Thursday, May 14, 2009

Lost, Season 5 Finale "The Incident"

Okay - well, well, well...hmmmm...
Warning - this post contains information you may not want to read if you're still working through any of the episodes for the previous five seasons.

1. My most pressing question was answered - is this show about science or religion?
2 - I'm disappointed I followed the 'resurrected' Locke this season when it seemms he's really The Trickster. Darn! I liked how he turned the tables on Ben and he seemed so decisive. I thought his faith had been finally rewarded.
3 - First scene, great. Jacob (God?) and the Trickster. Jacob thinks, given enough lessons and time, humanity will figure out how to make better choices, while the Trickster thinks humanity will always revert to fighting and destroying.
4. I predict Season 6 will start back at the beginning of the show again (time is reset) and we'll see the first five years played out with different scenes that explain some of the details and puzzles. When Juliette caused the bomb to explode it really did reset the timeline and humanity has another chance to get it right, to do better as Jacob said in the first scene. There's no telling how many times this series of events have played out. Probably a whole heckuva lot.
5. My secondary prediction is that, if Jacob is not God, then Jacob and the Trickster are just two souls who got stuck in the timeloop and its a really big version of Groundhog's Day.
6. My worry about my first prediction is that they'd have to get so many actors back to the show that have already left. I think they could easily get around it by making them less important in the spiritual development of the Lost crowd.
7. It was good to see the answer to the question about what lies in the shadow of the statue. But, I don't know what the answer is. I suspect as I begin reading some of the blogs I'll find out.
8. So, all the 'dead' people who are still living mysteriously - Claire, Christian, Locke, etc - were really The Trickster. He's been setting up the scenario of someone killing Jacob (he found the loophole) for all these years.
9. The true 'Others' really are good guys I guess. And the 'battle' really is bigger than big.
10 - Rose and Bernard (good to see them again) have it mostly figured out at this point. They get that being together and enjoying each moment is the key to a happy life.

For me, the big questions are answered and the details are not as important (though they're very interesting). Which, not surprisingly, is my view on religion and spirituality as well.

I feel comfortable with the big answer (there is a force of love in the universe that directs us all toward a higher path if we listen and learn) and am okay with whatever details they come up with to support the answer (because details are oftentimes distractions anyway and create most of humanity's destruction and violence.
Consider that all the people who believe in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam believe in one god and that is a big area of agreement, yet they still find a way to fight about the details.

Suddenly the details are as important as, or more important than, the overall message????

Seems so. During the crusades, the Christians didn't care that Muslims believed in one God the way they did - they only cared that Muslims didn't believe that Jesus was God. And in the Middle East right now, people of one faith are fighting each other over the details of how that faith is practiced. Sad, sad, sad.

What makes it even sadder and more ironic is that the people are fighting over details at the cost of the overall concept.

And just to broaden the idea a little more, one of the reasons I like Barack Obama is that he tries to stay focused on what we can agree on, because if we forget about the details, and come together, we can get a lot of work done on the planet.)

I've gone a bit far afield of Lost in that last paragraph, but the main point is that, like my views on spirituality and religion, I think the details, while interesting, are less important than the overall concept.

I think the overall concept has been revealed in this episode - not just fate and destiny and faith, and whether the past can be changed, but more importantly, can humanity change and learn and grow and overcome our instincts for violence and fear, or are we doomed to live with wars and famine and negativity?

The Trickster keeps setting it up so he can prove to Jacob that humanity will never get ir right (Ben kills Jacob)
And Jacob continues to set in motion the plans to give humanity another try - one more time, they're getting better. Resetting time with the hydrogen bomb gives them another chance.

That's why, at the end, Jacob said "They're coming" he was telling The Trickster that its all going to start again so don't think this is over yet.

Really, I think this all makes perfect sense. Even at the end, when Jacob could have said something to ease Ben's anger, he didn't. He made sure Ben made the choice on his own. That's what God's all about, right? Everyone makes their own choice. Even in my spiritual belief its all about that - you make the choices, you learn from your choices.
Jacob is not going to give Ben an easy way out by telling him platitudes. He needs Ben to NOT need Jacob's approval. That will be when humanity has won out. Ben (or whoever The Trickster convinces in each time loop to kill Jacob) has to choose NOT to kill Jacob of their own accord.

While The Trickster is setting things up to prove that humanity will always choose murder and violence, Jacob is also setting up a scenario in which he uses the Swan station to create a time loop. So, although the bomb seems like a bad idea and not good - its really the right thing to do because it gives humanity another chance at getting it right.
Jack is right, Kate is wrong. But, neither of them understand why yet.
Maybe in the next life, brother.

Yeah - the more I think about it, the more clear it becomes.

Good job writers and developers of the overall storyline.
We'll see how you bring it to a final conclusion next year, but my idea that we see the whole story again from the perspective of knowing seems like a good one.
(And now, I might be disappointed if that's not what they do. I better try and keep an open mind).

No comments: