Don't Go Into The Light

"Across The Sea" was the most mythology-laden episode ever of Lost. It goes back to the roots of the dispute between Jacob and MIB. Because of that, it's excited a lot of comment. Most of it negative, however. While it has champions, the general reaction has been this was the weakest episode this season, maybe ever.

There were two main complaints. First, fans didn't like the way the basic questions were answered. Second, they didn't like how a lot of basic questions weren't answered. I guess a third complaint is with only three episodes left, we spent a whole hour on two characters we hardly know and ignored the characters we've come to care about.

I didn't think the show was that bad, but it wasn't what it might have been. It'll probably look better in retrospect, but for now, we have to take it as it is.

The show starts with a pregnant woman, Claudia, washing ashore, holding onto some wreckage. We've seen this before. Happens to the Island all the time. She's met by another woman who attends to her wounds. This woman (Allison Janney) has no name. The two speak Latin. (All the dialogue is supposed to be in Latin, though they make it English soon so we don't have to read subtitles, and the actors can actually act.)

So, Latin, the Others' language, presumably insisted upon by Jacob. If we didn't know already, we could guess this is long ago on the Island. Still, didn't they start speaking Latin about 2500 years or so ago? That may seem old, but don't forget, by that time, Ancient Egypt had risen and fallen more than once, and its glorious 2000+ year history was pretty much over. After all the fancy Egyptian allusions in the show, you might think they'd go further back.

Anyway, Claudia (a nice Latin name) asks questions and the Woman answers there are no others on the island (a lie), and they both got there the same way, by accident. Claudia asks one question too many and the Woman cuts her off by saying "every question I answer will simply lead to another question." This is a template answer of Lost, where people always avoid giving information. In fact, it's almost a parody of fan complaints about the show. But it's also the most important line in the episode. Here we are, finally getting the origin show, and it's not going to give us the basic answers. We won't be told where the island, its magic, or this caretaker, come from. We can decide for ourselves what they are and what they mean--Lost doesn't want to tell us. The original mysteries of the Island, we can see, go back well beyond this story, but I doubt we'll find out much more about them. The implication is, no matter how far back you go, there'll still be mysteries, so you might as well stop. It's like the story of how the Earth rests on the back of a giant turtle, and when asked what is the turtle on, the response is another turtle, and when asked what that turtle is on, the response is no use keeping this up, it's turtles from now on.

The pregnant woman has her kid, midwived by the Woman. Mom names him Jacob, then promptly goes into labor again. Another boy. Too bad she only had one name ready. We know the second one will grow up to be MIB, but did they really need to keep his name secret? He had to be called something. At this point, the Woman apologizes, then murders the mom with a rock. Okay.

Next scene, the boys are around 13, and hanging out on the beach (which beach--Lostaway Beach, or Shadow of the Statue Beach--speaking of which, wouldn't that Statue, so Egyptian, have been built already?). They play a game with black and white stones. The kid dressed in black knows about the game, and seems to understand things. The kid dressed in white, Jacob, is more timid, and seems to understand less. Jacob goes back to mom and confesses he played the game. I must say, this Jacob seems like a momma's boy.

Mom goes back to the beach and admits she left the game for the boy to find (though she could be lying--she lies all the time). The boy knew Jacob told on him. She says Jacob can't lie, while MIB is "special." Seems like she has plans for him. The kid wants to know what's happening across the sea, but the mom lies and says there is nowhere else. The island is the world.

The kid starts asking questions about his origin, and the Woman lies again and says the boys came from her. Then she says she came from her mother and so on. She also mentions her mother is dead, but the kids won't have to worry about that. Once again, in case we didn't guess, this woman is special--with some of the magical powers we now associate with Jacob. She doesn't seem to die, and she has the power to make sure others don't die, just like Jacob did with Richard.

The kids, hunting boar, run into others. That's a shock. They hide, and then tell mom. The mother doesn't want anyone else on the island. She doesn't think it's time to tell her kids why they're there, but they force the issue, and so she takes them (blindfolded) to a part of the island where there's a glowing cave with water flowing in. On the walk there, she tells how dangerous other people are, using the same words we've heard MIB use--that others come, fight, destroy and corrupt, and it always ends the same. Jacob didn't quite agree with this view, so I guess MIB takes more after his mom. She also notes she's made it so the boys can never hurt each other, which explains why MIB couldn't kill Jacob directly. (Okay, I'll stop noting every moment that points to something later, though that's mostly what this episode is about.)

