Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Season 5, Episode 16: "The Incident"

So, like what I've done with the place? I deemed a change was appropriate, given the shocking fade to white we experienced in last week's fantastic Lost finale. The two hours were filled with what we've come to love in Lost: philosophy, fist fights, paradox mind fucks, ghosts, dead people, broken hearts, and hippies (what up Bernard and Rose?!?!). But the essence of the episode - and the series really - can be broken down in two simple colors: black and white.

Call it what you will; Light vs. Dark, Good vs. Evil, God vs. Satan, etc, etc...but the first scene in "The Incident" was the most important we've seen in the series thus far. Two men, one - Jacob dressed in white - and the other unnamed Man in Black are basically playing a game against one another. Just as Locke introduces Backgammon to Walt in the first episode of the series ("Backgammon is the oldest game in the world...Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark."*), Jacob and the Man in Black are on opposite sides of the spectrum. But in this game, the stakes are a bit higher...and the fate of humanity rests with the winner.


The Man in Black believes solely in man's potential for dark deeds. "They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same." He's indifferent about man's potential because he's seen what they are capable of time and time again - and some of the actions of the Losties in the past 5 seasons prove his point in full. The Man in Black literally feeds on their sins ("Want some fish?" "No thanks, I just ate.") But Jacob disagrees. He responds, "You're wrong. It only ends once. Anything that happens before that...is just progress." Jacob implies that we have not seen the ultimate end in the story, and that one day man will overcome his demons and choose redemption. With that our Dark friend issues what I think was the best line of the season; "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"

The Man in Black is tired of reliving this loop over and over again and yearns for a way to break the circle and kill his nemesis. But it's not as easy as it seems...there are rules to abide by. Clearly he can't do the deed himself. Just as Ben can't kill Widmore in his London loft ("Why don't you just kill and get it over with?" "We both know I can't do that."), Jacob can't be killed directly by the hands of his foe. What we learn though is that the Man in Black has finally figured out a way to break the loop: he must manipulate man's free will to do his dirty work for him. But it wasn't just Ben that was manipulated in the Man's long con, it was our old friend Locke as well.

This is as good a point as any to state the obvious: the Man in Black and Smokie are one in the same (or as Ilana said in the Cabin that the Man in Black hijacked, "He's using it" ... meaning he's accessed Smokie's power). They are the guardians of the Island, and act as judge, jury, and executioner of the Island's lost souls. He has been able to take many forms, specifically those of Yemi and Alex, but most importantly Christian and eventually Locke himself (all corpses that "reside" on the Island). Smokie has always had the ability to "read" the thoughts and memories of his victims, and back in Season 2 he came face to face with Locke and liked what he saw. He saw an impressionable man that was looking for a greater purpose. He saw a man that repeatedly fell for the ruse. He saw a man filled with pain looking for answers. He saw his loophole.


From that point on the Man in Black uses Locke as the the linchpin in his great plan to take Jacob down. He just needed to make him believe that he was destined for greatness. Step 1: cultivate a leader. Step 2: Make others believe he is their Leader. Step 3: Kill the leader, assume his form. Step 4: Use Leader's unquestioned power to kill Jacob. Sure it's a long and complicated process, but anything that's worthwhile takes time and dedication...just as the Man in Black says, "you have no idea what I've gone through to be here."


Don't believe me? Ponder this: after Locke's meeting with Christian in the Cabin ("Cabin Fever") he believes that his "purpose" is to move the Island. But Christian/Man in Black/Smokie's plan backfires...because Ben turns the wheel instead of Locke. This was not a part of the plan, but luckily there is an easy fix. The Man in Black/Ghost Locke from the future instructs Richard to tell pre-dead Locke in a time flash that he must go back to the mainland and personally see to the O6's return, and conveniently adds that he "must die" in the process. Next, after a fall in the donkey wheel cavern the Man in Black/Ghost Christian reprimands Locke ("I said that YOU needed to move the Island") and reaffirms that he will need to die in order to do the Island's bidding. In accordance to "the rules" Christian refuses to help Locke turn the wheel, because in the end the decision to embark on such a mission MUST be made by Locke, just as Ben's decision to kill Jacob must be his own.

