Photo courtesy ABC
Season Six, Episode 5: “Lighthouse” (February 23)
The final season of Lost is on a roll! On the heels of last week’s amazing ep came another doozy, complete with Hurley humor, an emotionally wrenching Jack storyline, Claire as a crazy bad-ass, and a lighthouse scene that should give fans plenty to ponder over the next week.
To help us make sense of things, we invited Danny McAleese, a blogger for the fan fave Lost Easter Eggs blog and author of Things You Never Noticed About LOST, to join us. Thanks to Danny! And tune in for more surprise guests in the coming weeks.
Jen Phillips, Assistant Editor: I was happily surprised by last night.
Laurin Asdal, Director of Development: Me too.
Nikki Gloudeman, New Media Fellow: Yes, I thought it was awesome. It reminded me a lot of season one, with the emotional heft.
Danny McAleese, Lost Easter Eggs blogger: Heya.
Nikki: Hey! Thanks for joining us, Danny. We’re really excited to have you.
Danny: I’m excited to be here!
Nikki: We’re discussing the general awesomeness of last night’s episode. Agree?
Danny: Totally agree. Last night was a great episode with a lot of fantastic reveals, all done without any action, explosions, or gunplay.
Nikki: Yes, that was appreciated.
Jen: The mirrors! Amazing! A bit heavy with the Alice in Wonderland allusions, but cool.
Danny: Mirrors are a tremendous part of what’s going on in Lost.
Laurin: So who do we think is coming to the island? My money is on Desmond.
Danny: My guess would be Desmond.
Jen: Jinx!
Danny: I owe you a beer.
Jen: So you think Desmond is going to crash on his sailing trip?
Danny: Everyone loves Desmond, and for years people have been speculating he’ll be an important part of the end game.
Jen: “Everybody Loves Desmond”…spin off series?
Nikki: I would watch that! Or a show called “Desmond Hume Is My Constant.”
Laurin: Plus, didn’t Ben tell him “The island isn’t done with you yet?
Nikki: Desmond also makes sense because he seems to be special with his shifting between universes. Seeing as how he popped up like a phantom on the plane, then disappeared.
Samantha Schaberg, Administrative Assistant: I like Walt personally.
Danny: Walt would also be a great choice.
Samantha I really wish Walt would secretly have this great meaning—the one who came to the island as a young boy, perhaps one of the only to see it through a child’s perspective.
Danny: So here’s a question: When Jack picked up the Alice in Wonderland book, do you think he remembered reading it to David as a child? Or to Aaron?
Laurin: Oh snap. I’m totally confused about Daddy Jack.
Samantha: Maybe both.
Jen: He seemed to remember Juliet taking out his appendix.
Danny: I agree. He definitely seemed to remember his appendix coming out on the island. And remember, he was looking into a MIRROR as he had that recollection.
Nikki: I think the sideways timeline we’re seeing is the “base” timeline, so to speak, and the island is the alt timeline in which a new past was manufactured.
Danny: That’s a solid theory, Nikki.
Jen: What’s your take on the timelines, Danny?
Danny: I kinda like the idea that we’re seeing the ultimate ending of Lost already, in this new timeline. People are starting to accept things, and even “change,” the way Jacob predicted on the beach.
Jen: I get it, but still think it’s kinda lame.
Danny: Don’t worry Jen, I still think there’s a BIG TWIST we’re gonna see at the end.
Jen: Fingers crossed.
Nikki: And maybe the change is due to the choices they made on the island, based on a new past and circumstances to influence that?
Danny: True. Never thought about that, but yes, change could be due to the mistakes they’ve made on the island.
Danny: I’ve always thought Jacob was good, MIB was bad. Seemed like swapping their roles would be too easy a twist to figure out.
Jen: I don’t trust MIB, but I like him more than Jacob. Jacob always looks so sad, like Toby on The Office.
Danny: He’s definitely more interesting and fun to watch than Jacob.