At the glowing cave, they find their purpose. It's a warm, bright light, but they mustn't go in, and they must make sure no one else ever finds it. The Woman explains that the light is beautiful, and a little bit of it is inside every man. But they always want more. They can't have it, but if they come, they'll try to take it, and the light will go out, and once that happens, the light goes out everywhere.

I'm guessing this is as close as we'll get to an explanation for the magic of the island. But what does it mean? We can only guess. I'd say it's something like the spirit, the life force, that animates the world. But for all I know, aliens could have come down years before and planted it. And maybe there is a scientific explanation, but she's just using the words she was taught with her ancient understanding. Perhaps the Woman is nuts, from a long line of nuts. That's what MIB believes, anyway. Ultimately, whatever it is, it looks like we'll have to take it on faith.

This also seems to explain what everyone is talking about when they say if MIB wins, everything that we know it ends. Once he kills Jacob and all the candidates, and there's no one left to protect the island, the light goes out, and it goes out everywhere. We don't know what happens after that (though could it be the altaworld?). I should add Widmore seems to be one of those men who are coming for some of the light, which is a bit odd, since he also seems to know how dangerous it is for MIB to leave the island.

The Woman further explains she can't protect the light forever, and one of her boys will have to take over when she's gone. Like Jacob, she has to find her replacement. At that time, you'd think the smart money is on Blackie, since he seems to have closer ties to the island--he's "special."

The kids still play the ancient game--only MIB knows the rules. He says to Jacob you start a game, you can make your own rules--and we know how Jacob loves to have rules, he just doesn't like to make them too clear. (The game looks pretty basic, btw. Older than backgammon.)

Then MIB, but not Jacob, has a vision. It's Claudia. She leads him across the island to the village, the place that's been denied him. She explains he's been lied to all his life. There's a wide world out there across the sea. That's where you're from, and, by the way, I'm your mom, and that woman you call mom killed me.

Let's leave aside Blackie's shock for a second and note that, even in the age before Jacob, people are drawn to the island. Jacob seemed to work to get them there, but has the Woman been doing it too, to someday find a replacement? That seems odd, since she abhors people on her island. More likely, with or without Jacob, it's a quality of the Island--the light--that draws people, even if they don't know why.

Also, note that even before MIB pretends to be people, we have visions of the dead here. Perhaps this mysterious force keeps their spirit alive. Is Claudia stuck on the island, like the other Whisperers, or is she just appearing for the sake of her son?

Anyway, MIB is incensed. Her mom lied all these years. He gets Jacob and wants him to run away to the village. These are our people, not that woman saying she's our mother. Jacob won't leave (didn't I tell you he was a momma's boy?) and starts hitting MIB. Mom comes along to break up the ruckus, and MIB swears he'll go across the sea and get home (sounds more Greek than Roman). The Woman says he'll never be able to leave. Is she lying? What would be the harm? He knows too much? He needs to stay as the guardian of the light?

MIB leaves home, Jacob stays. The Woman admits he killed Jacob's mom. But it was necessary--he'd have gone back to all those bad people, and the Woman needed to protect Jacob and stay good. (Who's good or not is a big deal to Jacob's people, and presumably to Jacob--you seem to get crosssed of the list if you're no longer good.) Maybe she's right, but she sure sounds like the batty lady MIB described as his mother. It sure is easy to be tainted in her eyes--and she seems to kill as easily as the Others will some day.

She says she loves him differently from how she loved the kid she didn't even bother to give a name to. Even though Jacob seems to be second best, he'll stay "for a while." Sing out, Louise!

When we come back, we find out that "while" is 30 years. Both Jacob and MIB are grown, though the Woman looks pretty much the same. I guess they grow to adulthood and then stop aging. (Richard became ageless as an adult, but we know these two were protected from death as kids.)

Mom and Jacob are at the loom. (Was Ben right when he said Jacob didn't like modern technology? A real Luddite.) Without permission, Jacob regularly visits his brother at the village. It turns out Blackie agrees with his insane mom--these people are actually bad. But he's willing to manipulate them to get what he wants. (Jacob, looking at them from above, wonders if they're so bad. An interesting twist that certainly plays out in the show.)

MIB has found a way off. He's leaving. He's going to use the magic/light/electromagnetism/water of the island to get off. Apparently, the people may be bad, but some are smart, and they've figured out how to use the island. He offers Jacob a ticket off, but the Boy In White wants to stay close to mommy.

Jacob, of course, spills the beans to mother. The crazy lady goes to meet her evil stepson. He's down a well, ready to install the donkey wheel, which will get him off the island. There it is. No more explanation. Of course, he's "special" so he knows it'll work. By the way, he doesn't quite get it done this episode, but apparently he gets people in later years to finish the wheel job.

