LOST -- End and Beginning

So ... I thought about posting my take on the LOST finale, but here we are, a week and a half later, with nothing to show. Like Allison, I thought the finale was well done and a fitting end to the series. Other folks were disappointed. And that's cool. I've kind of burned out on reading the various pro and con assessments, so I'm just going to say I loved it and leave it at that. Even with its faults (both with the episode and as a finale to the series), "The End" held up well to a second viewing. In fact, it left us wanting to re-visit the entire series, though probably not anytime soon. We did re-watch the pilot, though, and it was pretty cool to see how well these two bookends held together.

Which brings me to the main thing I wanted to mention:

Mark T. aka the Foolish Sage has some great thoughts as part of a LOST Retrospective. The best part is that he actually is re-watching the series from the start, and providing comments with the entire series in mind. Should be good. He's got three episodes done already, and I think it really shows how well the show coheres from start to end. Do check it out.

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Thoughts on Alice, LOST, and the Book of Job

Last Thursday I finished reading a book. In former days that was not a rare occurence, but this year it seems I can barely find a moment to curl up with anything other than a short magazine article. Though I am keeping up with my Bible study lessons better now...

Anyway, the book that I finished? Alice in Wonderland. Fantastic. I definitely enjoyed it for what it was, a rambling story to entertain some children on a summer's boat ride, but upon this reading I was seeing it more through the eyes of an English teacher. You can tell that Lewis created the plot on the fly, but his inside jokes and literary references are clever and witty. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of The Annotated Alice, for two reasons:

1. Annotations. (Duh.) I'm a literature geek and think that all the puns, allusions, farces and satire in the book are hilarious, and though I am actually familiar with some of the references that Carroll spins in the book, I'd really like to know what all the songs, poems, and rhymes are all about. The real versions, anyway.

2. LOST connections. They blatantly threw the book at us on last week's episode of LOST with Jack's son. And we'd also seen it once before with Jack and Aaron in an earlier season. Plus, there were all those mirrors. Either the writers REALLY want us to get the connection between the show and Through the Looking Glass, or, someone there also worked for the new Alice movie coming out and wants everyone to read the book, too.

(I actually do want to see the film, though with Tim Burton it could go either way. Plus, my cousin Lawson worked with the art department so it'd be kind of cool to watch the credits and go "Hey, I know that guy!" rather than just making fun of the weird names.)

Just so you know, I started this post well before I saw Doc Jensen's column today about this called "Go Ask Alice," and though he's always CRAZY, he makes some points I agree with, especially in light of the aforementioned allusions.

On to a different theory concerning LOST. Two weeks ago we saw some spooky ghost kid come running up to the Smoke Monster/Locke and say, "You know the rules. You can't kill him." Now, I'm still not sure who the "him" is referring to, though my hunch is Sawyer, since he's one of Jacob's candidates. It could also be Richard. But, upon watching it a second time, it struck me that perhaps this is similar to the scene between the Lord and Satan in the Book of Job, where God only allows him to torture Job to a point -- he can't kill him (see verse 12 in this passage).

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand."

So is Jacob the God-figure in this retelling? I'm still not sure. But it does make me think that perhaps SOMEONE only allows the Smoke Monster so much freedom on the island. We already know he can't go inside the ash. But I wonder if he's only allowed to kill certain people? Like the pilot (AKA that guy from Felicity and Alias), and Mr. Eko. If he wants to kill someone "on the list," he has to get someone else to do his dirty work. Think: Michael killiing Libby and perhaps even Ana Lucia when she killed that love-interest of Juliet. What are those "rules" exactly? And who made them? And when?

This is turning out to be a most intriguing final season. I am not ashamed to proclaim where I like to spend my Tuesday evenings. :) Anyone else care to offer their thoughts and theories in the comments? (No spoilers on tonight's episode until after 10pm EST, please!)

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The Beginning of the End

With much fanfare and anticipation, mixed with a little angst, the final season of LOST is now upon us. Allison and I have finished our re-watch of Season Five, including all the cool DVD bonus features. I think we are ready. I hope we are ready.

As far as predictions for the new season go: it just dawned on me that the premiere is on Groundhog Day. (Aside -- thanks to Gen. Beauregard Lee for not seeing his shadow!) So maybe each episode this season will start with the crash of Flight 815 and feature all the wacky things that could have been.

Nah.

Seriously, I've given up on making too many predictions about LOST, since the show keeps surprising me. Each new season takes the show in an unexpected direction, and the overall result is simply fantastic. I'm just going to enjoy the ride.

Also, just in time for the premiere, the Sky1 channel in the UK commissioned the always-excellent Reduced Shakespeare Company to distill five seasons of LOST into ten minutes of awesome: LOST REDUCED.

Update: It just dawned on me that LOST isn't the first show to end a season finale with a nuclear detonation* -- Sledge Hammer! ended it's first season with an atomic blast. I'm going to trust that LOST's writers know what they're doing, and haven't used Sledge Hammer! as a prototype for resolving their own story arc!

(*Disclaimer: Okay, I assume that Season Five ended with a detonation, but things on LOST are rarely as they seem.)

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Quick Thoughts on the LOST Season Finale

(I do not think these contain spoilers. If you saw the episode, though, feel free to make comments ON OUR BLOG and know that those will NOT be spoiler-free.)

1. The opening scene blew away all my expectations and cancelled out quite a few of my guesses, especially about Jacob. Best. Episode. Ever.

2. What happened at the end of the episode IS "the incident." The past will not be rewritten.

3. Juliet = Desmond when he turned the key in season 2

4. All of the castaways who were in 1977 will be returned to 2007 or sometime thereafter.

5. Jacob vs. "unamed guy in black" showdown will be "the war" that has been coming

6. "unamed guy in black" = the Smoke monster

7. I must read more Flannery O'Connor. See: recurring theme of resurrection

I'm sure I'll come up with more tomorrow, but for now: discuss!

UPDATE: This recap by some guy named Todd touches on many of the religious themes of the show, and even dubs" unnamed guy in black" as Esau. Thoughts?

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