On Lost: "The Incident" Season Finale

Wow, curse you Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for writing what might top the Season 1 finale for most unsatisfying finale ever! Juliet striking a hydrogen bomb core with a rock was emotionally and visually stirring. Then a flash of white, cut to LOST. Except this time, it is a white background with black lettering. The inverse of what we have seen for 5 seasons. Good thing we have 8 months to think about it.

Esau and Jacob?

We don't know if Juliet succeeded in detonating the bomb; we don't know the fates of anyone. All we really have is the somewhat cryptic, "They're coming" from a dying Jacob. Jacob, the mysterious head of the Island, who we saw for the fist time today as he was literally touching the lives of many of our favorite Losties. So let's start off there. We open to a scene introducing the simple life with Jacob. We are also introduced to what seems to be an adversary/friend. He remains nameless but the striking divide between the two is one is wearing white (Jacob) the other black (Anti-Jacob?).

I am already getting theories that this Anti-Jacob is named Esau after the Genesis tale of Jacob and his brother Esau (Ee-Saw). It is a tale of the elder son Esau starving, selling his birthrights to his younger twin brother Jacob for a bowl of red lentil soup. Jacob also tricks his father Isaac (son of Abraham the founding patriarch to the Jew's, Christians, Muslims, and founder of monotheism) to give his deathbed blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. Esau told Jacob that he wanted to kill him, for what he did. Jacob went on to be renamed Israel by God and founded the Israelites tribe. Esau formed his own tribe of people the Edomites, they became associated with Romans/Europe by Jewish history.

So is Esau (I'm going to call the Anti-Jacob Esau just because its nice to give him a name) evil? This episode pegged Jacob as the "Good Guy." I'm just not sure. The "good guy-bad guy" lines have been thrown so many ways. I'm just not sure who to trust. Also, we found out that the self-assured re-born Locke doesn't seem to be re-born at all.

The second we saw Esau and his Jacob death wish, I feared that Locke, one of my favorite characters, was actually being personified by Esau. Is this a just end to one of our favorite and best characters on Lost? I think it would really upset me if the evil, conniving Ben actually ended the redemption of Locke's character. That would just make his life a sad, pathetic mess, and after all he/we was/were put through. His character deserves far more than that.

I still trust the writers enough to not lose sight of the fact that humans, while flawed, can be redeemed. There is only one season left and if I'm not mistaken, every original character's island redemption has been thrown out the window by this episode's close, aside from Rose and Bernard, who actually may have gotten it right by just living out their lives together. The reveal about where their characters have been and their life choice has all but solidified them as the "Adam and Eve" from the caves of Season 1.

While I really enjoyed this finale and it had so many great moments and reveals, my biggest gripe is that nothing was resolved. The "Losties in Dharma Time" story has not been resolved as far as we have seen. We do not know if Faraday died in vain or not. We do not know the fates of any of the characters we love whatsoever. It's all up to assumption. I understand this was the writers/producers choice, but this isn't Season 1. We don't have an unknown amount of seasons left. To me, the end of the finale last night wasn't a true season ender. None of the themes from the season were resolved. At least in Season 1 we knew that they opened the hatch. As Season 5 is officially over, we don't even know for certain if the bomb exploded or not. In Season 2, we found out what happens when you don't push the button and that outsiders actually found the island. Season 3 we found out that some of our Losties made it off the island and they have to go back. For Season 4's finale, we found out who was in the bloody coffin and that Ben was going to be a part of going back. While the Season 5 finale gave us so much in terms of answers, I think it left too little to resolve this season and set up its last. I would count this 17th episode of the 5th season as more of a 5.0 and next season as a concluding 5.5. Or to be more specific this season is the first half of the last act.

In the end, this season to me is the first half of the last act. Incomplete until we go into next season. If anything, this finale left a lot of plot left for its final season, but I don't know if it gave enough plot to this season. I guess only time will tell. One thing we do know for sure: it's going to be another long 8 months.

Comments

[carolr51]

I, too am watching Lost from the beginning. I am at the part where Desmond turns the key and blows up the Hatch. He goes back in time! I'd forgotten that. Maybe that is what is going to happen next season to everyone. Can't wait to see.

[Canaanja]

I am starting to watch Lost from the beginning to see what clues I missed in all of the seasons so far. In the second episode John Locke tells Walt that the game he is holding (baccarat) "is the oldest game in the world, it was even found 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia". He goes on to say: "there are two sides, one light and one dark". Was this the first clue or did I miss something in the first episode? Does anyone know much about Mesoptamian history?

[vickh]

hi. the game they are playing is backgammon. i use to know how to play backgammon but i haven't played in a long time. So here is the wiki on the game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backgammon. Maybe if you read the wiki on the game it will reveal some clues or answers.

I have watched Lost since it first began in 2004. I listen to podcasts. I am still confused with the dark and light thing. LOL
I think we will find out in season 6 the final season of Lost who is good and who is bad. Or it might be a blur and they are all grey. Not exactly good or exactly bad people. i hope we find out in season 6 what the answer to that whole dark and light thing is...

