Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Lost: Sundown

For every man there is a scale… and mine has tipped all the way to “wrong.”  I am big enough to admit when I am wrong and also spineless enough to switch over to the opposing argument (But I swear by all that is holy, I will never be a Apple fanboy).  I am now firmly entrenched in the “The Smoke Monster is Evil” camp.  It is a shame to see Locke, even though he is possessed by someone/thing else, fall so far from grace.  I always enjoyed the duality of Locke versus Jack, faith versus science.  I always hoped for a scenario that had both men as the leaders, one man of faith and one man of science, but that seems less likely now.  We may see a chance for Locke to redeem himself, and that might even make a good ending to the whole thing – “At the last moment, Locke’s spirit wrests control back over his former body and confounds the bad guy in a crucial moment, leading to his defeat.” 

The title of tonight’s episode is Sundown and it gives us a big hint to what was going to happen, the beginning of the darkness, when the intentions of Not Locke and his followers become apparent and the action begins.  The current story line reminds me a lot of Stephen King’s novel, The Stand.  In The Stand, the world’s population is devastated by a super flu and in the aftermath, the survivors align themselves in “armies” of good and evil.  The two sides battle in the end in an apocalyptic showdown.  It looks like Lost is gearing up for a similar conclusion.  Richard and Ben are the only surviving leaders of the old Others, but it looks like Not Locke and possibly Jack may face off as the new leaders of the opposite sides.   Ben might not have much longer to live, according to the trailer to next week’s episode, but I have read that Ben might not be going away to quickly. 

It was interesting to hear Dogan speak of how he came to be on the island.  He discussed the choice offered to him by Jacob, the choice to save his son’s life, but to never get to see him again.  Not Locke also made a similar offer to Sayid, giving him the chance to be with Nadia again.  What other choices/offers have been made?  Did Richard make a deal to never age, what did he have to give up in return?  Did Ben have to make a deal when Sayid shot him?  Are there two levels of Jacob’s involvement, the first stage, or the “touch of Jacob” and then “the deal”?

One thing that really struck me in tonight’s episode came close to the end, when Sayid, Claire and Kate emerged from the temple to meet up with Not Locke.  There was a burning cross that was very prominent in the middle of the scene.  The producers of Lost pay close attention to continuity and imagery, so I don’t think it was a coincidence that there was a cross burning in the same scene when all of the infected meet up with their leader.  My wife mentioned to me this morning that she read that maybe Not Locke/MIB/Smokie cannot see Kate.  I am trying to find the article/theory that mentions this, because I would see what evidence they present.  Not Locke did have a peculiar look on his face as he glanced in Kate’s direction, but I imagined it to be more “Oh look, another one in my fold” as opposed to “I think I see someone there, but I am not sure.”

I don’t know what to make of the alternate time line.  I have not been able to come up with any clues or new answers from anything that has happened in the LA-verse.  It is interesting to see what everyone’s life would have been like had they never come to the island, but it hasn’t helped me come to any conclusions.  I’m sure that what is happening means something.

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