Doc Jensen's Lost S5 Finale recap: Starting Over

'Lost' recap: Starting over | S5 finale: The Incident| p 1 of 7 | Totally 'Lost' | EW.com:
recap title Starting Over re Jack's 1977 attempt to detonate a new future into being & Doc J's theory that succeeded, that a reboot does happen, + his jacob quibbling failsafe theory.
but also applies in the sense of cmmt on TunedIn by
-renewkir: "Oh hell, time to go back to the Pilot & just watch the Fred & Jacob show all over again, I suppose."
it's a whole new show now! recontextualized. inverted white LOST ending. a Ben & Widmore war? 'That is not it. That is not it at all.' someone said on sepinwall, I think.
and on twop episode forum thread, p17:
-I noticed the Darhma house that had Jughead in the basement was Horace's. Horace built Jacob's cabin & many people are suspiscious of Amy so maybe they were Other spies after all. But again, with all this Dark & Light, Good & Evil, body-snatching, seemingly at least three ageless Egyptian Gods and all, doesn't Dharma just seem insignificant now? I hope next season is not going to be a matter of some universal battle between good and evil, waged by 2 characters introduced at the end of the 5th season, such that we are expected to forget about important stuff like why Libby was in the same mental institution as Hurley; what happened to Claire; *why clairevoyant types were important to the Others, *why Aaron ought not be raised by another; why food drops were still be ing made 20 years later; how Miles can communicate with the dead, etcetera, etcetera. /y well I'm okay with the recontextualizing as Jacob & ___ story at end of penult season. but y I remain int in that list of things, mainly: wh th Others are about, wh they spend their time doing. and in the psychic business w Aaron. the Others shld be central anyway, as they serve Jacob, right? & maybe Aaron still central also, per another cmmt at Tuned In by
-natego: When I first saw the Blond fair skinned Jacob, I immediately thought it was Aaron grown up. Was this a fakeout by the writers? Or does anyone think this is still a possibility??
ooh. I'd like it if after all (hvg learned Jacob is not Locke, is not Jack) these two guys are tied to our Losties. it's ok w me if not, I kind of like the men behind the curtain behind what we thought was the curtain, revealed only at end of 5th season in a six season story. that's okay with me, if what we've been watching is the 'bit players' in their drama, why shldn't show be about bit players? and as time goes on, come to find out more & more, the backdrop expands & earlier~greater stakes are revealed. but if Jacob was Aaron, I'd like that. esp bcs wld be a big reason for the Claire psychic bit, wh is the 'bit' mystery of most int to me. the big reason: so important that her good nature be an influence on her son, or at least that he be raised by good ppl, bcs! he is to be the ~god of the good, of light.
in casting call, did request a fair actor? have seen the info re man #2 casting call under name (pseudo, maybe) of Samuel. but what about the Jacob casting call? check Lostpedia 'jacob' article

and now! Doc Jensen's recap:

'Lost' recap: Starting over | S5 finale: The Incident| p 1 of 7 | Totally 'Lost' | EW.com:

Curious fellow, this Jacob. He's a sunny optimist — a believer in "progress." & free will. why say free will? seems likely but did he specificly say sth relevant?
Jacob was present at key moments in the off-Island lives of many Lostaways & everyone he met got touched. Important? Absolutely, I think so, yes. My theory can be summarized in one word: Failsafe.

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Back in the Dharma Days of the quantum leaping pastaways..
A THEORY! Miles was completely correct when he suggested that Jack's quantum suicide-bomber act would actually produce the very ''incident'' they were trying to subvert;that they would be fulfilling history, not re-making it. At the same time, I think mad scientist Daniel Faraday was correct with his ''human variable'' theory.
There was a free radical among the time travelers, and her exercise of free will in last night's episode made all the difference: Juliet ''I changed my mind'' Burke. huh. As a result of her Jughead-blowing anarchy, history has been rebooted. The Swan will never be built; Oceanic 815 will never crash. wow really? nah! well bold of Doc J to take a stance on the big cliffhanger of the season.

[TunedIn -Kemper: Biggest question to me, So is WHH happened still in place or did Juliet change things? Will the last season start with everyone still on the island saying 'What happened?' or does it start with 815 landing in LAX?]

