Lengthy Thoughts on "The Incident"
I watched the finale on Wednesday but stayed out of LJ land until now. I’ve managed to skim most of my flist’s finale reviews, but since many of you had multiple reaction posts, I’m could not keep up. It seems like quite a mixed reaction, with equal amounts of love and hate going around. Now that I’ve had a few days to think about it, I think ‘mixed’ most accurately sums up my own feelings about the finale.
Yawn
While there were some individual moments that stood out in the finale, what has stayed with me the most is the weak storytelling in getting us to each climax. A lot of the plot devices were stolen from other finales or relied on very rushed and out of character logic to move the story forward. Unlike every other finale, I have no desire to re-watch this episode any time too soon.
First we have the journey to the Foot, which is basically two hours of people, most of whom we don’t know, walking in a column. We already had the long island trek in Through the Looking Glass, and watching people walk, utter a line and take a drink of water is not very exciting. Couldn’t they have interwoven some drama to this? I could have used a polar bear or two running out of the jungle or anyone expressing an iota of emotion. Nope, everyone is very placid on their way to see/murder the wizard. If that wasn’t enough, we had a second plot featuring a bunch of strangers tramping through the jungle. At least they had things to see along the way, but other than Frank, I could care less about Illana’s people/purpose at this point and was quite bored in those scenes.
Then we had the touched by an angel/demon subplot. These scenes were played with enough ambiguity for us to question Jacob’s motivations, but I was yawning all through the flashbacks because I didn’t get anything new out of them and I’m not fond of a) everyone as pawns, b) there being a pre-flight 815 destiny for anyone or c) that Jacob’s reach extends beyond the island. Plus the last thing I care about at this point was seeing Katie shoplift a lunchbox and Jack argue with his dad for the thousandth time. I was moved by Jin’s vows, that was about it. Even wee Sawyer’s moment felt like too much unnecessary exposition.
The 1977 story was the most exciting, but about halfway through it, everyone but Miles and Sayid stopped making sense. And here is where after being so demure and mature, the quadrangle literally exploded. I could buy Jack’s desire to reset the past so he could fix things for everyone else, but not so he could have a second chance with Kate. I’m sorry, but Sawyer was right when he said, why didn’t he just work things out with Kate now, where despite all their history, there seems to be much less obstacles between them than Kate and Jack not even knowing each other. I also didn’t get the Jack and Sawyer discussion escalating into a dirty fight, though maybe I was just worried about Sayid bleeding out while the two doctors were out dealing with their love lives. Juliet was equally awesome (bomb smashing) and disappointing (deciding out of the blue to turn back time so she could avoid breaking up with Sawyer). Out of the four of them, Kate was the most consistent and useful, and you know when I think that, something else has to be off with the rest. Also, why didn’t Hurley or Jin speak out about Jack’s plan? Would Jin really go along with a plan that erases his daughter from existence? Did Jin even get a line in that time period?
Also, would Richard really be cool with allowing strangers to set off a frakking H-Bomb on his island? In terms of changing futures, it might save Eloise’s spawn, but wouldn’t it kill all the hostiles in the process, and then doom Daniel anyway? Is the temple/Jacob going the save all his people and their habitat from the effects of the blast and radiation? If so, why were they so worried about Jughead back in the 1950s?
Then we end with a huge and frustrating question mark designed purely to keep all the “What ifs” circulating for 9 months. Five years ago I thought not giving us a glimmer of what was in the hatch in Exodus was anticlimactic, but having no follow up to the bomb was even lamer. If they can’t produce a shock along the lines of the snake in the mailbox type reveal, at least give us something to ponder along the lines of two Portuguese men playing chess in the Antarctica.
Other disappointments - No Humes, No Claire, No one tells Miles about Daniel, we have to drag out the ‘Who survived?’ drama for 9 months, Phil was skewered by only one flying pole, and if he was going to survive anyway, why not at least skewer Radzinksy somewhere that will really hurt.
Minor Squee
It was not all bad…
The appearance of Vincent, Rose, and Bernard really satisfied me. Their idea of ‘retirement’ works really well given where their mindsets have always been and the madness that has ensued in the past when caught between the other castaways and their enemies.
Finding Charlie’s ring was a nice touch, even if it transitioned into a Jin/Sun moment, rather than anything related to Claire or Aaron.
“Ricardos?” That gave me a mini chill because I gave Richard that same name in my fic, a Midnight Stroll Down Cul-de-Sac Lane. The other good Richard moment was his exchange with Sun about their mutual desire for alcohol.
The acting in the episode elevated the writing. Only Michael Emerson could pull off lame lines like, “When we went to see the monster.” Naveen Andrews and Elizabeth Mitchell had me really believing they were in great pain.
Dad! I also liked how despite the intense focus on the romantic relationships, a tiny spotlight was put on Miles and Dr. Chang.
I feel vindicated that the caring and vulnerable John Locke, whose return I liked so much in Jeremy Bentham, was the real John Locke, not this cocky, presuming, and teasing man. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that Locke is dead. Regardless of if they find a way to keep Terry O’Quinn in the show, Locke’s end as we know it is so very tragic. Who would have thought that he, of all people, would be placed on the pile of sacrifices the island demanded? I don’t even think Boone is laughing anymore.
Speaking of Locke, the whole Jacob/nemesis mythology reminded me of his speech to Walt about the black and white duality of the backgammon tiles. Given the island is all about giveth and taketh, it makes sense to think of there being competing forces of good and evil. I’m intrigued that the bad force has apparently been taking the shape of the dead to manipulate the living, and now even Jacob himself. That is a very cool idea. It made me wonder if he takes on the form of Smokey. Also, was that him off island as Charlie and Ana, or was Hurley indeed blessed? I hope they are not implying that it all comes down to pure black/white=good/evil. That seems too simple. Plus despite wearing the white shirt, Jacob has a long way to go in convincing me he is all good. For example, while I think Ben needs to stop whining about how he got screwed and take responsibility for his own fate, he made a good point in his rant about Jacob’s complete dismissal of him, which was then followed by Jacob mocking his concerns. Was Jacob shunning him proof that Ben is not worthy because he is a sinner or that Jacob is not the good one, or at least not a nice guy?
One of my favourite actors from Deadwood made an appearance as Jacob’s nemesis. Hi Silas! It’s nice to see you again. If he looks hard enough, he’ll find Trixie, Joanie and Farnum out and about. P.S. If you wanted to kill Jacob, forget loopholes, you should have just hired Dexter.
Where do we go from here?
I’m sure we could each make a list of the half dozen possibilities for where (or when) the series will go in its final season. We could also give decent odds on the suggested outcomes based on external factors like actor availability or presumptions about what this show is meant to be about. I’m not about to get into the debate about resets or time jumps or character deaths because I only really enjoy speculating when it comes to planning a fic, and that’s when I have control to plot out everyone’s futures.
Yawn
While there were some individual moments that stood out in the finale, what has stayed with me the most is the weak storytelling in getting us to each climax. A lot of the plot devices were stolen from other finales or relied on very rushed and out of character logic to move the story forward. Unlike every other finale, I have no desire to re-watch this episode any time too soon.
First we have the journey to the Foot, which is basically two hours of people, most of whom we don’t know, walking in a column. We already had the long island trek in Through the Looking Glass, and watching people walk, utter a line and take a drink of water is not very exciting. Couldn’t they have interwoven some drama to this? I could have used a polar bear or two running out of the jungle or anyone expressing an iota of emotion. Nope, everyone is very placid on their way to see/murder the wizard. If that wasn’t enough, we had a second plot featuring a bunch of strangers tramping through the jungle. At least they had things to see along the way, but other than Frank, I could care less about Illana’s people/purpose at this point and was quite bored in those scenes.
Then we had the touched by an angel/demon subplot. These scenes were played with enough ambiguity for us to question Jacob’s motivations, but I was yawning all through the flashbacks because I didn’t get anything new out of them and I’m not fond of a) everyone as pawns, b) there being a pre-flight 815 destiny for anyone or c) that Jacob’s reach extends beyond the island. Plus the last thing I care about at this point was seeing Katie shoplift a lunchbox and Jack argue with his dad for the thousandth time. I was moved by Jin’s vows, that was about it. Even wee Sawyer’s moment felt like too much unnecessary exposition.
The 1977 story was the most exciting, but about halfway through it, everyone but Miles and Sayid stopped making sense. And here is where after being so demure and mature, the quadrangle literally exploded. I could buy Jack’s desire to reset the past so he could fix things for everyone else, but not so he could have a second chance with Kate. I’m sorry, but Sawyer was right when he said, why didn’t he just work things out with Kate now, where despite all their history, there seems to be much less obstacles between them than Kate and Jack not even knowing each other. I also didn’t get the Jack and Sawyer discussion escalating into a dirty fight, though maybe I was just worried about Sayid bleeding out while the two doctors were out dealing with their love lives. Juliet was equally awesome (bomb smashing) and disappointing (deciding out of the blue to turn back time so she could avoid breaking up with Sawyer). Out of the four of them, Kate was the most consistent and useful, and you know when I think that, something else has to be off with the rest. Also, why didn’t Hurley or Jin speak out about Jack’s plan? Would Jin really go along with a plan that erases his daughter from existence? Did Jin even get a line in that time period?
