems to me that Jacob’s role on the island is actually that of prison-warden: the Island is an elaborate prison housing the Anti-Jacob (whether he is a malevolent entity or an extraterrestrial). The Anti-Jacob can’t leave the island – Jacob can – and, as prisoner, can’t directly hurt Jacob: the prison itself prevents that, since he’s in the equivalent of deep lockdown. The Anti-Jacob can, however, obviously influence his other inmates, who aren’t bound by the same rules, into killing Jacob and opening up the prison.

I think this is important: the Island is Anti-Jacob’s prison, and Jacob is his warden. The Anti-Jacob can only escape the island if he destroys the prison or if he kills the warden. Either condition will do it.

Here’s where it gets interesting: both things have now happened, but in different timelines. Anti-Jacob appeared as Locke and manipulated Ben into killing Jacob for him in the “real” timeline. The prison warden is dead, and now the Anti-Jacob is going about affecting his escape. But in the new, alternate timeline stemming from the explosion of an atomic bomb at the Swan Station back in 1977, the island is destroyed. That’s his prison. The Anti-Jacob is completely free in that timeline.

So let’s ask ourselves a question: did the Anti-Jacob manipulate the destruction of the island back in 1977 just like he manipulated Ben into killing Jacob back in 2007?

I think he did: I think, just like the Anti-Jacob posed as Locke in 2007, he posed as Daniel in 1977. Think about it: Lost has reiterated over and over and over again that you can’t change the past. Whatever happened happened. All of a sudden, though, Daniel reappears after a mysterious three year disappearance to tell everyone that’s not true, and hey, blow up an atomic bomb at the focal point of the island’s energy and everyone will live happily ever after.

I think this is fundamental for how the season is going to turn out. Right now, the audience doesn’t really have any reason to care either way if the current-day Anti-Jacob escapes the island now that Jacob has been killed. Sure, he’s a bit of a dick, but why is it important for him to stay on the island? Lost needs to show why it’s important… and they’ve just opened up an alternate 2004 timeline in which the Anti-Jacob has been free for twenty seven years. They can use this timeline to show exactly why it’s important for the Anti-Jacob to remain imprisoned in the “real timeline.” My guess? We’re going to see the alternate 2004 timeline become an apocalypse really quickly.

I don’t know how it’s going to resolve: clearly, the main characters and their alternate timeline counterparts are going to have to come together to figure out how to keep Anti-Jacob on the island. But I think there’s a couple of clues.

First of all, Desmond is going to be key. Lost has made it a point to let viewers know that Desmond is special, in that he’s the only character for which Lost’s established time travel rules of “whatever happened, happened” does not apply. Both of his different timeline “selves” are going to be integral in bringing things together. My guess is Desmond is going to be the only character who is truly aware and in contact with his other self.

Second, Hugo sees dead people. Cool, but kind of redundant now that Miles is around, right? But a popular theory is that Hugo doesn’t see dead people at all: he actually is able to contact the counterparts of dead people who are still alive in another dimension. The Jacob who appeared to Hurley in 2007 may, then, be the other Jacob from 2004, who will guide the 2007 characters along in an effort to set things right.

Third, remember when at the end of last season, Jacob made a personal appearance to all of the integral characters of the show. He touched all of them. It was sort of a joke last season – Jacob shows up to hand Jack a candy bar, for god’s sakes? – but what if the point of that visitation was to make these characters aware of the fact that there are now two different timelines that need to be merged to contain the Anti-Jacob? Remember: Juliet was also visited by Jacob, and her dying words were to tell Sawyer that the time reset plan had worked… even though she had no way of knowing that it had worked/

These are just my working theories, but I really feel like the show is coming together. I can’t wait to see how the season progresses.

5260

Wasn’t anti-Jacob running about killing people on the island previously? What was containing him then?