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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zendamon
I believe they said that the bomb was on the island because some country spotted the island at one point and, assuming it was uninhabited, decided to use it as a nuclear testing ground (akin to the Bikini Atoll islands). It’s evident that the test was not very successful, as the bomb did not go off as intended upon impact with the island (perhaps due to the island’s plethora of unique qualities).
And wasn’t the whole Richard-Daniel dialogue based on the fact that Daniel visited Richard during one of the flashes and urgently told him to bury the bomb (as it was still exposed during that flash)? Thus, Richard would be remembering that instance, much like he remembered meeting Locke during a similar flash.
Dan: You could be right on both points. I don’t remember either one. i thought the only time that Daniel dealt with the bomb from our perspective was when he met his mum for what we are led to believe is the first time.
However, as far as Daniel knowing that his mommy was going to kill him and other events, I’m not sure — he seemed genuinely shocked as he spoke his dying words to dear mum: “you knew!!” It really seemed, though, like HE didn’t know, if you know what I mean. He’s not exactly a master manipulator / deceiver like Ben Linus was, and Esau is.
Dan:
What i think is interesting is that he could have known and still be surprised that she knew.
i found another interesting development in the world of “official Lost land.” i am posting a quote from a post on Lostpedia.
by Sam McPherson at 2:53:00 PM
Could it be? The start of a new ARG? It certainly seems so, and this one seems to be going back to the style of The Lost Experience.
Recently, a Twitter account for a Simeon Hobbes (from Tunis, Tunisia) was established, that posted snippets like, “”There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” Hear, O Jacob, and bless me in rest,” and “We’ve all lost so much. Jacob, weave the right path.”
When I first saw these Tweetings, I noticed the Lost references but could help but think that perhaps it was just a bored fan trying to stir up some excitement for this long break ahead. That was, until the YouTube channel for The Lost Experience posted a video entitled “Who is Simeon Hobbes?” The video was of a constellation, but the audio was morse code, which, when translated, read “I AM THE BENNU BIRD, THE HEART-SOUL OF RA, THE GUIDE OF THE GODS TO THE TUAT.” Hobbes then posted an instruction “Follow the Phoenix,” which a user quickly determined referred to Twitter user Epithet Alpha, whose first Twitter post was the quote mentioned above. Simeon Hobbes later confirmed that Epthet Alpha was indeed who he was referring to, stating simply, “Phoenix found.”
It’s all very Egyptian, which relates to the statue of Taweret, as well as the Temple and all those hierogyphs. But what does it mean? What will we find out in preparation for next year? Who is Simeon Hobbes?
The one thing about Hobbes that we can tell you is that he shares his name with the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who along with the real John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the guiding lights that Thomas Jefferson used when writing the Declaration of Independence.
It’s exciting to see Twitter becoming the grounds for an all-new ARG, one which I might actually follow this time around.
As always, you can find Lostpedia on Twitter here. Simeon Hobbes’ Twitter can be found here, and Epithet Alpha’s Twitter can be found here.
We’ll keep you posted with all the developments into this new ARG.
Okay, I’ll address your theory, zendamon, in one second.
Firstly, I’d like to address the idea of the Incident and the ability that anything the Losties do in the past could possibly change the future. There has been nothing to show that the Losties presence in the past could change anything at all. I don’t know what people are basing the idea that the explosion will send anyone to 2004 or whatever. It doesn’t make any sense, whatsoever.
Onto the Faraday theory. I would love to believe it, as I love Faraday oh so much. However, like it’s been said, he’s not the master manipulator. At best, I don’t think he would have known how he would die until he died.
However, don’t forget that he tested the time travel thing on himself at one point, then on his assistant and then both suffered from brain damage. I can only assume Faraday was brain damaged until he landed on the island, which gives me a hilariously perverse (or perversely hilarious, iunno which) image of brain damaged Faraday parachuting to the island. But still, who knows what happened to his brain that caused it to be scrambled…
In response to the Twitter viral marketing…awesome. So very, very cool.