But the shape of the new timeline will be determined by now-former castaways, thanks to the two gifts given to them by Jacob in the finale: a second chance at life & the freedom to create their own destiny. More explanation to come.
...
AlternaLocke manipulated Ben into doing the actual dirty work of god slaying, full of bitterness toward the god he had served faithfully & sight-unseen for decades without reward, without the assurance of his presence. "I did what I was told. But when I dared to ask to see you myself I was told I had to wait...What was it that was so wrong with me? What about me?" The showdown was rife with spiritual subtext and will no doubt inspire a great many religion-major dissertations. Lost: Allegory For Mankind's Angry Alienation From God In A Post-Eden World.'')
It seemed to me that Jacob willingly submitted himself to death, all but baring his breast and walking his heart right into Ben's knife. making clear to Ben that it was his own choice to do this, & then provoking him: what about you?

[ p7 among bulletish points: The past couple weeks have asked Michael Emerson to play a humbled, defeated, exposed Ben — but just like Sun, I have to admit, I don’t really believe him. He told at least one lie last night. He said to Locke that he was a Pisces (another fish reference for you) — but according to established mythology of his birthday (Dec. 19), he’s actually a Sagittarius. I was moved by Ben’s anger toward Jacob, his bitterness and resentment toward his Island god for being so distant from him, for insisting on distance. At the same time, watching the final bloody scene between Ben and Jacob, I couldn’t help but wonder if everything was proceeding according to some prearranged plan between the two of them. no. but it's a nice thought, since really that was awfully sad, re & for Ben.For now, I’m going think otherwise.
I was really intrigued by Jacob’s response to Ben’s angry question, “What about me?” When Jacob redirected the question back to Ben — “What about you?” — it landed like a dismissive insult to Ben. But, thinking all the best of Jacob, I don’t think that was his intention. right: it was not said dismissively was it? maybe ~ challenging. Instead, I saw a face full of sympathy y I tht seemed sympathetic for guy whose life has been marked by a lot of neglect..]

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THEORY! Much of the castaways’ history including the crash of Oceanic 815 has been molded and manipulated by the entity that is the Nameless Man In Black, an intricate, divine conspiracy whose ultimate goal was to kill Jacob. That was the significance of AlternaLocke’s gloating line: “And you have no idea what I’ve gone through to be here.” But what the Adversary didn’t know was that Jacob had been doing some plotting of his own to counter all of his enemy's moves. so Doc J thinks Esau brought 815 (~ I think probably not ~), but Jacob visited the Losties off island in anticipation (& response) to that. And in the last moment of the showdown, I think what we saw was AlternaLocke realizing that he’d been checkmated. ''They're coming,'' Jacob sputtered, referring, I believe, to Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the entire quantum leaping cavalry. I think the Adversary completely understood the significance of what Jacob was saying & and it pissed him off big time. Hence he angrily kicked Jacob into the fire, w a scowl on his face: the pout of defeat.
..mirror theory of Lost ~ S5 like S2.. Both S2 & this S5 finale were about activating 'quibbles', as in: sth that allows a character to cheat the literal obligations of a promise, contract, or prophecy. a loophole. Desmond had the failsafe ok: must press the button, but if you don't, turn this failsafe key , while Jacob had... huh his Adversary is the one crowing about finding a loophole, a way to kill Jacob without breaking some rule. but Doc J thinks Jacob has found a loophole of his own? a 'failsafe' specifically makes sense, a backup plan, but what rule is his failsafe (engineered by touching the Losties) subverting?

GOOD & EVIL
The Lost producers have always likened their saga to a cosmic clash between good and evil. Locke taught Walt the rules of backgammon: "Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark."
The opening sequence of this finale Jacob & Esau on the beach ~ 1800s, ship approaching officially activated this Big Idea. We now we see that the entire Lost saga is contextualized by a centuries-spanning conflict —or maybe just a game— between two beings, enchanted & long-lived but not necessarily immortal. On one side, there is Jacob. On the other side, there is, well, he didn't drop a name. I know what you're saying, especially those who know your Bible: ''Esau.'' The ruddy hairy older twin who got tricked out of his birthright by brother Jacob. The problem w this comparison is that Jacob and Esau ultimately forgave each other. I didn't get the sense that that kind grace & détente are possible for Lost's Jacob and whomever. So who are these guys? Jesus and Satan (Lucifer)? Set and Horus? B___ & Loki who killed him? (discussed by Doc J earlier recap~theorizing) Roland Deschaine and Randall Flagg? Yep: We'll be excavating & debating for months.

THE OPENING: JACOB & ____
We met Jacob as he was making thread, first with a foot-treadle floor loom that he powered with his sandled foot, then with a high warp loom in which fibers are hung vertically; the latter is used to make large tapestries like the ones that hung on the walls in Jacob's chamber.
~ loom of fate.
Look, I'm not saying that Jacob's textile machinery is magical. I got the sense it was something of a spiritual discipline, an exercise designed to hone his spiritual worldview, and a visual metaphor for the elaborate, cross-time conspiracy that he &or his adversary weave through individual lives and groups of people.

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After Jacob completed his morning routine of arts and crafts, he waded into the ocean, snagged a fish using a trap, then sliced off a fillet and cooked it on a hot stone. Judging from the conversation that unfolded between Jacob and his nameless adversary as they watched a sailing ship approach the Island, Jacob is a 'fisherman' in the business of drawing & trapping souls—but why? To what end?
Jacob's companion was a sleepy looking dude clad in dark hues, played by Titus Welliver, one of my favorite actors from HBO's brilliant western, Deadwood. He looked like he had just billowed out of bed, because at first, I got a total Smokey-in-human-flesh vibe from him. huh, why? makes sense later but what gave that vibe then? Jacob offered him some fish. "No thanks," he said, "I just ate." I was thinking: And what was on the menu today? Some unredeemable soul leftover from the last bunch of castaways to crash on The Island?
Nameless accused Jacob of bringing the boat to the Island. Jacob didn't deny it. The man in black sighed deeply and oozed a deeply cynical perspective on the drama that the ship was about to trigger on the Island:
NAMELESS: You're trying to prove me wrong.
JACOB: You are wrong.
NAMELESS: They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It can only end once. Everything before that is progress.
are the two "It"s the same? does Jacob mean each time ends only once? or that there is only one actual ending, all the previous happenings are not cycles ending but progress.
That exchange blew my mind. The conversational shorthand between these two familiars made for much interpretive obliqueness. Nameless seemed to see history — or at least, history on the Island — as an endless cycle of darkness & despair. You also got the sense he was weary of playing whatever role it is he plays in this drama. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed to see history as a forward moving saga marked by incremental progress. ok. so yes, cyclical versus forward moving.
These castaway dramas he stages on the Island are building upon each other and leading toward something that he desires very, very much. not quite clear fr exchange, but ok supposition, he wants the progress. and maybe an eventual __ what?
Nameless, on the other hand, expressed homicidal contempt for Jacob & his ambitions. ''Do you have any idea how much I want to kill you?'' The line reading chilled me to the bone. oh. I felt it fall flat, but maybe bcs not yet fully watching, just heard the expression wh so mundane 'any idea'.So did Jacob's response: ''Yes.''
But they are also bound by rules. Nameless openly yearned for ''a loophole'' that would allow him to put Jacob down — but what's the rule he's trying to skirt? My guess: Nameless and Jacob are prohibited from spilling each other's blood.
Jacob as Cain like figure? Cain's punishment for slaying his brother was to wander the world for eternity, kept alive by a mark that warned people away from messing with him lest they wanted to get smitten by God. Cain then settled east of Eden, in the mythical 'land of Nod,' or 'land of wanderers.' hmm.
or could he be the incarnation of an idea? ~ like one of the family of entities known as The Endless, in Neil Gaiman's Sandman chronicles, each of whom embody an idea: death, destruction, destiny, dream, desire, delirium, and despair. The larger saga has Desire hatching an intricate scheme over time to orchestrate the death of her brother, Dream, through proxies; she can't do it herself, because again, there are rules.
..Given how much Jacob clucked about the ability to choose one's fate where? in this opening? (or just to Ben: "you have a choice." but wrt that I think the signif was specific to the killing of Jacob, wh had to be done voluntarily, so as ~ to fulfill a deeper magic, like Aslan on the stone table, as suggested at twop (without weighty mention there of the 'you have a choice', but that's what gets me on board with the Aslan idea).
Unless he stands for damnation. Aren't devilish gods all for the concept of choice and free will? Despite his sensitive, soothing demeanor, I find myself nagged by the prospect that Jacob could be playing with the dark pieces in this cosmic game. huh. seems pretty clear that the dark shirt Esau unLocke is the bad guy and Jacob's team, as Ilana & co claimed, are the 'good guys.' it wld be too much for a switch on this presentation after this late introduction of these characters, there's not time.
The final moments of the opening sequence may have offered a clue. As Loophole McNameless walked away, head full of hate and schemes, the camera tilted up and we got a full-scale profile shot of the Statue, which was still intact in the 19th century. The mug on the edifice sure didn't look like a jackal to me, thus ruling out the Egyptian God Anubis, protector of the dead. No, that face looked like a crocodile, which gets you Sobek, a morally ambiguous dark god who oversees dark waters and preys on sinful souls in the afterlife. Very Smokey. Even worse, Set, the Egyptian god of chaos and evil, was a shapeshifter who often morphed into crocodiles & hippos in his clashes with archenemy Horus.
A seemingly Christ-like figure dwelling within a statue that's a monument to evil?


p4 JACOB'S TOUCHING TOUR
Since the first season, many of us have been wondering if some or all of the castaways are linked by some common denominator or connected by a subtle, unseen thread. The answer now appears to be yes. that did not even strike me. they are so clearly linke now by the fact of their time on the island, that it just seemed in keeping that there wld be this pre-link.
Jacob's gracious, empathetic demeanor in each scenario was conspicuous.
I strongly believe the flashbacks held the clue to how the Jughead-obliterated pastaways will find their way back to land of the living. But before I get all theoretical, let’s just simply recap what happened in the flashbacks, in the order in which they appeared.
1. KATE
“You’re not going to steal anymore, are you? Be good, Kate.”
Note the strong Christ-like shadings of Jacob: Paying off someone’s debt; expecting a good life in response to his grace.
2. SAWYER
“I am very sorry about your mother and father, James,” Jacob said. It was the first of a few occasions in which the Island maybe-God offered condolences to fate-screwed characters, as if he was apologizing on behalf of a cosmology that allows bad things to happen to good people.
3. SAYID
WHAT JACOB DID: Besides asking for directions which ~ saved Sayid from dying with Nadia by stepping into the path of the car and a touch — nothing. The most impersonal and quiet of Jacob’s castaway interactions. Which disturbed me. oh. he didn't apologize to Sayid about Nadia? As he lay dying on the Island, Sayid said, “Nothing can save me.” Clearly, he was speaking of his damned soul, not his health. Is Sayid really beyond redemption? oh. he's such a good guy really. more obviously good than most of the rest. he's just also (or as part of being 'good') very very capable, at everything, including hurting & killing people.
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4. ILANA
Jacob requested her help for some unspecified something. Did you get the sense they had an existing relationship, or did I read that wrong? pretty clear they did. when he arrived at hospital bed, she said she was happy to see him. seemed to mean it, to be very happy. as if yes believes that he is 'the one who will protects us all.'
5. LOCKE
WHEN: Circa 2000, four years before coming to the Island.
WHAT HE DID: He fell. Anthony Cooper threw him out the window & he plunged eight stories.
WHAT JACOB DID: He calmly closed his book, Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge, and walked over to Locke and touched him on the shoulder — and suddenly, Locke was very much alive. Again, another apology on behalf of the Powers That Be: “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right. I’m sorry this happened to you.” Again, Jacob extends empathy, even apologizing for fate. But I also got the sense that Jacob infused Locke with some of the Island’s patented healing power. No wonder he survived that fall!
ABOUT THE BOOK: O’Connor, Catholic and Southern, was known for her ironic redemption stories, in wh violence is in keeping with the nature of revelation — it comes upon you unexpectedly, shockingly, horribly. In her yarns, the righteous are skewed and exposed as hypocrites, while the worst sinners end up becoming unwitting or unwilling conduits for God’s grace. hmm. these writeups are really very good. as writing. Jeff Jensen turns out these fine story thought pieces.
As for Everything That Rises, quote fr critic characterizing ambition: ''O'Connor claims that it is her specific goal to offer a glimpse of God's mystery and, thus, to lead readers —whom she sees as, for the most part, spiritually lost in the modern, secular world— back toward the path of redemption.'' That could indeed be Jacobesque, provided he’s good, and certainly fits into my Quibbling theory.
6. JIN & SUN
WHAT JACOB DID: He showed up at the wedding and offered a blessing — in excellent Korean, no less. “Your love is a very special thing. Never take it for granted.” Again, we know that they will take their love for granted — and again
as with Sawyer who was counseled after Jacob left to let go of his vendetta against Mr.Sawyer, what's done is done. but DocJ's got to explain why that advise did not come fr Jacob, who instead gave him the pen to write the letter to MrSawyer pledging vengeance
consider what might happen if they were able to do it all over again, beginning from this moment, with awareness of what had happened the first time around. ah. this is the theory, he's getting them ready for a reboot? but only this visit clearly fits with that theory. ~ int to think that he told little Kate to be good in a reboot where she does not kill her stepdad & become a fugitive. but ~ I think unlikely that these were all to do with rebooting, second chances. wld be complicated. since at such varied moments.
7. JACK
8. JULIET
WHAT JACOB DID: Nothing — because he wasn’t part of this flashback. Ominous. hm. well taking this seriously as an omen, it actually bodes well for Sayid. if he's not in Juliet's life because she actually dies, then his visit to Sayid suggests that Sayid lives?
9. HURLEY

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You will notice that all the Dharma pastaways who were at ground zero of the Swan & Jughead event last night got visited by Jacob — except Juliet and Miles (who got no flashback at all). ok: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid. [the O6 who flashed back to 1977].
Sawyer, (Juliet), Jin. [the Left Behinders who lived w Dharma 1974 to 77 along with Miles, after departure of Locke by Orchid wheel, Charlotte's death, Faraday to Michigan.]
+ Locke.
+ Ilana.
________
so that's 9. the nine Jacob visits (well eight, and a Juliet flashback in wh he d n appear.) and Sun seems incidental then ~ she's the odd one out, the 06-Aaron = the four who flashed to 1977, we do not know why she didn't.
That’s significant, I think. Which brings me to my Quibbling Jacob Theory.
As it happens, Flannery O’Connor’s aforementioned book takes its title — Everything That Rises Must Converge — from a phrase coined by an fellow Catholic provocateur named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who concocted a theory of evolution called 'Omega Point', that there is some kind of transcendent entity or consciousness that is guiding everyone & everything toward greater complexity & enlightenment, until everyone & everything becomes transcendent, too.
More simply, it’s Jacob’s view: There is a single end; everything before then is progress.
Chardin believed his Omega entity was basically Jesus Christ himself. right. I have that little book of his. here, in fact, 9619, I have it on the wall unit. His phrase, “everything that rises must converge,” expresses Christian idea of, in Greek, apokatastasis. ~ the opposite of apocalypse, or rather, what comes after apocalypse. good. I like After. after the end. Apokatastasis is the idea that in the end, Satan will be defeated and that all of creation will be redeemed & unified under Christ. “Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of *this* world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.” (John 12:31-32)
What lies in the shadow of the statue? “He who will save us all.” ~ serve. servibat. protect, guard. Richard Alpert’s Latin reply, in answer Ilana’s riddle.
CONCLUSION Jacob was “quibbling” during his flashbacks; he was building loopholes I'm not sure you're using this word precisely and failsafe devices right into each castaway’s life that will allow them to cheat death by Jughead. By physically touching each of them, he marked them in a magical way. And now, he’s going to draw them to himself, i.e., the Island, just like the electromagnetic anomaly at the Swan site started drawing anything metal into its powerful singularity.
Perhaps they will all be immediately beamed to the Island in reincarnated bodies. The promo for next season seemed to imply as much, what with Jack’s eye shooting open & reflecting back the jungle. you could tell it was Jack's eye? & where he was, by its reflection wow ok sure.
Or maybe it will be like this: the souls of the annihilated castaways will migrate into their bodies at the point in time that Jacob touched them. And more, I’ll bet you that they will retain all the memories of their past lives. I think this is unlikely but int. so ~
--Sayid cld choose not to join forces with Ben & kill for him.
--Kate gets to live her life fr childhood differently,
--James Ford also (without fixing on Mr.Sawyer, bcs he's learned now to let go; it's less clear what Kate wld have learned).
--Jack? why from the moment of his first solo surgery, where father coached him to count to five?
--Jin & Sun could protect their marriage, sure.
--but Hurley? he goes from that moment being released from jail to getting on 316, w Jacob's encouragement.
--and Locke? from moment of fall on? so what?
(& completing survey of the nine flashbacks: Juliet got no visit from Jacob. Ilana's was a different visit, requesting her help.)
No, not sold on this idea.
This is the great gift Jacob has given them: Not only new life, but the capacity to create their own destinies — a destiny which could include, if they wish, to go to the Island of their own free will. And they will. Remember Jacob’s last, bloody sputter: “They’re coming.”