LOST Rewatch Week #27 (The End!): The Variable, Follow the Leader & The Incident

Welcome to the FINAL installment of the Lost Rewatch! It is hard to believe that we embarked upon this journey together over eight months ago, and that Season 6 begins in a few weeks. This project has certainly made the time fly, and I hope that you've enjoyed it as much as I have. 


When it comes to these final episodes, I have mixed emotions. I am particularly fond of The Variable, not only because it was the 100th episode of Lost, but because we were there for live filming on the day they had the shootout in the Dharmaville motorpool! Here is a recap of our tour and experience, if you're interested. But as most you know, I find the S5 finale to be very emotional and gut-wrenching primarily because of the Juliet scene. I can't quite describe how or why I have such a strong connection to that character, but I cry like I've lost a real friend every time I watch The Incident. 


So let's tap into a massive pocket of energy and enjoy one last ride together... 


Bad Twin/Brother's Keeper


I admit to wasting a few hours of my life reading The Bad Twin by Gary Troup (fake name and an anagram: purgatory) three years ago. Although I have brushed it off as a non-canon marketing piece, the title alone seems rather applicable now in light of the conversation and relationship between Jacob and his nemesis, the Mystery Man in black. 

I have been reflecting back to the Pilot, which Damon and Carlton have always asserted is key to the entire series. One of the most significant moments in five seasons thus far was Locke illuminating the prescient black and white theme while explaining backgammon to Walt: "Two players, two sides; one is light, one is dark."

Many people think that Mystery Man represents Esau, the biblical brother of Jacob. I would counter that the two may be more analogous with Cain and Abel, the first sons of Adam and Eve; one son blonde and good (light), the other one is bearded and evil (dark). Cain winds up murdering Abel out of lingering jealousy. You have to take into consideration the black and white stones discovered on the Adam and Eve skeletons on the island. 


It is also worth noting that in Beowulf, Grendel the monster is a descendant of Cain. Hello, Smokey...


Building a Mystery (Man)


When the man in black strolls up to Jacob on the beach, I started to wonder where he lives. The cabin was not built until the 70's, at which time I believe Jacob somehow trapped Mystery Man inside.  The ash surrounding the cabin is from the fire in Jacob's statue abode, and he mixed in salt from the sea to form a protective line (a mixture of BLACK and WHITE) that keeps evil spirits at bay.  [sidenote: this is an ancient ghost hunter ritual.] 

When Locke first went to Jacob's cabin, he actually encountered and then heard Mystery Man's plea, "help me." That is why the ash line was broken in the S5 finale - Locke's body had returned, allowing Mystery Man to finally emerge from the cabin and go after Jacob in revenge and because of the loophole. Ilana and her crew then burned the cabin down to cleanse it from that spirit, and so that he would not be able to return.


I'm also curious why, when he became NotLocke, he asked Ben to lead him to Jacob. Presumably, he was pretending not to know that Jacob resided at the bottom of the statue...


Can't Touch This


It is quite striking how Jacob goes out of his way to visit some of the future 815 passengers and makes sure to subtly touch each of them, yet wears gloves when he goes to see Ilana in the hospital. By touching Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Locke, Jin and Sun, it is as if Jacob simultaneously alters and programs their destiny. I have to question whether he went out of his way to avoid making contact with Ilana because she had been to the island before...


Chances Are


Before his own younger mother shot him, Faraday said that she knew how to get them all back to where they belong. So of course I have to ponder the logistics of what Ellie knew at that point in time. Was she aware of the Frozen Donkey Wheel? It did not take her long to warm to the idea that Jack and Kate were from the future, especially after recalling Faraday's first appearance in the 50's. 


THE Conversation


I think many of you will agree that the conversation between Jacob and Mystery Man is quite possibly the most symbolic and noteworthy of the entire series. 