Lol at parachuting Faraday image =). About the time-travel from the explosion thing … it’s not that they “time-travel” necessarily, it’s just that the bomb accomplishes exactly what Daniel, Jack and Co. wanted it to all along … and that is destroy the source of electromagnetism so that their plane never crashes on the Island in 2004. However, something tells me that THAT is not what happened … either the explosion did NOT occur in 1977 at all (see my post above), or the writers throw yet another monkey wrench into the pot. Because the main cast having absolutely no recollection of the island and proceeding with their lives as if Oceanic 415 never crashed … I dunno, but it doesn’t really seem like that would be a viable direction to steer the show.
Craig:
image of a brain damaged parachuting Daniel. Sad but funny. and yes i love Daniel as well and would love to think of him time traveling around but i have the feeling from listening to inteviews with the producers that Dead is Dead in his case.
and i totally agree with you on the issue of what is the bomb going to change. Frankly, even my own forgiving attitude towards the writers is being pushed by this storyline. An atom bomb! to counter the energy and then to accurately place them in either 2004 or 2007? i think that is stretching the limits. But this is what we are dealing with so be it. My personal guess is that they will have them all land in 2007 so they can be with the “rescue” Jacob story line. But i don’t like the idea that the bomb put them there. What would prefer is that as i have heard on some sites, that instead of the bomb going off that they had a time skip at just that moment and they all appear in 2007. Better than atom bombs going off. Bombs only kill even in my fantasy world.
No, no, the bomb doesn’t initiate a calculated time leap … that’s not what the show has ever been implying … all the bomb does is destroy the electromagnetism source AND kill everyone within the blast radius on the Island (including our beloved cast). However, because the electromagnetism source is now gone, Oceanic 415 passes over the Island unharmed in 2004, so our cast arrives safe and sound in LAX. Hope that clears that up. Don’t know if I put it in the best terms, but there ya have it =).
BTW, my last post describes what Jack and his team have been striving to accomplish with the H-bomb … I doubt that THAT is what has actually occurred here in reality, simply because of the implications it would have for the main cast members (i.e. no memories of island or of each other besides seeing each other on plane). However, I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a shift to the Jacob / Esau plot for the final season. That would be really interesting.
Dan. Yes actually you put it very clearly and almost palatable. But i still say that Bombs kill and therefore countering energy and altering the future as well . . . .i don’t know . . . .it just pushes my understanding. . . .I get it. but it isn’t a beatiful story as so much of the show is. . . .
I mean i guess part of my problem is that it is an ATOM BOMB. which could really destroy the entire island physically not just the cast. So if they don’t land in LA. and they do end up on the Island then to be realistic about what an atom bomb would do the entire landscape would need to have been levelled and then 30 years of evolution . . .and . . .I just think the atom bomb thing is a bit much! but i love the show and am really enjoying discussing it with you.
I must clarify again, I’m not explaining myself. When I say sends them forward to 2004, I mean send them so that the crash never happens. I believe in the theory that the bomb would send them to 2007 >_>
Sending Losties to safely land in LA…there’d be no Season 6. Locke would have never landed on the island, thus Jacob’s Enemy (I too refuse to refer to him as Esau, although it has some merits) wouldn’t be able to mimic him. The past 5 seasons would be retconned, and that’s as bad as saying ‘and then I woke up’ at the end of a great novel. No, that will not happen.
The idea of the time warp causing Juliet to create the explosion at a different date is great, and the only foreseeable reason why she could have survived the fall.
A time leap at just the right time would annoy me 100x more than the atom bomb somehow sending them to 2007. Think about it, they hadn’t had a time jump for near 4 years, seems stupidly coincidental that it would happen at just the perfect time.
Also, Mr Eko’s last words to Locke, if you listen carefully (according to Lostpedia) is ‘I saw the devil.’ and then Locke says to Sayid that he said ‘We’re next’.
