The Mysteries: The Others (and Jacob's lists)

What is Jacob even doing with the Others? Apparently, he makes lists. Part of Ben’s Jacob-stabbing rant is a complaint about all slips of paper Jacob sent him over the years.[1] While I wonder if maybe Ben’s anger was an act, I’ll assume Ben was telling the truth because he had no motive to lie to the man he was in the middle of stabbing to death. Earlier that episode, Ben admitted to Locke that he never met Jacob before.[2] So all the communication between Jacob and Ben occurred in written instructions presumably passed through Richard. But of all the lists we have seen on Lost, none of them make sense as having originated from Jacob.

The first list is found on body of an Other killed by the tailies during Others’ first wave of attack. That list has names and descriptions of the nine people kidnapped from the tailies’ camp.[3] We also know that when Ben sent Goodwin to infiltrate the tailies, he told Goodwinn he wanted a list of survivors in three days.[4] So it’s more likely that Goodwin wrote the list rather than Jacob, though it is possible Ben needed Goodwin’s more updated list to match against Jacob’s. The children Zach and Emma were among the names on the list and among those kidnapped. Ben later doe claim to Juliet that Zach and Emma were on Jacob’s list.[5]

The Others’ frequently imply that the list is good. Goodwin tells Ana Lucia that the children are better off with the Others.[6] Goodwin also defends his murdering Nathan by telling Ana Lucia “Nathan wasn’t a good person. That’s why he wasn’t on the list.”[7] Apparently the list is life and those people left off are expendable. It is odd then that Cindy is taken by the Others much later and she is shown living happily with the Others.[8] There should be nearly a dozen ex-castaways in the Others’ camp.

We see another list drawn up by Ms. Klugh. She gives the list to Michael and tells him to bring the survivors on the list back to the Others if he wants them to release Walt.[9] The names listed are Sawyer, Hurley, Jack and Kate. Hurley is caught and immediately released to go back and warn the other castaways. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, meanwhile, are held captive and only escape after Jack promises to operate on Ben. The likeliest explanation is that Ben needed Jack to perform the surgery and wanted Kate and Sawyer as leverage. Pickett even complains that Jack wasn’t on Jacob’s list.[10] The implication is that Kate and Sawyer were on the list. I think it’s more likely that Ben told different stories to different members of his staff and none of it had anything to do with Jacob. If Sawyer and Kate were on a list, it wasn’t the good list. The Others kept them in cages and forced them to break rocks and eat fish biscuits. Maybe Jacob wanted them punished. After all, Kate and Sawyer were both murderers before they came to the island. Still, regardless of why they were on the list, once Ben had Sawyer and Kate in his grasp he used them solely to manipulate Jack.

In more evidence that Ms. Klugh’s list did not come from Jacob, Mikhail later tells Kate, Locke and Sayid that none of them are on the list because they are flawed, weak and angry.[11] Of course, Mikhail may be the biggest sheep on the island. Also, if Jacob wants to bring certain people to him, we have seen he’s capable of doing it himself. For example, he personally convinces Hurley to return to the island.[12] Perhaps the most plausible explanation is that the lists once served Jacob’s purpose but Ben has long ignored them. All of the lists we have seen are ones Ben wrote himself for his own purposes. He wanted lists of the tailies in order to eliminate possible threats. He needs children to build the modern community he wants for the Others. And he needed Jack, Kate and Sawyer to save his own life.

“Jacob’s lists” were just a convenient way for Ben to get what he wanted while convincing his people they served a larger purpose. The Others’ bought it and for a long time, so did we.

[1] “The Incident”
[2] Id.
[3] “The Other 48 Days”
[4] “A Tale of Two Cities”
[5] “The Other Woman”
[6] “The Other 48 Days”
[7] Id.
[8] “Stranger in a Strange Land”
[9] “Three Minutes”
[10] “I Do”
[11] “Par Avion”
[12] “The Incident”

The Mysteries: The Others (as war criminals)

But it cannot all be Ben’s fault. The Others have a history of massacring large groups of people. Richard admitted in 1954 that the Others wiped a unit of US army soldiers stationed on the island.[1] He claims both that he was forced to kill them because they wouldn’t leave and that the army started it by firing on the Others first.[2] I know we all enjoy Richard’s charms, but are we going to give legitimacy to the Alpert insurgency? The Others follow that up with the flaming arrow attack on the survivors’ beach, killing about 20 people including Hurley’s buddy Neil.[3] Even if the army did start a war with the Others, the survivors were innocent band standers; civilians really. When one goes around committing purges on a hunch, that party bears the risk of mistaken identity.