Jacob: "I take it you're here because of the ship."
MM: "I am. How did they find the island?"
Jacob: "You'll have to ask them when they get here."
MM: "I don't have to ask - you brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?"
Jacob: "You are wrong."
MM: "Am I? They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same."
Jacob: "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."
MM: "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"
Jacob: "Yes."
MM: "One of these days, sooner or later - I'm going to find a loophole, my friend."
Jacob: "Well when you do, I'll be right here."
MM: "Always nice talking to you, Jacob."
Jacob: "Nice talking to you too."


Foreshadowing Dialogue


THE VARIABLE


Faraday: "Who told you to get on a plane?"
Jack: "As a matter of fact, it was your mother."
Faraday: "And how did she convince you - did she tell you it was your destiny?"
Jack: "That's exactly what she said."
Faraday: "I've got some bad news for you...she was wrong. You don't belong here at all."

Eloise Hawking: "Do you know what destiny means?"
Young Faraday: "No."
EH: "Destiny means that if one has a special gift, then it must be nurtured. Your gift is your mind; a mind that is meant for science and mathematics. And it's my job to keep you on your path. So unfortunately, there is no more time for distractions."
YF: "I want to keep playing the piano. I can do both. I can make time."
EH: "If only you could."


Faraday: "I need you to order the evacuation of every man, woman and child on this island."
Pierre Chang: "And why would I do that?"
Faraday: "A man is on a stretcher as a consequence of the electromagnetic activity that your drilling unleashed down there."
PC: "Which is now contained."
Faraday: "It's contained down here. But in about six hours, the same thing is going to happen  at the site for the Swan station, only the energy there is about 30,000 times more powerful. And the accident - it's going to be catastrophic."
PC: "That is utterly absurd. What could possibly qualify you to make such a prediction?"
Faraday: "I'm from the future."


Faraday: "Dr. Chang, Miles is your son."
Miles: "Are you out of your mind? What are you doing?"
Faraday: "I'm just making sure that your father does what he is supposed to."
Miles: "What's that?"
Faraday: "You'll see."


Eloise, to Faraday: "The women in your life will only be terribly hurt. Your work will always come first."


Faraday, to Jack: "Do you know where I can find the Hostiles? One of them is my mother, and she's the only person on this island who can get us back to where we belong."


Widmore: "What if I told you that they're not dead? What if I told you the plane was a fake; an elaborate, expensive fake?
Faraday: "How would you know that?"
Widmore: "Because I put it there."
Faraday: "Why would you tell me that?"
Widmore: "Because come tomorrow, you won't remember that did. The real Oceanic flight 815 crashed on an island, a special island with unique scientific properties. I want to send you to the island. It will further your research, show you things you'd never dream of. It will heal you - your mind, your memory."
Faraday: "Why are you doing all of this for me?"
Widmore: "Because you're a man of tremendous gifts, and it would be a shame to see them go to waste." 
Faraday: "You sound like my mother."
Widmore: "That's because we're old friends."


Sawyer, to Faraday: "Your mother is an Other?"

Faraday, to young Charlotte: "You're going to have to leave. In case what I do doesn't work, you cannot be here. You have to leave. I tried to avoid telling you this. I didn't think I can change things...but maybe I can."


Eloise, to Faraday: "I came here to tell you that it is very important that you say yes to Mr. Widmore, that you accept this opportunity. This place he mentioned to you, this island - did he tell you that it will make you better? What if it's true? Then you could go on with your work. Just think of all you could accomplish."


Jack: "I thought you said whatever happened, happened."
Faraday: "THIS is our present. We can't be so naive as to think that nothing can happen to us. Any one of us can die."


Jack: "You need a gun to talk to your mother?"
Faraday: "You don't know my mother."