Don’t forget that nobody knows what the consequences of mixing an atom bomb, electromagnetism and the Island’s will to survive. Anything could happen.
Yes. if it “works” then i agree they will be in 2007. not 2004 as Jack and Co. had hoped. Although here is another problem i have with this story line. Why would Kate have agreed to make this happen. She will end up in jail if it “works”.
silly! She would never have agreed to it. Good thing for her that you and i agree she is going to end up in 2007.
How as far as the time skip. Indulge me for a second. Yes it hasn’t happened for 4 years but all this electromagnetism and the Will of the Island could make a time skip happen. I think that is easier to explain that surviving an H Bomb explosion. do you know the physics of that? Of course this is all in jest. If we are going to talk physics what about time travel? doesn’t make logical sense either. I just like time travel better than bombs. but why are we going around in circles on this? i apologize. What do you think about Kate’s agreeing to basically go to jail? did that bother you?
Yeah, I’m almost positive that there was no “time travel flash” this time. Juliet traveling through time as a result of direct exposure to the source of the electromagnetism does not count as a flash, however, just to keep that clear, since it would be just her. The flashes stopped three years ago (1974?) when they fixed the problem at one of the Dharma stations, if my memory serves me. But if I know Lost, it’s that you never know what they’re gonna throw at ya next, so anything could have happened here =). The writers have been great at keeping plot twists VERY hard to predict (many argue because not even THEY know what’s going to happen next =).
Yeah, I think I might have mis-typed a few posts back and said 2007 when I believe I meant 2004. Could you guys indulge me a bit and explain why you think 2007 over 2004? Going to 2007 would require an all-out time flash. If the bomb “works”, it’s irrelevant to say that they would “end up” anywhere. If the bomb works just like they hoped, then in 2004 they will pass over the Island unharmed. In 2007, they will be three years on with their normal, uneventful lives, still not knowing each other or the Island (whatever’s left of it).
GREAT POINT Dan! i have no way to respond to that. Craig?
Ah, I think I see where you’re coming from. You’re saying they’ll end up in 2007 so that they can have a big, happy reunion with Esau, Richard, and the whole she-bang. Am I right? Yeah, in all truth, that probably is what’s going to happen, and the writers will come up with someway to justify it (hopefully without the use of a time flash).
but still you make a great point. if they end up in 2007 then it’s the bomb going off and somehow changing their futures and not destroying the island and somehow instead of landing in LAX they end up in 2007 .. . .
the more i think about it the more i think that there is the potential that as much as i love the show i am going to be disgusted with whatever way they choose to justify it. I think it is much easier to justify with a time flash but that would offend many as well including you.
I hope the writers pull it off. but i don’t know how they will at this point. But we have about 9 months to think about it.
Also, your point regarding why the heck would Kate want to return to cuffs and spent a very long time in prison is very valid indeed. Of course, both her and Juliet’s reasons for switching to the “blow-everything-sky-high” party were really quite wish-washy in this episode, so who knows what they were thinking.
by the way, the flashes stopped when Locke turned the wheel not a dharma station fix well i guess they were at the orchid but John was down in the well of what would become the Orchid and he turned the wheel. so if that is what you meant then yes they were at a dharma station.
Also, my idea with the time flash is that everyone within Juliet’s radius of say . . . .500 feet would go with her. Remember Jin went time skipping with everyone even though he was out in the ocean. . . .
Yeah, I sure hope the writers haven’t dug themselves into a pit with this one (and they say, “well, blowing the island and the main cast up in a nuclear explosion as the cliff-hanging season ending seemed like a good idea at the time….”). But I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that the explosion was not what we thought it was. Either it occurred in a different time such that nothing significant was altered (except poor Juliet =( ), or it wasn’t an explosion at all, but a cursed flash, or perhaps something absolutely astounding and different altogether! But yeah, guess we do have quite a long time to wait and see. =p
I believe that they’ll end up in 2007 because – to put simply – it makes sense to the story. Jacob said ‘They’re coming’ and I think this means the Losties in the past. The story wouldn’t make sense if they went to 2004, it would be, as I said, a retcon of the entire series and that’s incredibly annoying in fiction.
