And thus I return to recap and review the amazingness of the on-Island adventures of Jack, Hurley, and Ghost Jacob in “Lighthouse.” Hopefully, this will kick yesterday’s (two days ago, actually) entry’s ass with its epicness.
So, as I said yesterday, a HUGE part of the awesomeness of this episode was the nostalgia factor. Callbacks to Season One, especially “White Rabbit” (as seen in the flash-sideways as well as on-Island amazingness) are prominent throughout, and every time something was mentioned or referenced from earlier events, I just wiggled around in my seat in joy, a gleeful grin transfixed on my face. Awesome.
It opens with Jack’s face, muddled in the droplets of rain rippling the surface of the water. Just like his face in the water, Jack’s intentions and motivations on the Island are muddled as well – he’s unsure of what his purpose is, what he’s doing on the Island. And that’s the deepest observation you’re going to get from me in this blog.
Curiously, the rain stops as Dogen exits the Temple and approaches Jack. They’re all buddy buddy now, it seems.
@fanboytristan It’s called tic-tac-toe you upside-down fool.
Hurley goes into the Temple to ask for directions to the kitchen (didn’t Miles and Hurley say they were going to the dining hall a day ago?). In the Temple, he finds GHOST JACOB. EPIC. After informing him the kitchen is at the end of the hall, he tells Hugo that he’s come because he needs Hugo’s help. Hurley needs a pen, for he’ll have to write some things down (equally EPIC). Someone is coming to the Island (more on that tomorrow). Jacob needs Hurley to help him find it. Can I say EPIC once more? Cause damn, that describes Jacob’s theme. Boy, am I glad Giacchino isn’t doing ten thousand movies like he was last season. The score this season has been INCREDIBLE. And epic.
Now random Sayid scene. I suppose it’s necessary considering the infection epicness that will likely transpire next week.
And Hurley’s in some random hallway with hoards of hieroglyphics as epic Temple theme plays. Hurley’s a big fan of “temples, and history, and Indiana Jones stuff.” Pretentious Asian Dogen finds him, but as Hurley’s about to be busted, we see Ghost Jacob again! He assures Hugo that he’s a candidate, that he can do whatever he wants. Hugo reassures it to Dogen. And Dogen is FREAKED OUT.
It’s clear now that the slip of paper inside the breakable wooden ankh was a list of Jacob’s candidates, and that with this information in hand, it is absolutely vital that they be protected. Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Kwon, and Sayid. ESPECIALLY Sayid. Though risk was involved in dunking Sayid in the Temple pool, it was necessary that they try to revitalize him at all costs. They couldn’t risk it being their fault Sayid, one of Jacob’s last remaining candidates, is dead. This is why the guards stepped aside for Jack without any question in “What Kate Does,” why Dogen walks off saying that he would behead Hurley was he not a candidate. As they are candidates, they are to be protected, because, in essence, any one of them could be the next Jacob, their future leader.
“I just lied to a samurai.”
Jacob really is a manipulative bastard. He makes sure Hurley takes Jack to the Lighthouse. How so? Hurley tells Jack, as a message from Jacob, “You have what it takes.” Now how did Jacob arrive upon this information? Obvious answer is that Jacob extrapolated it from Jack’s memories or from his observations via crazy lighthouse mirror. But could Christian actually be on Jacob’s side? Could the infection actually be a result of Jacob’s doing, explaining Smokey’s apparent lack of knowledge of the claiming of Sayid? While this is unlikely, the theory that Jacob is the real bad guy would be helped big time by this. Jacob was a huge keeper of secrets.
Jack and Hurley stumble upon Kate on their journey. She’s very odd, very out-of-character in this go around. Maybe it’s because she’s no longer tortured by the love triangle with Sawyer’s current emotional state. But she seemed very upbeat and off in the scene. Maybe she’s just back to her “flirt with Jack” Season One standards? The exchange at least didn’t induce a groan. Kate probably won’t be this happy once she finally finds Claire.
Poor Hurley is sorry for “wrecking Jack’s game with Kate.” Jack steps on a random object on the ground, though it’s not really all that random an object. It’s an inhaler! And Hurley knows! “Dude, it’s Shannon’s.” EPIC! By Hurley’s directions on his arms, the two have stumbled upon the caves! Oh, how I have missed thee. And what’s in the caves but Adam and Eve? It’s been theorized since their introduction that they could be a couple of the characters we fell in love with from the pilot. And with the introduction of time travel craziness and what-not… Hurley lays it down.
“What if we time-traveled again to, like, dinosaur times? Would if we died and then got buried here? What if these skeletons are us?”
And Jack’s not an ass about it. No “That’s ridiculous, Hurley, there’s no such thing as time travel.” No “Dinosaurs never existed, Hurley.” Jack is a much more reasonable man with Hurley in this scene, and though his character’s undergone a huge shift of attitude, of faith within the last couple seasons, I believe a huge portion of Jack’s open-mindedness can be attributed to the fact that he’s talking to Hurley, that shred of innocence and fun among an Island filled with not much other than distraught and despair. And as we see next, Jack is much more open with Hurley about himself and his experiences. Around Hurley, Jack isn’t trying to be a leader; Jack is just being Jack.
He recalls the events of “White Rabbit” when he chased an apparition of his dead father and came upon the caves. He points out his father’s smashed coffin, and, knowing that Hurley will believe him, explains how his father wasn’t in it. Matthew Fox’s performance in this scene, in later scenes, and in this episode as a whole, truly provides some great insight into the man that is Jack Shephard.