Faraday: "In about 4 hours, the Dharma folks at the Swan work site are going to drill into the ground and accidentally tap a massive pocket of energy. The result of the release of this energy would be catastrophic. So in order to contain it, they're going to have to cement the entire area in like Chernobyl. And this containment, the place they built over it - I believe you called it the Hatch. Because of this one accident, these people are going to spend the next 20 years keeping that energy at bay by pressing a button; a button that your friend Desmond will one day fail to push. That will cause your plane, Oceanic 815, to crash on this island. And because your plane crashed, a freighter will be sent to this island; a freighter I was on and Charlotte was on and so forth. This entire chain of events, it's going to start happening this afternoon. But we can change that. I studied relativistic physics my entire life. One thing emerged over and over - we can't change the past, we can't do it. Whatever happened, happened. But then I finally realized, I had been spending so much time focused on the constants, I forgot about the variables. We're the variables - people. We think, we reason, we make choices, we have free will, we can change our destiny. I think I can negate that energy under the Swan; I think I can destroy it. If I can, then that hatch will never be built, and your plane will land, just like it's supposed to, in Los Angeles. I'm going to detonate a hydrogen bomb."

Widmore: "My relationship with Penelope was one of the things I had to sacrifice."
Eloise: "Don't you talk to me about sacrifice. I had to send my son back to the island, knowing full well that..."
Widmore: "He's my son too."

Faraday: "You knew, you always knew. You knew this was going to happen, you sent me anyway."
Eloise: "Who are you?"
Faraday: "Your son."


FOLLOW THE LEADER


Kate: "He's crazy."
Jack: "Is he? What if this is why we're here -what if this is our one chance to put things back the way they're supposed to be?" 


Alpert: "Something's different about you."
NotLocke: "I have a purpose now."


Ben: "When I left the island, John stepped in. He's the leader now."


Ben: "His name is Richard Alpert. He's kind of an adviser, and he has had that job for a very, very long time."


Sun: "These people, they were here with my husband. Were you here? Do you remember them?"
Alpert: "Yes, I was here 30 years ago. And I do; I remember these people. I remember meeting them very clearly because I watched them all die."  


Sun: "Do you think it's true, they're all dead?"
NotLocke: "I don't think we went through all of this for nothing."


NotLocke: "I'm not afraid of anything you can do anymore, Ben."


Kate: "You said that we needed to put things back the way they were supposed to be. What did you mean by that?"
Jack: "If we can do what Faraday said, our plane never crashes. Flight 815 lands in Los Angeles. And everyone we lost since we got here - they'd all be alive."
Kate: "What about us? We just go on living our life because we've never met?"
Jack: "All the misery that we've been through, we'd just wipe it clean. Never happened."
Kate: "It wasn't all misery."
Jack: "Enough of it was."


Jack: "Your son came back here because he had figured out a way to change things. He doesn't have to be dead. You don't have to have killed him. If we do what's written in that journal, none of this will have happened."


Pierre Chang: "Your friend Faraday said that you were from the future. I need to know if he was telling the truth. He also told me to evacuate everyone I could off the island. He told me there was going to be a massive accident at the Swan. Is that true?"
Miles: "He's been right about everything so far." 


Charles Widmore in 1977, re: Faraday: "Why is it that this man looks so familiar to me?" 

Jack: "Who is he?"
Alpert: "The man you're asking about is Charles Widmore. He and Eloise are, well, let's just say love can be complicated."

NotLocke: "I'd like you to take me to see Jacob."
Alpert: "That's not how it works."
NotLocke: "Is that true, is this going to be a problem? I am the leader right now, right?"
Alpert: "Yes, that's right."
NotLocke: "Then I would like you to take me to Jacob."


Ben: "This must be quite the out-of-body experience."
NotLocke: "Something like that."


Alpert: "You seemed pretty convinced, especially when I said you were going to die. I'm certainly glad that didn't have to happen."
NotLocke: "Actually it did."