Back on the mainland Ben kills Locke and boards him - in a metal crate - onto Ajira 316 which crash lands onto the Island. Once a dead version of Locke arrives back on the Island, the Man in Black can take his form and parlay his "Other Leader" role to convince Richard to lead him to Jacob. Even though Richard seems apprehensive of the "new" Locke ("Something seems .... different" he says of Locke upon his return), he does what his leader says. Then, in the final act of manipulation, the Man in Black/Ghost Locke leverages Ben's feelings of isolation and jealousy for being "ignored" by Jacob to his advantage and has him commit the murder that he so desperately wants. Ben strikes down Jacob with his own hands and the Man in Black's extravagant plan has come to fruition. He found the loophole, utilized man's free will to kill his own maker, and won the battle of Good vs. Evil.

Or did he?


We'll get back to that. First, let's visit what Jacob's been up to between weaving tapestries and cooking McFilets on the beach. We learn in the various flashbacks that he visits a number of our Losties at crucial moments in their lives. And in all of those flashbacks, one common theme prevails: he physically touches them all. He taps Kate on the nose, hands little Sawyer a pen, pats Sayid on the shoulder, seemingly shakes Locke back to life, passes an Apollo bar to Jack, embraces Jin and Sun after their wedding, and takes hold of Hurley's arm in the cab outside the jail. Additionally, the timing of his visits corresponds with major life events: Kate's initial forays into crime, Sawyer's growing feelings of hate, Locke's ultimate betrayal, Jack's moment of weakness, Jin and Sun's confirmed love, and Hurley's realization that he's anything but crazy.

So what is the significance of all of this? Clearly, Jacob is "bringing" them to the Island just as he brought the Black Rock to the Island way back in the day. These are the characters he has chosen to play out the loop that he and the Man in Black watch over time and time again. It explains why these characters, once on the Island, cannot be victims of the Man in Black/Smokie. It would be against the rules. These characters are Jacob's pawns in this version of the never ending game. These are the characters that Jacob will use to prove the Man in Black wrong.

But in a turn of events that we are all familiar with, the O6 leave the Island and upon their return on 316 land in 1977 as opposed to 2007. I have some far fetched theories as to why this happened, but for now, I think it's better to keep them at bay to spare your sanity. What is important is that they are seemingly out of the picture. And without his players, the Man in Black deems Jacob as vulnerable to defeat. He implements his plan and has Ben kill Jacob, but in his final words Jacob issues his own checkmate, "They're coming." Who, you might ask? None other than Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Jin, and Sayid. They represent the metaphorical Black Rock on the Island's shores. The loop has come full circle and the Man in Black is back to square one. With a knowing look of disgust, Ghost Locke kicks Jacob into the fire, and understands that he's been out maneuvered. It's far from over, instead the war has just begun.




I'm not going to go into the details surrounding "The Incident" because, quite frankly, I don't think they matter. For what it's worth, I think the Incident happened the way it always did; the pocket was breached and the bomb went off. The energy generated from both events somewhat cancelled each other out, but caused enough damage to kill a bunch of folks and...oh, I don't know, blow 90% of a huge statue away, leaving just the four toed foot. Dharma then poured layers of concrete within the Swan to try and suppress the radiation the blast caused and kept a core crew underground, going outside only when necessary in hazmat suits - again to protect themselves against radiation (everyone remembers that the inside of the Hatch door read "Quarantine" right?) Nothing changed...everything happened the way it was supposed to happen...except for the disappearance of our Losties. Because after all, the fade to white wasn't a just clever TV gimmick, it was the final time flash sending Jacob's players back to 2007 to finish the game. (Sorry Juliet...but I think your dead.) So, in my opinion, all the questions we may have had about Dharma and the past are irrelevant. What's done is done. All that matters is what will happen next. (Lost writers: 1, head scratching viewers: 0)

And that brings us to what will be the end game for this series. As the writers have said all along, Lost is a show about redemption. Our characters will have the chance to show that humans can rise above deception, jealousy, violence, and hate. Instead they have the opportunity to express truth (Hurley), love (Jack/Kate; Jin/Sun), selflessness (Sayid), and loyalty (Sawyer). Jacob was correct in stating that "there is only one end," and it is the ending that we will see nearly a year from now when this fucking awesome series comes to a close.

