Season 6, Episode 5: "The Lighthouse"

Very interesting episode. Once again we see two timelines - the present time (on the island) and that of the "alternate reality" (what would happen if they never crashed on the island). So, I will talk about each of those timelines separately.

ALTERNATE REALITY:

Just as we've seen in the past couple of episodes, there are substantial differences in the character's lives in this alternate reality. Last week we saw that Locke was engaged to Helen (which clearly was not the case in his former life), and now we find out that Jack has a son. WHAT??? The whole point of this alternate reality is to show what would happen had they never crashed on the island, if the plane had landed in L.A. as scheduled and they all went on with their lives as they were at that time. However, we know these differences can only be possible if something major had changed in their pasts (before they boarded the plane in Sydney). So what event had to change in order to have such major differences, like Jack having a child? (This once again reminds me of Back to the Future, when George McFly knocks out Biff in the 1950s, and when Marty goes back to 1985, his dad is now "cool" and no longer being bullied by Biff. He has an entirely different life stemming back from that one event which he changed in his past.) So, I am wondering what event changed in their pasts that caused all these new things in their alternate realities. Hmmmm....

So, we learn that Jack has a strained relationship with his son, David (of course, another biblical name, meaning beloved. Also in the Bible there are many references to the proverbial musical skills of David.) Once again in true Lost fashion, we have "father issues" going on here. We learn that David is terrified of his father, just as Jack was with his own father. Jack learns that David has an audition at The Williams Conservatory, whereas he didn't even know he played the piano anymore. Just goes to show how little he knows about his own son. David tells him he didn't want him to know because he didn't want him to see him fail. This is exactly the way Jack felt about his own father. However, Jack tells David that he will always love him (something his father never said to him, just the opposite, he told him "you don't have what it takes") and we see that Jack is able to "fix" his relationship with his son. It was nice to see that Jack has turned his life around (whereas when he came back from the island as one of the Oceanic Six, he virtually "became" his father - he became the man he hated - a drunk, addicted to painkillers, trying to kill himself, just a real mess.) But now in this new alternate timeline he has taken everything about his father he hated and turned it around to become a better man and father for his son.

A few things to note from the alternate reality scenes:

— Jack's son was reading The Annotated Alice which is a cross between Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. (The Looking Glass is the name of the underwater Dharma station where Charlie drowned). Jack also mentioned that he used to read that book to David all the time as a boy. We also saw him reading this to Aaron after they left the island and he and Kate were together.

— We are left to wonder who the mother of Jack's son is. First I thought it would be Sarah (his ex-wife), but I am starting to think it is someone else. Given the timeline, it is 2004 (that was the date of their original flight from Sydney to L.A. when Jack went to retrieve his father's body after he died). The boy looks to be about 13 years old. We know from the past flashbacks that Jack met and married Sarah just a few years before crashing on the island, I don't think it was 13 years prior that he would have had a child with her. So, who is the mother? I am sure it is going to be someone we know, and I think it will be someone from the island, just once again showing the connections that each of them have with eachother even if they never crashed. I think it could even be Kate - maybe she and Jack were "destined" to be together?

— When Jack goes looking for David at his mother's house, he finds the hidden key underneath a statue of a white rabbit. Traditionally, a white rabbit is symbolic of fertility and rebirth - two themes we have seen a lot of in LOST. We have seen references to white rabbits many times before. First of all, there was an episode in the first season called "White Rabbit" - this was the episode where Jack finds his father's empty coffin (which he references in this episode as he recalled the story to Hurley). We have also seen the white rabbits with numbers on them used as test animals by the Others. Also, in the book Alice in Wonderland which was just referenced, Alice goes down the hole looking for, what else, a white rabbit.

— Did you notice that when Jack arrived at the Conservatory to see his son, there was a sign up front that said "Welcome Candidates." Of course this was a play on words as we know that Jack is one of the "candidates" for Jacob's job as protector of the island. Then after watching his son perform, he has an encounter with the spiritual leader from the Temple, who tells him that his son has a gift. Very interesting how all these people from the island are showing up in the alternate realities.

