WRITERS: Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz & Elizabeth Sarnoff[SPOILERS] This penultimate episode (ever) returned to the season's core narratives after last week's polarizing fraternal flashback for Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) and the Man In Black. "What They Died For", referring to those killed during the sinking of the submarine (Lapidus, Sayid, Jin and Sun), certainly worked well to focus minds ready for the imminent, extended series finale.
DIRECTOR: Paul Edwards
GUEST CAST: Alan Dale, Kenton Duty, Mira Furlan, Sheila Kelley, Dylan Minnette, Mark Pellegrino, Tania Raymonde & Michelle Rodriguez
X-Timeline '04: Ben, Jack, Locke, Desmond, etc.
Ben also had a touching subplot, when he was taken to see Alex's (Tania Raymonde) mother (Mira Furlan) and realized he's become a father figure to his favourite student. This wasn't a substantial storyline, but that moment in particular was poignantly played by Emerson, whose relationship with Alex has arguably been a lot more interesting post-mortem. The ripples of Desmond's violence also spread; Ben told Locke about Desmond's claim he only ran him over in an effort to make him "let go", making Locke sense a divine guidance because Jack (Matthew Fox) used the same words during their last meeting. Lifted out of his self-pitying funk, Locke went to see Jack and this time accepted his earlier offer of cutting-edge spinal surgery to allow him to walk again. I did wonder why Jack acted so bemused by Locke's serendipitous beliefs, though, as he's been having similar thoughts that Flight 815's passengers are connected recently.
Also of concern: the possibility that Lost's dead characters will be restored to life once fully "woken up" in the flashsideways (I mean, more so than Hurley appears to be), and I'm not convinced that resurrecting everyone for a trite happy ending is the way to go. It would cheapen all the deaths up until now, wouldn't it? Plus, nobody wants Anna Lucia back.
The Island '07: Ben, Widmore, Locke, etc.
Ben's touching moments in the flashsideways were in stark contrast to the emotions he displayed in the Island storyline. Ben had returned to the abandoned Barracks with Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) and Miles (Ken Leung) to retrieve C4 explosives to destroy the Ajira plane -- a plan that's now pointless, as explained by Widmore (Alan Dale), who's arrived with lackey Zoe (Sheila Kelley) to reveal how he was summoned to the Island by Jacob and has effectively turned over a new leaf as a result. Jacob should really have had a quiet word with Widmore a few years ago -- y'know, to protect the Island from him and his freighter of mercenaries. That is Jacob's sole purpose, isn't it? What a dummy.
I wasn't totally convinced by Ben's decision-making here, but I have enough of a suspicion to believe he's conning Locke to let my disbelief rest -- for now. After the beautifully emotion scene where Ben decided to join "Team Jacob" with Ilana awhile back, it feels like a dumb reversal of that breakthrough moment. There may be those who relish how quickly Ben's allegiance can flip, but I'm not one of them. I can only hope that Ben's just hoping to assure short-term protection as Locke's aide (he's someone who can kill on Smokey's behalf, so it won't break Jacob's "rules"), while actually intending to betray and kill him at a crucial stage. It would be very unsatisfying to me if Ben's story ended without some redemption, basically.
As for Widmore's death... well, it was inevitable but deserved that Ben was responsible, but it was a little anti-climatic when you consider all the Ben/Widmore machinations of season 4. A similar letdown was the throwaway line that Ben "summoning" the Smoke Monster in season 4 (by draining that puddle of water in the "secret-er" room) was just a misguided belief and the Smoke Monster was never on a leash. Do we buy any of that? No. I really hope the finale isn't littered with other loose-ends being treated so poorly.
The Island '07: Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Kate & Jacob
Jacob demanded that one of them become his replacement, or face the inevitability that everyone they've ever known will die. Jack, of course, stepped forward and accepted the position as protector of the Island. Was there really any other choice? So Jack drank a cup of water from a nearby stream, blessed by Jacob, watched by his fellow candidates, to become like Jacob. For a dead man, Jacob's ability to touch and be seen by the living like this is certainly the easiest "death" I've ever seen. The MIB's loophole wasn't that tight, if he person you finally manage to kill is still able to communicate and interact with the world. And now that Jack's the new guardian of the Island, will he have any "special powers" with which to defeat MIB, or will there be a tenuous reason why he doesn't, or has to let things play out without interfering in that way. Rules, rules, rules.
In Summation
There are sticking points with this episode, as we race towards a conclusion that's revealing how porous Lost's mythology has been in certain areas, but "What They Died For" was still a great deal of fun and made some headway with Jacob/Jack, while the flashsideways plots are growing thicker with incident as characters "find" each other. The stage is set for a final chapter that could, possibly, tie everything up in a jaw-dropping way to leave us breathless and intellectually nourished... or, more likely, provide a few hours of huge entertainment and emotional closure, particularly if you've followed these characters and engaged with this story for six years. Whatever the outcome, however it ends, I'm ready with a mixture of excitement and sadness.
Questions, Questions, Questions!
- How does Locke plan to use Desmond to destroy the Island?
- What happened to Richard? He's assumedly still unable to be killed, so Smokey must have just tied him up somewhere again. Will Richard lose his immortality when Jacob finally passes over?
- Where's Desmond gone? Did Sayid rescue him from the well?
- Why was Ben able to kill Widmore when he couldn't in "The Shape of Things to Come"?
- Why are we seeing the "ghost" of Jacob in both child form and adult form? Is there significance there?
- If Jack is now the new Jacob, what's to stop him making everyone immortal to defeat Smokey, or simply changing "the rules" to their advantage? Thinking ahead, will Jack end the series as sentry of an empty Island it's already extremely difficult to get to, or will he also have a "nemesis" to do battle with, in an echo of the Jacob/MIB situation? If so, who?
- What was the equipment Widmore told Zoe to get from the outriggers?
- In the flashsideways, what is causing Jack's neck to bleed?
- What isn't Ana Lucia ready for, according to Desmond? Sounds like a vagary because Michelle Rodriguez just isn't available to be utilized more. Speaking of which, I must admit I'm disappointed so many actors didn't want, or couldn't, get involved in this season. It would have been great to see Sharon or Mr. Eko in particular. And I really hope Juliet turns up in the finale. In fact, maybe the finale's going to be a huge surprise and everyone we didn't think would be back gets some screentime? In a way that's not detrimental to the story, of course. I don't want the finale to be a fan-servicing load of nonsense.