Tidbits:

A few things that didn't fit above but are worth noting:

-Q: "What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue?" A: "He who will save us all."

-According to Lostpedia, "the tapestry depicts a pair of wings outstretched from an encircled Eye of Horus, and what appear to be seventeen long arms emanating like rays out from the eye. The hands at the ends of the arms grope for human figures who appear to be at the mercy of the hands, while on either side a king sits in a throne and observes." Across the top of the tapestry, a quote from Homer's "Odyssey" reads "may the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires."



-Jacob, to Jin and Sun at their wedding: "your love is special, cherish the time you have together and never let it go."

-Did anyone else notice that Bernard's invitation for tea to Juliet seemed to hold some serious gravity? Bernard seemed to know what was in store for her. His eyes seemed to plead with her to stay. Again, more proof that Bernard and Rose are somehow above all of the shenanigans going down on the Island, and are the "model" of what love should be. Seems more and more likely that they will turn out to be the Adam and Eve skeletons in the cave.

-So really, what is in the Hurley's guitar case? Was it just a prop used by Jacob to give Hurley the final push to return to the Island? Or, does its contents hold the key to Jacob's resurrection?



That's all I got for this year, folks. And I'm more than willing to admit that the interpretation above is filled with its fair share of holes so let me know what you think in the comments below. Lord knows we will have more than enough time to debate, seeing that Season 6 doesn't start until early 2010! Thanks for all the thoughts and well wishes throughout the season...it's been a lot of fun trying to figure this shit out with you week to week. Have a great summer, and see you in 8 months...

13 Comments:

Blogger Rutherford said...

*(referring to the Backgammon quote), the producers have always hinted that the pilot episode contained a clue to what the entire series was about...could it have been the Backgammon metaphor from Locke all along?

11:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ok, this might be crazy, but are we positive Jacob is good and the other guys is evil? Frank retorted back to Ilana's friend that the people who call themselves the good guys usually aren't.
Also, any more thoughts on who this Ilana crew is? Notice that Jacob wore gloves and did not touch her in the hospital

12:02 PM  
Anonymous Richard said...

Chuck, great job on this one (as well as all season long)!

So this is just a small thing, but something I just happened to wonder about. In an earlier episode this season (I think the Life & Death of Jeremy Benthem), the real Locke meets back up with Walt. During that conversation, Walt says he's been having dreams about Locke on the island wearing a suit, surrounded by bad people who wanted to hurt him. I assume he wasn't dreaming about the "real" Locke...even though he'd be in a suit and was surrounded by Ilana and then later everyone else, how would they want to hurt a dead person? So I guess that means that Walt was dreaming about Man in Black Locke, and Walt was truly trying to warn Locke (even if Walt didn't know exactly what it meant). Regardless, it appears that Walt still has some sort of power to see what's going on...unless Man in Black (or Jacob?) was taking the form of Walt off the Island, but I don't think that's the case.

Anyway, just a small item.

1:20 PM  
Blogger Rutherford said...

Anonymous: Jacob as the evil one is definitely a theory that is floating around out there. I just happen to like the Jacob = good theory....for now.

Regarding Frank...there is some interesting chatter about him and his role. If you remember, Smokie's first victim on this show was Oceanic Flight 815's pilot (first episode). The thinking here is that because Frank was supposed to pilot the original flight, Smokie quickly eliminated the imposter pilot because his presence on the Island was never properly sanctioned. But now Frank is back, and Ilana and crew are wondering if he's a "candidate." Interesting coincidence...has Frank found his destiny on the Island? What is he a candidate for?

2:17 PM  
Blogger Rutherford said...

Richard, I like that idea. Walt's always had Locke's back...so even though he doesn't completely understand his dream, he knows that Locke's in danger.

