'Across the Sea' - Lostwatch: Original Sin - James Poniewozik, Tuned In, TIME.com | 59 comments

The episode did play on and elaborate a lot of important Lost themes in interesting ways. It was maybe the most overtly Biblical episode of Lost yet. And yet it didn't just recreate a Biblical story; it took several and mashed them up, complicated them. There are elements of Cain and Abel, but the son kills the mother—and cannot kill his brother. There's Esau and Jacob, but as we now learn, Jacob is the one who feels insecure about his birthright and the love of his mother. There's the prodigal son—but he does not exactly get welcomed back with a fatted calf. And there's an original sin, but it's not only a murder. It's a theft—a mother stealing another's babies, something that we've seen repeated down the history of the Island, with similar results of madness and murder. And really, there's another original sin, one that brings these characters closest to the psychology of the contemporary Oceanic 815 characters: parents passing their issues, deceptions and mistrust on to their children.


* So why did Mother thank MIB when he killed her?

[Update: Well, here's a thought, after sleeping on the episode—suppose Mom is a smoke monster herself. Perhaps, whenever she got to the Island, she too was intrigued by the light, got lfushed down the same glowing toilet that MIB did, and was transformed. Unable to die, and "tired" of life, she welcomes death at her son's hand. This would explain how she knows so much about the nature and effects of the light. It would explain how she managed to take out that entire village of Bronze Age Others. And it might explain the idea of there being a special blade, like Dogen's, that one is to use to kill MIB—a magnetized blade, perhaps?]

right ok saw this idea expressed in comments at Alan Sepinwall's post at Hitfix esp well argued by commenter yyz, way down twd end of current 300 cmmts. but someone else, nearish to top, suggested this & incl int idea that th appearance of birth mother Claudia as ghost to son MiB was in fact Mother the smoke monster (cool) taking that form to initiate her special son turning on her and eventually killing her. which was the loophole she was looking for so she could escape immortality, so she could die.
I'd like that to be the story, but I think Darlton is giving sth much less intricately worked out, much less interesting. more sloppy. seems I've felt this way --I don't believe you-- since the Richard epsd Ab Aeterno. where th backstory just was not well designed, did not fit in any satisfying ways with previous seasons or even w Richard's recent behavior.


-chelsea15jk: I'm on the Lost imdb boards, and they're theorizing maybe the hunters (the first guys Jacob and MIB saw) are Sayid and Sawyer. Jack maybe looked like he was part of that too. Is this completely crazy? It kinda sounded like Sawyer. see now that would be cool. if we find out sth weird re time happening during what we saw here, the lives of Jacob & his brother, such that their growing up actually intersected with the Losties being on island in 2004, and such that the clothes on the skeletons *would* only show 50 years of decomposition when Jack, Kate, & Locke found them. but I do not believe Darlton are going to give anyth th intricate.


[Update 2: Wow, early the next morning and the Internet is discussing the crap out of this episode. This is one of the things I love about Lost—the way it invites unpacking and meaning-making. yes, this is *the* thing I love about Lost. And whether "Across the Sea" fascinated or frustrated you, I'm guessing we're going to do more talking about this one than any episode yet this season. (Plan to call in sick the day after the finale.)

For more "Across" talk, see:

Jeff Jensen's instant reaction ("Grade A ideas in a grade B package") [Jeff Jensen's full recap: EW - 'Lost' recap: A boy's best friend is his mother - Doc Jensen Every day is Mother's Day for Jacob and the Man In Black] done.

Noel Murray (who makes a strong case for many of the elements of the episode I had issues with) and Myles McNutt (who had a great discussion about how the revelations worked, if not as answers, then as metaphors).

I'll also check the blogs I had been following Todd VanDerWerff at LATimes showtracker blog; Ryan McGee at Zap2It; LongLiveLocke