Lost Season 5 Finale Review & Discussion
May 14, 2009 by Rob KeyesJoin the discussion on the controversial season finale of Lost.
Five seasons of Lost down, one more to go. If you watched tonight’s episode, it was quite a complex ride.
I just got home from a friend’s house where we had about seven or eight people watching the two-hour season 5 finale of Lost. Some have watched all along, some only a few episodes and some had no idea what was going on. It was an interesting dynamic to say the least seeing the reactions and questions coming from the non-fans. It really makes you think how this show, more than any other I can think of, is truly impossible to follow unless you’ve been there all along.
Now, on to the finale… Where do I even start?
First off, if you’ve not seen the finale, you best watch it or catch up in the show and watch it before reading on. Do that and come back to post your thoughts, we’d love to read them. This article and the comments will be discussing spoilers.
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If you’re still here, it’s time to talk Spoilers.
Introduction
As briefly as I possibly can summarize the episode: we finally meet Jacob, we see the four-toed statue in full form, we discovered why the unwilling members of the oceanic six came back, why many of the characters seemed to be destined (chosen) to come to the island in the first place, how Locke “survived” his death (twice?), how Jacob is the key to connecting many (all?) of the characters with the island, we find out why Locke knows everything he knows and who he really is, the losties all come together again annndddd the island gets hydrogen bombed the same year Star Wars came out.
Oh, and how could I forget! Fan-favorites Rose, Bernard and the most important character of all, Vincent the Dog, all make triumphant returns in the finale to explain where they’ve been all this time.
I read in the papers this morning that after tonight’s episode, fans would not know how the show could continue – that it acts as a sort of conclusion. Of course, for us Lost fans, this is no conclusion at all, but the start of a bridge leading to the real conclusion that will come in the form of 17 new episodes starting a full eight months from now.
From the final official Lost podcast of the season, producers and writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse revealed that this finale would give fans all the tools they need to form together a proper theory of what the show is all about and possibly how it may end. Well, they certainly did do that with the season closer and many theories of old can be officially trashed now.
The Finale
In traditional Lost fashion, the first episode opens mysteriously in the distant past where we get to see the four-toed statue in full form. While that was a cool reveal, the big reveal came moments later when we see two unknown men talking with each other on the beach beside the statue with the Black Rock ship in the ocean background. The conversation of the two strangers hints at them being long-term enemies and it ends with one referring to the other as Jacob and promising that one day he would find a loop-hole to kill him.
Wow. No messing around.The first scene of the show give us Jacob after all this time and speculation – Awesome!
Well, kind of. While Jacob was a cool character throughout the finale, appearing at key points in each character’s lives and seemingly recruiting them with his golden touch, it did feel very haphazard to see it happen all at once in this finale.
In two back-to-back episodes, we met Jacob and his nemesis (his brother Esau?), saw how he was involved with our main Losties, and how he seemingly dies – All in a two-parter out of 103 episodes of the series so far. Why not develop that some more over the last two seasons? It seems a bit much to have all of it in one episode and have it all so convenient, like it was made up in this certain way afterwards to find some way to explain what we’ve seen in past seasons.
That being said, the religious themes and characters were incredibly interesting and we can certainly tell there is a ton of work behind-the-scenes being done to tie everything together. It is creativity at its finest. Looking back on the episode, even the intro where we see Jacob wearing white and Esau wearing dark representing good and evil, mostly everything that occurs over the two hours is very precise and intentional.
Continue to Page 2 of Lost Season 5 Finale Review for Issues, Religious Themes and more!
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With regards the statement “they’re coming” I thought possibly the original island inhabitants – the Eygptions? hence the flaming arrows etc.
Or how about Alien entities – an advanced alien race would surely appear to us as Gods? The Eygptions clearly display advanced technologies, maybe the Cerberusis is an example of one of these technologies.
Another thought – It isn’t a big step to assume that Jacob being able to travel to the past can travel to the distant future. Maybe he is preparing them for a future global disaster (or chain reaction from the bomb)- He is preparing them by opening their minds about space and time being a relative and coexisting phenomenon and will rapture them up into the heavens/salvation by an advanced civilisation.
Any way just wanted to provoke some thought, I really like big ideas, as long as I don’t see God with a white beard and flowing white robes at the end I will be happy.
Will Jacob and Esau’s history be explored and to see how they get their immortality and powers and how old are they? I don’t know if you forgot, but Richardos, as that girl called him, is also immortal, maybe he knew that John was Esau and that’s why he didn’t want him goin to Esau. I want to know more aboutt ” Richardos “.
sorry, wehn i said ” he didnt want him gojn to Esau” i meant Jacob
I have a few questions?
What was that painting when the group went to the cabin. Was that a dog?
