LOST Rewatch: Across the Sea

Last updated on: April 27, 2015 at 9:01 am by James F. McGrath

LOST Rewatch: Across the Sea 2015-04-27T09:01:23-04:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This episode tells the backstory of Jacob and his brother as their pregnant mother is in a shipwreck and finds herself on the island. A woman finds her and they speak in Latin. The pregnant woman is named Claudia. The woman who found her says that she is alone, and that she got there the same way Claudia did: by accident. She tries to ask a question, but the woman says that any question she asks will only lead to more questions. Claudia gives birth, and has a boy, whom she names Jacob. But it turns out she has another baby, a second boy. Claudia says she only picked one name. Then the woman who helped deliver the children kills Claudia.

Jacob’s brother finds a game on the beach and the two of them play it. The brother makes Jacob promise not to tell mother, since she will take it away. She asks Jacob if he loves her, and then asks him to tell her what happened. She then goes to join Jacob’s brother on the beach. She says that Jacob does not know how to lie. She also says that he is special. He says that he thought the game came from across the sea. She insists that there is no place else, and when she mentions her mother being dead, he asks what “dead” is, and she says it is something he will never have to worry about.

When Jacob and his brother chase a boar, they find there are other people on the island. She says that those people are not like them, that they are here for a reason. She blindfolds them, and makes it so they can never hurt one another. Then she shows them the cave of light. She says that that is the reason they are here. She says that the warmest, brightest light is down there and they must make sure that no one ever finds it. She says that a little bit of that light is inside every man, but they always want more. She says that if the light goes out there, it goes out everywhere, and she cannot protect it forever, so it will have to be one of them.

Jacob’s brother sees the ghost of Claudia. Jacob cannot see her. She takes him across the island to see where he came from. There is a village of people who came 13 years ago, and that he comes from across the sea. She says that the woman he calls mother is not really his mother – she is. Jacob’s brother tries to take Jacob to join those people. But he won’t go and they fight. When “mother” intervenes, Jacob’s brother tells what he knows. He leaves but Jacob stays behind.

LOST donkey wheel Mother admits that she killed their real mother. She tells Jacob that his people were bad, but she needed him to stay good. He asks why she loves is brother more than him. She says she loves them in different ways. She asks him to stay with her.

Then we see Jacob as an adult. He weaves and works with his mother. He also goes to visit his brother and play games. Jacob watches the village to see if they are bad. His brother says it is easy for Jacob to see them as good looking down from above, but living among them, he sees their greed and selfishness. He reveals that he has found a way off the island and shows the magnetic force of a well they dug. He says they have found sites all over the island where metal behaves strangely. When they do, they dig, and this time they found something. He says he has found a way off the island.

Later, Jacob tells mother that his brother said he has finally found a way to leave the island. She goes to see him. He says that he has walked the island for 30 years and never found that cave she took him to as a child. Then he realized he might be able to get to the light beneath the island another way. He has made a wheel, and they will make an opening, and attach a system that channels the water and the light, and when he attaches it he will be able to leave the island. She asks how he knows it will work, and he says it is because he is special. She begs him not to go, but he says he does not belong there, and so they say goodbye. She says she is sorry, then bangs his head against the wall. She then goes and wakes Jacob, taking him to the cave of light, making him its protector. She says that down there is life, death, rebirth – it is the heart of the island. She makes him promise that he will never go down there. She says that going down there would be worse than dying – much worse. Then she gives him to drink, accepting the responsibility to protect this place and then find someone else to replace him. Jacob says that she wanted it to be his brother, but she says that it was always supposed to be him – she sees that now. After he drinks, she says, “Now, you and I are the same.”

Jacob’s brother comes around, and sees the well filled in with earth, and the village set ablaze with all the people in it killed. He wrecks mother’s home, and then stabs her. She says she loves him, and thanks him, and then dies. Jacob comes home and attacks him. The brother tries to tell him about what she did. But Jacob drags him to the cave of light and throws him in. Then we see the smoke monster emerge. The brother’s body comes out the other side, and Jacob finds it, and places it together with mother in the cave where they lived, with a black and white playing piece from the game in a small bag. These are the skeletons that were found in the first season.

This was a great episode, answering questions while acknowledging that every answer leads to more questions. But watching again, I found the backstory even more consistent and satisfying than I had the first time around, when so many questions had piled up and so many mysteries been presented that it was hard to really keep track of whether one ought to feel satisfied or not!

I think the most important element in this episode is the clear depiction that Jacob and his brother are not simply good and evil. They are more like the passive and aggressive Kirks into which the captain is split in the Star Trek episode “The Enemy Within.”

LOST cave of light

Previous Post

April 27, 2015

More To Life

Next Post

April 27, 2015 Finals Week

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz