So, we are back. Sorry for the long hiatus, but you know, players like me got to keep it real. But enough about my adventures, lets get down to business. So were you guys let down by last nights episode? Well, I was. At first. Actually, I am still a bit disappointed, but not as much as I was before. The problem with an episode like Across the Sea is that they only had about 45 minutes to delve into the most important parts of the island mythology. Obviously, we the fans are incredibly hungry for some answers. Oh ya, hungry. Hungrier than Homer Simpson in an all you can eat buffet. Anyways, this episode required some down town after it, in order set some of the pieces together. To tell you the truth, this episode spawned much more 'whys'— and given that there is only one more episode till the end— than i am comfortable with.
Anywho, lets get crackin. Or as this episode would like to show us, some HEAD CRACKIN! I am not going to give a full synopsis, since I reckon you actually saw the show and we only need to discuss the main points. Ok, so we got some chick that gives birth to our favorite twins. And can you believe it, they DIDN'T give us MIB's name. Unbelievable. The boys grow up, and we are told that MIB is special, that momma made is so they can't kill one another and that MIB will never have to worry about dying.
- a) Why is MIB special? One of the things we have to realize is that momma is the protector of the Island, meaning, like Jacob in the future, she is has certain 'gifts.' She can peer into peoples soul. We were told by Miles that Jacob —before being killed—thought Ben might end up being different. But turns out, Ben was Ben. This means that momma was able to peer into MIB's character. I think she kept on calling him special, because, as we see later, she loved MIB more and probably wanted HIM as her replacement. Though she ended up being wrong. I guess MIB's free will changed the course of events, and the role moved over to Jacob
- b) Why did she make so they can't kill one another? Well, if she realized one of them will be the next protector, more than likely, the other will get jealous and try to kill the other. Soooo, problem solved. Since she has the powers (like Jacob had powers) she created a new rule.
- c) Why would MIB never know what death is (ie, live forever)? Not to sure about this one. Perhaps, again, she thought MIB would take her place, thus she prematurely gave him an immortal life. Or maybe, it was simply a gift out of love.
At some point later, momma takes the boys to see what this Island is all about. Its some strange light that she holds to be the power for everything. Turns out, its both really good, but, but also has a flip side to it as we see later. This is what she is there to protect. What is it? Who knows. Like what other bloggers are saying is that they are most likely going to play this like Pulp Fiction did with the briefcase. MIB says its beautiful. Another blogger made a great observation that this is the exact same thing Locke says to Jack in the episode "White Rabbit." He tells him he has looked into the eye of this Island and what he saw was beautiful. If you remember, what Locke was looking at, was none other than the Smoke Monster, which is the exact thing that came out of that cave. We shall return to this soon.
Ok, so fast forward just a bit more. Jacob and MIB sit around playing their usual game when MIB sees Claudia. She leads him the camp of where the original survivors of the shipwreck have made camp. She tells him the truth about his origins. This scene should automatically remind you of the scene when young Ben ran away and saw the ghost of his mom, which ended up leading him to Richard. Now, what I don't get is, why didn't she appear to MIB and not Jacob? Was this ghost working independently, or was this the Island involved somehow? But why would the Island do that? Why set this whole thing up where one brother will try to harness the power to leave the Island?
OK, where was I? Oh ya, LOST. So MIB runs away, and they grow up separately. When Jacob comes plays with his brother, we are introduced (finally) to the well and its magnetic appeal. When momma comes back to visit MIB after 30 years, we are also shown the origins of the frozen wheel. To be honest with you, I was rather confused as to why they (or MIB) would think that the energy down in the well, would help them leave the Island. It's not like that energy came with an instruction manual. Anyways, momma says goodbye and cracks some more head. (does this remind you of when Ben was willing to sacrifice his own child for the Island?) When MIB comes to, he sees everyone gone and the well filled in with dirt. Was it momma that killed everyone? How the hell did she do that?
Next up, momma takes Jacob to the hidden light source. It is time for her to pass the torch to him. The great part of this scene is this: Momma does not give Jacob a choice. He has to be the one to take her place and protect this Island. Jacob on the other hand made 'choice' a hallmark in how the next replacement is chosen. If you remember when little Jacob and little MIB are playing with their game, MIB tells him that one day, Jacob will make a game and create the rules. And so he did.
So momma and Jacob continue to discuss the Island. She tells Jacob never to go into that light because it would be worse than death. I am guessing being a protector of the Island means that you are in some sort of communion with the Island and thus she knew that.