Nikki: For sure, Terry O Quinn as MIB is my favorite part of the new season.
Samantha: Agreed.
Laurin: Hands down.
Nikki: I stick by my theory that neither are good or bad, per se, but one is free will and the other fate. And both those are shades of gray too.
Samantha: I also can’t find myself liking one or the other for good vs. bad necessarily.
Danny: Good or bad, I think MIB has more selfish motives though. Even though Jacob’s manipulating people, we could find out he’s pushing them to the island in order to make their lives better. Corny, but it could happen.
Jen: Why do you think MIB can’t change shape anymore?
Danny: Not sure why, Jen. But I think there’s some big significance to the fact that they buried John’s body. I think that will affect MIB somehow.
Jen: I like Danny’s idea, of Jacob pushing Losties to better themselves. Though the base timeline lives aren’t bad either.
Laurin: Don’t you feel like the characters in both worlds are lost themselves, and have to go on a journey to reconcile where they are in their lives?
Danny: All good ideas. So far we’ve seen better versions of Kate, Locke, and Jack in each of their centric episodes. We’ve seen acceptance and change.
Samantha What about Sawyer?
Danny: Haven’t seen his ep yet. But if Anthony Cooper didn’t paralyze Locke, maybe he didn’t con Sawyer’s parents. Growing up with a mom and dad, this new James Ford could be totally different.
Nikki: That’s interesting. So the question is, does that mean he’s in a better place, or will it just be that he’s motivated for revenge for a different reason? It seems these people are ultimately trapped by the kind of people they are.
Danny: Might not be motivated for revenge at all.
Laurin: If you think about it Kate is still a criminal in the base timeline so my guess is Sawyer has a shady past as well. But may not be the same as island Sawyer.
Nikki: Yeah, I don’t think Kate killed her dad in the alt storyline either, but someone else. Same motives, different circumstances.
Nikki: Who do you think Jack’s son’s mom is?
Jen: I was hoping for Anna Lucia, but highly doubt it.
Nikki: I was thinking Kate initially, but doesn’t square away with what we’ve seen.
Samantha: I was hoping for Kate.
Laurin: Juliet!
Nikki: And she gets remarried to…Sawyer?
Danny: What do you guys think about the candidates? I’m betting there are seven of them—Kate being Jacob’s secret weapon. Since Jacob touched Kate, she’s still a candidate…but since her name wasn’t in the cave, MIB doesn’t know about it.
Samantha Ooh, she is the secret weapon!
Danny: MIB is gonna get blindsided.
Laurin: If you add up all the numbers for the candidates its equals 108.
Nikki: What was with those dials anyway? Why could Jack see his house?
Samantha: I think that’s what Jacob was using to watch them.
Danny: Apparently Jacob was spying on everyone, all throughout time.
Jen: Creepy.
Samantha The lighthouse could be the medium between Jacob and the candidates before they even got on that plane in the very first place.
Nikki: So those dials are like what we saw at the Lamp Post, and represent ways to look through time and space?
Samantha: Well the universe is mapped with a series of degrees just like that in real science. So maybe it’s his ticket to spy through time fabric.
Nikki: Still doesn’t answer the question of why those particular numbers, i.e. do they have particular significance to people’s lives? They may not, but it’d be cool if they did. One theory I heard and like: Jack=23 because 23rd psalm talks about the “shepherd.”
Jen: Haven’t checked the Lost Easter Eggs site yet, but guessing there are some awesome stills of the degrees and names next to them.
Samantha: I loved what Jen said the other day about the book of Jacob, which was James and Jack also at other times.
Jen: Yes, people turning into other people seems to be a big theme on the show, whether it’s MIB impersonating people, or Ethan impersonating a survivor, etc.
Danny: Hurley looked iffy when he brought Jack to the lighthouse, almost as if he knew Jacob wasn’t coming. I’m thinking Jacob wanted Jack up there to see the truth, get angry, smash the mirror. Hurley felt bad for not being able to let Jack know ahead of time.
Jen: I don’t know if Hurley’s that complex.
Nikki: I don’t think Jacob is actually making people do things, which is interesting, but rather is manipulating circumstances that he knows will make people use their free will in particular ways.
Danny: It’s funny, because although Hugo’s a candidate I think he’s a special candidate. Jacob is able to directly influence and help him along, whereas with the other candidates he needs to sit back and let them make their own mistakes. Kind of like when Dogen says “It’s tough to watch them and not be able to help.”
Jen: Well, Hurley’s a simple guy. He likes chicken. He likes cars. He just wants to do the right thing.
Nikki: Haha. Interesting that Dogen showed up in the alt universe.
Samantha: I was surprised by that as well.
Nikki: Are they still guiding people, off the island too?
Jen: It’s kind of like Wizard of Oz, where real-life becomes dream and vice versa. But even in real-life, those dream people can influence you.
Nikki: That makes sense, and there has been lots of Oz symbolism, like in “There’s No Place Like Home.”
Danny: Well, if you’re asking me I think the off-island world is trumped up. I’ve always thought the flashbacks, flashfowards, O6 stuff, and now even the flash-sideways timelines are all manifestations of the island’s control.
Jen: The island does have amazing sway, regardless of the timeline, time, or place or person.
Danny: Imagine for a minute that these characters aren’t the product of their past lives (flashbacks), but that the island’s version of the flashbacks is what makes each character who they are. Jack a doctor, Sayid a torturer, Sawyer a con man, etc…
Laurin: Can we talk for a moment about Claire and the sickness…if she has truly become the new Rousseau then is she really bad? Is she just a puppet now for the MIB? Or will she be good in the end?
Danny: The Claire stuff was hella creepy.
Laurin: So was her wig.
Jen: And it made me want to ask if a dingo ate her baby.
Laurin: The wardrobe department needs to get a handle on that, please.
Danny: And WTF was in that cradle?
Laurin: Dude.
Jen: It was gross, whatever it was.
Danny: Looked like a possum skull or something.
Jen: Charming.
Danny: I’m really not sure where they’re going with the sickness storyline. It’s one of the only things I can’t say I really like.
Laurin: I agree. It feels superfluous.
Danny: Season one was all about the sickness… and then suddenly, we don’t hear about it until now. I’d kinda forgotten about it. Never really cared to solve that mystery. Thought maybe it was just something they used to scare Desmond into staying in the hatch.
Jen: Maybe a side-effect of the island influencing your life too much is you go nuts.
Danny: Claire jumping into Rousseau’s exact ROLE seems a little bit significant. But not sure how or why.
Jen: She’s a protectress, very Artemis-like.
Danny: Think she got the sickness by hanging with Flocke/evil Christian Shephard?
Jen: Maybe when the dead come to life again on the island, Christian and Sayid, e.g., they turn bad.
Nikki: Where was Sawyer?
Laurin: On a mancation.
Danny: Was she wounded on her arm before Dogen branded her? Seemed like Dogen branded Sayid in the same spot he was shot. Maybe a wound is required for someone to get the sickness.
Nikki: Ok, should probably wrap up. As is customary, last question: Favorite scene of the night?
Laurin: Well my favorite cheesy line was: “I just lied to a samurai.”
Nikki: I’m going to be a sap and say Jack talking to his son about being a better dad. Also, the craziness that was the lighthouse funhouse of mirrors.
Danny: Hurley finds Shannon’s inhaler. Hands down, that gave me cool vibes of season one nostalgia!
Jen: Hurley saying “I just pissed off a samurai.” Also when he suggested to Jack the skeletons were them.
Nikki: Oh yeah that was cool! All in all, amazing episode. Thanks for helping to unpack it!
Danny: Totally great episode. Very epic.
Jen:: Thanks for coming Danny!
Danny: Anytime—thanks for having me. Enjoy the rest of the season everyone. And let’s hope for that BIG twist ending!