— I also liked how Jack's mother discovered that her husband left something to Claire in his will. (I totally called that out loud to my husband as we were watching, when they were searching for the will, I said there would be something left to Claire). Anyway, now that they are left wondering who Claire is, this would suggest that in this "alternate reality" we will see Jack and Claire come to meet after all, assuming he looks into this more to find out who she is. Just another example of how the survivors, despite not having crashed on the island in this new timeline, will still cross paths after all.

— One last thing about the alternate reality. The first scene we see is of Jack looking at the mirror at a scar on his stomach. He asked his mom about having his appendix taken out, which he clearly doesn't really remember much about. He seems to question when it was done and be confused about it. We of course know that Jack actually had his appendix taken out ON the island, by Juliet. Was he having some sort of remembrance of this? Or did it not happen because if they never crashed on the island, that would "erase" his past.



Meanwhile, in the REAL TIME (on the island):

Jacob summons Hurley to help someone find the island. He gives him instructions on what to do and insists that he bring Jack along with him. Of course Jack is reluctant to go until Hurley tells him that Jacob said "you have what it takes." This of course is in reference to his father telling him that he does NOT have what it takes. I think this also has double meaning as Jacob is insinuating that Jack has what it takes (as a candidate) to be the new protector of the island.

After a trek across the island, Hurley and Jack come across a lighthouse - at the top there are three mirrors and an old wheel, each with a numbered degree with someone's name next to it. (this also reminded me of the wheel that Ben "turned" in order to move the island). What is it with these old wheels on the island? They are instructed to turn the wheel to 108 degrees. Remember that 108 is the sum of all the numbers (4+8+15+16+23+42). I really want to know WHO was listed next to 108?? Anyway, Jack notices his name is #23 (of course, one of the numbers, also 23 was his seat number on the flight). He sees in the mirror a glimpse of his childhood home and realizes that Jacob has been watching him all his life. I am wondering if the three panels in the mirror represent their past, their present and their future - since we know the island jumps through time, maybe these three panels are used as a means to see a glimpse into all three (past, present, future). Of course seeing the image of his home, this is enough for Jack to "believe." I don't think Jacob really wanted them there to help someone who was coming to the island, but as a means for Jack to "see" what he wanted him to see. As he told Hurley, some people you can just get into the back of a cab and tell them what they have to do, but others have to sit and stare at the ocean for awhile. He needed Jack to see that in order to make him believe in Jacob and to understand how important he is.

Afterwards, Jack and Hurley come across the old caves where they used to live on the island. They see the skeletons in the cave and the coffin that Jack's dad disappeared from. Jack explains to Hurley that he came back to the island because he was BROKEN. He was searching for something and thought he could find it there. Maybe this is what he needed from Jacob in order to fix him? Remember Jack is always the one who thought he could "fix" things, but now that he himself is broken, Jacob may be the one who is able to fix him by showing him that he IS important and that he DOES have what it takes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Jin gets caught in a trap that Claire set. We are immediately reminded of Rousseau, the french woman, who originally caught Sayid in one of her "traps." There are quite a few similarities between Claire and Rousseau. First of all, they both have that whole "crazy jungle woman" thing going on! Both of them were pregnant when they arrived on the island (Claire in the plane crash, Rousseau when her boat was lost at sea) and both of them delivered their babies on the island. (I think those are the only two babies EVER to be born on the island (Alex and Aaron) as we know pregnant women always died before giving birth). Both of them also had their children taken from them and were raised by someone else (Ben raised Alex as his own, Kate raised Aaron as her own).

So, the people in the temple say that Claire has been infected, presumably by the smoke monster, and that she is "sick." Whether or not that is true, we clearly see that she is changed, she is a different person (which is how Rousseau always explained those who had become "sick" - that they were different people). Claire has had to survive on her own in the jungle for the past three years. She clearly is a little crazy and she keeps asking the guard from the Temple where her baby is? She seems to believe that the Others took Aaron. She says she knows this because her father told her and her "friend" also told her. This just further insinuates that it was in fact the smoke monster all along who took over Christian Shepherds body - he was posing as Christian just as he later tried to pose as Locke. He took Christian's body, and now Locke's, to try and infiltrate Claire and get her on his side (which he clearly has). Jin then tells Claire that Kate took him, that the Others do not have him. After she kills the guy from the Temple, Jin says he was lying. She says if that were true she would kill Kate herself (hmmmm, so what's going to happen when Kate catches up with her??) Jin lies and tells her that Aaron is at the Temple and he will take her there. Then her "friend" shows up, and it is none other than our smoke monster friend, fake-Locke! (I wish we had an actual name for him, so I can call him something other than "fake-Locke." I mean we know that he was a real person back in the day (when we saw him on the beach with Jacob) - I just want to know his real name!)