In 1954, Ben hasn’t even been born yet and Charles Widmore is a geeky teenager. Richard either ordered the attacks himself or got the orders directly from Jacob or was following another temporary leader with a disposition towards mass murder. The third purge occurred in 1992 when the Others wiped out the Dharma Initiative, including Ben’s old buddy Horace Goodspeed.[4] It’s unclear who made that decision. Richard leads the Others into the barracks after all the Dharma folks are dead. But Ben also played a very active role, gassing Roger himself and gave orders to Richard once the dust settled.[5] As for Widmore, Ben didn’t exile him until after the Purge[6], so maybe it was Widmore’s decision.

I am fully convinced that Ben is evil. What we don’t know is whether or not Jacob is evil. The Others and Ben all claim to work for Jacob. Unless they are all lying, then at some point Jacob is responsible for the actions of his employees. Free will aside, t is just negligent of Jacob to keep appointing leaders who turn out to be selfish, power hungry killers. The same could be said of Richard. What is the point of having Richard around as the leader’s cosmic advisor/observer if the Others keep winding up with blood all over their hands?

[1] “Jughead”
[2] Id.
[3] “The Lie”
[4] “The Man Behind the Curtain”
[5] Id.
[6] “Dead is Dead”

The Mysteries: The Others (as bad guys)

This is Others Week. Unlike the just ended Jack Shepherd week, the Others discussion aims to be more focused. It will concentrate on the Others’ war with the survivors and how that relates to the Others’ history and the Others’ relationship with Jacob and his adversary. It is one discussion broken up into five daily entries.

One way to learn about the Others is to go straight to the source. According to the Others, the Others are, of course, the good guys. The Others tell us that several times. But I don’t think their protests can be anything but a ploy to instill doubt in the survivors. Because the Others are bad guys.

During the ferocious fighting between the tail section survivors and the Others during the formers first month the island, the tailies’ leader Ana Lucia asks Goodwin why the Others kept attacking them. Goodwin, an Other pretending to be a survivor, replies “maybe they’re not attacking us.”[1] Which is a possibility only if one forgets all the times the Others attacked them. The tailies are attacked their first night on the beach and three members of their camp are kidnapped.[2] About two weeks later, nine more people, including the two children, are violently dragged into the jungle. Later when Ben is the survivors’ prisoner, he tells Ana Lucia that the survivors killed two of them “good people who were leaving you alone.”[3] Again, that’s only true if one ignores the kidnapping, attempted murder and actual murder the Others committed on the survivors.

This is important because it relates to the good vs. evil theory of Lost. Back in the 1800s when Jacob brought the Black Rock to the island, Jacob’s adversary complained that no matter how many people Jacob brings to the island, it always ends the same: they come, fight, destroy, and corrupt.[4] So this is all just a game, or really, an experiment. But it’s not a valid experiment if residue from prior rounds affects the newest results. The Dharma Initiative catches a lot of flack for not being able to get along with the island’s native population. But how can we blame the Dharma folks when we have seen the Others attack the Oceanic 815 survivors without any prior provocation? The castaways do not even know the Others exist before Claire has been kidnapped[5], Charlie strung up by his neck[6] and Steve killed in retaliation for Claire’s escaping the Others’ clutches.[7]

While the castaways are not perfect, the Others’ list of sins is staggering. There is the attempt on Charlie and murder of Steve mentioned above. They also murder Juliet’s ex-husband Edmund, whose crimes include wanting to profit on medical advances at his medical research company, pointing out legitimate breaches of research ethics, and inconveniencing the Others’ plans.[8] That the Others’ have not killed more is not from lack of trying. Pickett tries to kill Sawyer[9], Mikhail shoots at Desmond[10], Ben shoots Locke where is kidney should have been[11] and Ben shoots Charlotte, who is luckily wearing a vest.[12] The Others’ are also experienced at turning on each other. Mikhail shoots Ms. Klugh to death, granted on her own request[13], and also kills loyal Looking Glass workers Bonnie and Greta on Ben’s orders.[14] Obviously a common dominator in most of these crimes is Ben. In addition, Ben personally gassed his own father to death[15], stabbed Keamy to death resulting in the death of everyone on the freighter[16], executes both Matthew Abaddon[17] and Ajira survivor Caesar[18], nearly kills Desmond and Penny[19] and finally strangles John Locke to death.[20] Recognizing as always that the island is a morally relative place, I still have to ask, with good guys like the Others, who needs evil?

