Lost in Lost – Some things to stew on

We’re only two weeks into the new season of Lost and we’re already getting two weeks without a fresh episode, courtesy of the Winter Olympics. The good news is that the first two episodes have been so great that there is plenty to think about and theorize over during this little break. I know there are a bunch of questions that I’ve been rolling around in my head.

EDIT: Looks like ABC did change their mind and we’ll have no break in the action. Moral of the story: never underestimate the power of whiny Lost fans. First we rescheduled the State of the Union, and now we’ve successfully killed the Olympic break. Well done fellow Lost fans, well done.

Here are some of my thoughts and questions from the first two episodes:

• Is the island a prison for Smokey?: It’s clear that it is in some sense. As Not-Locke told Ben, he wants to get “home.” Where or what exactly is home for this entity? Was the sole purpose of the island to keep Smokey there and away from civilization? What implications does that have on the alternate timeline where the island is at the bottom of the ocean? My best guess is that it’s not as simple as being just an island. Nothing is ever as simple as it appears on Lost, and I’m not sure everything could be tied into that simple concept. Jacob seemed to be involved in a lot more than just keeping Smokey at bay.
• What is the nature of this soul corrupting darkness?: It seems like the Others have all the answers about this “infection,” even if they are unwilling to share it. I’m still curious if all this secrecy is going to tie into the bigger picture, or if it was mostly for the benefit (or detriment) of the audience. It would appear that this sickness has something to do with Smokey, but that still has yet to proven. There were blatant parallels drawn between Claire and Rousseau at the end of the last episode, which begs the question if this “infection” happened to the French woman as well. Rousseau was certainly crazy, and wasn’t very fond of the Others, but she never seemed to be an agent of evil to me.
• Is there any hope for Sayid and Claire?: The Others were prepared to kill Sayid after a few bizarre tests. This would certainly point to there being no cure for the “infection.” I would guess that if anyone could help Sayid or Claire, it would have been the Others, or Jacob, but Jacob appears to be out of the picture, at least for the time being.
• Why is Smokey disappointed in everyone?: One of the things that struck me as very curious in the first two episodes came at the end of the premiere. Smokey came out of the statue as Locke, revealed himself to Richard and then beat the tar out of him. he then turned to everyone else on the beach and told them how disappointed he was in them. It seemed awfully cryptic, and I doubt that he was simply disappointed that no one came to Richard’s aide. We know that Smokey has a history of looking into people’s pasts and judging them. Was he expressing his disapproval of all the people on the beach? If so, to what end?

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Feb 15, 2010 @ 10:11 EST5EDT