5481

I didnt see her name listed on the ceiling (or I could be forgetting it), and I would need to go rewatch that scene to see whether he actually touched her…

5482

Didn’t see her name at all either. He did touch her though, at the 1:53 mark.

5483

With the power of the internet here are the names shown on the wall:

4 – Locke (John)
8 – Reyes (Hugo)
15 – Ford (Sayer)
16 – Jarrah (Sayid)
23 – Shephard (Jack)
42 – Kwon (Jin/Sun)

10 – Mattingley (1954 Other)
31 - Rutherford (Shannon)
55 ? – Burke (Juliet)
90 – Troup (Guy who got sucked into jet engine during the Pilot)
117 – Linus (Roger/Emily/Ben)
134 ? – Chang (Dr.)
171 ? – Straume (Miles)
195 – Pace (Charlie)
233 – Jones (soldier of the United States Army, killed by the Others )
313 – Littleton (Claire/Aaron)
317 – Cunningham (1954 Other)
??? – Goodspeed (Horace/Olivia/Ethan)
? – Lacombe (French man with Rousseau)
??? - Faraday (Daniel)

Undetermined
115 - Bargas
175 - Costa
222 – O’Toole
282 - Aguella
291 – Domingo
346 – Grant
119 – Almeida

5484

I love mutton chop Hurley.

5485

I discussed this post-ep with a buddy, and I don’t think they’re better off, with the possible exception of Hurley. While we haven’t had episodes detailing each character, here’s some surface skimming:

Rose- dying of cancer
Locke- got the girl, has accepted the chair, but at the cost of his hope and faith
Kate- on the run still
Claire- in a strange land with no money, no plan and a new baby
Charlie- still a totally self-absorbed fuckup
Kwons- Jin’s a total tightass still, likely about to make a run for it in America, Sun is still lying and looking for a way out

Basically, looking at each character, they’ve undergone some major hardships on the island that forged them into being better people. Without that, they’re not as well off spiritually as the island versions are. Again, we have yet to see episodes for most of them to see where the rest are at.

My theory about Jacob and Unlocke is that the monster can’t get off the island unless the protector goes with him, or all the candidates are dead as well as the protector. I’m also guessing that Unlocke can’t directly kill the candidates himself, much like Jacob, so he’s enlisted Sawyer to do that for him with a little manipulation. With all other candidates dead, Sawyer becomes the protector by default, and Unlocke can either leave the island with him, or maybe have Sawyer killed by some other agent at the end.

5486

Do you suppose the same rules governing Jacob and Smokey’s conflict apply to Ben and Charles Widmore’s conflict? It’s been quite a while since that’s come up.

5487

I’m still not convinced Unlocke/Smokey is the prisoner here. He could very well be the guardian, with Jacob being the prisoner (even though he can appear to people off the island). From their interaction prior to the arrival of the Black Rock it’s pretty clear that Jacob is the one bringing people to the island. If he’s the guardian, why do that? Unlocke also seemed genuinely surprised that Richard knew as little about Jacob as he did, and at every turn it seems to be Jacob lying to people or manipulating people. The only person Unlocke seems to have manipulated so far was Ben, and only recently, whereas Jacob was manipulating Ben for years. Perhaps the “candidates” aren’t potential guardians at all, but potential hosts to be used for escape? Jarrah was still active on the wall, and guess who just came back from the dead…

5488

The Lockeness Monster is now my new favorite MiB pseudonym.

5489

Sayid died after Jacob did, it’s a little difficult for a dead man to scratch off as name from a wall.

5490

Great episode. And for the record, ABC.com is a great viewing experience. You can opt for one 90 second commercial right at the beginning and then skip all the other commercials, or you can view a 21 second commercial during each of the commercial break spots. Choosing the 90 second initial commercial is excellent because then you get to see the rest of the show commercial free, and in HD.

5491

I no longer ever watch Lost live unless I’m with friends. It’s just so much easier to watch it where I want to, when I want to. If you do the one 90 second commercial you can just turn the sound down for a little bit, do something else and then watch the episode all the way through. The great quality is a big bonus too.

5492

Little blond kid is Aaron?
I still don’t get how ordinary people are tapped for such an important purpose.
They’ve made such a big deal about so many little things that will probably not even fit into this “ending” they are dreaming up.

5493

Also, here’s something I came up with: There is a 3rd Kwon now.

5494

Best guess is that he knew Smokey would get him and this is all part of the plan. Which Smokey is at least somewhat aware of, or bound by, since he obviously didn’t catch the next flight off the island as soon as Jacob died, but I’m guessing it’s still All Going According To Jacob’s Plan. The whole thing screams Biblical allegory. The enemy thinks they’ve won, then BAM, there’s Jesus/Aslan/Obi Wan more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Especially…

This whole conversation between Smokey and Richard was straight up Garden of Eden stuff. “Gosh, why wouldn’t God/Jacob want you to eat from the tree of knowledge/explain his actions? Why won’t he tell you everything? I’d certainly tell you everything! Who does God/Jacob think he is, jerking you around like that?”

Now granted, this could all just be the latest red herring, maybe you’ll be right and Jacob will be the bad guy or the one who wants to escape, or whatever, but nothing in this episode supported that.

And for my part, I love it, and maybe it’s just me, but I’ve also been really impressed with Sawyer in the last two episodes. Even with the Kate episode being lame, he was convincing in his grief. Locke’s been on fire as well, so the two of them made for a great episode this week.

And yeah, I wondered why we didn’t see Kate as a candidate too.

5495

The video of Jacob touching Kate linked above suggests why. He says there, “You’re not going to steal any more are you?” She shakes her head no. But she’s done some stealing and worse since then.

5496

Because Kate ruins everything. Would you put her in charge of protecting your island?

5497

Anyway, this prisoner/jailer thing isn’t coherent with Jacob and back man last season.

My guess is that their relationship is like among equals and not one being prisoner of the other. I do not think Jacob is looking for a candidate as replacement, what happened along the way simply isn’t coherent with that.

Jacob’s plan, whatever it is, is probably more elaborated and I’m fairly sure it involves the secondary timeline.

5498

The whole island thing is starting to look like a bunch of kids in someone’s yard playing an elaborate game with action figures or something, the rules of which change constantly and are mostly incomprehensible to an adult who happens to observe it.

I expect the show to end with Jacob’s mom chastising him for being late for dinner and breaking his toys, especially the smoke-monster toy, which was very expensive.

5499

I don’t see how the kid could be Aaron. For one thing, he’s the wrong age. For another, he’s off the island in either timeline.

5500

I hate to throw more fuel on the fire but in that scene they were cooking a red herring.