LOST: More Thoughts About Across The Sea

Last updated on: May 12, 2010 at 2:43 pm by James F. McGrath

LOST: More Thoughts About Across The Sea 2010-05-12T14:43:00-04:00 James F. McGrath

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LOST always leaves us with questions, and the catchphrase “Every answer I give you will only lead to another question” is destined to become the summary of the series as a whole. Here are some more things I’ve been thinking about and questions that I’d like answered – even if they only lead to more questions.

1) The ritual with the cup of wine at the mouth of the cave: Did anyone figure out what “mother” said in Latin? When she says that now Jacob has become the same as her, does that mean that from that point he was the potentially immortal protector of the island? Should we presume that once before the role had been passed on to her in the same way, or was she the first protector of the island?

2) “Mother” did not want the boys to know there was a world beyond the island, yet Jacob would later get around. How did he travel from the island? How does his bringing of people to the island relate to his role? It is ironic that it is the man in black who, in the season 5 finale’s opening scene, sounds like the mother more than Jacob does, actually repeating her words. But presumably the “mother” brought Claudia to the island specifically in order to take her boys and raise them. And so perhaps she intentionally set up a situation in which there would be two opposing sides locked in constant struggle. Maybe that’s the way it has to be?

3) The man in black seems to be depicted in “Across the Sea” as a “man of science” in contrast with Jacob as a “man of faith.” The people of faith in the show want to protect the island, while the people of science want to figure out how it works and harness its power. Here too it seems that the answer may be “balance” rather than one side being right and the other wrong.

4) While some have had their thoughts turn to the Gospel of John, with its reference to “light that gives light to every human being.” But the combination of light, water, and a spark that is in everyone made me think even more of Gnosticism and in particular the Mandaeans. Baptism (whether literally or metaphorically) has featured several times on LOST.

5) Damon and Carlton have said that they were showing us that the man in black really is evil. A key question is what, if anything, makes Jacob or their “mother” any less evil. Or is it that there is no avoiding evil, and they are all bad in some way?

6) Damon and Carlton also made an allusion to the scene with the Architect in The Matrix Revolutions. Neo is supposed to return to the source but chooses not to. What is the connection with LOST? Is the hero the one who returns to the source, i.e. the man in black sent downstream into the light? Is being a hero refusing to do what is expected of you?

And here’s a sneak peek of next week’s episode that has me thinking “phoenix”…

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