[1] “The Other 48 Days”
[2] Id.
[3] “Two for the Road”
[4] “The Incident”
[5] “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues”
[6] Id.
[7] “Homecoming”
[8] See “Not in Portland”
[9] “I Do”
[10] “Through the Looking Glass”
[11] “The Man Behind the Curtain”
[12] “Confirmed Dead”
[13] “Enter 77”
[14] “Through the Looking Glass”
[15] “The Man Behind the Curtain”
[16] “There’s No Place Like Home”
[17] “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
[18] “Dead is Dead”
[19] Id.
[20] “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”

The Plot: Season 5 (Desmond's happy ending)

This blog is about what came before on Lost and not its future. While I do not write in a vacuum, I am avoiding spoilers this hiatus. So I apologize to those readers who may already know how the 6th season will open. My prediction/guess/hope/idea is that the final season’s first scene will not feature Richard or Jacob or his adversary as many predict, but on Desmond.

We all know that aside from his early featured episode[1], Desmond made only sporadic appearances during the last season. But he also got what no other character got: a happy ending. During the 5th season, it turned out that the mainland, not the island, is where one has to become what he or she wishes for. Everyone wanted to go home, but back home the Oceanic 6 all fell back into their same pre-island traps. Except for Desmond.

At the end of the 4th season, Desmond was reunited with his long lost love and on-again, off-again girlfriend Penny. In between seasons, Penny gave birth to their son Charlie. At the beginning of the 5th season, Penny, Desmond and Charlie are all living on board their boat, seemingly traveling the world to avoid Penny’s father, Charles Widmore. Desmond’s character flaw is literally walking away from his own happiness because he feels unworthy of it. Despite his happy ending, his almost does it again. He decides he has to return to Great Britain to find Daniel Faraday’s mother.[2] Still, Desmond promises her that he is never going back to the island. His efforts lead him right back to Widmore. Part of the reason Desmond doesn’t leave Penny again is because she doesn’t let go. She makes Desmond bring them all to LA so he can deliver Daniel’s message to his mother.[3]

Then Desmond surprisingly mans up. He meets with Eloise Hawking and tells her, Ben and Jack that he’s never going back to the island. Eloise warms him that the island isn’t done with him, but Desmond says he is done with it.[4] For the most part, Desmond doesn’t do anything for the rest of the season. When next we see him, he is returning to their boat with groceries. Granted, he has led Ben right to Penny and he gets himself shoot in the process.[5] But Penny and Charlie both escape unarmed, Desmond joins the I beat Benjamin Linus to a bloody pulp Club, and Desmond’s injury is merely a flesh wound in the shoulder.[6] Desmond’s last line of the season is his repeated promise never to leave Penny again.[7] Nobody gets off that easy on Lost and every bit of foreshadowing puts him back on the island.

We also know that the rules of time-travel do not apply to Desmond. When Daniel gives his message to Desmond in the past, Desmond suddenly remembers it in the future, even though Daniel himself said the past cannot be changed.[8] When Jack and Kate debate the merits of exploding the H-Bomb and changing history, they give no consideration to Desmond. Even if the Swan Station isn’t never built, Desmond probably still washes up on the island. If the Oceanic 815 folks never come, he might not get off. Most importantly, if goes to bed with Penny and wakes up back on island, he might remember everything that happened before. He is going to be royally pissed to be back in his island life, brother.

[1] “Jughead”
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] “316”
[5] “Dead is Dead”
[6] “Dead is Dead”, “The Variable’
[7] “The Variable”
[8] “

The Plot: Season 1 (the music)

This morning’s post is a short, semi-random observation on the music of Lost. I don’t mean Michael Giacchino’s score, although that is pretty cool, I mean the soundtrack. I love how all of the songs played on the show are natural, that is, they emanate from an identifiable on-screen source. The first episode after the pilot goes out with Joe Purdy’s “Wash Away” playing on Hurley’s CD player.[1] The song’s mood totally matches the theme of that episode. The island offers rebirth, an escape from one’s mainland baggage. But it is also the type of pop song a network show would use for overly dramatic effect. It works because the audience isn’t quite ready for how different a show Lost while be. It’s still kind of an island set soap. At the point, you can almost imagine the Fray playing while Jack works on Boone. When Hurley’s Discman finally dies later in the season, it ends on a Damien Rice song.[2] Pop songs make a come back with Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music” with Desmond down in the semi-civilization of the hatch. We continue to hear mostly ‘60s and ‘70s pop songs because they are from the Dharma Initiative’s time period. Of course, the change in music might just reflect J.J. Abrams leaving and Carlton Cuse joining. But still, it’s interesting to think how everything on Lost serves a very specific purpose.