Sayid: "So you're telling me you're going to erase the last three years of our lives?"
Jack: "We can change things."
Sayid: "I don't know if you're aware of this, but I've already changed things. I killed Benjamin Linus and we're all still here."
Kate: "It's because you didn't kill him."
Jack: "The three of us disappeared off that plane and ended up here, ended up now - because this is our chance to change things."
Kate: "If you're wrong, everyone on the island dies."
Jack: "I'm not wrong. This is it, this is why we're here; it's our destiny."
Kate: "Do you know who you sound like? Because he was crazy too - you said so yourself."


Sayid: "If this works, then you might just save us all."


Alpert: "I'm starting to think John Locke is going to be trouble."
Ben: "Why do you think I tried to kill him?"

Ben: "Richard has some concerns. The pilgrimage to Jacob makes him uncomfortable. He's expressed reservations about whether or not you know what the hell you're doing."
NotLocke: "I appreciate you bringing that to my attention."
Ben: "I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm here to follow you now. So if you need Jacob to help you reunite with your people..."
NotLocke: "That's not why we're going to Jacob."
Ben: "Then why are we going to Jacob?"
NotLocke: "So I can kill him."


THE INCIDENT

Jacob, to young Kate: "You're not going to steal anymore, are you?"


Sub captain: "Have a nice rest - we'll see you on the other side."


Radzinsky: "Designing a station that will be able to manipulate electromagnetic energy in ways we'd only dreamed of..."
Pierre Chang: "Have you thought about the consequences of drilling into that pocket?"
Radzinsky: "I came to this island to change the world - that's exactly what I intend to do."


Sun: "Who's Jacob?"
Ben: "He's in charge of this island."
Sun: "You said John was in charge."
Ben: "No, I said he was a leader - a title that I've discovered is incredibly temporary. But everyone answers to someone, and the leader answers to Jacob."
Sun: "What is he like?"
Ben: "I don't know, I've never met him."


NotLocke: "Is there something you'd like to ask me?"
Alpert: "Ben told me that he strangled you."
NotLocke: "That is my recollection, yes."
Alpert: "He said he was sure you were dead, that he saw your coffin loaded onto that plane that you came back on. How are you alive?"
NotLocke: "You've been on this island much longer than I have. If anyone should have an explanation, I'd think it would be you."
Alpert: "I have been here a long time, and I've seen things on this island that I could barely describe...but I've never seen someone come back to life."
NotLocke: "And I've never seen someone who doesn't age - doesn't mean it can't happen."
Alpert: "I'm this way because of Jacob, and if I had to guess...he's the reason you're not in that coffin anymore."
NotLocke: "I agree completely. That is why I'm doing this, so I can thank him. Once I've done that, we're going to have to deal with the other passengers from the Ajira flight that brought me here."
Alpert: "What do you mean, deal with?"
NotLocke: "You know what I mean."

Bram: "Why did we even bring this yahoo?"
Ilana: "Because we might need him."
Bram: "For what? He didn't know the answer to the question."
Ilana: "That doesn't mean he's not important."
Bram: "You think he's a candidate?"

Sawyer's Uncle: "What's done is done. Now promise me you're not going to finish that letter."
Young Sawyer: "I promise."


Alpert: "Over 20 years ago, a man named John Locke - he walked right into our camp. He told me that he was going to be our leader. Now I've gone off the island three times to visit him, but he never seemed particularly special to me. You know him?"
Jack: "Yes, I know him. And if I were you, I wouldn't give up on him."


NotLocke: "You're willing to do whatever I say, no matter what it is?"
Ben: "Yes."
NotLocke: "Well then, I guess I won't have to convince you after all."
Ben: "Convince me to do what?"
NotLocke: "I'm not going to kill Jacob...you are."

Lapidus: "I wish you never showed me what was in this damn box. What the hell are you going to do with it anyway?"
Ilana: "We need to show it to somebody so they'll know exactly what we're up against."
Lapidus: "What exactly are they up against?"
Bram: "Something a hell of a lot scarier than what's in this box. Don't worry - as long as you're with us, you're fine."
Lapidus: "That would be reassuring if I knew who you were."
Bram: "We're the good guys."
Lapidus: "In my experience, the people who go out of their way to tell you they're the good guys are the bad guys."


