I kept finding jobs in work this morning to put off starting this blog as really I am sort of at a loss as to what to say. My overwhelming feeling about the episode is disappointment.
How could it have been anything another other than amazing? I mean it had CJ Cregg (aka Allison Janney), Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver and the suggestion that some of the historical gaps in the island story would be filled. Unfortunately Mother set the tone in the opening scenes when she said to Claudia “Every question I answer will lead to another question” and so at the episode’s end I felt that I did not know that much more than at the start. Of course it was interesting to see the story of Jacob and MIB told but this near to the end just how valuable was it?
What new information did we glean? 1) The Adam and Eve skeletons were Mother and the man who grew from the boy with no-name. 2) Jacob and his twin were just ordinary boys who grew into ordinary men (not Cain and Abel or any of the other identities speculated on). 3) Mother was island guardian before Jacob. 4) Jacob became guardian because his twin’s desire to explore beyond the island ruled him out of the job. 5) No-name became MIB/Smokey when Jacob threw him into the cave. 6) The role of the Guardian is to protect the cave (which is the source).
As Mother predicted, all the information above just leads to a new flood of questions. 1) How did Mother become island guardian and who preceded her? 2) What exactly is the Cave? 3) If the Cave is good then how can chucking someone into it lead to such evil being unleashed? 4) Had Mother a touch of the Smokey in her (her wiping out of the village folk didn’t seem to be the act of a helpless aging woman)? 5) If she had then how (she told Jacob she had not gone into the cave)?
Jacob could bring people to the island and clearly Mother had the same power so you sense she knew Claudia was coming. She needed a successor. The second child was a surprise to their real mother but did Mother know she was getting two? Did she know from the start that one would succeed her and the other would end her guardianship?
Placid and expected Jacob came into the world without a whimper while the boy for whom no-name had been picked came in roaring and was immediately wrapped in black. Presumably he had a name and Mother gave it to him as she had already conveniently dispatched of the real mother. (By the way and I know I should not be focussing on minor details but what exactly did Mother feed those babies – I didn’t see any tins of SMA washing up on the beach).
Several times last night Jacob made reference to the fact that he felt Mother loved No-name more than him. Every suggestion was made that Jacob was the good boy – dressed in white and incapable of telling a lie but clearly No-name was the more interesting of the two. His only crime as a child and later as an adult was his desire to leave the island (it’s the Irish equivalent of a twenty-something wanting to take a year out in Australia – some Irish mammies don’t want their boys going either).
If anything it was Jacob who demonstrated an inclination towards badness with his violent outburst when No-name wanted them to leave Mother and join Claudia’s people.
Mother had her own set of rules by which she operated (was Jacob bound by the same rules or is it in the power of the Guardian to set their own?). She could not end her guardianship herself as was also the case for Jacob and she established that the twins could not kill each other. Despite her scathing assessment of the other people on the island (they come, fight, destroy and corrupt) she did not hesitate to commit acts of violence herself. Before killing Claudia and rendering No-name unconscious she said sorry to both (oh that’s alright then).
Jacob brought people (including our Oceanic gang) to the island to play out their games so presumably it was the same in Mother’s case. So why bring them if “it always ends the same”. Mother didn’t seem to enjoy watching the drama unfold as much as her successor did.
She did appear to love the boys however and if pushed you would have to say she favoured No-name slightly over Jacob (you’re special she told him on the beach). She did not kill him and knew when he witnessed her acts of filling in the well (his means of escape) and killing the villagers (what a progressive bunch they were with their donkey wheel and awareness of the electromagnetism of the island) he would kill her. There was no surprise and she even thanked him.
She could rest easy as she had already appointed her successor – the contract being signed when he drank the wine. Finally as predicted by his brother Jacob was in charge and could set his rules.
So what did mother pass on to Jacob? As far as I can tell it was just the location of the Cave (by the way did anyone else think the special effects here were extremely cheesy?), and a warning not to go in there.
I think Allison Janney is fabulous but she was badly served by the script-writers last night and I found her two scenes at the cave unintentionally funny (perhaps I am too used to seeing her deliver great-lines at break-neck speed while trotting down the corridors of the West Wing).
I think this episode was one you will either love or hate and unfortunately it didn't rate as a classic for me. I am keen to know what you guys thought?
Bree Treacy
By the way guys next week's RTÉ Guide will feature a Lost Special complete with my colleague John Byrne's suggestions about how to host a Lost party for the final show! Be sure and let me know how you guys are going to mark it!
