Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow

Hello my dear friends -

I just wanted to take a few minutes to wish you all a Happy Finale Day tomorrow. As I'm sure you've heard, the West Coast feed of the show will be broadcast simultaneously in several other countries in order to help fans overseas avoid spoilers. Now, those fan are going to have to get up a 5 a.m. -- but hey, what a way to start your day, right?

Several of you have asked what I'm doing for the finale, and my answer is that I'm just keeping it low-key. My plan had always been to watch it completely alone... I guess I just wanted to feel like I had the last hours of the show all to myself or something. But then my good friend Miss M -- whom some of you might remember from my Season One and Two write-ups (I often stayed at her place in NYC when I worked for The Man) -- learned that she was going to be in Chicago this weekend, and I asked if she could extend her visit a little longer. So I'll now be watching the five-and-a-half-hour Lost extravaganza tomorrow night with her, my husband, and two of our good friends from grad school, EG and KG, who were part of my original Season One viewing crew. These four are among a handful of people in the world who've already seen me at my worst in years past, so if I completely lose it in front of them during the show and start sobbing like a fool, it's all good. They've proven they can handle it.

I decided to haul out all of my Lost memorabilia for the occasion -- I'm actually still in the process of decorating, but here are a few shots of my TV room so far:





All of my Lost action figures are off to the side, out of view. I'll make sure they have a good seat for the main event, though, so don't you worry about them. And, um, no... my manuscript isn't done yet. But sometimes I just can't sit at my laptop another second longer -- so the decorating was a nice excuse to give the ol' legs a stretch. I also took a five-minute break Friday morning to talk with the team at KPAM radio about why Lost is such a huge phenomenon -- you can take a listen here if you'd like.

OK, folks -- here's hoping for laughter and tears and gasps and lumps in the throat tomorrow evening -- as well as a feeling of happiness and satisfaction as a wonderful, life-changing ride comes to an end.

See you on the other side...
- e

PS - HAPPY UPDATE: Just found out that my friend KG went into labor at midnight last night (I was convinced she was going to have her baby girl at our place during the finale... and I guess I wasn't too far off)! So she and EG will only be at my place in spirit tomorrow evening. You can rest assured that I already bought this child Lost-inspired outfits -- one features the Driveshaft logo, and the other is a onesie that says, "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Hee hee.

S6Ep16 - What They Died For

Hello my dear friends -

Those of you who've been reading my ramblings since Season One might remember that I always used to moan and groan about working for The Man. So I guess it's only fitting that as the series winds down, I start grumbling about The Man once more. This time my grievances have to do with the fact that I am being forced to watch Lost's penultimate episode ALONE because The Man is keeping my husband working very late tonight. Can you believe that? Not cool, not cool at all. I mean, my dog's here... but he's not much for theories.

Anyway, for the past week, I avoided all forms of social media, as doing so helped me to be a lot more productive (duh). But another reason I'd been steering clear of Twitter and Facebook is that I didn't want to stumble across any spoilers about this episode -- especially since it aired at the Lost Live event in LA last Thursday. But now I feel very out of touch with everything and everyone in the Lost fandom world. Hell, I didn't even know what this episode was called until I just pulled it up on the ol' DVR menu. Hmm, "What They Died For." To me that title sounds like it's promising some MAJOR, major, major answers. Answers that might tie back to that Glowing Light Cave, since one of the points of the previous episode seemed to be that Jacob must protect the Island's source of light at all costs. We'll see...

----

The episode opened with a zoom-in on Jack's eye... which is how a lot of people think the series will end. But now I doubt that will be the final scene. The cut Jack noticed on his neck when he was on Bizarro Flight 815 is open again. I thought that maybe he got that cut in "The Candidate," but since they just showed a close-up of Island Jack's un-nicked neck in the "Previously on Lost" clips, I guess not. But you know something's up with that cut and that it WILL tie back to the Island events somehow...

Jack's planning to go to his son's concert later that night, and it looks like we'll finally learn who the mysterious ex-wife is. If it's Sarah, they'd have to explain how he met her long enough ago to have David... since in the original timeline they hadn't met until she had her accident, which was either 2000 or 2001, I believe. The only major character we haven't seen in the sideways flashes so far is Juliet... but I'm still rooting for her to end up with Sawyer in the Alt, so I would kind of NOT like it if she's Jack's ex. But I think I'm going to just have to suck it up and deal with it.

Claire accepted Jack's offer and stayed over and is having some half-aunt bonding time with David. Jack leaves the table to take a call, and it was Des, pretending to be someone from Oceanic, claiming that they've finally found Christian's coffin. Des clearly wants Jack back at the airport for some reason. But ideas as to why are escaping me... the Island's underwater, so there will be no chance of Jack crashing on it again if he takes another flight. Maybe Des is going to try to mow Jack down with his car like he did to Locke in order to induce the flashes to the Island timeline?

---

Now we're back on the Island. Kate ain't lookin' too good. Jack's sewing her up just like she sewed him up in the pilot. Oh, the circle of life. Or something like that. OK, it really has nothing to do with the circle of life.

THANK YOU KATE for mentioning Ji Yeon! Now she's out for Fake Locke's blood. Awww yeah -- bring on the war!

Kate, Hurley and Sawyer stare out to sea as the wreckage from the sub -- and ironically, a life vest -- floats ashore. Jack says that they better go find Desmond before Fake Locke does, and so off they go in search of the well Sayid told Jack about.

-----

Uh-oh. We're back in the Alt, and Des looks to be gunning to run Locke over again. Wha--?? I seriously don't think I can bear to watch this. Ooh -- wait, Ben saves the day. Quite a brave move, banging on the hood, wouldn't you say? HOLY @#($*#( -- Des just gave Ben the BEATDOWN. But it brought on the flashes for our dear Dr. Linus. And I think Des said something about helping Locke to "let go."

---

Finally we see Ben, Miles and Richard on the Island again. They don't know where they are. They're still on the lookout for explosives. Ben says he has some in his secret room. Now they're back at Dharmaville, and Miles is freakin' out. Apparently they are standing over Alex's grave. I thought Miles would maybe have something else to say about Alex, but I guess not.

Now they're in the secret room. Ben kind of explains how he never was really able to summon the monster, that the monster was always "summoning him." They've -- AHHHHH!!! Widmore's on the scene! Awesomeness. I'm just happy these peeps are back on the main Island, if nothing else.

---

Ben's got a rifle on Widmore, but baldie tells that chick from Singles that he's confident Ben won't shoot him. He directs her to get stuff out of the outrigger and then sink it. (I don't think I need to mention that I'm still wondering about that outrigger shoot-out scene...). Ben asked how Widmore got to the Island, and Widmore said that Jacob visited him after the freighter was destroyed and told him everything he needed to know to come back to the Island and... do something that he didn't get to finish saying. That chick -- remembered her name! Zoe -- sees Fake Locke coming via outrigger (OK, still hope for the scene) and Widmore tells her she better bust outta there. The rest of them know they need to hide. Looks like Ben is going to trust his old foe for the time being. Especially since Widmore already thought to arm the plane with explosives. (Though WE know that Fake Locke is on to that plan.)

--

In the Alt, Ben is being stitched up. And yay! Real Locke is there. Locke's about to call the po-po on Des until Ben tells him about the "letting go" part. Locke hangs up his cell, and the scene switches over to the police station.

Des is there, and he's of course going to ask to see Sawyer, I'd bet. Miles is talking about the same concert that Jack's going to be at. So clearly a bunch of Island peeps are going to cross paths there.

I thought Des was going to be totally bold and also give Sawyer the smackdown, but instead he confessed to the hit-and-run and ends up in the back of the station... with Sayid and Kate. Ah... his plan is becoming clearer.

