Happiness is complete control of the remote and two hours 35 minutes of Lost so thanks very much for last night’s TV Mr RTÉ scheduler!
All credit to parallel universes but I was not expecting that! The show certainly didn’t disappoint and gave us character moments in abundance, some answers, lots of new questions and is now essentially two separate stories running in tandem which Lindelof and Cuse are calling the ‘flash-sideways’.
I have always adopted a roll with it approach to Lost – my theories never come to much and I think if I can hold the shed-loads of information they throw at us in my head I am doing okay. But now I think I am going to have to get more serious about my Lost viewing not least because I will be blogging solo (enjoy the break Taragh) but also because I think the programme demands it.
No alternative realities
Watching last night I found myself naturally inclined towards the island-based side of the story with me tending to view the LA-based tale as the alternative reality. However after reading a very helpful Q&A with the aforementioned Lindelof and Cuse I need to adjust my thinking. There is no alternative reality simply two possible versions running side by side which require equal focus. The boys have not yet made it clear if they will run separate until the finale.
I think I invested more in the Island versus LA as LA is a re-set (although clearly Jack was experiencing déjà vu throughout his encounters with Desmond, Locke, Sayid and Charlie). The LA characters have lost their Island history and relationships and all that has done to them as people. Sawyer is his bad-boy self, Sun and Jin are cold and distant, Charlie is a mess and Hurley apparently is the luckiest guy in the world. Now that can’t be right!
Any expectation I had that a total re-set would be the obvious and best choice for the final season was completely knocked on the head last night. Why would people invest in five years of island history to have it wiped out by Jughead? I have no idea where the lads are heading with this but they haven’t let us down yet so here’s hoping!
LA surprises
LA brought it own surprises with Desmond on the plane, Shannon missing, Hurley lucky and the island at the bottom of the ocean presumably following the 1977 explosion. It was obvious many of the key players were worse off for the re-set – Sun and Jin unhappy, Charlie a wreck (and far removed from his heroic selfless island death), Kate and Sawyer both isolated criminal figures with a natural affinity and Jack mourning his unresolved issues with his father. Only Rose and Bernard seemed really content with their lot (despite Rose’s illness) with Boone bearing all the hallmarks of someone just there to make up the numbers.
The Island gave us so much more last night – particularly with Sawyer’s heartbreaking reaction to Juliet’s death and the fire it appears to have put in his belly for revenge (watch out Jack). “It worked” according to Juliet’s ghost so how is she connected to the parallel story? It’s now 2007 apparently and we have been introduced to yet another community of people living on the island in the Temple and even at this late stage in the game another Oceanic survivor. Their leader, Mr Dogen, with his abhorrence of the English language, and his sidekick promise much.
You can’t help but feel that Sayid’s resurrection is directly linked to Jacob. The healing waters of the Temple, when tested by Dogen failed, presumably due to Jacob’s death. When Sayid’s body was taken from the waters, he had his arms symbolically outstretched after a ceremony of atonement. Is it Sayid or really Jacob resurrected and ready to take on Smokie/Locke/the Man in Black?
The Johnny Cash wannabe reminded us in the recap that it “always ends the same”. At this point I don’t want it to end at all. If they can continue giving us the quality of television that we got last night I want this saga to run and run!
Bree Treacy