And another question is the bad guy wanted to go see Jacob…why did he tell the whole group to come along when he knew where he was. Did he need to be invited into Jacobs home to get in? He kicked Jacob into the fire will he change into the good guy to fool the others?
Deb:
These are all great questions. The only one that i can answer is that the reason the bad guy or Alterna-Locke as the EW Doc Jensen website calls him wanted the whole group to come is probaby for some sort of power and public display of support . . .? I don’t know actually.
All great questions . . .
when Lock was shot, Jacob (or what i thought was Jacob at the time) apeared to him as Walt, and he is NOT dead. So he did not need Lock to die. Any ideas?
Deb -
Yes, the painting is of a dog. It was there when Ben took Locke there before. But it wasn’t knocked sideways. Don’t know the significance, except that dog spelled backwards is god. If it’s a reverse reality sort of thing, that might mean something. Don’t know for sure.
Personally, I think the whole group has to go because Black Shirt/Shape Shifter in the shape of Locke is planning a battle against the group led by Ileana.
I think the “loophole” was that someone who was devoted to Jacob had to be the one to betray him.
Leo -
Good question. Shape shifters in mythology don’t have to use the energy of dead people… maybe because Walt was young and had that special candidate ability, the shape shifter could use his energy.
Everyone -
The Juliet and family scene has that remarkable Easter egg in it…the book Mysteries of the Ancient Americas on the coffee table…
I love the reminders of the black and whites in the season… I think we should be very, very careful not to assign good or evil to either Jacob or Black Shirt… too many Buddhist references in the show to get by with that.
Jacob like the chaos of human energy. Black Shirt does not. But evil or good… As Lapidus says, those who go out of their way to assure us that their good often are not…
GREAT post Mimi.
Yes the Black and white can be more of a yin and yang thing rather than good or evil!
I like the Yin/Yang symbology rather than the good/evil one. The fact that they hold each other in a balance rather than being antagonistic to each other sounds far more like the flow of the show, anyways.
I don’t believe Walt was Black shirt. I think he might have been Jacob in this part, as he told Locke he had to get up and save the island from the Freighter people, not manipulate him to kill Jacob.
Maybe Jacob can mimic alive people and Black shirt can mimic dead people. I dunno.
@Liam – Richard said to the fake Locke, “I’m this way because of Jacob.” I’m guessing Richard was on the Black Rock and was made leader of the Others.
Okay the bomb always happened. Remember when Desmond had to turn the key? It set off a bomb to counter the electromagnetic force that was going to destroy the world. Well, how did dharma know this would be a way to stop this apocalyptic force? The bomb that stopped the incident. This was why they had to go back. To stop the original incident from ever happening. And another supporting detail is the episode titles: “Dead is dead”– Locke really is dead, and “Whatever Happened, Happened”– all this happened before and you can’t change the past.
And I forgot to mention that while evil Locke was walking around, Sun met with Christian so it could have been the smoke monster?
And I think Rose and Bernard are Adam and Eve.
The black and white probably mean all of these:
Bernard and Rose are yin and yang while Jacob and Esau are good and evil.
And maybe only those who are special can be shape shifted into? just a wild guess.
@Mark – Ben said to the real Locke that Richard is the assistant to the leader of the Others, and that he [Richard] “has had that position for a VERY long time.” So Richard has never been fully in charge of the Others (as far as we know), but has been a permanent assistant to whoever happens to be the current leader. However, I think you may be right that Richard came over on the Black Rock. But if we can take Ben’s words literally and truthfully (a big risk, I know), then Richard has never been the leader, but always second-in-command.
Also, we have no evidence that Jacob shares Esau’s power of mimicking the deceased (or living, special, etc.) … it IS interesting speculation, though.
On the other hand, Jacob seems to have an ability that deals with touch – as evidenced by him visiting the “Oceanic Six” during various points in their lives and touching each of them to somehow influence them (presumably to ensure they would return to the island so that events play out as he intends).
I also agree with those who propose that Jacob is not “dead is dead”, but somehow managed to circumvent his own death … either through his influence on the Oceanic Six and their actions back in 1977, or some other means. The Fire/Phoenix imagery that surrounded his death seems to be indicative of this.
Hmmm … I just had a thought: if we look back to all of the times that Esau has impersonated someone, we have to ask, why did he do it? What was his end goal? It is invariably one thing: to influence and manipulate — Ben sees his dead daughter who commands him to follow Smokey Locke/Esau, real Locke and Claire (and others?) see Christian, etc., etc. and are manipulated into doing certain things.
Then we look at Jacob’s power — his “golden touch” if you will. What does he use it for? To influence people to do certain things (i.e. return to the island). So it appears that these two figures have different sides of the same coin — different abilities that they both use to influence others to do their bidding … yin and yang.
