ANOTHER POST. LOL.

Lots more awesome comments from Cyberdyne SpamBot 3.0! I recommend checking the comments in the previous posts for some truly enlightening information. And they said television was a wasteland.

It’s been a few weeks since my last post—say sorry, cry pardon—but I couldn’t go another week without posting my really important ideas on the internet. LOST sure has taken some twists and turns since my previous entry. I think probably the most frightening moment on the show thus far has been the smoke monster’s decimation of the Temple, a truly terrifying scene that makes you realize the stakes which are at play in this final season. I was also deeply unsettled by the quasi-holocaust of the Ajira survivors. People are being killed left and right with such unwavering brutality, and all of the factions of characters have some excuse which shifts the blame to someone else. I’m sure much more blood will be spilled, probably sooner than later. I have to admit to being very relieved when Ilana did not kill Ben, as it seems like anyone can be killed at any given moment this year. But even if he dies, at least we know he’s besties with Dr. Arzt in the parallel reality.

I think the person I’m identifying with most right now is Kate, who’s had a pretty understandable “wtf?!” look on her face the last few episodes. Last week when she screamed “No, I’m not alright!,” I was definitely feeling the same way. Things have been so shaken up and unsettled on this show and it’s nice to know the characters are aware of this fact. Kate is stuck with the smoke monster’s gang, too (she didn’t choose to be there but wound up with them mostly as a matter of circumstance), and they are not a very reassuring group of people. Sawyer has no allegiance to anyone and is out for himself, Claire is totally batshit crazy, Sayid . . . um, what in Jacob’s name is going on with Sayid?, and Locke isn’t even Locke but an impostor who can slap Claire across the face and then calmly sit down and confess his mommy issues. Yeah, if I were Kate, I wouldn’t be too thrilled either.

One thing I think the Man in Black/Locke is really doing is something that essentially he’s always done: testing and judging. I strongly, strongly suspect that him giving the knife back to Sayid, offering Ben a chance to join his group, sending Sawyer to Hydra island (where I’m positive he knew Widmore was waiting), letting Claire overreact to Kate’s raising of Aaron . . . all of this is his way of continuing to test people. He believes that people are basically monsters and it takes very little to bring that element out into the open, and so far most of the characters are proving him correct. I don’t think he cares one iota about human beings, not necessarily because he’s evil, but because he’s jaded. He is testing everyone and by helping him they very well might automatically fail, and I doubt it would take much for him to wipe these people out the way he’s killed so many others. I might be reading too much into him, but at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised if this proved to be true.

I’m also doubtful that the Man in Black is the smoke monster, at least in the strictest sense. Let me clarify that a bit: I think for intents and purposes at the moment, he more or less is the smoke monster, but that specifically he’s a person who is using the monster as a medium, and that the existence of the monster predates him. My theory follows in italics:

Jacob and the Man in Black are brothers, probably twins. Their mother (discussed by “Locke” in the most recent episode) either lived on the island already, or somehow was brought there. They may have been part of the ancient civilization that existed on the island. It’s possible that long ago, those born on the island were given special abilities by the island’s unique properties, and that people with certain powers may have some of this bloodline within them. (It would explain why the Others weren’t sure if Michael was really Walt’s father, and why they were running blood tests).

Anyway, Jacob and his brother each inherited different duties: Jacob’s job was to oversee the healing fountain and to watch over the island, and his brother was charged with overseeing the island’s security system (the black smoke), to more or less be the judge. Each of them was so wedded to the properties of the island that it gave them powers that would seem magical. At some point, the Man in Black was killed, by the knife that Dogen eventually gave to Sayid. The Man in Black’s soul remained on the island, trying to find a way to reincarnate. Since it was always his job to oversee the black smoke, the Man in Black knew he could use the smoke as a medium, a way to take a new form. To prevent this, his essence was imprisoned by Jacob in the cabin. The Man in Black could use the smoke to take other forms but never for a great length of time, as his essence could not leave his prison. But now he’s been freed, and has fully incarnated himself in Locke’s form, and he’s used the smoke to do so.

The sideways universe is a parallel reality, one of possibly many worlds. The island exists in all of these realities, holding together space and time by acting almost as a cornerstone. If it does not exist or is damaged, eventually the spacetime continuum would collapse, and the various universes would begin to bleed in to one another, creating a domino effect that would unravel reality. The sideways storyline will involve another effort to protect the island—which may be in danger since it’s already sunk beneath the ocean—and eventually this effort will somehow interact with the main timeline.

I think that makes sense given a lot of what we’ve seen. It’s hard to reconcile the idea that Jacob’s nemesis could be an actual person, but he talks about his mother and his past the way only a person would. (And I don’t think he was talking about Locke’s mother; he very specifically says these experiences occurred long before he took Locke’s form). I think he was a man, and now he depends on the smoke monster to continue furthering his existence, but that the black smoke itself existed long before he did. This would also explain why the smoke sometimes serves an almost mechanical function, such as when summoned in the ancient chamber, or why it seems to inspect new arrivals to the island. It also makes weird mechanical noises and is hurt by sound. This doesn’t fit with it being a man with a past and a family. So yeah, it’s under the control of the Man in Black, but it also has to do its own thing, which is guard the island. I think it’s safe to say at this point that Richard arrived on the Black Rock . . . methinks he is the one who stabbed the Man in Black, on behalf of Jacob, and that the Man in Black has been trying desperately to reincarnate ever since, and the black smoke was his way to do it.