The finale of the show will not – CAN not – end with the Losties landing safely in LA with nothing on the island ever taking place – that would be the worst ending possible and a slap in the face to the fans. That is the reason I doubt that theory – they’re not stupid enough to have that happen.
I’m sticking with the Incident always happened with a Atom Bomb in the mix – the Losties in the past detonating it didn’t change anything, they confirmed it.
Kate’s and Jack’s are the reasoning that I have difficulty swallowing. Kate’s is stupid as you point out, but Jack’s is worse. He’s doing it because he messed things up with Kate, but landing safely in LA would mean that he never speaks to her ever. Stupid, stupid.
The same argument could be made for Juliet, however (on rewatching the episode) when they’re chatting to Bernard and whatshername, they say something along the lines of ‘You’ve got to find someone you can live happily with’. Juliet has a smile on her face, until she notices that Sawyer turns his head ever so slightly and shares a glance with Kate. Juliet’s face changes. That’s when she makes her decision.
Still, I love theorising.
i would be really happy if Kate and Juliet explained why they REALLY changed their mind and it made more sense than what was explained in the finale but i think regardless of whereever they all land, Kate and Juliet’s motivations will remain what they were. and that bothers me on some level. but i have to keep in mind that it is a TV show and not a great novel or something. but it has been pretty satifsying . . .so i am hoping against all hope for better explanations for motivations of Kate and Juliet and Jack for that matter.
Craig:
But i think what dan is saying is how can you have the time shift AND the bomb? why 2007? other than it makes sense . . .how are they going to explain that? that is a rhetorical question by the way . . .unless you want to make something up . . ..
Nicely put, Craig. That’s basically the same conclusion I reached, too. They’ll send them to 2007 so they can have a big happy reunion and live happily ev……. no wait, with Esau on the Island.
Good analysis of the character’s changing moments. You’re absolutely right about Jack and Kate being totally absurd here.
goodnight gentlemen.
Craig
When you say “I’m sticking with the Incident always happened with a Atom Bomb in the mix – the Losties in the past detonating it didn’t change anything, they confirmed it” what do you mean by confirmed it? Are you saying that the show already confirmed for us that the bomb didn’t change anything? Since the bomb was the very last occurrence in the episode, I’m not sure exactly where you’re coming from.
It is totally possible that the Incident always did happen with an a-bomb … but if that’s true and the electromagnetism survived … then that means that our main cast is totally dead on the show. The “present” is at 2007, and they don’t exist in that time (unless they’re conveniently flashed there before the explosion as we both hope was not the case because of how cheap that would be). And if they die in 1977 without altering the course of future events like they had so dearly hoped … then they’re big-time goners.
Ahh, logic makes no sense with Lost. How can an atom bomb cause a time shift that causes the Losties to end up in 2007? How does turning a frozen donkey wheel stop time skipping lol. All good questions.
However, here’s a theory that is hurting my brain thinking about it.
The Losties on the Ajira flight were sucked into the 70′s because the timeline of events had them there, so they had to be there. (Side thought – Imagine if they’d discovered the picture of them in the Dharma initiative had surfaced while they were in the present?!). What happens if the events of 2007 are the past for another group from, say…2030 >_> and in their timeline, Jin, Kate, Sawyer and Jack are needed in 2007.
O_O argh, my brain.
As regards to the Incident – I’m thinking the atom bomb always caused the Incident, and also always caused a random time skip to suck the Losties from the 70′s to 2007. Always happened, always would.
Lol! Yeah, it seems the random time skip to 2007 is the only valid fix to this mess. =) Hopefully they’ll throw some new and creative solution at us in the premiere without resorting to a Deus Ex Machina cop-out like this. Well, good discussion, but I better hit the sack. ‘Night. =D