John Locke and Walt in the 'Lost' season one pilot.
Viewers of ABC’s hit sci-fi-thriller-drama-mystery are currently experiencing the final season of Lost, and we're being bombarded with the marketing tag line, “The time for questions is over!” Every one of us knows that this is a big fat lie: there's ALWAYS an even bigger, more important question around every commercial break. That’s what we’ve loved about the show in the past, but to some (dare I say most?) we’re really looking forward the promise of more daylight in the question:answer ratio. We’re tripping over the loose threads and believe that our viewing loyalty has earned us the right for some solid ground. Well, follow me as I break out a machete and start the hunt for plot connections.
Much like how Jack Shepard will NEVER get a straight answer from a member of 'The Others,' we aren't really expecting anything too understandable just yet. One thing that is relatively clear is that 'The Others,' traditionally led by Benjamin Linus, are a collection of island-migrants who follow the deity-like Jacob, who doesn't age, travels through time and space and has a calm disposition in comparison to the agitated 'Man In Black' (who we now know as both the smoke monster and Fake Locke, or as one other critic dubbed him, The Locke-ness Monster).
These two forces, Jacob and the smoke monster, have been battling each other for decades in some strange power struggle involving loopholes, reoccurring events, access to the island and, apparently, freedom of the monster to 'return home.' (Is the island a prison for the beast?)
This battle for supremacy seems to be alluded to in the pilot episode of the series, when Locke explains to Walt the ancient game of backgammon; he shows him both player pieces -- one light and one dark. With the two players in perspective, it may seem that The Others, this entire time have in fact been the closest thing to the 'good guys' all along. Have they been simply protecting the island's powerful secrets from humanity -- whether it was the Dharma Initiative in the '70s, the US military in the '50s, or castaways in the 2000s? Sure, they stole children from the tailie survivors of the Oceanic crash, but the kids showed up in the Temple of the Others and seemed happy and healthy enough.
The genius of Lost lies in the fact that we the viewer are only now (at the end) beginning to understand which questions are being explored. The series as a whole is about ‘Free Will vs. Destiny’ but also it bombards us with questions of Faith vs. Understanding, and Trusting Others vs. Self-Reliance. The use of Egyptian ankhs representing everlasting life, time and space paradoxes, as well as important question of ‘which of the beautiful people will be sucking-face this week?’ keep us on the edge of our seats.
There is nothing quite like the rush of a mystery solved. It's the big payoff at the end of a long graphic novel. They make us feel like we are with the characters when progression and understanding occurs and, most importantly, it justifies all of our precious time and energy we put into the complex media we consume. The only thing that can come close to one-upping this thrill is being completely engaged as the mystery is unfolding and feeling as mystified as the people on screen. That is the magic of Lost -- not the promise of answers, but the presentation of the questions.
Here's hoping the answers live up to the masterful setup.
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