As for the parallel universe stuff, I think it also makes sense, as we still don’t know the way the two worlds are related. Granted, I’m not sold on any one theory, but I’d imagine the flash-sideways will come into play with the mythology as well. It’s looking less and less like Jughead actually created this alternate universe (an idea of which I was always suspicious), and more like the two worlds are related in a different way. I think I’m leaning more and more towards a DARK TOWER view of things, where there are many worlds and something (the Tower, or in this case the island) binds them together. This wouldn’t surprise me. I even remember Damon Lindelof saying way back in the “Flashes Before Your Eyes” podcast that not pushing the button would result in the destruction of many worlds, more than just the one we were seeing. Interesting.

I’m definitely dying to know exactly who has Charles Widmore’s allegiance, as he may be a wild card in all of this. I’ve always gathered that Widmore was never really loyal to Jacob (strongly implied when we saw his backstory), and that he was somehow loyal to the Man in Black instead. It does seem like he may have changed his mind, though that doesn’t necessarily put him in Jacob’s corner either. I imagine he either still intends to ally himself with the smoke, or he now supports Jacob, or he’s there on his own terms. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the last one, either. It would be interesting to see a third party vying for control over the fate of the island. Besides, it’s been hinted since the ARG’s in season two that Widmore is part of a corporate conspiracy looking to find the island, study and exploit it, so it would be nice to see that come to fruition.

So what’s in Widmore’s Special Magic Closet? If it’s not a doorway to Narnia, I’d actually guess Desmond. Don’t know why, I just feel like we’ll see him again.

All in all, I am absolutely blown away by this season, and cannot wait for tonight’s Richard episode. If there is one thing that has not impressed me, however, it’s been the increasingly pervasive negative attitude towards the show, particularly online. Every season of LOST has found the series being pretty brutally ripped apart—a show this meticulously watched cannot avoid intense scrutiny, especially on the internet—but this season has seen a fair amount of what I think is unfair criticism. Yes, I know it’s the last season. Yes, I know we expect the writers to really pull things together for the story’s final act. But the reaction the show is getting . . . sheesh! You’d think nobody liked this show from the way they talk about it.

Just yesterday the actress who plays Zoe, Sheila Kelly, discussed in some interviews how her character appears in a handful of episodes and that she “knows stuff” about the island. That’s so vague I don’t know how you could draw any conclusions from it, apart from the idea that Zoe might play a notable role, which is hardly revelatory on a show about people finding their cosmic destinies. But check out reactions to her interviews and it’s nonstop mean-spiritedness: her character sucks, she’s ugly, kill her off, how dare they introduce a new character this late in the game, etc. Ouch. She also made the mistake of mentioning that her name is on every page of the latest script she received, which had people screaming over her character being so prominent, and who is she to act so cocky when she’s not even a main character, blah blah blah, Calm the Flocke down, people! First of all, we know next to nothing about her character, so how can you decide her worth in the overall story this early in the game? The comments about her being ugly are just plain nasty and stupid, and I’m surprised to see so many supposedly hardcore LOST fans being so shallow (especially when many devoted fans are the first to criticize certain elements, such as the love stories, for lacking depth). The accusations of Sheila Kelly being full of herself because her name is in every page of the script . . . well, she meant her script. For security reasons the actors’ names are printed on the scripts, so if pages leak it will be known who was responsible. LOST always has security measures like this, especially this late in the season. There is also a recently published interview with Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana), and she didn’t fare much better in the reaction. People need to chill out.

What are people so upset about? Can no one just relax and enjoy this damn show already? I see people whining endlessly about how betrayed they feel by episodes like “What Kate Does” and “Recon,” saying that LOST needs to get to the real stuff and stop dilly-dallying. Uhhh, folks, that is the real stuff! The show is not just stopping and spinning its wheels. What happens to the characters this season is what the show is about. Everyone will get their fill of the mythology, but to think that the show is stalling or wasting time whenever it slows down even a little is preposterous.

I cannot wait for when people can watch this show and just enjoy it for being LOST, and all of the scrutiny, whining, overthinking, rumors, spoilers and tabloid nonsense will no longer have any bearing on how people see this show and this story. Since this is the final season, it would be nice if there wasn’t such a negative vibe around certain aspects of the show, but I guess with such a high profile, it’s unavoidable. It’s good to know the internet is such a valuable tool for complaining endlessly about even the things we claim to like. And I here I am, complaining about people complaining. Ha!

In all seriousness, I think there's nothing wrong with criticism, but it's only useful when constructive. Otherwise it's often negative for the sake of being negative. Ah, such is life. Rant over. Very much looking forward to tonight's episode.