Lost Season Six: Across The Sea
People seem to have either loved or hated this episode of Lost. Personally, I was disappointed the soundtrack didn't feature a Beatles / Bobby Darin mash-up. ("Across The Universe" with "Beyond The Sea." Anyone? *taptap* I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing.)
Onwards to my personal thoughts on the episode:
The official Lostpedia write-up for this episode says that it takes place approximately 2,000 years ago. I'm not sure where exactly they got that date from, since I don't think it was ever stated in the episode and there weren't any real indicators in the background. Regardless, it is obviously a long time ago. There's no indication that the Statue has been built yet, so one has to assume this is even before whatever period Sawyer's gang flashed back to (which had to be before Richard arrived on the Island because the Black Rock destroyed the Statue). I'm not sure the exact time-frame really matters; what we were supposed to get out of this episode is that Jacob and the Man In Black are not the immortals we thought they were. They're not demi-gods, they're not Biblical figures like Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau somehow made immortal. They are, however, normal humans transformed for the Island's purposes. I can't say I'm disappointed in this reveal, as I really didn't think the writers were going to steer directly into the Judeo-Christian Bible for the series finale; they've been spiritual all along, in that Faith vs. Reason dynamic, but they've steered away from picking a particular religion to espouse. So, as cool as it would have been for Jeff Jensen's idea (the Cain/Abel concept) to be true, I was pretty sure that wasn't what we were going to get. I didn't know what we would get in it's place, of course. I really wasn't thinking that far ahead, despite (in hindsight) how obvious it was that this week would be all about Jacob and MIB's history. (I have to say, since I don't watch ABC most of the rest of the week, if the previews actually showed that the ep would be about J and M, I had no idea.)
This was, like the Richard outing, one of those rare LOST episodes that unfolds chronologically -- no flash backs, forwards or sideways. Chronological episodes, probably because we've been conditioned after 5.5 seasons, always feel a little slower and less full of dramatic tension. Which is silly, because most television episodes, and movies, and books, unfold in chronological order and the tension mounts perfectly well.
So, did I love it or hate it? Neither. I fall right in the middle. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I liked it, but I can understand the problems others had with it. It did pretty much what I thought any episode centered on Jacob and the Man In Black would do: sorta-kinda answer questions about those two characters specifically, without answering any of the Big Questions. We got to see that they have .... well, not Daddy-Issues because they don't seem to have a Daddy, but Parental Issues just like every other main character on the show. We got to see Jacob and the Man in Black as real people. Which is where the episode sort of backfired a bit for me.
Think about it. Throughout the series, every time we've been introduced to a Bad Guy or Girl, we eventually discover something sympathetic about them. Jin was a jerk in season one; Rousseau was dangerous; Ben was The Lead Bad-Guy; then Charles Widmore was; then MIB. Jin became more sympathetic once we knew what he'd done to be able to marry Sun; Rousseau's whole reason for being nuts-beyond-belief made her less dangerous (but no less cool); Ben's messed up childhood made us understand his need to be in charge (and almost being murdered by Sayid made us understand him even more); Widmore became more sympathetic once we saw how the Island had caused him to essentially lose both of his children. We should have seen a similar revelation about the Man In Black coming. Unfortunately, I think this episode, showing why MiB is sorta nuts, totally deflates the argument Carlton and Damon gave for killing Sayid, Jin and Sun a week ago -- that the audience needed to see just how totally Evil MiB is. Really? One week he is the Embodiment of Evil, needing to be locked (or is that Locke'd) away forever, and a week later he's just a miserable little kid who wants to travel the world but is kept down on the farm by his smothering mother. Sorta takes all the wind out of that argument, guys. At least in my opinion.
So, that's essentially the part of the episode I didn't like. What I did like was the performances. I thought the two kids did a nice job of mirroring / mimicking the vocal and facial tics of Titus Welliver and Mark Pellegrino. Good casting on the director's part. (Of course, the kid playing Young Jacob had been cast much earlier in the season ... which also shoots down my idea that the Ghost Boy FLocke was seeing was somehow Aaron.) Given what they were given, both adult actors managed to show us how far their characters have progressed, or not progressed. Welliver put all the teen angst he could into his scenes with Pellegrino and Allison Janney. Pellegrino, on the other hand, gave us a Jacob who is far less secure in himself than the Jacob we saw at the end of Season 5 or even as a ghost in Season 6, or in Richard's centric episode. I haven't seen any other write-ups on the episode that mention the very obvious difference in Jacob, so perhaps I'm the only one who saw it. Wouldn't be the first time. (I'm still wondering why more people didn't comment on the odd behavior of Sideways-Bernard in "The Candidate," for example.)
The creators took a risk, too, in crafting an entire episode in which we don't see any of the regular cast until the last 30 seconds or so, and even that appearance is in stock footage from season one. And then an even bigger risk by centering most of the episode not on the established guest-stars Pellegrino and Welliver, but on two kids who kinda look like them. Thankfully, they had Allison Janney to steal the show. She did a wonderful job as Mother; I'm not sure how many actresses could have stepped in to center stage in a near-penultimate episode of a beloved series and rose to the challenge as she did. It helps that I'm a big Janney fan anyway, but she managed to make me forget her previous roles. Always a plus.
I know some people are very upset that MiB wasn't given a name. I thought it was an excellent choice -- they humanized him enough by giving him a childhood and showing his Transformative Moment; I think leaving him Nameless was a smart thing to do. I don't think the point was supposed to be that he didn't have a name, I thought it was supposed to be that his name has long since been forgotten by himself, and by Jacob, and the only other person who would have known it has been dead for a long time. Any name he could have been given would have been anti-climactic. Either it would have been Esau, strengthening the Biblical ties, or it would have been something completely different and disappointing.
I did note with interest that MiB (or should that be BiB) was told by Mother that he was "special," a term we've also heard used regarding Aaron and Walt. Once again, the creators place an emphasis on children (from the birth thing, to the children themselves), but I somehow doubt we'll see this thread followed through on in what time is left.
I'm sure there's more to say on this episode, but I'm starting to feel a little brain dead. I'm sure knowing that MiB wasn't necessarily lying when he said he had a crazy mother will affect how I feel about whatever he manages to do in the last few hours of the show.
Three and a half hours left to go, and as has been said in the comments on my analysis of "The Candidate," it's seeming less like the creative team is interested in answering a lot of the long-standing questions. Like others, I would still like to know what changed about the Island that suddenly women could no longer bear babies to full term (Ethan seems to have been the last child conceived and born on the Island), and I'd also like to see some clarification on things like how Jacob was able to go off-Island and meet the Candidates, etc. Those seem like some pretty important plot holes to fill in in the next 3.5 hours, but it's sounding like those are not the kinds of answers / resolutions we'll be getting.
Onwards to my personal thoughts on the episode:
The official Lostpedia write-up for this episode says that it takes place approximately 2,000 years ago. I'm not sure where exactly they got that date from, since I don't think it was ever stated in the episode and there weren't any real indicators in the background. Regardless, it is obviously a long time ago. There's no indication that the Statue has been built yet, so one has to assume this is even before whatever period Sawyer's gang flashed back to (which had to be before Richard arrived on the Island because the Black Rock destroyed the Statue). I'm not sure the exact time-frame really matters; what we were supposed to get out of this episode is that Jacob and the Man In Black are not the immortals we thought they were. They're not demi-gods, they're not Biblical figures like Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau somehow made immortal. They are, however, normal humans transformed for the Island's purposes. I can't say I'm disappointed in this reveal, as I really didn't think the writers were going to steer directly into the Judeo-Christian Bible for the series finale; they've been spiritual all along, in that Faith vs. Reason dynamic, but they've steered away from picking a particular religion to espouse. So, as cool as it would have been for Jeff Jensen's idea (the Cain/Abel concept) to be true, I was pretty sure that wasn't what we were going to get. I didn't know what we would get in it's place, of course. I really wasn't thinking that far ahead, despite (in hindsight) how obvious it was that this week would be all about Jacob and MIB's history. (I have to say, since I don't watch ABC most of the rest of the week, if the previews actually showed that the ep would be about J and M, I had no idea.)
This was, like the Richard outing, one of those rare LOST episodes that unfolds chronologically -- no flash backs, forwards or sideways. Chronological episodes, probably because we've been conditioned after 5.5 seasons, always feel a little slower and less full of dramatic tension. Which is silly, because most television episodes, and movies, and books, unfold in chronological order and the tension mounts perfectly well.
So, did I love it or hate it? Neither. I fall right in the middle. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I liked it, but I can understand the problems others had with it. It did pretty much what I thought any episode centered on Jacob and the Man In Black would do: sorta-kinda answer questions about those two characters specifically, without answering any of the Big Questions. We got to see that they have .... well, not Daddy-Issues because they don't seem to have a Daddy, but Parental Issues just like every other main character on the show. We got to see Jacob and the Man in Black as real people. Which is where the episode sort of backfired a bit for me.
