Lost is nearing it’s end, and boy has it been a messed up, confusing journey. A wonderful one. For those of you who aren’t caught up on the show, you may not want to read this as it kind of contains some mini-spoilers.
Where? When? Who? What? And now Why?
Those are all the questions we’ve asked ourselves over the last couple of years regarding the Island in Lost. Island with a capital I, because it is indeed the main character of the show, whether we knew it or not.
Where is the Island? In the first 3 seasons, this is the question we all asked ourselves. This plane crashed on a seemingly deserted island and no one seemed to be making any attempts to find it. Then we found out it actually wasn’t deserted at all. In fact, it had been inhabited for years by scientists and crazy people. Also, as it turned out, some people had made it their life’s mission to find it. We find out about the characters we’re investing an hour a week’s time with through a series of “flashbacks”. Little clips of information telling us why they’re on the Island and what dirty little secrets they’re keeping from everyone.
Was it Hell? Purgatory? Are these people dead? Remember the dinosaur theory? There have been so many questions and theories about this show it almost makes me sea-sick to think of all of them.
Then came when. When in time was this Island? This changed the entire dynamic of the show. It went from being a “Gilligan’s Island” show revolving around a group of castaways with questionable morals to something a little more interesting. It went from being slightly Sci-Fi and possibly religious to full on Sci-fi and still possibly religious. We see a series of “flashforwards” from the Oceanic 6, who managed to make it off the Island in season 4.
This led to the who. No, not the band. Who exactly is controlling the Island? Was it Ben, the dude with crazy eyes? Was it God? Was it Mr. Smokey? Who knows.
This whole show revolves around a series of questions in order to keep you coming back for more. Just when I think the show is losing it’s luster, I watch an episode that blows my mind. Like last week’s episode “Recon”. In it we find out in the “flash sideways” that Sawyer, actual name James Ford, is a Detective. The whole thing where he tries to swindle a woman out of money? Part of a cover operation he’s part of. What the hell?
So now what? Well, what is the Island?
The Oceanic 6 are now back on the Island. They’re candidates in a survivor type game they never signed up for to become the “leader” of the Island. Huh? Yeah, that’s right. The words “fate” and “destiny” get thrown around a lot because it would seem those are exactly what these people were bound to. Even in the “flash sideways” they all meet each other. Whether they were passengers on the plane or inhabitants of the Island’s pre-explosion time line, they were destined to meet each other and be a part of each others lives.
In this week’s episode “Ab Aeterno”, meaning ‘from eternity’ in Latin, we find out exactly what the Island is. This episode blew my mind. Not only because of it’s revelations, but because of the incredible job Nestor Carbonell did portraying Richard. The episode revolves around him completely. We find out who is is, why he’s on the Island, how he got there and how he got to stay young forever.
For someone who really didn’t have much in the way of emotional range during his occasional appearances on the show, he sure had them for this episode. They used all of this guy’s acting chops for one episode. And I mean all of them. I got misty people. I, Sly, got misty. Of all things I could get emotional about, it was the back story, or more so the actor’s performance, of a secondary character on a show called LOST that got me sad.
So what is the Island? Well, it’s the CORK over the mouth of what we may call hell, keeping it contained in order to spare the world from a chaotic devastation of which no one would be spared.
Well……… shit.
All I want to know now is why? Why are these people there as ‘candidates’ and why the hell did the universe choose an Island to guard the world of an unspeakable evil so powerful it can justify sacrificing so many in order to protect it? Dramatic? Yes. Compelling and addicting? Hell yes.