[Aramingo]

Am I the only one who thinks Jacob strongly resembles the psycho killer from "Diamonds are Forever"?

[rabiddog6708]

Lost is and continues to be (despite any of its flaws) one of the best shows TV has ever produced. I have watched from the first episode and I will watch until the last. I don't even have a TV anymore, I watch the episodes online. TV has become lame, but Lost has not.

[pilotsknob]

Aaron is the son of Jacob and Claire. Although Claire chooses to remain on the island, she asks Kate to take Aaron off the island because she knows that Esau will find a loophole to kill the descendants of Jacob.

[Owlygirl]

Dude, of course the bomb exploded. The clues are all there. We know it can't be left the way it is and all the dead cannot stay dead. There is no Lost season 6 without Locke or Sayid and it was already revealed a long time ago Claire would be out for season 5 and back again. Remember "Destiny Found." I do agree the lack of resolve sucks big time, and the writers owe us, the loyal viewers, everything our hearts desire next year. I expect no less!

[Dr Manhattan]

I'm thinking the bomb blast is why the stature was the destroyed and is the cause of problems with pregancies. Anybody else?

[LCDTV]

no. i believe statue was already destroyed when the faux locke and ben confronted jacob in statue. i believe jacob and the other are avatars guiding human evolution. jacob is idealistic about human progress, that they will eventually learn and evolve. the other is pragmatic about humans, they come, they fight they destroy and are corrupted. jack and his gang proves his point by destroying the island. But, benard and rose choose not to fight and live in peace. are they the evolutionary step that jacob mentioned in the beginning? will they be the new "adviser" (richards role) ?

[Dr Manhattan]

Don't forget that Flocke and Ben are meeting Jacob 33 years in the future after the bomb may have gone off. They are in the present, correct? Maybe Miles was right. Also maybe they can't change the past.

[Canaanja]

I wonder what the combination of a hydrogen bomb and the release of energy from below the Swan Station would create? Do they somehow negate each other as far as destructiveness goes? Cause a time shift? Cause an ATL?

I am hoping it brings back a few people (Charlie, John, Juliet, to name a few), lands then in a new time, where they must figure out how to redeem themselves and move on from there.

Or not.

JCanaan

[tlgeiger62]

The guy who plays Locke would make an excellent Popeye. I can see the pipe and everything.

[LCDTV]

May the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires

The first

And the second

[σοὶ δὲ] θεοὶ τόσα δοῖεν ὅσα φρεσὶ σῇσι μενοινᾷς,

hail to thee, and all welcome, and may the gods grant thee happiness

Cheers from Athens Greece
Lostholics Anonymous Proud Member

[LCDTV]

translation of the tapestry

May the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires

The first

And the second

[σοὶ δὲ] θεοὶ τόσα δοῖεν ὅσα φρεσὶ σῇσι μενοινᾷς,

hail to thee, and all welcome, and may the gods grant thee happiness

Cheers from Athens Greece

[Emmasdaddy]

wow. i am so glad i stopped watching this show near the end of last year.

i was formerly a huge fan of the show, the first few seasons were BRILLIANT and compelling t.v. but as a friend who had been an ALIAS fan told me when i got into it, abrams and crew would slowly devolve into ridiculous convoluted storylines that would make me want to stop watching. bingo. too many seemingly arbitrary deaths, too many ridiculous twists. way too much ben.

i have not watched this season, but every time i've read a synopsis of an episode somewhere online i've been happy that i jumped ship. maybe i'll catch up on dvd someday, but for now i am at peace with my decision not to be jerked around by LOST each week. kudos to those who are sticking it out, you're more patient and forgiving than i am apparently.

[viewfromuphere]

well we're very happy for you....

so why be here but to indulge the inner troll.

[LCDTV]

the Egyptian statue is Sebek, Crocodile God of Fertility. sebek is depicted as a crocodile or in human form with the head of a crocodile. that is interesting in that babies die during pregnancies for some reason. when the statue was destroyed Sebek must of cursed all women to never give birth.

Also, He was shown with an ankh, representing his ability to undo evil and so cure ills. which the island does.

[alicetilden]

I think that Richard was the Captain of the old ship. Jacob gave him eternal life and youth for his services.

[FCBarca]

It's been a very good season but I can't concur with the many that this finale was great let alone amazing...I thought it failed on many levels

[viewfromuphere]

I don't think it failed as much as ..it's pretty hard to top the season three season ender with the first flashforward.

I think the one area that could have been a bit better was the motivations for nuking/not nuking because there were good arguments on both sides.

unfortunately the writers went with people making huge decisions based on their personal love lives.

to me that smacked of dumbing down for an audience that isn't really that dumb...

[Json]

I agree. I was totally aggravated with Juliet changing her mind because Sawyer gave Kate a glance. If she had suddenly decided that she wanted to save the lives of all the people that died in the crash and on the island, that would've have seemed more reasonable. But to change her mind to avoid the pain of losing Sawyer??? Weak! (Besides Kate and sawyer's other ex had a nice support group on the mainland to help her through this)