Think about it. Throughout the series, every time we've been introduced to a Bad Guy or Girl, we eventually discover something sympathetic about them. Jin was a jerk in season one; Rousseau was dangerous; Ben was The Lead Bad-Guy; then Charles Widmore was; then MIB. Jin became more sympathetic once we knew what he'd done to be able to marry Sun; Rousseau's whole reason for being nuts-beyond-belief made her less dangerous (but no less cool); Ben's messed up childhood made us understand his need to be in charge (and almost being murdered by Sayid made us understand him even more); Widmore became more sympathetic once we saw how the Island had caused him to essentially lose both of his children. We should have seen a similar revelation about the Man In Black coming. Unfortunately, I think this episode, showing why MiB is sorta nuts, totally deflates the argument Carlton and Damon gave for killing Sayid, Jin and Sun a week ago -- that the audience needed to see just how totally Evil MiB is. Really? One week he is the Embodiment of Evil, needing to be locked (or is that Locke'd) away forever, and a week later he's just a miserable little kid who wants to travel the world but is kept down on the farm by his smothering mother. Sorta takes all the wind out of that argument, guys. At least in my opinion.
So, that's essentially the part of the episode I didn't like. What I did like was the performances. I thought the two kids did a nice job of mirroring / mimicking the vocal and facial tics of Titus Welliver and Mark Pellegrino. Good casting on the director's part. (Of course, the kid playing Young Jacob had been cast much earlier in the season ... which also shoots down my idea that the Ghost Boy FLocke was seeing was somehow Aaron.) Given what they were given, both adult actors managed to show us how far their characters have progressed, or not progressed. Welliver put all the teen angst he could into his scenes with Pellegrino and Allison Janney. Pellegrino, on the other hand, gave us a Jacob who is far less secure in himself than the Jacob we saw at the end of Season 5 or even as a ghost in Season 6, or in Richard's centric episode. I haven't seen any other write-ups on the episode that mention the very obvious difference in Jacob, so perhaps I'm the only one who saw it. Wouldn't be the first time. (I'm still wondering why more people didn't comment on the odd behavior of Sideways-Bernard in "The Candidate," for example.)
The creators took a risk, too, in crafting an entire episode in which we don't see any of the regular cast until the last 30 seconds or so, and even that appearance is in stock footage from season one. And then an even bigger risk by centering most of the episode not on the established guest-stars Pellegrino and Welliver, but on two kids who kinda look like them. Thankfully, they had Allison Janney to steal the show. She did a wonderful job as Mother; I'm not sure how many actresses could have stepped in to center stage in a near-penultimate episode of a beloved series and rose to the challenge as she did. It helps that I'm a big Janney fan anyway, but she managed to make me forget her previous roles. Always a plus.
I know some people are very upset that MiB wasn't given a name. I thought it was an excellent choice -- they humanized him enough by giving him a childhood and showing his Transformative Moment; I think leaving him Nameless was a smart thing to do. I don't think the point was supposed to be that he didn't have a name, I thought it was supposed to be that his name has long since been forgotten by himself, and by Jacob, and the only other person who would have known it has been dead for a long time. Any name he could have been given would have been anti-climactic. Either it would have been Esau, strengthening the Biblical ties, or it would have been something completely different and disappointing.
I did note with interest that MiB (or should that be BiB) was told by Mother that he was "special," a term we've also heard used regarding Aaron and Walt. Once again, the creators place an emphasis on children (from the birth thing, to the children themselves), but I somehow doubt we'll see this thread followed through on in what time is left.
I'm sure there's more to say on this episode, but I'm starting to feel a little brain dead. I'm sure knowing that MiB wasn't necessarily lying when he said he had a crazy mother will affect how I feel about whatever he manages to do in the last few hours of the show.
Three and a half hours left to go, and as has been said in the comments on my analysis of "The Candidate," it's seeming less like the creative team is interested in answering a lot of the long-standing questions. Like others, I would still like to know what changed about the Island that suddenly women could no longer bear babies to full term (Ethan seems to have been the last child conceived and born on the Island), and I'd also like to see some clarification on things like how Jacob was able to go off-Island and meet the Candidates, etc. Those seem like some pretty important plot holes to fill in in the next 3.5 hours, but it's sounding like those are not the kinds of answers / resolutions we'll be getting.