Lost Episode 5: The Lighthouse

While I did like last night’s episode, more than “What Kate Does,” I feel like this show hasn’t moved very far since that first double episode. Last season, I was never bored with the show—there was always something engaging happening, or some difficult but interesting concept to try to wrap your mind around, and you knew what the characters’ objectives were—you had an idea where everything was leading. This season everyone’s just wandering aimlessly, and we don’t know what the purpose of being on this island is anymore.

I still have faith in the writers and am going to continue to trust that they know what they’re doing, but I don’t understand why they’re playing this game of being cryptic with us when there’s only a certain amount of episodes left. I think Hurley (who always seems to ask to questions we want to know) effectively voiced the opinions of the fans at the end of the episode when he says to Jacob, “"Well, next time, how about you tell me everything upfront? I'm not big on secret plans." At this point, neither are we, Hurley. Maybe, hopefully, this means the writers know what we’re feeling and are going to quit the game they’re playing.

While I didn’t like this side story as much as I liked Locke’s (I felt the sentimental moment between Jack and David was over done), I do like all the parallels to the first season: Jack looking at The Annotated Alice when the first season’s episode was called “The White Rabbit,” the focus on father issues, coming across the caves again. Throughout this episode and this season so far, there have been lots of moments of characters looking at their reflections, and I feel like this is a very “reflective” season (which is maybe why it’s moving so slow). This season is a mirror image of season one so far, and I also think this sideways timeline is all about characters reflecting on themselves and then altering actions or attitudes based on those reflections. We’ve seen that with Kate, Locke and Jack.

The one problem with the sideways timeline is that I don’t know which timeline I should care about. Does it matter if the characters die on the island because they’re alive in that other timeline? Do the characters in the other timeline even exist? I have a feeling that the characters on the island are going to have to do something to ensure that the other timeline is the one that eventually comes true.

Finally, I miss Ben…I hope he shows up more in the upcoming episodes.

A few moments from the episode I thought were interesting:

•  Jack’s scar from his appendectomy showing up in the sideways timeline. Jack had his appendix taken out on the island. If the plane didn’t crash, he shouldn’t have the scar—but he does, and when he asks his mom about it, his mom said he had it out when he was a kid, which he doesn’t remember. There has to be some weird connection going on between the two timelines. I wonder if there’s going to be some event or meeting that will trigger these characters to remember their island lives.
• Since Claire is acting a lot like Rousseau, that that mean that Rousseau was also "infected"?
•  The numbers refer to the degrees to which the mirrors in the lighthouse were turned. When turned to 23 degrees, they showed Jack’s house. The number of Jack’s old house was also 23. Jacob says he wants the mirrors turned to 108 degrees…who’s name was written there?
•  I have a feeling Desmond is the one who’s supposed to be coming to the Island. He’s the only one who would be able to reconcile the two timelines.
•   Hurley wiped the ink on his forehead and Jacob commented on that. That’s definite Biblical imagery there. God often put mark of the foreheads of his followers. This was meant to signal that they were disciples of God and that they should not be killed. The most famous is probably Cain.
•   The Paradise Lost connection I mentioned before definitely deserves more research, so if I have time, I’ll try to look into it. Jacob acts similar to God in the poem.