2:21 PM  
Blogger Vincent said...

i kinda felt that when Ilana said "someone else has been using it," she was implying the cabin itself, not necessarily smokey's power (although that's also a possibility). which would mean that locke didn't actually hear jacob say "help me", he heard the disembodied man in black say it. and then he saw him again as christian. so there's a good chance jacob hasn't been in the cabin at all since the show has started. and then i wonder, if jacob lives under the big foot, why does he have the cabin at all? is that his winter home or something? or was it meant to imprison that guy? if that's the case, why did ilana and co. go to the cabin and not the big foot? and how come hurley saw it that one time in front of him, and then ran away and it was still in front of him? i'm guessing he was just seeing things. or maybe there's two different cabins. who the hell knows.

5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So are you going to share your theories about the 06 minus Sun ending up in 1977? That is still boggling me. Also, I'm curious what Ilana and crew's purpose was before they "found" Locke's body in the cargo hold? Did they know it was there all along? If so, why not try to stop Locke earlier? And I agree, Bernard's invitation to Juliet for tea was definitely heavy. And I'm so confused about Ben. Both he and Jacob's forces (Ilana with Sayid, Jacob with Hurley) were trying to get people to return to the island while Widmore was sending expeditions to the island. Who is on the same side, who is on different sides, or are there three sides?

8:36 PM  
Blogger Rutherford said...

You guys have too many good questions! Don't you know that the reason I didn't address some of these issues is cause I have no idea what the answers might be? ;)

Lifeguard: I agree with the Cabin/imprisonment thing, I guess I just didn't word it correctly in the post. I definitely think that the Man in Black was being "held" there and that his cry for help to Locke was the first step into having him think that he was special. The break in the ash circle was how he escaped I suppose.

Anonymous: one thought about some going back to '77 was that it was the Man in Black's that caused the flash so that they wouldn't "come back" and restart the loop if you will. I don't know how he would have done so, but if you think about it, he's the one that ultimately started the flashes by manipulating Locke/Ben to first move the Island. Why didn't Sun go back then? Not sure. Maybe simply breaking them up was enough to break the loop. Or maybe he wanted to keep her and Jin separated so that their love wasn't realized.

Regarding Ilana, I think she is an agent for Jacob...Jacob visited her in a flashback and they seemed to have an ongoing relationship (should be interesting to see how she got all banged up!).

In terms of sides, I think that they are really all on the same side (except for the Man in Black) but don't know it. Ben was being manipulated the whole time really, and Widmore is simply trying to get back to the Island that he was once banished from (by Ben...but he has no beef with Richard and Jacob). Ellie just knew that all of them needed to get back so that the Man in Black DIDN'T win..because if he did, God Help Us All.

9:27 AM  
Blogger thebigmic said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

2:54 PM  
Anonymous B said...

I think there is a big significance in the thread that Jacob is making in the first scene, the same thread in the end that Locke/Smokey is looking at when Jacob says "It takes a long time when you're making a thread...". Its possible that these are the threads of time, and that he is intertwining people's fates (even though they still have free will). The threads also control the flashes, and they have been part of his master plan to beat smokey all along, whatever his plan has been. This is also how Jacob brought the black rock to the island.

8:00 PM  
Blogger Rutherford said...

I like all that B. The tapestry is kind of a road map for the whole series of events that he and the man in black go through each time they go through the cycle.

11:34 AM  
Blogger thebigmic said...

If the white=good, dark=bad thing is always to be followed then what about when 'Jacob' was visiting ilana and he was in black and she in white? Was that just the man in the back shirt in disguise? Also, when Lupitas says to bram that when people tell you how good they are they are usually the bad guys, he is in white and bram is in black. Also, I hope juliet is a goner, her consta-smirk drives me crazy.

3:07 PM  
Blogger Rutherford said...

good points tbm...there are theories out there that Jacob is actually the "bad guy" and the other dude is good...also, Ilana was technically all in white during said scene because she was bandaged up, certainly could have been on purpose but not sure if we were to take it literally? Either way, can't wait to see how she got so banged up!

4:48 PM  

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