So next week promises real answers! Hopefully just answers and not just more questions!! I did read an interview that says midway through the season we will find out the answer to "the biggest question" of the series and will find out what the island is. Hmmmm......

"The Lighthouse"

Episode recap coming soon!

Season 6, Episode 4: "The Substitute"

The title of this episode - "The Substitute" - has multiple meanings. My first thought was the idea of fake-Locke acting as a "substitute" for the real Locke. But then we also see the tie-in from Locke's alternate-reality universe, he becomes a substitute teacher after the realization that he can't do everything he used to. Another idea is that Jacob was searching for his own "substitute" for his job as protector of the island. So there is multiple meaning there.

Great episode! Much better than last's week - I feel like we are starting to get some answers but then it seems like more questions are out there now, I just want to know what everything means already!!!

So, who is the young boy that Fake-Locke kept seeing in the jungle? The first time he sees him, he looks younger and has blood all over his hands and arms, then the next time he seemed to be a little older and was running away from him. Clearly this image when Fake-Locke first saw him scared or startled him. The next time he appeared, Sawyer saw him too (I want to know how did Sawyer see him but Richard Alpert didn't? Is this because Sawyer is one of the "special" ones that Jacob recruited?) Anyway, I think that the boy is a young Jacob, he was bloody because the Man in Black (now housed as Fake-Locke) tried to kill him long ago, as a boy himself. I think they are brothers, possibly even twins (you all know my thoughts on the jacob and esau biblical story and the book "the evil twin" that sawyer was reading on the beach) and that he tried to kill him back then. Ever since they have been feuding and at war with one another, each trying to fight one another for control over the island. He also mentions that "there are rules" and that he can't kill him. This is similar to the conversation that Jacob and the Man in Black had on the beach as they watched the Black Rock sailing in many years ago. Also this is similar to the feud between Ben and Widmore about there being "rules" to follow. I am wondering who comes up with these rules and how are they enforced?

So we finally learn more about the chosen ones and Jacob's list...why each of them was brought to the island. Fake-Locke takes Sawyer to this secret cave where there is a scale with a black stone and a white stone being equally balanced. We have seen a lot of references in the past to black vs. white (good and evil) and we have even seen these two colored stones before (in the caves when the survivors first moved there from the beach back in season one - remember they went there to hide from the Others and the "smoke monster" - we saw a white and black stone placed in the caves). Remembering the placement of those stones, I am now wondering if those caves where the survivors sought shelter was the original "secret cave" of Jacob, and he had to move to the new location down the ladder after they found shelter there. Anyway, I thought it was funny how fake-locke takes the white stone (representing Jacob) and throws it away, saying it was "an inside joke." Also in the cave are writings on the ceiling of all the names on Jacob's list. We now understand these names are all people he was recruiting to take over his place as Protector of the Island. The names that are crossed out presumably are either dead or somehow failed to be the Chosen One. The names still on there are Shephard (jack), Reyes (hugo), Kwan (jin or sun), Ford (james/sawyer), Jarrah (sayid), and Locke (which fake-Locke then crossed out now that he is dead). All of them also were listed with numbers (of course, the infamous numbers make an appearance again, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42). Interesting if there is any meaning to the specific numbers they are given. For example, Shephard (jack) is listed as #23. Which we all know is the 23rd Psalm and very relevant on this show. I can't seem to figure out any other relationships between the rest of the names and the numbers they are given, though.