“This is cool, dude. Very old school. […] You and me, trekking through the jungle, on our way to do something we don’t really understand. Good times.”
Leading up to this season and throughout it, Damon and Carlton have been labeling Season Six as a return to the tone and feel of Season One, and this scene is brilliant in its reflection of the past, the present, and the future of the season. Amidst all this mythological craziness, it seems these things have opened gateways into new locations, new ideas, and especially revisiting old locations in a whole different light. Jacob, the Man in Black, the Temple, the Cave, the Lighthouse – it’s all very new to them, very new to us, and allows us to experience once more that sensation of discovering a new DHARMA station, of stumbling upon some mind-blowing craziness for the first time. Though it’s the final season, the show has found a way to recapture that sheer joy and excitement of the first season. And I’m loving it.
Thus we come upon the lighthouse. And for the sake of time, your reading pleasure, and having enough crap to cover for the week, I’m saving all of my theories concerning the titular Lighthouse for tomorrow and following days. Call me out if you must, I stand by my shameless decision.
“Pretty cool, huh?” You got that right, Hurley. Also cool? Dreamboat Doctor kicking down a door. BAD ASS.
Hurley’s out of breath after ascending the stairs of the Lighthouse. Poor Jorge Garcia. Hurley then proceeds to begin turning the wheel to 108 degrees, as Jacob told him to. We discover on the wheel names! From the cave list! And many, many more! Dawson, Rousseau, Friendly, AUSTEN (51) – the shots of the names are very close, very intentional. The writers are now giving us material every week to obsess over. And I’m loving it.
Interestingly, as Jack’s gazing into the four mirrors of the beacon (“Electricity wasn’t invented yet”), he sees a pagoda, the same pagoda Sun & Jin (KWON 42) were married at. Hurley turns the wheel more, and Jack sees the church of Sawyer’s parents’ funeral (FORD 15). Now, I hate to break this to you, Hurley, but you’re turning the wheel the wrong way if you wanna make it to 108 (WALLACE).
So the question right now is: Who is Wallace? Jacob said that someone was coming to the Island, and that this someone would need to beacon of the Lighthouse to find it. Is Jacob’s claim legitimate, or was it all just a ploy to get Jack to realize his purpose?
Going off of the assumption that someone indeed is coming to the Island, the obvious identity of Wallace is Desmond. William Wallace was a Scottish hero, and Desmond, similarly, is Scottish. The numbers were an important aspect of his life, and Desmond has always been singled out as a special one. Somehow, a storm brought him to the Island. Perhaps it’s his destiny to return, and to finally bring his character back into relevant territory after his character was excluded from the main story in Season Five. Plus, Henry Ian Cusick’s been in the credits every week this season. Remember Harold Perrineau in Season Four, Daniel Dae Kim in Season Five? A return to regular status is being staged.
If it wasn’t Desmond, however, I can think of only one other plausible candidate (See what I did there?), and that is Waaaaalt!!! Sadly, Walt has faded out of relevance in the seasons since his departure from the Island. Remember the good ol’ days where he was just a big giant (See what I did there?) WTF? The dead-eye knife accuracy, the creepy appearances to Shannon and Locke, the birds. Walt’s story deserves to be resolved, though I feel as if he’s the Irish chick that was left back in the alternate reality and never mentioned since. Though he’s had a guest appearance here and there, those were wasted opportunities, serving only to remind us that the character still exists and didn’t fall into some rift of time and space. I thought one of the conventions of jumping from 2004 to 2007 is to accommodate for Malcolm David Kelley’s growth? I want my Walt back.
So back to the relevant events, Jack turns the beacon to a bearing of 23 degrees, marked SHEPHARD. And in that mirror, he and Hurley see his childhood house. Unleash the Crazy Jack. He brings his voice down to a menacing tone, demanding for Jacob to appear and explain to him why the hell he has been watching them the whole time. Infuriated, he unleashes his long-kept rage by brutalizing a telescope and bringing himself 36 years bad luck by smashing the mirrors of the beacon. CRAAAZY!!! No prominent neck vein, however.
Outside the Lighthouse, Jack is perched upon a precarious cliff. Like Batman. Ghost Jacob appears to Hurley, armed with more sarcastic comments and all-around awesomeness. 108 Degrees will find a way to get to the Island without the Lighthouse. And he needed to get the two of them away from the Temple, for someone bad is coming. Jacob reveals to Hurley part of his plan – it was his goal to help Jack discover his purpose. “Sometimes you can just hop in the back of someone’s cab and tell them what they’re supposed to do. Other times, you have to let them look out at the ocean for a while.” And in this episode, just as Jacob tried to help Jack realize himself, I realized who Jack was.
As a Jack episode, it had it all. Daddy issues. Crazy Jack. Crying. But it was well written, very enjoyable; it was fun. It really did evoke nostalgia for Season One. The trek through the jungle – very Season One. Revisiting the caves, Adam & Eve, Shannon’s freaking inhaler! – very Season One. And above all, the episode was a whole lot of fun. Hurley truly shined in this episode with all his quippy one-liners and dead on quotes as the voice of the audience, and I hope this kind of magic continues. Also with Hurley was Ghost Jacob, forming an awesome, entertaining dynamic reminiscent of the Baltar / Six relationship on BSG. I really hope it continues. The Giacchino score was dead on this week, quoting the epic beyond EPIC themes of Jacob and the Temple, along with accommodating the trek scenes with that sense of awe and wonder. This season is the show’s final, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it.
Remember, epic Lighthouse theories tomorrow! And comment, comment, comment! This desperate blogger begs you!
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