[1] “Tabla Rasa”
[2] “…In Translation”

The Plot: Season 1 (eye opening)

I had planned to end Jack Shepherd Week with a discussion of his love life, specifically the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle. But I was up early this morning for a job interview and now don’t have the energy to attack such a monstrous topic. Instead, I am going to start my plot discussion. First season, first episode, first image is Jack. “The Pilot” opens on a close up of Jack’s eye. He’s lying in the jungle. Vincent, Walt’s yellow lab, approaches him. Jack stands up, and after finding a shooter of vodka in his pocket, starts running at full speed. He passes a white tennis shoe stuck in a tree. Then he runs out onto the beach and finds the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 and the surviving passengers in various states of distress.

We have to ask ourselves: how significant is that opening? The show reminds us of it frequently.By my count, there are 16 other episodes that begin with an extreme close up on an eye. Over half are from the first season. The question is, what could the opening mean? Jack claims that he blacked out during the plane’s turbulence and woke up in the jungle.[1] In the 5th season, Jack also wakes up in the middle of the island’s jungle.[2] Only he’s also traveled back in time to 1977. Is it even possible that Jack’s first introduction to the island was free of supernatural forces? He did seem to run to the crash site on his instincts. He was also the only passenger to awaken so far away from the crash site. Basically, we know that when one travels through time and space to reach the island, one can flash randomly into the jungle. On the flip side, is it possible that one can flash randomly into the jungle and not have traveled through time and speech? In other words, did the producers bind themselves to a time-travel theory from the first shot?

[1] “The Pilot”
[2] “316”

The Characters: Christian Shepherd

I wrote just a few days ago about the difficulty of separating certain characters from the mystery that surrounds them. If that’s true of Richard Alpert, it’s doubly true of Christian Shepherd. At least Richard, in all his ageless wonderment, is always Richard—well, with one possible exception. When we see Christian, we do not know if seeing him, his ghost or the smoke monster/Jacob’s adversary in disguise. We only know for sure that we’re seeing the real, human Christian during his flashback appearances. We see him as Claire’s biological father, Sawyer’s drinking buddy and Ana Lucia’s employer, but he is primarily Jack’s Dad.

Christian may be the worst father on the show and we all know that’s no mean feat. He earns that title in his first appearance. A young, maybe 12-year-old Jack has just gotten beat up because he tried to stop his friend from getting beaten up. Christian responds to this act by telling Jack he’s a loser and should give up because he “doesn’t have what it takes.”[1] What does that even mean? Not surprisingly, their relationship remains strained. When Christian leaves for Australia on his last bender, it has been two months since they spoke.[2] Jack’s mother sends him after his father. Jack is reluctant to go but his mother insists Jack owes it to his father “after what [he] did”.[3] We assume she means Jack’s informing the hospital authorities that Christian performed surgery while drunk.[4] Christian is a pretty big dick then too. He kills a woman and then pressures Jack to lie about it. Christian says he sacrificed part of their father-son relationship to make Jack a better surgeon for “the greater good”.[5] Christian next appears with Sawyer at a bar in Australia.[6] Christian says he is proud of what his son did. But he also convinces Sawyer to do what he came to Australia to do, namely kill the innocent Frank Duckett. It turns out listening to Christian Shepherd is a bad idea.

But then as soon as we’ve really learned that lesson, the redemption of Christian starts. In all of Jack’s flashbacks, Christian is a nice guy. He shows up to Jack’s wedding all fatherly.[7] They share a drink and Christian assures Jack that he’s committed. He tells Jack to give Sarah, the apparently paralyzed future Mrs. Shepherd, hope before what turns out to be a successful spine surgery.[8] Christian does contradict himself. As they treat a wealthy Italian cancer patient, Christian warns he cannot provide miracles while Jack is full of hope.[9] Christian does warn the now married Jack about getting too close with the Italian man’s daughter and jeopardizing his marriage.[10] Christian does everything he can to keep them apart, but it’s too. Sarah is already leaving Jack because he is too career obsessed. Jack’s failed marriage is the catalyst that turns him into the show’s worst son. Jack suspects Christian of having an affair with Sarah just because his number is in Sarah’s cellphone.[11] Jack then follows Christian to a hotel room that turns out to be an AA meeting, yells at Christian for being a drunk in front of whole room, and then tackles him.[12] I believe that’s the event Jack’s mother referred to back when she sent Jack to Australia. Because that event causes Christian to fall off the wagon and eventually leads to his final disgrace and suicidal Australian trip. So then a season later, when Christian shows up on the island seemingly returned to life, we are all ready to listen to him.

[1]“White Rabbit”
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues”
[5] Id.
[6] “Outlaws”
[7] “Do No Harm”
[8] “Man of Scien
[9] “The Hunting Party”
[10] “The Hunting Party”
[11] “A Tale of Two Cities”
[12] Id.