Then again, there is a bit of proof for the existence of not one, but TWO different Smokeys. One Smokey approaches Mr. Eko and lets him live (we can assume that this Smokey was Jacob). A few episodes later, Mr. Eko is again approached by a Smokey, but is torn to shreds. (I can’t remember if Eko had done anything to ‘upset’ the island between those two occurrences … if so, someone please refresh my memory). It is likely that this second Smokey was Esau, if there are indeed two of them.
However, we still don’t have positive proof from the episodes that either one of them even IS (a) Smokey, (Smokey being described by a character as the “guardian of the temple”). What we DO know for sure, is that Esau can mimic others (who are often deceased) … whether this actually makes him a smoke monster remains to be seen.
How about this … let’s assume again that “Esau” is the one and only smoke monster (the scene that best supports this idea is when Ben is totally surrounded and being ‘interrogated’ by the smoke monster one instant, and the very next finds himself conversing with his deceased daughter [Esau in disguise]). Besides mimicking dead people, the smoke monster/Esau is also incredibly DESTRUCTIVE, capable of tearing people apart and killing with ease.
Now, in sharp contrast to smokey’s destructive tendencies, the other power that we saw Jacob use was … HEALING, even resurrection (think of Jacob ‘reviving’ Locke after Locke’s tumble from an eighty-foot-high window [Jacob likely left him with paralysis to make the whole thing less suspicious to the authorities and medical professionals]).
So, while “Esau” destroys, Jacob restores life and heals, which supports the light/dark, good/evil theme between Jacob and his nemesis, as well as reinforcing their fundamentally opposite natures.
OK, I’ll shut up now, I promise. =D
wikipedia says that:
“A loophole is a weakness or exception that allows a system, such as a law or security, to be circumvented or otherwise avoided. Loopholes are searched for and used strategically in a variety of circumstances, including taxes, elections, politics, the criminal justice system, or in breaches of security.
A loophole in a law often contravenes the intent of the law without technically breaking it. For example, in some places, one may avoid paying taxes to the jurisdiction by forming a second residence in another location, or a commercial property can be built in a residential zone if it is made also for residential use.
In a security system, the one who breaches the system (such as an inmate escaping from prison or a terrorist) exploits the loophole during breach. Such weaknesses are often studied in advance by the violator, who spends time observing and learning the routine of the system and sometimes conducts surreptitious tests until such a loophole can be found.”
A highlight the beginning, “A loophole is a weakness or exception that allows a system, such as a law or security, to be circumvented”. This is CLEAR proof that it is not ying yang, they are not balanced but Jacob is superior and Esau finally makes a breakthrough in the power.
I wathced the last episode of s5 and now i can’t wait for last season. What in hell all these means? what will happen to james kate juliete what about Shon and jin? do you know?
Great round up, and some good thoughts! The Jacob/Esau idea is definately the most plausible at this point.
Dan – you’ve been doing lots of thinking! I don’t think there are two Smokey’s though
Smokey is there for course correction – Eko was potentially not killed the first time because he probably influenced something (or someone) before Smokey killed him the second time they met. Might have to go back and watch a few episodes….
Since the statue is an egyptian god…
it would make sense that the symbols in the hatch when time reaches zero are hieroglyphics…
but what does it translate to?
I think most of you are jumping to the wrong assumption that Jacob is neccesarily the “good” – we will likely be very very suprised by the eventual revelation. Think Talosians for any of the Original (Not sh$tty Next Gen) Trekkers out there and or go watch the Cage
The thought that Jacob could actually be the villain (or at least not entirely pure in his motives) has crossed my mind, too. That’s for pointing that out, Garth!
Again watch The Cage – these guys are Talosian or if you what to ground it more in an earthly reality – Randolph and Mortimer Duke from Trading Places. The Losties, the others, The Balck Rock “Slave Trading Crew including possible Slave Trader- Richard” ,everyone one the island are lab rats to be manipulated in some ancient bet or contest to see whom is worthy to carryon as caretakers of the island-Cage. All Jacob and Black shirt need are big pulsating pink veiny heads and silvery gowns. There is and has not been good versus evil on this show only grey. Don’t be fooled because Jacob looks like some angelic cherub while the other guy looks like a black hat.
Maybe Black shirt is not black shirt at all. Maybe that is the way he chose to apear to Jacob (in the form of someone Jacob knew maybe?).
I doubt anyone will read this far down, but did anyone think that Esau took the form of Alex, in order to furthur convince Ben to follow (Esau’s) Locke’s commands?
yes vicky, I think everyone agrees that Esau took the form of Alex for that purpose. Ben needed convincing. It was a very clever device on the writers’ part.
This guy mentions Julia’s flashback as being”thrown into the show for no purpose whatsoever”. Did anyone notice the time period in which Julia’s flashback was? Sure seemed very modern to me.. That would seem to have some purpose. Think about it..