Momma than goes back to her cave where she sees everything ruins and before she knows it, she is stabbed by MIB. She does two things. First she thanks MIB. Seeing as she is the protector, she could not die unless killed. This can now answer why is that Jacob was able to killed by a knife but fake-Locke was not able to. Simply put, a protector is still human and can get killed by someone. Now that she is dead, she knows her job is done. She then proceeds to explain to MIB why she did not want him to leave. It's because she loved him. Now, this might sound cheesy, and a bit forced, but really, it fits rather nicely with LOST. That love really is great part of humanity and though she was not their biological children, she still loved them as much as any mother would.
Uh oh. Look who's back? JACOB!! And he is about to open a can of woop ass on MIB. Jacob in his zeal and anger takes MIB down to the stream where the light is. So what was Jacob trying to do exactly? I mean, Jacob was pissed, so was he trying to kill MIB? I guess not since he was told he can't. Instead - remembering what his mom said about the light, that its a fate worse than death - he sends MIB down into it. Damn, Jacob pulled a Ben. He let his anger take over and just like Ben's action released a great menace, so did Jacob.
After that, we finally see the release of the Smoke Monster. I would say this is one of the most perplexing and yet awe inspring part of the episode. Let me discuss the latter first:
What is the smoke monster? To be 100% sure, I don't know. But it seems the smoke monster is the corruption of the "good" of the island. As soon as MIB is taken into the light, the light disappears and instead, the Island spews out this monstrosity. I think it goes to show us how 'good' is so EASILY corruptible. Momma was worried about the 'bad people' because she did not want them to corrupt her boys. This smoke monster is all that remains of what— as Locke said — is beautiful about this Island. It is beautiful but yet dark and evil. As the light needed to be protected, lest EVERYTHING gets undone, now the smoke monster—the last remnant of that force— must be "protected" on the Island. If that evil escapes, all reality is undone, just like had that light been tampered with. Instead of light being kept at bay, now dark is.
Now, for the perplexing part. It seems to me than, that the Smoke Monster is its OWN entity. MIB is dead. The Smoke Monster simply uses what ever body image, along with its memories as its own. This can explain why, when fake Locke saw young Jacob, he told him (paraphrasing) "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do." Well, that is straight out Locke. But since he is using his image, he also uses his memories as well. When he was Christian, he told Locke: "Say hi to my son." This theory does seem to fall apart with the following: The Smoke Monster REALLY wants to leave the Island? Why? Is it just using MIB's memories? Since MIB wanted to leave, so does MIB? Well, if this is true, than the second he turned into Locke, he would want to STAY on the Island, since that is what Locke's memories were.
Smoke Monster also seems REALLY into the whole MIB thing. He says he was betrayed! That his body was taken! That he wants to go home! Is MIB's spirit and the Smoke Monster permanently fused? Hmmmm....now that I just wrote that, maybe that IS the answer. The fate worse than death is for your soul to BECOME the polar opposite of the good that this Island is. It's a curse. I think i will go with that for now till I think of it over some more.
As a side note, a friend of mine said something interesting. With the Smoke Monsters release, and that light being extinguished, there is no more warmth in that power source. With a lack of warmth, the only thing to happen is it turns cold. This may explain why where the donkey wheel is, it is now totally frozen.
So what do we come out from this episode. One thing is, Jacob is the one at fault for everything. Second, I still need to know for sure what the smoke monster is and why IT wants to leave. I know why MIB wanted to leave, but I need something more concrete as to the relationship between MIB and the smoke monster. Third, I want to know what the hell this Island REALLY is. No more abstract notions of light and purity. What's the connection between this Island, its power and reality.
Siiiiighhh. I am tired. Honestly, as I was watching the episode, I was getting really pissed because I kept on telling my wife (lets call her Kate): "Ummm, well why." A lot of whys still persist and I would rather this episode along with its mythology to have had more than just 45 minutes. Much more could have been discussed. And though that can be said of any episode, this one required it especially, given how much frustration I see out there from other bloggers. But, as I said, this episode also needed some down town to think it over more thoroughly. What I LOVED about this episode is that you were shown that MIB was not some evil
Damien child. He was good. All he wanted was to live his own life. You see the love and hurt in his eyes. I was really routing for his character. He had a mother that lied to him and gave him the round-a-round by never telling him why he could not leave. So was he finally corrupted by the humans he was living with? Not to sure. All this rest on whether MIB really is the smoke monster or not. Seems he is given also that Jacob told Hurly that he used to be his friend a lot time ago. It's just that this episode really didn't make him all that evil. He only killed his mother because of what she did in killing his people. Arrggghhhh, I'm tired. Good night.