Ben: "Why do you want me to kill Jacob?"
NotLocke: "Because despite your loyal service to this island, you got cancer. You had to watch your own daughter gunned down right in front of you. And your reward for those sacrifices - you were banished. You did all this in the name of a man you'd never even met. Why the hell wouldn't you want to kill Jacob?"

Jacob, to Jin and Sun at their wedding: "I'd like to offer you my blessing. Your love is a very special thing - never take it for granted."  


Sayid: "I need to modify the bomb; I can make it so it detonates on impact. We need to be there at the moment of the Incident, or this will all be there for nothing."


Sawyer: "What's done is done."
Jack: "It doesn't have to be that way."


Jack: "Three years ago, Locke told me that all this was happening for a reason, that us being here was our destiny."
Sawyer: "I don't speak destiny. What I do understand is a man does what he does because he wants something for himself."


Sawyer: "If what you're doing even works, you and Kate will be strangers and she'll be in damn handcuffs."
Jack: "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

Sawyer: "I've got a right to know why you changed your mind."
Juliet: "I changed my mind when I saw you look at her."
Sawyer: "I don't care who I looked at, I'm with you."
Juliet: "And you would stay with me forever if I let you, and that is why I will always love you. What we had, it was just for a little while. And just because we love each other...it doesn't mean that we're meant to be together. Maybe we were never supposed to be together. So if Jack can make it that none of you ever come here, then he should."
Sawyer: "Why are you doing this?"
Juliet: "If I never meet you, then I never have to lose you."


Jack: "If this works, Claire will never come to the island and they'll always be together, just the way they're meant to be."
Kate: "She was going to give him up for adoption."
Jack: "You don't know what she would do. Whatever it is, it will be her choice. If you want to save Claire, this is the only way to do it. Nothing in my life has ever felt so right, and I just need you to believe that. It's about to happen - are you with me on this?"
Kate: "Yes."
Jack: "Then let's go."

Jacob: "What if you weren't cursed - what if you were blessed? You get to talk to people you've lost. Seems like a pretty wonderful thing to me."
Hurley: "Except for the part where I'm crazy."
Jacob: "I've got some news for you, and you're just going to have to take my word on this - you are not crazy."
Hurley: "Who are you, dude?"
Jacob: "All you have to do is get on that plane. It's your choice. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Jack: "This is going to work, and it will save you."
Sayid: "Nothing can save me."
Jack: "See you in Los Angeles."


Ben: "John wants me to join him."
Alpert: "You can't bring him in."
NotLocke: "Why not?"
Alpert: "Because only our leader can request an audience with Jacob, and there can only be one leader on the island at a time."
NotLocke: "I'm beginning to think you just make these rules up as you go along. Ben is coming in with me and if that's a problem, I'm sure Jacob and I can work it out."


NotLocke: "Will you be able to do this, Ben? I know it won't be easy but things will change...once he's gone, I promise."


Miles: "Has it occurred to any of you that your buddy is actually going to cause the thing he says he's trying to prevent? Perhaps that little nuke IS the incident. So maybe the best thing to do is nothing?"


Juliet: "Live together, die alone."

Richard: "Where did you find him?"
Ilana: "In the cargo hold of the plane we came on - in a coffin."
Sun: "I don't understand...if this is Locke, who's in there?"

NotLocke: "Hello Jacob."
Jacob: "You found your loophole."
NotLocke: "Indeed I did. And you have no idea what I've gone through to be here."
Ben: "Have you met before?"
NotLocke: "In a manner of speaking. Do what I asked you to, Ben"
Jacob: "Whatever he's told you, I want you to understand one thing - you have a choice."
Ben: "What choice?"
Jacob: "You can do what he asked, or you can go...leave us to discuss our issues."
Ben: "So now, after all this time, you've decided to stop ignoring me. Thirty five years I lived on this island, and I all I ever heard was your name, over and over. Richard would bring me your instructions - all those slips of paper, all those lists - and I never questioned anything. I did as I was told. But when I dared to ask to see you myself,  I was told 'you have to wait, you have to be patient.' But when he asked to see you, he gets marched straight up here as if he were Moses. So why him? What was it that was so wrong with me? What about me?"
Jacob: "What ABOUT you?"

Jacob: "They're coming."


Frank J. Lapidus, Island Candidate


Ilana is considering Lapidus to be a candidate for...something. That alone convinces me that Bram was telling the truth when he said that they're "the good guys." Ilana is clearly on Team Jacob and if I had to guess...Mystery Man-as-Smokey killed 815 pilot Seth Norris because he was supposed to be/thought it was Frank Lapidus. I have a feeling that Frank will be instrumental in the pending war; that he will lead the fight and eventual victory over Mystery Man/NotLocke on the island.


The Ghost Whisperer


I have no idea whether or not Miles will still be on the island, post-Incident, but...I would be curious to find out if he can communicate with the deceased if their souls were currently being occupied by another. Because I would love to see Miles attempt to find out what happened to the real Locke on the beach, only to discover that it is an empty shell of a man. 


Good Vibrations

Watching Faraday play piano in The Variable, I am reminded of a theory I posted last year - that Faraday himself programmed the Looking Glass station security code at some point when he had traveled back in time...specifically for Charlie. Click here for a more detailed look, and here to see Jeff Jensen's perspective on my theory.


I'm in Love with Your Ghost [minor spoiler alert; skip ahead to be safe]


I caught something that Hurley said in The Incident that failed to register the first time around. He told Jacob that his friends Libby and Charlie died and "now THEY visit me." We've seen him chat with Ghost Charlie, but not with Ghost Libby. Given that they just announced that we'll see Cynthia Watros again in S6, I look forward to how and when she finally reappears (i.e. in ghost form, in an alternate reality/timeline, in Santa Rosa with Hurley, etc.). 


Juliet, The Dice Were Loaded From the Start


There are certain points in the final few episodes of S5, leading up to her demise, that are simply heartbreaking for Juliet (and for the audience as well). 

• When Sawyer refered to Kate as Freckles in front of her, it felt like a kick to the stomach. 
• When Juliet then gave Kate the sonic fence code and said "it's over for us here anyway" while looking at Sawyer, we shared her pain as the reality of the situation started to sink in. 
• When Kate joined Juliet and Sawyer on the sub, the look on Juliet's face was tremendously sad.
• When Sawer looked at Kate rather than Juliet as Rose explained that "we just care about being together; that's all that matters in the end," I wanted to smack him. 
• When Juliet agreed with Jack's plan rather than Sawyer, because "if I never met you, then I'd never have to lose you," the first tears started to flow.  
• When she said "live together, die alone." Because that is exactly what happened to her.

By the way, I am baffled as to why they inserted a random Juliet flashback to show that she came from a broken home. Considering that all other flashbacks in the finale involved an appearance by Jacob, it still seems out of place. 


Mamma Mia


When Eloise tells her son Faraday that it's her JOB to keep him on his path, two thoughts crossed my mind. First, it seemed like her job to also keep Desmond on his path. And second, it was as if she was working for the island...and therefore Jacob or Mystery Man. Clearly, Eloise was connected enough to the island to convince her son to return, knowing that he was going to be a sacrifice that the island demanded.   


Parallels


Half-sibling alert! Just as we discovered that Claire is Jack's half-sister, we found out that Faraday is Penny's half-brother. 

This may be a coincidence more than a parallel, but Faraday's science experiment girlfriend Theresa shares that name with Boone's nanny. Recall Boone's story about how she broke her neck when he was a child (and that in Locke's vision, a bloody Boone said "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs").  For such a show that illustrates a meticulous attention to detail, I am always surprised when a character name repeats. Of course my inner conspiracy theorist believes that they're all related somehow, or represent versions of one another. In fact, there is a third Theresa - Teresa Cortez, Ana Lucia's mother. 


Ben and Charles Widmore appear to share the same rules of engagement that Jacob has with Mystery Man; that they are not allowed to kill one another. We know that MM finally finds his loophole in order to sidestep the rules, and I wonder if Widmore will do the same to Ben in S6...


When Jacob visits young Kate, her childhood boyfriend Tom has the toy airplane that Kate later breaks into the bank to get out of the safe deposit box. 


Just as Sayid shot young Ben Linus, Roger Linus shoots Sayid. 

Rose, Bernard and Vincent finally reappear. They have been living peacefully on the other side of the island for three years after getting stuck in the 70's.


THE Red Shirt

When I first saw Juliet in a red shirt in The Variable, I thought she would be fine because Hurley had been sporting one under his Dharma jumpsuit for a few days. It seemed too obvious and I doubted that they would give such an obvious hint about a major character. So when I watched it again a few days ago, my heart sank upon first glimpse of that damn blouse...and every moment toward her end.

Significant Moments/Firsts

Eloise Hawking meets Penny Widmore and reveals to her that Daniel Faraday is her son. 


Charles Widmore reveals that Daniel Faraday is his son.


After leaving Dharmaville in 1974 to do research in Ann Arbor, Faraday returns to the island.


Faraday tells Pierre Chang that Miles is his son.


Faraday tells his mother that his research grant is funded by Charles Widmore, but he has no idea that CW is his father. 


Widmore visits Faraday and admits to staging the fake 815 wreckage.

In 1977, Faraday does wind up warning young Charlotte to leave the island. She and her mother later leave on a sub when evacuated. As do baby Miles and his mother Lara.

Young Eloise Hawking shoots and kills her son Daniel Faraday, with no knowledge that he is her son at that time. 

We find out that Jughead was hidden under Dharmaville and that there is a system of tunnels beneath the island. 


Alpert reveals that Ellie Hawking is pregnant in 1977. 


We see that NotLocke instructed Alpert in 1977 to remove the bullet from Locke's leg and tell him he's going to have to die in order to bring everyone back to the island. 


We finally meet Jacob, who resides in the foot of the four toed statue. We also meet his nemesis, a Mystery Man in black.

We see a ship in the distance that is more than likely the Black Rock. 


We discover that Jacob had visited some of the 815 passengers off island at various points in their lives; young Kate stealing from a liquor store, young Sawyer at his parents' funeral, Jack on the day of his Pilot story about counting to five, Jin and Sun at their wedding reception, Sayid when he is happily married to Nadia after getting off the island, and Hurley after getting out of jail and trying to avoid going back to the island. 


We see Sayid's wife Nadia killed in a hit and run accident.

Jacob was present when Locke was pushed out of the eight story window, and appears to revive him from the dead.

Sun finds Charlie's DriveShaft ring in Aaron's old crib. 


Faraday informs Jack that detonating Jughead would negate the energy beneath the Swan and send them back where they belonged. 

Sayid rigs the bomb and Jack drops it down the shaft of the Swan.


Pierre Chang's arm is crushed when metallic objects start to fly down the shaft because the drill hit the pocket of electromagnetic energy. 


Juliet is pulled down by chains that wrapped around her, and Sawyer and Kate are unable to save her. She drops down to her death. She wakes up briefly to see that Jughead had not detonated, and takes a rock to deliver the final blow.


Ilana and co. arrive at the statue and Richard answers her "what lies in the shadow of the statue" question in Latin. 


They open the crate to reveal that Locke's dead body was inside...even though he also appears to be with Ben and Jacob. 

Ben stabs Jacob and NotLocke kicks him into the fire.


Stain on the Ceiling

Regardless of when and where Jack & co. are when S6 resumes, I do hope we find out get to see Radzinsky's eventual death in the Swan. That he was the one who both designed the station and drew the blast door map makes me think that they're not done with his character just yet. 


The Visual and The Visceral

Representing one of my favorite 'easter egg' moments on Lost, there is a white rabbit literally through the (looking) glass of Eloise Hawking. 

I love the shot of Alpert working on the tiny ship in the bottle, especially given the opening scene of the S5 finale (Jacob & Mystery Man looking out at what is probably the Black Rock) and the speculation that Alpert actually arrived on the island via that ship.

As I pointed out a few posts ago, NotLocke emerges from the jungle with a dead boar in Follow the Leader, just as Miles did in The Lie earlier this season.


Locke leading his people across the island en masse was very reminiscent of Jack doing the same at the end of S3.

As much as I dread even mentioning it and posting this photo...bloodied Juliet at the bottom of the Swan reminded me of her book club selection - Carrie. 

Who's Your Daddy?

Like many of you, I have to wonder who Charlotte's father was, especially because he stayed behind when his family was evacuated off of the island. 

You Dropped a Bomb on Me

When Alpert told Sun that he saw Jack, Kate, Hurley and Jin die 30 years ago, my first thought was that Alpert is not only ageless, he's impenetrable. He not only witnessed Jughead's detonation, he survived it. What I want to know is why he thought the others perished as a result; if Faraday was right, the universe would have course corrected and I assumed that their bodies would disappear rather than remain on the island.

You're Special, So Special

There has to be more to the fact that Faraday told Desmond he is "uniquely and miraculously special," especially because "the rules don't apply" to him.  

In the S5 premiere (Because You Left), Dr. Chang scolded a Dharma worker beneath the Orchid for making fun of time travel possibilities: "There are rules; rules that can't be broken."  

It seems to me that Desmond is both a Variable and a Loophole, and therefore a key element to how the entire series unfolds and ends. And yet, Eloise Hawking refers to Desmond as "a casualty in a conflict that's bigger than him, that's bigger than any of us."I assume she's talking about the war between Jacob and Mystery Man/NotLocke.  

And for what it's worth, the only other person to whom certain rules do not apply is Juliet. In the much maligned S3 episode Stranger in a Strange Land, Ben sent the Sheriff a note that the rules do not apply to Juliet; thus, her life was spared. If you ask me, the island had far more to do with that particular order than Ben. Unfortunately, we've now seen just why it kept Juliet around. [sidenote: do I think that the rules for Des and Juliet were the same? no.]

Crazy Last Theory of the Rewatch


I have yet to truly sit down and formulate my predictions for the final season, but a crazy thought crossed my mind while watching the finale. 


When 815 lands in LA as originally planned, Claire will be pregnant. She will be in LA until she gives birth and her doctor will be Juliet...who works at Jack's hospital. That will be one of the many ways that they will introduce the characters to one another for the first time, given that they'll be strangers upon arrival. 


---
In addition to the Rewatch facts that I recently posted, I wanted to point out that I never re-read any of my posts from previous seasons; I wrote fresh notes while revisiting every single episode, and chose not to be influenced by previous analysis. I'm certain that there are similarities, but I only provided links to a few prior points and lists in order to save time. 


Thank you SO much for taking this journey with me over the last nine months. It was one of the most time-consuming yet rewarding experiences I've ever had. I sound like a broken record, but believe me when I say that I am extremely grateful to all of you who took the time to read my Rewatch posts and leave comments on occasion. You continue to fuel my creative fire, and I look forward to an amazing final season with you.


Now that my Rewatch has officially ended, I am shifting gears and focusing my energy on S6, because two weeks from right now...we will be on the beach awaiting the premiere screening in Waikiki! Stay tuned for details about a Meet-Up I am hosting on the eve of the premiere, as well as comprehensive coverage of the screening on Twitter and TVOvermind. 


Namaste, fellow fans and friends.


-Jo