---

Back on the Island... Sawyer and Jack have a talk in the woods. Sawyer thinks he's responsible for killing everyone on the sub. Jack's like, "Uh-uh... still Fake Locke's fault." A little ways behind, Hurley spies Young Jacob. That little brat just stole the bag o' ashes from Hurley and ran off! Hurley chased him... and found Adult Jacob. He'd thrown the ashes in the fire and told Hurley that once the fire was out, that was it -- no more Jacob. Huh? Why even have the bag of ashes in the plot at all? I'm very confused. Jacob then speaks the obvious: "We're very close to the end." Yes, mister, we know -- there are only about three hours of the show left now. You better get on with explainin' things!

--

Fake Locke has arrived at the dock (unintentional rhyme). He takes in all of the containers on the other outrigger and keeps on walkin'. In the Barracks, everyone's spazzing out like they've never spazzed out before. Widmore wants to hide. Ben is done with the games. Miles is ready to go tearing through the jungle.

I am SERIOUSLY worried for Ben right about now. Lord help me if they kill Ben. LORD. HELP. ME. No, actually, Lord help them -- because I will find the writers responsible and it will get ugly!

Miles runs off (with a walkie-talkie, at least) and Richard says he thinks he might be able to stall for time by telling Fake Locke he'll join him. Somehow I think it's waaayy too late for Richard to do an about-face and have the MIB believe it, but who knows. Ben and Richard are venturing out into the open. Smokey sounds -- oh crap!

Please do not tell me Smokey just killed Richard. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME SMOKEY JUST KILLED RICHARD?!? I didn't think Richard COULD be killed?

Oh no... now Ben's just sitting there, totally exposed. And MIB's got a big ol' knife. WAIT -- what?? No no NO! Ben just ratted out Widmore and said he'd do MIB's dirty deeds! I wouldn't necessarily believe the last part if he hadn't just ratted out Widmore! This is too crazy.

--

Back in the Alt, Ben's leaving school in a sling. And there's Alex. Are we gonna see Rousseau? Yay!!! And she's so pretty -- wow! That was a very cool surprise. They invite him over for dinner, "Even if we have to kidnap you." That's great. I love it.

Wow, is there gonna be a love connection between Rousseau and Ben? I actually would approve and think that's really sweet. I think Ben's Alt story is definitely my favorite. Holy holy googly eyes! There IS gonna be a love connection!

--

On the Island, Ben led Fake Locke to the secret room, and there's Zoe (looking really afraid) and Widmore. I am very, very disappointed in Ben. Yikes, bye-bye Zoe! Now MIB's threatening to kill Penny.

OK... a few minutes just passed because I was wrapped up in things. Widmore started spilling his guts to MIB and Ben stone-cold shot him! Like, multiple times! "He doesn't get to save his daughter." Shocking indeed... but what happened to "the rules"? I didn't think those two could kill each other? Or was that only off-Island? Widmore seemed pretty confident Ben wouldn't hurt him a half-hour ago...

Fake Locke said that Widmore had already told him what he needed to know. Ben's all, "Good, who else do I get to kill?" WHAT is going on? At this point I absolutely must chalk this up to really good acting on Ben's part. But I hope he knows what he's doing. And I just remembered that I think Smokey killed Richard. If that's how Richard goes out, I'm going to cry foul. Lame death for one of the best characters...

--

Now it's night and we're back with Hurley and crew. And Jacob appears to them! Now he's claiming he's going to tell them EVERYTHING. Somehow I have a feeling we're not going to be privy to that entire conversation. All that matters is that by the time the fire's out, one of them has to take Jacob's place.

--

And... here we go. Locke is in Jack's office in the Alt.

* * *

I wasn't going to type during that part, fools! Did you like Jack's shout-out to Mister Eko, "I think you're mistaking coincidence for fate." Terry O'Quinn was awesome in this scene, no? I'll admit, I got a bit teary. Maybe I can live with the Alt timeline being the surviving one. Maybe I can live with it!

---

Fireside chat with Jacob time. Oh, I guess they are showing us the conversation. He's saying he made a huge mistake way back in the day. By making the smoke monster.

I wasn't going to type during that part either, fools! I was a tad worried that they were just going to have Jacob rattle off a bunch of forced, convenient answers to about 100 mysteries, but they didn't. The reason Jacob gave for picking the 815ers (and for crossing Kate's name off) made sense, and was pretty much in line with what everyone had always figured... these were people who were "lost" and needing redemption. (I would argue that Hurley wasn't alone, however... he always had a close relationship with his mother.)

Then Jack steps up to the plate to take over as Protector of the Light, like I'm pretty sure we all thought he would. For a moment I thought there'd be a surprise and either Sawyer or Hurley would challenge him, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Does Jack get to drink the Immortal Wine now?

Actually... while we're here at the commercial break -- it seems like Jacob's not really asking them to stay on the Island forever. He's asking them to kill the MIB. I think once the MIB is gone, maybe the Island won't need a protector? Maybe my sister-in-law's theory I wrote about last week was right -- if they kill the MIB, that is "the end" and then the Island timeline goes poof because they all redeemed themselves and they get to live out happy existences in the Alt?

---

We're back. I think Jacob's taking them to the Glowing Cave of Light. Uh-oh. Hurley just said, "I'm just glad it's not me." That gives me the sinking feeling that something's going to happen to Jack and it WILL be Hurley who has to take over. That line was way too out of place for it to not eventually have meaning.

Jacob and Jack are off to the side. Jacob's chanting over the stream. I guess it doesn't have to be wine. Sucks to be Jack -- he's gotta drink nasty stream water instead of wine. Yikes -- Jack's gonna become immortal!!!! "How long am I gonna have to do this job?" HA! That's great. Apparently now Jack will be able to find the secret field where the light is. "Now you're like me." Freaky.

---

Back in the Alt... Kate's pleading with Sawyer to let her go free. It didn't work. Now Des, Sayid and Kate are all in the prison van. Des is telling them a plan. The driver is Ana Lucia -- LOVE IT! She's letting them go free. I've never been so happy to see Ana Lucia. (Truth be told, I've never been happy at all to see Ana Lucia.) And Hurley's in on the gig... this is hilarious. He must have experienced Total Recall by this point, because he knows who Miss Thang is.

Hmm... I guess they are ALL going to end up at the concert. Not sure why Locke would be there, though. Or Sun and Jin.

--

Fake Locke and Ben arrive at the well. Desmond's not there. Locke claims that now he's going to use Desmond to destroy the entire Island.

And... it's over.

--

OVERALL THOUGHTS

The next-to-last episode of the season is usually always a "putting the chess pieces in play" sort of an hour, and "What They Died For" was no exception. I was expecting a little more background on "the light" from Jacob to really add some oomph to the meaning behind everyone's deaths -- to reiterate WHY it's so important to protect -- but we weren't lucky enough to get that this time around.

I called my brother after the episode was over, and he is pretty sure that Richard was probably just knocked out by Smokey, and that Richard and Miles will end up finding each other and heading out to Hydra in the outrigger just to get the hell away from the Island. He also felt there was a chance they might come across a still-alive Lapidus (since we technically never got a "death scene" for him)... but I think that's stretching it a bit. My brother thinks it'll have to be Miles that gets shot in the outrigger.

Now my bro and I are kind of on the same page whereas we weren't before... he thinks both timelines will continue to exist, while I think only one will win out. But we agree that the Losties will succeed in killing the MIB, and that will be "the end," and the fact that their happy Alt lives exist at all is their reward for the roles they played in saving the Island from its ultimate enemy. I used to not understand how this theory could apply to characters like Locke, who are dead in the current timeline. However, now my thought is that Locke did of course play a huge role -- he turned Jack into a Man of Faith, and if it weren't for Locke, Jack wouldn't have finally been able to accept that it was his destiny to take over for Jacob and save the world from destruction.

That's all I've got, folks! I intend to publish a very short post the morning after the finale, just to give people a place to leave their thoughts. There's no way I will have up my real finale post until mid-June, though. But I promise you that it will be worth the wait.

ENJOY THE FINALE!

(It really hasn't hit me that Lost is ending. But I'm sure I'll be a wreck come Sunday night.)

EDITED TO ADD: Please do not send me information about what cast members or the writers or producers have said will or will not be addressed in the show's final hours -- I've already received several comments of this nature today. I consider knowing what WON'T happen just as much of a spoiler as knowing what will -- it takes some of the mystery away. So I will not be approving any comments containing tidbits from interviews, etc. Thanks.

- e

S6Ep15 - Across the Sea

Hello my dear friends -

I had mostly positive responses to last week's real-time blog, so I'm doing it again tonight.

Here we go!

---

Some chick is floating at sea. I am pretty sure it's Jacob and the MIB's mommy.

Now she's washed up on shore. And pregnant. Yep, it's Mama! Maybe she was the FIRST person to have ever landed there? Now some other chick is offering to help. She looks familiar -- like she was one of the professors in the Harry Potter series or something. No idea what language that is. They're now eating, and Mama's name is Claudia. Uh... now a switch to English? What up with that? Who cares, it's easier for us. The other chick is saying she also got there "by accident." I think that other chick is the original Rousseau-like badass of the Island. I also realized it is Allison Janney, who was on The West Wing, but I never watched that show, hence my confusion.

Uh-oh... labor time. It's a boy... and I'm pretty sure another one will be coming REAL soon. Cause, um, that belly's still quite large. Yep, duh. Well, even though that chick's name is NOT Rebekah, I'm still wondering if we're gonna finally hear if this is Esau. DAMMIT - she only picked one name. I'm loving the light and dark wraps for the two babies.

UH --- WHAT?!?! Claudia just got straight-up STONED by that Rousseau lady. The crunches were enough for me -- didn't need to see anything at all for that to be waaaay too gruesome for my liking.

It's a commercial break and I just want to say that I think it'll be hilarious if we never learn MIB's name. I don't think we will. I never thought we were going to, anyway.

---

OK, now some kid's on the beach and found a weird brick thingy. He's in black so it's gotta be MIB. And yep, there's Jacob, and the box is a game. And those kids aren't very strong actors.

(BTW, this confirms that the blond kid we've seen recently in present-time on the Island IS Young Jacob, as many of us thought.)

Now Jacob's back with Crazy Fake Mama and she's weaving. Jacob's not a very good liar. Next... Crazy Mama's with MIB on the beach and I was happy to see that sea turtle because those sea turtles really do hang out on that beach in Oahu! That was probably the producers' little shout-out to the turtles and/or locals in Hawaii. Classy. Anyway, Crazy Mama tells Lil' MIB (that sounds like an awesome new rapper) that Jacob "doesn't know how to lie... he's not like you."

She told Lil' MIB he was "special." And that there was nowhere else but the Island, and that he didn't have to worry about dying. But Lil' MIB sure was asking a lotta questions. Methinks he got all the brains in the family.

---

Next we see the two young bros enjoying a boar-chasing session through the jungle. Yet someone else spears the boar before them. Clearly in all their years they've never encountered anyone else on the Island. I think the dude they see through the foliage looks like Desmond's old hatch partner, Kelvin. But it was hard to see. All I know is that those peeps had on funky clothes with sweet, HUGE belts that would put any cowboy in Texas to shame. And I'm not really sure what they did with that boar.

The boys run to tell their Fake Mom what they just saw. Lil' MIB is asking a TON of questions again. But Mama just blindfolds them and is leading them somewhere else. She ... uh, wait. What is THIS? What is this glowing light cave?

HOLY HOLY HOLY MOTHER there are going to be elves!!!! I TOLD YOU PEOPLE!! I bet it's just like Lothlorien from Lord of the Rings in that cave. And it is going to rock.

OK, maybe not. But that light thing is really reminding me of the Pulp Fiction briefcase. This is quite a bizarre turn for the show. So is Crazy Mama like a witch or sorceress or something? Was she ALWAYS there? How can she make it so her "sons" can't hurt each other? And a warm glowing light that is in each person that they have to protect? Um... that's NOT the way I thought this show was gonna go! Fo' sho! But you know me, I can roll with it. It helps that I believe in that kind of stuff. Anyway, one of the two bros is going to have to be the Protector of the Light. We all know who it's going to end up being. I bet we're soon going to learn WHY it was him.

---

Commercial break: I'm sure you guys all caught that Mama gave the same speech the MIB did in the Season Five finale about how men come to the Island and corrupt things and it "always ends the same," right?

Right now I'm wondering why she doesn't want them to know that there's anything outside of the Island. I mean, I guess she just never wants them to leave... but I'm wondering if it's because she HAS been off of the Island and knows what "the real world" is like... or if she has always been on the Island and is therefore just afraid of the unknown.

----

Now the bros are playing the black/white stone game again. They're talking about "rules" and how one day Jacob can make up his own game and his own rules. (Was that just THE explanation for The Rules?)

Yo -- Lil' MIB just saw Real Mom. Jacob can't see her because she's dead... yet Lil' MIB can. Hmmm. She's taking him across the Island to "show him where he came from." Now he's looking at a little hut village. Real Mom is droppin' ALL sorts of knowledge on poor Lil' MIB. I feel pretty bad for him, actually. He knows his whole life has been a big lie.

Now Lil' MIB is trying to convince Jacob of the truth. But Jacob will hear none of it. He starts throwing the beat-down on his bro's skull. Damn. Crazy Mama comes to break them up and tells Lil' MIB that he can never leave the Island, even if he goes to live with "the other people" (I kind of like the origin of "the Others"! But how did they come to be under Jacob's rule, though?)

Lil' MIB takes off. Now Jacob and Crazy Mama are on the beach and she confesses to killing Real Mom. She said she needed to keep them safe from the "bad people," and that she needed Jacob to remain "good." But Jacob sensed that his fake mom loved MIB more and called her out on it. She said she loved them in "different ways." This is all really bizarre.

----

OK, now we're back... with the Jacob we've come to know. And he is a-weavin'. Crazy Mama is "tired." I'm guessing she's gonna kick the bucket soon, though she doesn't appear to have aged this entire time. Jacob's spying on the Others and sees his bro working on building a well or something. Now they've reunited for a game o' stones. Jacob says he's wondering if MIB's people are "bad." Oh, and apparently they're about 43 years old now. MIB says the people ARE bad, but he thinks they're his ticket off the Island.

Now he's explaining how they made all the wells because they noticed how "metal behaves strangely." And that they found something BIG. He said he wants Jacob to come with him off the Island, but Jacob's all sad and insists that he doesn't want to leave, because the Island is his home.

---

Jacob runs off and tattles to Crazy Mama about MIB's plans. I'm liking Jacob less and less. Crazy Mama is not pleased. She sneaks up on MIB in the bottom of the well. I am pretty sure he will end up killing her. I mean, she's going to try and stop him from leaving. Is he building the Frozen Donkey Wheel, by the way?

Holy crap. He IS building the FDW. By harnessing the Glorious Light and all of this other stuff that I don't really understand, but it's all good. OK, one of them WILL KILL EACH OTHER, and, um, we know MIB is still alive when Richard comes droppin' in, so... they're hugging, and he says good-bye, and it's GOTTA be coming.

Wait, what? SHE is the one to slam his head into the wall? (What's with all the skull-crushing in this episode, geez!)

---

Commercial break: So I'm thinking maybe she has the power to save MIB before he totally dies... or has the power to bring him back to life, or something.

---

Now Crazy Mama is leading Jacob back to the Glorious Light. She literally "passes the torch" to him to be the protector. "Life, death, rebirth" is down in the cave. "It's the heart of the Island." But she doesn't ever want him to go down there. "It would be much worse than dying -- much worse." Now she's got wine and she's chanting. Yep, she is a sorceress. What if Gandalf shows up? Hey, at this point, it really could happen. There is some weird crap going on in this episode.

Now if Jacob drinks the wine he officially becomes The Protector. Aww, I feel bad for him because he knows his mom wanted MIB to be the one for the job. She tries to convince him that it really was always going to be him (Jacob) that she picked, it just took a while for her to realize it. Nice. He's like "Ah, hell, what else do I have to do?" and finally drinks the wine. I'm assuming that will freeze his age? "Now you're like me."

---

MIB is alive! With a wicked migraine, but alive nonetheless. The well appears to be all filled in. He sees burning off in the distance. Uh-oh. All of his hut village has been destroyed and all of his peeps have been killed. He finds his beloved game in the rubble. And he cries and does a Darth Vader-ish At the End of Star Wars Episode III "NOOOOO!!!!" gesture, cursing the heavens.

---

Commercial break: So... did Jacob kill all of those people? He doesn't seem like the type. Crazy Mama does, of course... but at some point he's going to need to take over completely. Did drinking the wine make fill him with some sort of rage that will make him do whatever is necessary to protect the Island?

I'm hoping that next we will get to see how MIB came to be able to turn into Smokey, and why the ash will contain him, and all of that weird stuff.

---

OK, we're back. Crazy Mama is still alive. She really doesn't seem to have aged at all. I think she must be going off to die, though, because she sent Jacob to get firewood and just had that "I'm going off to die" look about her. Now she's slinking around MIB's camp. She has the game, is looking at the stones... maybe SHE is one of the Adam and Eve skeletons? And ... yup, yup, there it is. MIB killed her. A big ol' stab in the gut. But she thanked him for killing her. Maybe that's the only way she could've died -- if one of the boys did it? Maybe she really had been alive forever? Maybe it wasn't possible for her to die before finding a replacement for herself?

Uh-oh. Jacob is on the scene. He's back to tackling and beating MIB's face in just like back in the day! Now he is dragging his bro through the jungle. UH-OH. OH CRAP. We all know what's coming. HE IS GOING TO THROW HIM IN THE GLORIOUS LIGHT CAVE. He thinks that will be a fate worse than death, and that is what he thinks his brother deserves. Clearly, this will be how MIB becomes Smokey.

Jacob sends MIB traveling down the stream. That might've been a mistake. HOLY #%(#*%* -- Smokey came CHARGING out. By far the best part of this episode! That was really cool.

---

Now Jacob sees his bro back in human form, lying on the rocks in the stream. He thinks he's dead. He feels bad and is crying. He throws the MIB's body over his shoulder, and then places him in the cave. Wait a second -- now they showed the Jack/Kate flashback just for all the non-hardcore fans who don't freakin' even remember the cave skeletons. That is kind of annoying me. If you can't remember one of the show's biggest mysteries -- you don't deserve to have it spoon-fed to you. Grrrr. Well... and that's how it ended. MIB and Crazy Mama ARE Adam and Eve. I don't have a problem with that answer, but I do have a problem with how it was revealed. I could've done without the Season One flashbacks. Because I'm a Lost snob like that!

---

WHERE MY HEAD IS AT

This episode was a pretty big letdown, in my mind. Don't hate on me for saying that! I guess it was going to be hard to follow last week's awesomeness, but still... "Across the Sea" fell very flat to me. And I feel like with only 3.5 hours left, they are definitely NOT going to explain the ash situation (why ash is able to hold Smokey back). Nor do I feel they will make the MIB/Smokey connection any clearer. My interpretation is that Smokey and the MIB were separate entities. By Jacob throwing MIB into the Glorious Light Cave, he "corrupted" the light a bit, and Smokey was created as a result. Smokey was what killed the MIB. So the MIB was laid to rest in the cave, and was clearly DEAD dead. Because, um, his skeleton is still there in the present time -- Hurley and Jack just came across it, remember?

So to me this means that Smokey was born because Jacob tampered with the Glorious Light Cave, and then Smokey was able to take the MIB's form -- and memories -- because he was not properly buried. But Smokey is Smokey, and the MIB is dead. So that guy who was sitting with Jacob at the end of Season Five? That's not really the MIB, it was Smokey in the MIB's form. But apparently the writers believe that Smokey and the MIB's goal (to get off of the Island) is one and the same, and so I guess we can just kind of substitute Smokey for the MIB, and vice versa. It actually raises more questions than it answers, but I'm too tired to think about it anymore. I accept it. Not really sure why Jack only thought the bodies had been there like 40 or 50 years, either. OK, I gotta let this go.

I'll leave you with a few other "How will it end?" theories from guaranteed spoiler-free people. If you missed my Bonus Post this past weekend, I wrote what I think will happen over the remaining hours here.

My Aunt Sue's theory: She is 100% convinced that the alternate timeline will win out, that the Alt 815ers will remember all of their Island experiences and live happily ever after and all remain friends, and that the Island was merely a way for them to redeem themselves and learn from their mistakes. She was shocked that I thought it could end any other way. "Why would they do anything else?" she asked, truly befuddled. I said, "Aunt Sue, a lot of people want it to end on the Island, including me. They feel the Island is its own character." She replied, "But then a bunch of people would be dead? Don't you want everyone to be alive? I just can't believe they would not give everyone a happy ending -- I think it will upset a lot of people if they don't." I told her that she better get ready to be upset. I mean, it's not like I don't want all of the 815ers to be alive and happy and whatnot, but I just can't see everything ending like that. I just can't. But I do believe that my Aunt Sue represents the vast majority of "normal" fans, so who knows. Maybe I'm just too deep into the theories and I am not seeing the easier, simpler way for everything to come to a conclusion.

My brother: My brother thinks what a lot of people think and what I've mentioned here on the blog before: Jack will be Jacob's replacement and that Fake Locke will remain as the new MIB, and that the series will end with them having the "Do you know how badly I want to kill you?" conversation. However, the twist with his theory is that he thinks Real Locke WILL break through near the end and will plead with everyone that it's really good ol' Locke again, but no one will believe him. So there will be a glimmer of Real Locke for a bit... but by the time the final scene rolls, the MIB/Smokey will have taken over once more. That would crush me.

My sister-in-law: She believes that the alternate timeline will win out, and that everyone will still retain their Island memories and know that they played a part in bringing the MIB under control. She thinks that "the end" that Jacob and the MIB referred to in the Season Five finale can only come when Jacob finds a replacement... and as soon as Jack takes over, that means Jacob "won," and the MIB will effectively be destroyed and the Island will then cease to exist. Jack will have proved that there's still hope for humankind.

OK, that's enough with the theories. Just so you know, I'm not going to be posting any more theories from here on out. Because, um, next week is the penultimate episode and it's kind of pointless. So there's no need to email me your theories, is what I'm sayin'. ; ) I don't have time to read them the rest of this month, anyway! (The book is coming along swimmingly, by the way -- thanks for asking. You WERE asking, right?)

Time for bed... so I will leave you with this funny story from my best friend, Nerdy P:

"I told my mom that the Lost finale was on Sunday 5-23, because I knew she would just assume it was Tuesday, and not pay attention to any commercials or anything. She says, "Oh no, we have euchre club that night - I will have to TAPE IT ON THE VCR!""

(For you non-Midwesterners, Euchre is a type of card game. And yes, some people apparently still use VCRs. Get a DVR, my VCR-using readers! It will be the best money you've ever spent.)

"Then she told one of the other guys in their euchre club, because he loves Lost, and he says, "NO, I must watch it in real time - we need to move up the dinner and card-playing so we are DONE by 9 pm!" He shoots off an email to the organizer, and SHE gets all offended, saying she has never been rescheduled for a TV SHOW, and thinks they should just cancel. Emails flew back and forth with all kinds of drama, and my mom calls me saying - ARE YOU SURE it is Sunday, because YOU started all of this!!"

Nerdy P told me that eventually the group did get it figured out, and everyone's happy. (And I gotta give a shout-out to Nerdy P's mom, MW!)

So JUST IN CASE one of you out there missed it... the finale is SUNDAY, May 23. From 9 - 11:30 PM EST. There will be two hours of recaps beforehand, and a live Jimmy Kimmel show with most of the cast for an hour immediately afterward. Five and a half hours of LOST!!! And then, it's over.

Until next week,

- e