Also, would Richard really be cool with allowing strangers to set off a frakking H-Bomb on his island? In terms of changing futures, it might save Eloise’s spawn, but wouldn’t it kill all the hostiles in the process, and then doom Daniel anyway? Is the temple/Jacob going the save all his people and their habitat from the effects of the blast and radiation? If so, why were they so worried about Jughead back in the 1950s?
Then we end with a huge and frustrating question mark designed purely to keep all the “What ifs” circulating for 9 months. Five years ago I thought not giving us a glimmer of what was in the hatch in Exodus was anticlimactic, but having no follow up to the bomb was even lamer. If they can’t produce a shock along the lines of the snake in the mailbox type reveal, at least give us something to ponder along the lines of two Portuguese men playing chess in the Antarctica.
Other disappointments - No Humes, No Claire, No one tells Miles about Daniel, we have to drag out the ‘Who survived?’ drama for 9 months, Phil was skewered by only one flying pole, and if he was going to survive anyway, why not at least skewer Radzinksy somewhere that will really hurt.
Minor Squee
It was not all bad…
The appearance of Vincent, Rose, and Bernard really satisfied me. Their idea of ‘retirement’ works really well given where their mindsets have always been and the madness that has ensued in the past when caught between the other castaways and their enemies.
Finding Charlie’s ring was a nice touch, even if it transitioned into a Jin/Sun moment, rather than anything related to Claire or Aaron.
“Ricardos?” That gave me a mini chill because I gave Richard that same name in my fic, a Midnight Stroll Down Cul-de-Sac Lane. The other good Richard moment was his exchange with Sun about their mutual desire for alcohol.
The acting in the episode elevated the writing. Only Michael Emerson could pull off lame lines like, “When we went to see the monster.” Naveen Andrews and Elizabeth Mitchell had me really believing they were in great pain.
Dad! I also liked how despite the intense focus on the romantic relationships, a tiny spotlight was put on Miles and Dr. Chang.
I feel vindicated that the caring and vulnerable John Locke, whose return I liked so much in Jeremy Bentham, was the real John Locke, not this cocky, presuming, and teasing man. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that Locke is dead. Regardless of if they find a way to keep Terry O’Quinn in the show, Locke’s end as we know it is so very tragic. Who would have thought that he, of all people, would be placed on the pile of sacrifices the island demanded? I don’t even think Boone is laughing anymore.
Speaking of Locke, the whole Jacob/nemesis mythology reminded me of his speech to Walt about the black and white duality of the backgammon tiles. Given the island is all about giveth and taketh, it makes sense to think of there being competing forces of good and evil. I’m intrigued that the bad force has apparently been taking the shape of the dead to manipulate the living, and now even Jacob himself. That is a very cool idea. It made me wonder if he takes on the form of Smokey. Also, was that him off island as Charlie and Ana, or was Hurley indeed blessed? I hope they are not implying that it all comes down to pure black/white=good/evil. That seems too simple. Plus despite wearing the white shirt, Jacob has a long way to go in convincing me he is all good. For example, while I think Ben needs to stop whining about how he got screwed and take responsibility for his own fate, he made a good point in his rant about Jacob’s complete dismissal of him, which was then followed by Jacob mocking his concerns. Was Jacob shunning him proof that Ben is not worthy because he is a sinner or that Jacob is not the good one, or at least not a nice guy?
One of my favourite actors from Deadwood made an appearance as Jacob’s nemesis. Hi Silas! It’s nice to see you again. If he looks hard enough, he’ll find Trixie, Joanie and Farnum out and about. P.S. If you wanted to kill Jacob, forget loopholes, you should have just hired Dexter.
Where do we go from here?
I’m sure we could each make a list of the half dozen possibilities for where (or when) the series will go in its final season. We could also give decent odds on the suggested outcomes based on external factors like actor availability or presumptions about what this show is meant to be about. I’m not about to get into the debate about resets or time jumps or character deaths because I only really enjoy speculating when it comes to planning a fic, and that’s when I have control to plot out everyone’s futures.