Jacob and the man in black
This episode has so much stuff that it would take months to analyze and discuss it all in order to gain a greater grasp of all that went on. The conversation between Jacob and the man in black along with the confrontation at the end was filled with the most intriguing answers & mysteries in the entire series. Jacob & the man in black who I’ll nickname Esau were conversing about various groups of people who had been coming to the island for years and how it always ended in violence. It reminded me of the story of Job. Satan came to God asking for permission to try Job saying that if he took everything away from Job that Job would eventually deny & curse God. God told Satan that Job would remain faithful and allowed Satan to test him.
Now I’m not saying definitively that Jacob = God, but in an allegorical sense there are a lot of similarities. Jacob visited many of the castaways at different crossroads of their lives and always gave them what they needed to make the important decisions in their lives. For Kate he bailed her out of getting in trouble and advised her to not steal anymore. For Sun & Jin he advised them to stay close to each other. For Sayid he actually saved him from meeting the same fate as his wife Nadia. And for Hurley he helped direct him back on the path back to his destiny on the island. He always gave them information and allowed them to make their own choices. When Esau came to him in the guise of Locke Jacob recognized Esau from the start and even allowed Ben to make the choice to kill him with out trying to fight being stabbed which he could have. Like an angry selfish child Ben stabbed him.
Esau spoke of wanting to kill Jacob and how he would find a loophole to do so. If Jacob represented choice then Esau represented force or coercion, everything that he did was to force someone into doing something. It’s my opinion that Esau ether is the Smoke Monster or controls it. Back in season two the Smoke Monster killed Eko because he wouldn’t change to its will. Later it toke the form of Locke, then even later it toke the form of Alex and between evil Locke & Alex he coerced Ben into killing Jacob through a massively elaborate scheme. Jacob wasn’t the only one to see through the ruse though. If we go back about 4 or 5 episodes Ilana was asking evil Locke about not having seen him on the flight. I think that even then see was starting to put the pieces together. Another reason why I think that she was on to him was when she visited Jacob’s former cabin. She probably saw the scarp of cloth which was ether from Jacob when he had trapped Esau in the cabin or Esau saying that he had escaped. (See broken circle of ash) The Cabin had been desecrated so she had to burn it.
But did Esau’s plan work? Ben stabbed Jacob, Esau found his loophole, but will it stick? There were a few things that lead me to believe otherwise, a few possibilities for next season. I really like Entertainment Magazine’s Doc Jensen’s idea of Harry Potter’s Horcruxes. What if each time that he visited and touched the castaways during those crossroads moments he was actually imparting a bit of his soul into them and season 6 is about bringing those pieces back to together? When he was dying he did say “They’re coming” Meaning those in 1977 were returning to 2007 to set things strait.
Another thing that struck me was the mythological story of the phoenix. Evil Locke did kick Jacob into the fire and what did the phoenix rise out of when it was reborn? The ashes of the fire. I was also reminded of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe when Aslan died & was brought back to life.
Locke/Doppelganger Locke
So is Locke dead, will Darlton just leave Locke as a pathetic, used and beaten upon character that way with out redemption? Richard in 1977 spoke with Jack about having visited Locke 3 times and never saw anything special about Locke. Jack replied “If I were you, I wouldn’t give up on him.” I think that this is actually a hint from Darlton saying don’t worry we won’t give up on Locke. This series is about redemption and it seems to me that Darlton wouldn’t leave one of the biggest characters redemption unfulfilled. If I’m correct about Jacob coming back then he could easily bring Locke back to life like he did when he fell out of the window. Perhaps Locke is this stories Job. Esau is putting Locke through all manner of trials just to try and prove that Locke will hate Jacob. We can see that Ben has already done so, but Ben’s arch isn’t over yet ether, so just maybe we’ll see his redemption also?
Juliet, “The sacrifice that the island demanded”
Juliet’s arch this season has been so great; Sawyer & Juliet’s relationship has been one of the best ones in the series, which has made her death that much harder to take. Like when Charlie died his character was really built up which along with a tremendous sacrifice that helped the castaways move on to the next point in their destiny lead to a very sad death. We have yet to see Claire getting on to a helicopter to leave the island with Aaron in tow, but I have faith that it will happen. We also have yet to see what was the result of Juliet’s sacrifice, but if Jacob’s words hold any weight “They’re coming” might mean that the castaways are bound for 2007 (on the island) to set whatever needs to be set right.
Juliet stood by her man Sawyer and when needed made the hard decisions that needed to be made. Some say that was flighty and without much thought, but I think that she loved Sawyer realized that in order for him and the rest of the castaways to fulfill their destinies she needed to sacrifice herself. During her flashback her Parents decided to separate, so I think that her sacrifice was fueled by that memory and her desire to not be like them, to actually stand by Sawyer and sacrifice her wants for his needs and without her being pulled down the Swan hole the bomb might never had gone off.
But what about Miles, Rose, Bernard & Vincent?
Neither of them was visited by Jacob. Juliet will probably end up dead next season. But what if because Jacob never touched Miles that he for some reason stays in 1977 and is able to live out the rest of his days with his Father? Rose & Bernard basically said that they were happy and retired. What if that is the happy ending for those four characters? I love those characters, but if that means a happy ending for Miles and Rose, Bernard & Vincent then I would be ok with that. I could see maybe a new Dharma video or photo with a happy Father & son helping each other out with experiments and then maybe a tape recording from found by one of the castaways telling them that Miles & his Father grabbed a sub to Ann Arbor right before the Purge.
Charlie’s Drive Shaft Ring
One of my other favorite moments after the Jacob Esau scene and Juliet’s heroic death was the moment when Sun found Charlie’s Driveshaft ring that he left to Aaron. So finally this story is picked up again. I could see Sun finding Claire and able to finally give it to her. But could it also be a hint of something else? It’s been rumored that Darlton is trying to bring some of the former cast back. I’m kind of doubting that they are going to do the off island things after the last two seasons, but what if Daniel/Jack’s plan somehow brings some of the dead back? What if Charlie could actually give Claire the ring himself, or somehow Desmond returns to the island with Aaron in tow? The ring is also hinting at something more obvious. Right after Sun found the ring we were able to see Jin & Sun’s wedding and Jacob’s council to stay together. Most likely they will be reunited next season finally and Jacob’s blessing will help them to make it through whatever trials are to come in the final battle.
Jack & Sawyer
Lastly the discussion & fight between Jack & Sawyer reminded me of their moment in the season one finale where Sawyer told Jack about meeting Christian. And how earlier he had the chance to do so, but didn’t. So Sawyer was trying to hold onto his dream, but Juliet convinced him that he needed to follow Jack. It was a great moment like the Sayid one last episode when Sawyer showed up to help Jack. It was an even greater one when Phil met his rebar end. Another great moment how we actually got to see Jack’s famous count to 5 operation, another great moment that showed Christian once again giving Jack “a little push” towards his destiny like Jacob mentioned with the candy bar.
This had to be my favorite finale to date. So many answers and storylines picked up again. Along with that so many new questions and things to speculate about, which I will be doing for the next 8 or so months here http://www.aintitcool.com/talkback_display/41067
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