Now that’s more like it. Tonight’s episode provided answers, real answers, satisfying answers. Well, sort of. OK, not really, but it is still heading in a satisfying direction. [SPOILER ALERT]
As we learned at the end of the last episode, Charles Widmore has returned to the island by submarine. In today’s episode, we learned that the submarine has a door with padlocks – what could be inside, we’re supposed to wonder. Widmore’s team was setting up a sonic fence, and that suggests that they are concerned about the smoke monster. I’m suspicious, however, since Widmore seemed to think it was crucial that Locke return to the island with his friends. But perhaps his thinking was that Locke and the others were candidate, and he genuinely didn’t want or expect John to die.
James is trying to play both Flocke and Widmore against each other. But James Ford in the parallel universe is…a cop! Miles is his partner! And we got to see Charlotte again! And his path has crossed with Kate now too! Way back when, Mr. Eko said “Do not mistake coincidence for fate.” While Jacob’s manipulation clearly changed the way things developed, resulting in the differences between the two timelines, are these intersections of these individuals merely what would have happened anyway? Or is someone manipulating the other timeline much as Jacob manipulated this one?
The black smoke reminds me somewhat of cinematic depictions of a genie, emerging from its lamp to be compelled to do its summoner’s bidding. Perhaps the man in black/smoke monster is like a genie, and somehow Jacob had found a way to make him do his bidding. And so he was looking for a way to have his master killed to that he could be free. Is the island the bottle?
Perhaps the most interesting revelation came from Flocke, who seems to be completely honest with people – most of the time. He did tell Claire the Others took her baby, but explained to Kate that he did it because Claire had lost her son and needed something to keep her going. Presumably we shouldn’t buy that, since Claire’s father (presumably also the smoke monster?) had acted precisely to separate Claire and Aaron. Be that as it may, Flocke said that once he was a person like any other, and he had a mother who was disturbed, leaving him with issues. Presumably this is setting the stage for further revelations about the island, the man in black, his mother, and the backstory to these key characters. And perhaps just as Jacob has been manipulating people looking for a replacement, the man in black has been manipulating things to prepare Aaron to replace him. And perhaps the reference to having an enemy and needing someone to hate is suggestive, like the Dharma logos, of a Taoist background to the light/dark imagery, where they may conflict but they need each other.
Is it just me, or does Flocke behave rather like a strict parent? He promises to take care of people, he slaps them when they misbehave, he closely supervises them, and takes responsibility for their shortcomings. The behavior strikes me as very parental, as though Jacob was one inclined to think that humans could be given a certain freedom and be good, while the man in black was certain that only strict supervision and upbringing could accomplish that – perhaps based somewhat on his own experience with his mother?
If you weren’t paying close attention, you may have missed a detail that answered a question that went back to season 2. We now know why the Others were carrying a teddy bear in that famous scene. They went back to the beach where the plane had crashed in order to recover it for one of the children who had lost it.
Readers of this blog, of course, have known that since 2008… 🙂
One last tidbit. Is it just me, or does this article on Wikipedia suggest that there is more to the moniker “Flocke” than just “fake Locke”?
Anyway, the stage is set for answers, and surely no one thought we’d have all the loose ends wrapped up 8 episodes before the finale. The next episode promises to reveal even more, focusing on the backstory of Richard Alpert.
Apologies that these thoughts on the episode are somewhat disjointed. But please do add your own additional scattered thoughts about LOST!
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