4 - Locke
8 - Reyes
15 - Ford
16 - Jarrah
23 - Shephard
42 - Kwon (Sun or Jin)

Interesting that Kate was not on the list. Or really any of the other plane crash survivors for that matter. But I had thought for sure that Kate was on Jacob's list because he did go to see her as a little girl. It was also interesting in fake-Locke's explanation to Sawyer, that Jacob deceived them all, pushing them down a path that ultimately made them make the choices they thought were their own, but that he was really steering them. I had talked about in the past, how Jacob appeared to them in each of their life's defining moments...the decisions they made affected who they became (sawyer's parents being killed, kate stealing, sayid's wife being killed, locke being paralyzed, etc.) So to think that Jacob had a role in each of their lives is really interesting. Was he really "steering" them and the paths they went down, and if so, how did he come to CHOOSE them and bring them to the island? What is it about each of them that makes them so special that he thinks they could be the protector of the island? Like I said above, more new questions than answers! :P

I also thought that in Fake-Locke telling Sawyer about the three choices he has, it seems clear that he is lying to him about wanting to take him off the island and take him "home." There is some ulterior motive there that Fake-Locke needs Sawyer's help in order to do something (just like he needed Ben to kill Jacob). But I tend to think that Sawyer is also lying about going along with him. Sawyer is smart. Remember, he's a con man - always will be a con man - so even though he is grieving over the loss of Juliet, I think he's still watching out for himself like he always does. I think he took Richard Alpert's advice and is just trying to go along with Fake-Locke until he can figure things out. I think he is playing fake-Locke just as much as fake-Locke is playing him. They are perfect for each other, each one conning the other.

I liked seeing Locke's alternate reality universe played out as well. In this world, he is engaged to Helen (the woman who he pursued but who left him) and lies to his job about going to Australia for a conference when it was really for the walkabout. I loved how he encountered so many of the other survivors (Hurley, Rose, even Ben) and how each of them played a positive role in his new life, helping him to realize that old classic line of "don't tell me what I can't do" when each of them actually shows him what he CAN do. I love also how Helen mentions that it must be destiny that he ran into a spinal surgeon (Jack) at the airport, but then after his realization that he can't change his past, he tears up the card. Maybe this is foreshadowing for the entire theme of whether or not you can change your destiny. (If the plane never crashes on the island, will that change each of their lives or will things still turn out the same?) If Locke was destined to meet Jack, regardless if he tears up the card, I do think he will still run into him somehow and their paths will cross again. This alternate reality that we are seeing, even though it appears there are some differences now, I do think that each of them will still meet and that their lives are destined to be the way they were because you can't change what's meant to be.

Season 6, Episode 3: "What Kate Does"

The title of this episode is "What Kate Does" - this was interesting as I remember back in the first season there was an episode called "What Kate Did" (how I remember that, I have no idea!) - But that was when we first found out about Kate and that she was a fugitive. The title was written in the past tense (what kate DID) whereas this one is written in the present tense (what kate DOES). I think the point of this episode is to show that kate really has never changed. In her past, in the present, and even in the alternate "future" reality, Kate is always on the run. Leaving the island (or erasing her time on the island altogether) really has not had any changes in Kate's life. She is a fugitive, no matter where (and when) she is...figuring out ways to escape and run. But even despite the circumstances for her being on the run, she still is a GOOD person at heart. In the alternate reality storyline, when wanted for murder, she takes the time to help Claire and is genuine in wanting to help her. In the past, after being rescued and being back home for three years, she risks her life to go back to the island only because she wants to help Claire and reunite her with Aaron, even though it will cause her pain by giving him up. And it's the same thing in the present time on the island, she escapes from the Temple, only to go after Sawyer wanting to make sure he is okay and to help him (although I don't think he wants to be helped). This goes back to the whole idea of who on the island is really GOOD and who is not. Maybe that is why Kate is amongst those who were "chosen" to be on the island and now also to be protected in the Temple, because she is one of the "good" ones.

So, I thought this episode was kind of slow, not as much going on...this usually happens when they are saving up for a really BIG episode so I anticipate next week will be much better. But anyway, here we go. I'm going to break down the episode into two parts...the "alternate reality" storyline and the "island" storyline.


ALTERNATE REALITY:

Of course we knew after seeing Kate get in Claire's cab last week that they were going to end up with their lives intertwined after leaving the airport (I mean, that was just too obvious!) What was really interesting to me, though, was the role that Kate had in helping Claire with the preparation for baby Aaron: going to see the people who were supposed to adopt him, taking her to the hospital, giving her pregnancy-related advice, etc. All of this after we know that Kate is the one who ultimately raises Aaron as her own, after leaving the island. All along, while on the island, Claire was so taken aback by the fact that the psychic told her that someone else was supposed to raise her child. That someone else actually turned out to be Kate, whether that was by "fate or coincidence," who took Aaron for those three years she was off the island. Now here we are in this "alternate reality" where Claire gets held up at gunpoint by the woman who "raises" her unborn son. And interestingly enough in the hospital it is Kate who advises Claire that she thinks she should keep him. So, does that mean that in the alternate reality (assuming they never crash on the island), that Claire will be the one who raises Aaron after all?

I did find the whole alternate reality a little unconvincing though. I mean, come on, like Kate is going to run from the FBI in a stolen cab, then continue to drive around in that same cab trying to find the girl that she held at gunpoint, only to offer her a ride? A little ridiculous, but...it's a tv show.

Did you also notice in this "alternate reality" that Ethan Rom was the doctor in the hospital who was helping Claire after she started to go into premature labor? (And yes, Ethan still creeps me out!) Very interesting since he was the "doctor" on the island who abducted Claire to do testing on her while she was pregnant. Ironically his name is "Dr. Goodspeed" - I always find it interesting that the Others have the name "good" in their fake names (remember Goodwin?)


ON THE ISLAND:

Quite a bit going on with "the new Others" in the Temple. Basically we learn that they are trying to kill Sayid. First they drowned him (and he did in fact die), then after coming back to life, they tortured him and now want him to take a pill full of poison. However, despite all these efforts it seems that Sayid can't die. Certain people are meant to be on the island, they have a destiny and they can't die until they fulfill it. Remember when Michael kept trying to kill himself? He could not die, because the island had a purpose for him. I believe that Sayid has a further purpose that he is meant to fulfill on the island. Whatever the reason, he can't die (not yet anyway!) First he was shot (and the gunshot wound is almost completely healed), then he was drowned underwater and he did actually die, but then came back to life. He was then tortured and still didn't die. I think that no matter what they do, he won't die because the ISLAND does not want him to die. Last week I mentioned the idea that his body had been taken over by the spirit of Jacob...if this is true, that would also explain another reason why he can't die.

Now, we also learn that the people in the Temple have diagnosed him with "the sickness." We first learned of this when the french woman (Danielle Rousseau) explained to the survivors that she came to the island and her team all became "sick." She said they got infected and that she had to kill them all. Then last season when the survivors were skipping through time, they encountered a time flash where they saw Danielle and her team shortly after they arrived on the island. Some of them came across the black smoke monster and followed it down into a hole. When they came out, Danielle said "they were different." They turned on eachother and were ready to kill eachother as well as her, so Danielle killed them all, including her own husband. Based on what we saw of fake-Locke last week, I am wondering if when the members of her team following the black smoke monster down into the hole, it killed them and then "took" their bodies just as it did to Locke. The people that came out of the hole were not the same, because the smoke monster took them. Just as Locke is not the same Locke because it is not really him, it is the smoke monster.

The people in the Temple told Jack that Sayid has become infected, and that if the darkness spreads to his heart, he will not be the same person anymore. They also said this is what happened to Claire. We do see a snippet of Claire at the end of this episode, looking very much like the French woman, all disheveled and like a crazy-jungle woman. If she is "infected" as well, perhaps she also died (in the explosion in the Others camp last season) and the smoke monster took her body. I spoke last week of several instances on the island where we saw dead people who had "returned" (such as Christian Shephard, Eko's brother, now Locke) and they were not the same person. This could be what is always referenced on the island to being "sick." We also know that the hatch was originally a quarantine for those that were sick. Remember the murals on the walls in the hatch that said "Eye M Sick" and the words "Quarantine" on the hatch door? Are the sick really just those who have died on the island, their bodies taken over by the black smoke monster?

Speaking of the smoke monster, I also have a thought about Jacob and his nemesis (fake-Locke). Remember all the stuff about twins in the past (the book that Sawyer was reading on the beach called "The Bad Twin" and I also wrote a lot last year about the biblical story of Jacob and Esau - the good twin and the bad twin who were at war with each other, starting in the womb and ending when they each ruled a different land. I'm wondering if Jacob and "fake-Locke/smoke montster" were in fact brothers who ultimately ended up at war with eachother. Each fought for power over the Island. One of them became evil (an infection which spreads to the heart) and that's how he became the smoke monster. Maybe the smoke monster is the embodiment of everyone on the island who becomes "infected."

Retraction!

So for the first time EVER, I am actually going to go back on what I wrote in my recap last night! After thinking about it more and more today, some of the stuff I wrote.... well, I just don't believe anymore. LOL. That's the thing with this show, you can have a million different "theories" and then think about something else and it all changes. It also doesn't help that when I wrote this recap, I was all drugged up on Vicodin after having surgery less than a week ago. So my thoughts were a little muddled. Anyway, here are my NEW theories.

*If you haven't yet read my recap from the season six premiere, scroll down to read it first, then read my "retraction" here*

Okay, so I had written how I thought that the hydrogen bomb experiment must have worked, as we saw them landing in L.A., but that since we see them in present time on the island they must have met all each other at some point in L.A., and then still made it to the island at a later point which is them being there now. Since Juliet said "IT WORKED" I kept thinking it had to have worked and sent them back, but then they must have still made it there anyway later on (their destiny). While I do think that their lives will intertwine for sure after the plane lands in L.A. (as we saw with Jack and Locke, Kate and Claire, etc.), I am going back on my statement that the experiment sent them back right then and then they later go to the island some other way. Here is why. If the experiment truly worked, that means they were NEVER on the island before. So the fact that we are seeing them in present time when they "wake up" after the bomb explodes, and they clearly have memories of being on the island, means it could NOT have worked because they WERE on the island before. And the weird thing is that when the bomb goes off it is 1977 but when they wake up it is present time (2009 presumably). The white light they saw was another time flash, jumping through time. However, Juliet wakes up just a few seconds later, yet roughly 30 years have passed and she still has her injuries from the explosion and then dies. Also, Sayid, who was shot in 1977, dies in 2009 from the same gunshot wound. Strange.

Anyway, here is my new thought. The time flash goes off in 1977, propelling them into present time. They will continue their lives on the island living in the Temple, but meanwhile still always wanting to go home. I believe the "alternate reality flashbacks" we saw of them all on the plane (when they do land in LA) could have actually been FLASH FORWARDS. We kept watching them thinking they were flashbacks, that the experiment must have worked. But the more and more I thought about it, I think that could be the flash of what is to come. So they are still on the island now, but they will figure out some way to send themselves back (again), and this scene we saw of them on the plane will be the finale of the whole show. So, I think they could live out this time on the island, in the Temple, something will happen with Jacob being able to send them back and "erase" the whole past, and the show will end with that scene we saw last night of them all on the plane, talking to each other but not even knowing each other, each then going on their way back home in Los Angeles. So the end result will be that it does work, their plane lands in LA, they were never on the island (which is underwater now), and they each go their own way in LA yet still coming into contact with each other. I think this is how the whole show is going to end (the flash forwards which we saw last night - this is the future for them). Their whole past is erased.

Season 6, Episodes 1&2: LA X

I think the whole theme of this episode just proves the theory that everything is a cycle. Everything repeats itself. We have seen this underlying theme in the past seasons of LOST (the french woman's distress call repeating for 16 years...repeating the numbers over and over...the talk between Jacob and the man in black about how "they come, they fight, they leave, and then it all ends the same") - this suggests that the same things keep happening over and over again. It is all just a cycle. The survivors crashed on the island, then six of them were rescued and went home. Then they come back again, but end up in 1977, so they set up an experiment to leave so as to prevent it all from ever happening, but sure enough here they are, still there on the island...) This is just one big cycle where they keep coming to the island, leaving, coming back again, leaving, etc. It is all one big cycle - and as Jacob said, everything that happens before that, it's just progress.

The biggest question going into this episode was whether or not their hydrogen bomb experiment was going to work or not. At first we think it worked, as we see Jack on the plane again, which gets through the rough turbulence and eventually does land in L.A.. We also see underneath the ocean is the foot of the statue, showing us that the island is underwater. So this of course would suggest that when the bomb exploded, it did "erase" the future where they come to the island, the hatch was never built, none of those events ever happen. However, then we see Kate wake up on the island, along with Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Jin, etc., amongst the remnants of the previously blown-up hatch...which shows that the hatch was in fact built, because now it is a big hole in the ground after Desmond blew it up. This "alternate reality" in which we see them all on the plane - is this in fact an alternate reality or did they truly land safely in L.A.? Miles said that Juliet was going to tell Sawyer that "IT WORKED." I think that it did in fact work - they landed the plane without crashing on the island, but that all the survivors will end up coming into contact with each other (because it is their destiny) and somehow they will end up back on the island again...which is how they are there again now. They are unaware that "it worked" because I don't think that has happened yet so of course they have no memory of ever landing in L.A.

We see in these alternate reality flashbacks each of the survivors on Flight 815 as they are on the plane. Clearly they don't know each other, although we do see that they come into contact with eachother and their lives start to intertwine despite not having crashed on the island (Locke and Boone, Jack and Charlie, Jack and Locke, Kate and Sawyer, etc.) - I think this whole season is going to be "flashbacks" of what happens to them after they land in L.A. from flight 815 (in 2004), the events that bring all of them together and somehow get them to the island again which is where they are again now (present time) at the Temple. The thing is, they don't seem to be aware that the experiment worked...if they did land in L.A. and somehow made it back to the island, they seem to have no memory of that.

There were some differences to the "real" flight 815 though. For example, Charlie passes out in the bathroom trying to swallow his bag of heroin. Of course this never happened before because he was in the bathroom when the plane crashed. Jack saved his life (just like he saved his life on the island when Ethan hung him from the tree). Charlie is upset with him and says he was "supposed to die." We know this was his destiny also from when Desmond tells him that he is supposed to die.

Also different on the plane is that Boone is without Shannon. He tells Locke he went to rescue her from a boyfriend but she did not come back with him. We also see Hurley talking about how lucky he is and that nothing bad ever happens to him. Desmond also comes and sits in Jack's row for a bit...we know obviously that Desmond was not on the original plane because he was on the island in the hatch (so by "erasing" the past, did that also mean that Desmond never went to the island either and somehow he really was on the plane in this "new" reality?) We never saw him after he moved from his seat or while getting off the plane, so I am wondering if he truly was on the plane or if that was all in Jack's head. We also never physically saw Claire on the plane, yet we saw her in the cab leaving the airport. The big question to me, is that in this "alternate reality" since there clearly are some big differences in the survivors lives and the events that happened on the plane, will this effect their futures? We have always heard the line that you can't change your destiny, what's meant to be is what will be. So, with these new things occuring, will that change their lives? For example, now that Kate has escaped, what will become of her? What about Sun and Jin, he was detained at the airport and she is doing nothing to stop them. Jack has an encounter with Locke who opens up his mind about faith and spirituality after they lost his father's body (he's not "lost," Locke tells him) - so will these things in this alternate reality change what was "supposed" to happen? As Jack tells Locke, "nothing is irreversible." This goes against Jack's original beliefs about destiny. It is not until Locke dies that he starts to believe in destiny and that he can't change things. What's meant to be is meant to be. So, Jack is speaking against what he later comes to believe as destiny - that things are NOT irreversible because you can't change what is your destiny.

Now...let's move away from the "alternate reality" timeline and move on to the REALITY of what is happening there on the island. It is now present time and we've discovered that Jacob was just killed by Ben. Of course, it is revealed that fake-Locke is in fact the smoke monster (see I said this last year!) who is able to take over the bodies of the deceased in order to appear to others. He took on the body of Locke after he died and fooled everyone into believing that was really him. He had to do this in order to kill Jacob, because he needed that "loophole" in order to kill him. If you recall in one of the early seasons, Locke came face to face with the black smoke and it saved him. Perhaps this is why it then came to him to use his body - because it trusted him. This is not the first time the black smoke has "used" someone's body to come about in human form. I believe all the times we have seen Christian Shephard, that is also the black smoke. Since the plane crashed on the island with his coffin, the smoke monster took the form of his body. When we saw Christian in Jacob's cabin, that was really the smoke monster. It was the monster who went to Ben in the form of his daughter Alex and told him he had to listen to Locke. And it was the smoke monster who tricked Locke and told him he was going to have to die. This was how he "conned" him into sacrificing his own body for him to take over so he could kill Jacob. Even way back when Ben brought Locke to Jacob's cabin and Locke heard the words "Help Me," that was the smoke monster speaking to him (not Jacob as he thought) - asking him to help him because he needed his body in order to kill Jacob. The smoke monster was asking Locke for help.