MIB says he can't find the glowy cave, even though he's looked for thirty years. Must be hidden. But the basic source of the island is reachable, and he and his smart friends are going to utitlize it. She starts to say he has no idea about what he's doing, but he complains that's because she never told him what the hell was going on. Once again, we see Jacob not telling people how things work, and this turns out to be one of MIB's biggest complaints.

She can't convince him to stay, so she does what crazy ladies have done from time immemorial and smashes his head against the wall. But not before apologizing, as she did with Claudia.

She goes to Jacob and brings him to the glowy cave. It's time for him to become the protector. She explains "life, death, rebirth" are down there. It's the source, the heart, of the island. (Which is tied in to the rest of the world, it would seem.) She asks him to promise to never go in, it'd be worse than dying. She then pulls out the stopper and pours him a drink. This will make him the protector. It's not clear if the drink is special, or if the ceremony does it, or if it's just Jacob's promise that puts him in charge. In any case, Jacob gets all whiny. He doesn't want to take the job--she always liked MIB better, and she's stuck with him. She says (is she lying?) it always had to be him, and he doesn't really have a choice. Jacob drinks. "Now you and I are the same." (Wonder how that sounds in Latin?) Did Jacob just change into the Jacob we've come to know?

Meanwhile, MIB awakes, on the ground. (He can't die. Or maybe he can, but didn't this time.) The well has been filled in. He sees black smoke in the distance. We've seen that before. He runs to it and discovers the village has been burned to the ground and all the people murdered (we've sort of seen that before, too). I wonder how his mom did it. Did she burn them in their sleep, or did it require special powers?

On another part of the Island, Jacob and his mom talk. A storm is coming. He'll gather firewood and says he'll see her back home, but she seems to know this is it.

She goes back and sees MIB's gameboard. Before she can say a word, MIB stabs her through the heart. Isn't that the way you're supposed to kill these people? She sure isn't gonna die of old age. He asks why she wouldn't let him leave. She says it's because she loves him. Hmm. Then she says thank you, and dies. (I'm not sure if Jacob was as happy to die, though he seemed to accept his fate. Maybe he knew he'd be around to talk to Hurley.)

Jacob comes by and goes nuts, giving MIB a good beatdown. There's no explaining--Jacob doesn't care how many she burned to death. He grabs bro Blackie and drags him to the glowy cave. He knows how to get there. He can't kill his bro, but he can do worse.

He knocks MIB out and feeds him to the cave. The light goes out, and, apparently, his brother is transformed, or merges into good old Smokey. Jacob find MIB's lifeless body, and puts it next to his dead mother's, along with a black and white stone, and that's pretty much how they're found a couple thousand years later by Jack, Kate and Locke (as the show, perhaps unnecessarily, reminds us with flashbacks from Season One).

LOST

So that's that. A glimpse further back than we've ever been given. Everything we've seen on this show has proceeded from the feud between Jacob and MIB. It turns out they started as regular guys, just like everyone else on the show, even Richard. And, I might add, though MIB can get pretty nasty, it's far from clear (unless Jacob has information he's not providing) that either one knows who's right.

I mean MIB may have been using the long con, so he could kill Jacob and the last of the candidates, but I don't think there's any reason to doubt anything else he's said. He may think both Jacob and his mom are crazy, manipulating things for millienia to protect an island and its source for no reaon--nothing will happen, or nothing bad, anyway, if he leaves.

We saw the origin of Smokey, though, like much else in the show, we still don't have a good idea of how he/it works. Is Smokey a life force? A death force? He came from something good, but also something dangerous. (Locke seemed to think he was beautiful. Is that correct, or was that part of the long con?) Is Smokey the island's protector, as much as Jacob? Is he a man in smoke form? (I think it's more--or maybe less--than that. When MIB takes over a body, he starts to share some of the memories and feelings of that body, as far as I can tell.)

Can Smokey get off the island anyway? (I don't think so, but who was Christian in the hospital ater the real one died? And did he at least get out to the freighter to talk to Michael?) Is what he's looking for an end to the island's protection of the world?

For that matter, what effect did the creation of Smokey have. I thought I saw the light go out--did the world feel that? Light or not, the sources of power, and the magic, are still there. How does Smokey figure in to the whole island system? Why was Ben (and others, presumably) able to summon him if necessary. Does Smokey operate somewhat independently of MIB?

Where is the glowy cave on the island? Is that where the Temple was built, and helped supply the healing spa?

Well, I guess there are a lot of basic answers we'll have to fill in ourselves. But at least we got to find out who Adam and Eve are (and there was no way to guess). And at least they got some more use out of that cave.