Poor Jack

With the final season of Lost just around the corner, a lot of the writers at Christ and Pop Culture have finally found a television show they can agree on. From it’s beginning, it’s dealt head on with issues of morality, spirituality and faith. Most importantly, it’s a show that is thoughtfully and artfully produced, presenting us with a unique plot and real, empathetic characters. Naturally, it’s a perfect show for CaPC writers to discuss in our Water Cooler series.

Leading up to the season premier, we’ll discuss the show so far, and what we might expect in the coming weeks and months. Once the show starts, you can expect regular updates, in which we discuss each episode and its implications.

Previous Installments:
Pre-season: Lost’s Biggest Question.
Pre-season, part 2:  Lost’s Free Will Dilemma
Season Premiere: ‘Lost’ Patience

Warning! If you are not completely caught up with Lost, you won’t want to read any further.

Drew writes,

I have now fully caught up on Lost, so I thought I would start out this week’s discussion.  I jumped in late on last week’s discussion and made the argument that Lost’s greatest achievement was its character development and that character development seems to be tied directly to the theme of redemption.   What most good science fiction often does is place characters in extremely bizarre, tense, or absurd situations and lets the characters respond to, learn from, and struggle through those situations.  Lost is all about the absurd, but this provides an interesting backdrop for its eccentric characters to grow or self-destruct. There has been much talk about something outside the characters bringing deliverance.  I think for some characters this has already happened (Sawyer, Jin, Desmond, Charlie, maybe even Locke).  The Island seems to bring redemption for some. Locke finds purpose on the island (even if he dies feeling he failed), Sawyer and Jin mature into committed and loving men who learn to be selfless.  Charlie, a drug addict, dies a hero.  The island seems to have the power to help people confront their demons, and the insane events of the show give Lost’s selfish characters unique opportunities to rise above themselves and give of themselves for the good of others.

We even saw this last week with Kate.  Kate, as we have come to expect, is running from the law but this time she stops to help Claire–somehow it seems she has learned something while on the island.  It is becoming more and more apparent that the present lives of the characters is not unaffected by what happened on the island though they don’t seem to remember it.

I think after the last episode, the faith vs. reason theme is worth bringing up briefly.  Because it would seem that the old rational Jack is back as seen in his refusal to give Sayid the medicine.  I am not sure this is necessarily a bad thing though, if Jack had just given him the medicine without knowing what it was I would have cried foul too.  I am sure that this season is gearing up to end with Jack being the greatest hero of them all.

That said, I am also curious about how the infection is going to play out.  It is my prediction that the infection will not just kill people, but seek to  undermine the growth that has taken place in some of the characters.  And let me go on record to say that I also would venture to guess that Charles Widmore is somehow connected to Locke and the infection.  Just guesses, but that is part of the fun of watching this show!

David writes,

I would like to go on record (to borrow the phrase from Drew) and say that I think Jack has become the most pathetic and uninteresting character on the show. I can hardly stand to watch him week in and week out. There seems to be no more depth to him, almost like he’s reached his full potential as a character. I love this show but I am starting to agree with Ben (just a bit) that maybe the writers have “lost” (forgive the play) something with this season. Character development hasn’t been as remotely interesting thus far.

Drew writes,

I agree with you about Jack and I think this is where I understand where Ben is coming from with his frustration with the character development in Lost.  If anyone is the main character in Lost, it is Jack and his character is so erratic–its like he is uber bi-polar to the point where it is not believable.  I have never really been impressed with Jack or found his story all that compelling, which is why I enjoy Lost because I find Desmond, Sayid, and Jin’s stories far more interesting.