Of course in true Lost fashion we have a lot of religious references. Let's start with the black ash that serves as a protectant around Jacob's cabin and around his bodyguards when the smoke monster is trying to kill them. Whatever is inside the black ash, the smoke monster cannot get to. Black ash is symbolic of repentance - it is used during Lent (Ash Wednesday) and is often used to represent the mortality of the body and the immortality of the spirit. This black ash is the only thing that can keep Jacob and his followers "safe" from the evil smoke spirit.

The other huge religious references was that in the death (and resurrection) of Sayid. Jacob comes to Hurley and tells him to bring him to the Temple. The spiritual leaders living there take Sayid's body inside into some sort of a Spring. They mention that the water is not clear (not "pure") and after slicing open his hand and putting it into the water, it does not heal. Almost as if the water is supposed to heal it, they seem surprised that it is not. I am wondering if because Jacob is dead, that is why the water is no longer pure or a "healer." Is the water meant to be like a baptism, a "renewal" of life? I also noticed that when they carried Sayid into the water, his arms were outstretched like Jesus on the cross. Then after he died, he rose again (resurrection). Did Jacob "save" him? Or, what I am thinking, is that Jacob BECAME him. Just like the evil smoke monster "took" Locke's body so he could have human form, I am thinking that Jacob "took" Sayid's body after he died, because he needed a body to come back as. This is the loophole that Jacob and the black smoke needed in order to fight eachother. Will this now be a war between Good and Evil (fake-Locke vs. fake-Sayid)?

I am also very intrigued by "Jacob's List" - we have heard this reference many times in the past, when the Others were "taking" people and always said "so and so is on Jacob's list." Now when Hurley came to the Temple and showed them what was inside the guitar case, they break open the wooden ankh (from the four-toed statue where Jacob lived) and inside was a piece of paper. I have to assume that was Jacob's "list" as he asked them all their names and then immediately went against his original plan of killing them. Why are their names on the list and why is Jacob protecting them? We have seen that Jacob went to visit certain people in the past and we assume that is why they were all "brought" to the island. Why did Jacob bring these special people there and why is he so willing to protect them at all costs?

Finally, when fake-Locke comes out of Jacob's statue and runs into Richard Alpert, he smiles at him and says "nice to see you out of those chains." Ben seems shocked that they have met before (because of course he thought he knew EVERYTHING about the island!) and then fake-Locke knocks Richard out and carries him away after telling the rest of the group that he is disappointed in all of them. I am curious about the reference to chains. My immediate thought was of the chains of St. Peter. (I only remember this because on a trip to Rome in one of the cathedrals I remember seeing the entombment where they keep the chains today.) Apparently St. Peter was imprisoned in Jerusalem. Peter is one of Jesus' apostles, who denied knowing him three times after Jesus' arrest. This is metaphoric to Richard Alpert, who is also an "apostle" of Jacob. Did he "betray" him as well by letting him die? I don't know what the reference to the chains means, but clearly the smoke monster has been "locked" up for a long time, unable to carry out his intentions, now only with Locke's body is he able to do so. Were the tables turned long ago, and Richard was the one locked up? Maybe Richard was Jacob in a previous life (his body) - it seems like "good" (Jacob) and "evil" (black smoke) have just been going through this CYCLE where they try to get eachother, having to use the bodies of those who come to the island. Just like Jacob said in the beginning, about how they always come, they fight, they leave, but it always ends up the same in the end. It is all one big cycle.

SEASON SIX STARTS TONIGHT!!!!!!!

Two hours to go....I am so anxious, I absolutely can't wait to see the season six premiere tonight! I had all these plans to come on and write a long post this past week, sort of a summary from the past five seasons as we go into season six, giving my overall thoughts and theories of what I thought might come about as the show wraps up. And, well... then I ended up in the hospital and had to have emergency surgery this past Friday. So, didn't quite get that blog post done! Anyway I'm back home now and feeling much better...just anxiously awaiting tonight's episode. I guess since I am pretty much bedridden for the next week I have no excuse not to get the Lost recap done tomorrow! Til then.........