Lost in Lost – Has the conversation changed?

“Happily Ever After” was a turning point in this, the final season of Lost. Going into it, I thought that it was going to be a whole lot more revelatory than it actually was, but it was still a turning point. Sure, it showed that there was a direct connection between the sideways world and the original timeline, but I don’t think that was really a groundbreaking reveal.

A huge number of questions still remain, even about the sideways flashes. Was this universe created because of the bomb blast? Daniel certainly thinks so, and I suppose we have no reason to think otherwise. If that is the point where the timelines split, however, there are a lot of uncertainties. If Ben and his father were able to leave the island, as we saw, then how did they survive the blast? Obviously the explosion didn’t cause the sinking of the island if they were able to find their way off it, so what did happen? Yes, “Happily Ever After” was a great episode, but I don’t think the conversation has changed.

One thing last week’s episode got me thinking about is the relationships on the show. After seeing what happened when Penny and Desmond met in the sideways world and the realizations that Daniel came to after seeing Charlotte, I think it is clear that there is an importance to the couplings that we have seen through the run of the series. It got me thinking about the people who have aligned themselves with Smokey. Almost to a man, they have all lost their great loves. The three people who seem most loyal to Locke (Sayid, Claire, and Sawyer) have all lost someone (Nadia, Charlie, and Juliet). Perhaps this is just coincidence, perhaps it is simply a weakness that Smokey manipulates in people, or perhaps there is a deeper meaning. In any case, I found it interesting. It was also interesting that he tried unsuccessfully to recruit both Sun and Jin, who seemed to reject him because of the other. They still have each other to cling to, even if they are apart, and that has kept them away from the Man in Black. What does this mean for Hurley? In the previews for tomorrow’s episode we saw him visiting Libby’s grave. Is he headed to Smokey’s camp, or is he going to be the first passenger of 815 to get a visit from Desmond in the sideways world?

I’m a little wary of this whole line of thinking, even if I’m the one thinking it. To think that Smokey can be defeated with the power of love, or that true love somehow offers protection against him comes off as very cheesy. With that being said, it’s going to be interesting to see how these relationships play out through the remainder of the season. The thought brings up a lot of questions. With the love triangle between Kate, Sawyer, and Jack through the series, is there going to be an important mythological importance to any of these pairings? Smokey made it seem like he still needed Kate for something. Was it to lure Jack to his side? With Jack seeming more and more Jacob-like by the episode, I can’t imagine that he would fall for that. After all, he already had his big chance with Kate and blew it.

Maybe the conversation has changed, but right now, it’s just a bunch of one-sided questions. “Happily Ever After” pointed us in a direction, but there was only darkness in that direction, nothing is clear. I have a feeling that things will begin to clarify just a bit with this week’s episode. With only seven hours left, the picture damned well better start getting clearer, and I’m sure it will.

What have you been thinking about since “Happily Ever After?”

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 12, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT