Lost Rewatch on VHS: The Incident

 

 

VHS NOTES: Lot of previews of note. This is just before the summer of 2009 and we see a lot of ads for films that will become classics. The most notable ones are ads for The Hangover and Pixar’s Up (scored by Michael Giacchino, by the way). We also see ads for lesser films such as the remake of The Taking of Pellham One Two Three, Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation.

As for TV we are obviously on the cusp of several other critical season finales. The Season 5 Finale of Grey’s Anatomy which seemed to be leading to the death of Izzie Stevens but actually led to the death of George O’Malley. (Katherine Heigl would be gone by the middle of Season Six in controversy.) There are ads for the season finales of Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives and we finally get the first real look at Flashforward, a series that would actually be critical to the final season of Lost.

 

Now before we begin, a side note that might give some insight into many of the flashes we see involving Jacob in this episode:

 

 

Personal confession: when this episode premiered for reasons that escape me, I missed the first two minutes and for whatever reason I thought that the Man In Black was Jacob and that the ACTUAL Jacob was somehow, evil. I didn’t realize the extent of my error until the last scene.

 

In a way, though, my viewing of all of the flashbacks in that sense may have prepared for a theory that some speculated on leading up to the final season. This theory argued that while Jacob’s touch had an influence over the survivors in their lives, it was uncertain whether based on when he appeared in their lives and what happened as to whether Jacob’s influence is good or bad. This is  speculated it in the final chapter but never truly explored in it. So for the record, let us consider when Jacob appeared in each flashback and how one might well interpret his actions (some of this will involve variations on quotes from the book:

 

Kate:  Jacob pays for the lunchbox. Did he save her from the police and being caught shoplifting or was this an early lesson that she can get away from crime?

 

Sayid: Jacob distracted Sayid. Did he save Sayid from getting killed by a hit-and-run driver or did his distraction prevent Sayid from pushing Nadia out of the way of a car? (Nikki speculated it was the latter in the final book, but it’s worth considering both.)

 

Jin and Sun: Jacob appearance at their wedding. Was “never take your love for granted” a reminder to save them from future grief or a curse, a la “May you live in interesting times? (It is irrelevant for the discussion which one of them was the candidate.)

 

Jack (after Christian degrades him) : Is he supporting Jack emotionally against his father’s tutelage outside the OR? This depends on what your speculation on Christian was. As Nikki reminded us, Jack may have been misreading Christian’s intentions the whole time so maybe Jack took this as confirmation of his views rather than the support it was.

 

Locke: (after Cooper pushes him out the window): This is the big one. Nikki theorized that he brought Locke back from the dead with his touch. Here’s another interpretation. He was waiting for it to happen, meaning he knew it was coming. Does that mean he could have prevented it from happening if he chose? Taking it further, did Jacob know that this was the man that the Man in Black was going to use against him to kill him and heal him regardless? (Did your brain just explode?)

 

Sawyer (after the funeral) Now I think the assumption has always been that Jacob’s giving Sawyer the pen to finish writing his letter is automatically assumed to be the factor that caused him to go down that path. Another interpretation: Jacob knew what was happening and therefore had an idea what Sawyer was doing. Was his words: “I’m very sorry this happened to you,” supposed to be a sign that he should take consolation from his uncle and not follow through with his plan? (This theory is harder to prove but I think it’s worth considering.)

 

Hurley: (the cab ride) Is Jacob convincing Hurley that seeing the dead is a blessing merely just a way to convince him to come to the island? After all, he knows the importance of Hurley’s gift, and considering how important it was in the final season, he knew that Hurley was essential to the end game.

In different contexts in the final season both The Man In Black and Jacob will confirm that all of the candidates were ‘irrevocably broken.’  The question has never been answered: Did they need the island because of that? Or were they broken because of Jacob’s actions?

Now let’s begin.

Lost has always been a series that has been about science versus faith. Locke has always had faith that everybody had been brought here for a reason. Jack has now taken on that faith and he believes it is to detonate a hydrogen bomb and erase everything that has happened since the series began. Radzinsky spends much of The Incident certain that his destiny is to change the world and that means drilling the Swan. Everybody has had faith in other people: Jack for much of the first three seasons. Many people in the group have faith in Sawyer. The Others have had faith in Jacob even though they’ve never seen him. Richard and Ilana have had similar faith. The viewer has had the same kind of faith for five seasons that somehow, at the end of all this, everything will make sense. (Some of us are clearly more deluded than others.)

Faith is center stage at The Incident which received Emmy nominations for Best Direction and Best Teleplay. Locke has been certain ever since he came to the island that they were all brought here for a reason. In Season 3, we first learned of the potential man who was responsible for the island Jacob. Ben claimed to be the only person who talked to him which Locke and the viewer doubted. We went to the cabin in The Man Behind The Curtain, saw Ben talk to an empty chair in which he claimed Jacob was sitting. Locke, like us, thought he was insane until he heard a voice say, ‘Help me’ and the whole cabin exploded.

Since then we’ve been back to the cabin twice, heard Jacob’s name mentioned more and more frequently, saw Christian who claimed to speak for Jacob and learned that Richard answers to Jacob. But we’ve still never actually seen him, and now we learn that none of the Others ever have – including Ben.

Now in the finale of the penultimate season of Lost we finally meet Jacob. He is wearing a white shirt, has white sandals, and sandy blond hair and we see him catch and eat a white fish. He is joined by a man dressed in black, with black sandals, salt and pepper hair and a scruff of a black beard. Ever since Locke famously said in the pilot: “Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark”, black and white has been a theme on this series, and it’s been suggested that what’s happening on the island is some kind of struggle between the light and the darkness. But during the last five seasons, all the characters have been in some murky grey area (well, not some of the people in Dharma and quite a few of the parents of everyone we’ve met) and this has been true every time we meet a new group.

 Ben famously claimed that the Others were ‘the good guys’ even though we’d spent two seasons believing otherwise. We then spent season 3 with the Others and learned that while they did keep doing bad things (kidnapping, brainwashing, murder) they believed that because Jacob was telling them to do this, they were the good guys. This is echoed when Bram tells Frank that he’s safe with them because “they’re the good guys.” Frank doubts them, but it’s now pretty clear that because they are taking orders from Ilana (who clearly is some kind of disciple of Jacob) that their actions are that of the good guys.

The freighter folk came to the island on a mission from Widmore. We thought Widmore was the villain of the piece (when you hire men like Keamy it’s big hint) but he claimed Ben was the villain and we were inclined to see it that way. Then Keamy killed Alex and we believed it more. During Season 5 we’ve pretty much seen all of Widmore’s life and his family, and while we’re still not convinced he was ever the good guy, we can see the sacrifices he’s made and why he believes Ben usurped him.

And now Jacob and this mysterious Man In Black are having this benign conversation as the Black Rock comes to the island in what seems to have been a hundred and fifty years ago about what seems to be the nature of humanity. The Man In Black believes that man is intrinsically evil and Jacob seems to think that they’re not. Though it is worth noting that everything we’ve seen in the last five seasons does seem to meet the Man in Black’s dismissal: “They come. They fight. They corrupt. They destroy. And it always ends the same.” This sentiment is echoed by, of all people, Bernard and Rose who we finally see what happened to them after they disappeared back at the start of the season. Rose’s remark that after thirty years they’re still finding ways to kill each other is very on point – and it’s telling that Kate doesn’t seem to get the message.

But it is the last series of exchanges where the Man in Black tells Jacob how badly he wants to kill him that is clear. He tells Jacob that one of these days he’ll find a loophole. What’s interesting is not so much how calm both men are about this, but that both seem to have the placidity of faith – and both of them seem very sure that the Man in Black can do exactly what he claims he can.

Jacob has apparently spent his entire life following the survivors of Oceanic, possibly from since before they were born. He comes to each of them at critical moments and with the possible exception of Kate, it is when they are at points when there faith is being tested or it is at is lowest. He sees Sawyer when he is burying his parents and his only path forward is to find revenge. The moment he distracts Sayid, he loses Nadia – and with it any faith Sayid had that he was a good man. He touches Sun and Jin when they have married and found faith in each other. He touches Jack in the aftermath of his first surgery when he claims his father doesn’t believe in him, even though we see for the first time Jack’s misreading the situation. He touches Locke just as he has been thrown out a window and tells him he will be alright. He touches Hurley and tells him to have faith in himself that he is not crazy and he has not been cursed. And though we never understand the reason why he chose Ilana, the fact that Jacob asks her for help is enough for her to have faith in him. Kate is the anomaly in this scenario; all this seemed to do was give her faith that she could get away with things.

This is true to an extent in 1977. Jack is certain that if he drops this bomb all the misery will be erased. He has a faith in himself that we’ve never seen before, but the last time we saw someone this sure it was when Locke decided to stop pushing the button. Richard is following Eloise in 1977 because he has faith in the leader, but its not blind faith: he doesn’t want her to get killed in Dharmaville.

Most of the people who follow Jack on his mission have faith in him. Jin because he thinks this will get him back to his wife. Hurley because he has faith in Jack. Miles ends up going to the Swan because he has faith in Lafleur.

The rest of Jack’s crew have lost their faith. Juliet has been holding on to the possibility that she and Sawyer can be together. But it’s critical that the one flashback in the episode that doesn’t have Jacob shows Juliet at a moment when she loses faith – in this case when her parents get divorced. Young Juliet believes people who love each other should stay together and she runs off unable to believe that. Juliet’s entire history on this show has been constantly falling for the wrong men and now the one relationship that was healthy has become ash in front of her. James has decided he will follow Kate and Juliet has nothing left to believe in.

James has spent the last three years happier than he’s been in his adult life. In less than four days, it has all fallen apart. When he and Jack have the knockdown drag-out fight that we’ve known they’ve always wanted to, Sawyer is beating Jack up not so much to stop him but because he has lost everything to a man who seems to have a blind faith. Sawyer also gets Jack to admit the real reason he’s doing this: the loss of Kate has devastated him emotionally. (It’s the most honest Jack is the entire episode.) The fact that even after everything that’s happened, including the last week, he still wants Kate to believe in him speaks volumes to his emotional state.

Sayid as we see has no faith left. Even as he suffers from a bullet wound inflicted by Roger Linus, he still spends what he feels will be his last energy making sure this mission will succeed. When Jack says this will save him, Sayid says: “Nothing can save me” and it’s clear Sayid believes this one hundred percent. He thinks even if this brings oblivion he is doomed to hell, and he is trying to bring redemption to those he thinks can be saved.

Locke has a certainty about him we’ve never seen before and it shocks everyone around him. Sun is holding on to the idea she will see her husband. Richard is trying to deal with his faith in Jacob and his devotion to the system. But in the episode the character who matters the most is the one who doesn’t get a single flashback.

Michael Emerson is incredible in this episode. That’s nothing new, of course, but his work here is a revelation. Ben has always seemed to have a plan, always confident, always sure of himself. He has done everything in his power the last three years to manipulate the Oceanic 6, control events, even murder John Locke, all so that he could get them all on a plane and get back to the island. He was foiled in his chance to get vengeance on Penny, but there’s a part of him who genuinely believes in the aftermath of the landing that once he gets back to his people, he can put things back the way they were.

Then he wakes up and sees Locke in front of him. We’ll never know if he truly was going to see the monster before Locke saw him but when he sees the new and improved John Locke, he’s ill at ease for the first time the whole series. Locke knows things that he never did before – including where to find the monster. Then he sees Alex and she tells him to follow John Locke, and seeing Alex clearly fractured him. Then he goes back to see Richard and Locke is clearly in control of events in ways he never was before. And that finally breaks him.

Ben looks broken in a way we’ve never seen at the camp. He’s finally destroyed in a way he hasn’t been. He used to be the puppet master; now his strings are broken. It’s stunning to watch Ben be a passenger instead of the driver of events. Even his sarcasm has a cry of pain.

Finally he is invited into Jacob’s inner sanctum. The awe on his face is marvelous and painful: he’s never been here before, never in the presence of a man he spent more than thirty years loyally serving. Jacob speaks to him and says he has a choice. And Ben doesn’t seem to understand. Finally he gets to face the man he’s spent thirty years blindly following, in whose name he sacrificed his daughter, survived cancer and was banished from the island, all without ever seeing. And he asks the question that could speak for everybody who has followed Jacob: “Why not me?” And Jacob doesn’t seem to care. Finally Ben quickly stabs him with the same brusqueness he did in killing Keamy last season, finally thinking he has done something of his own free will.

Except…we know he hasn’t. As we have learned just moments before, John Locke is really most sincerely dead. The man who seems to be wearing his body is the Man in Black. (Props to Terry O’Quinn in that scene, the way he instantaneously shifts personalities to something genuinely evil is another layer upon layer of acting.) Ben has spent his entire life in service to one force, truly believing he was on the side of good. Now he has shifted in belief into another force and the island will soon pay for it.

Admittedly we’re still reeling from what we just saw in 1977. There is a shootout at the Swan site and Jack manages to get to the site of the pocket. He drops the bomb down the dig (there’s clearly a moment he doubts himself). Everybody closes their eyes and waits. And…”This don’t look like LAX.”

Then we get to see the Incident play out. This should seem like a replay of the Season 2 finale. The difference was we were in a hatch and only three people were in it. This time, we’re above ground and the destruction is far more obvious and glaring. Everything metal starts heading towards the platform. Jack is knocked cold almost instantly. Dr. Chang, who has been the canary in the coal mine, tries to shut things down but his hand is injured. (We’ve known from the film strips that his hand is a prosthesis; now we see how he lost it.) Miles pulls his father free and tells him to get as far away from the Swan as he can. (Did Chang survive all this and get back to civilization, even if he never saw his wife and son? We’ll never know.)

Radzinsky, keeping with everything we know about him, gets into a car and tries to drive away – only to have the car start being driven towards the dig. (Couldn’t he have gotten a rebar through the chest?) Platforms are collapsing left and right.

And then, a chain grabs Juliet by the ankle and she is dragged towards the pocket. Sawyer grabs her hand just before she falls in. The scene that follows is arguably the most heartbreaking in the entire fifth season and everybody plays it to the max: Josh Holloway trying desperately to hold on to the woman he loves, Evangeline Lilly, knowing what’s going to happen and trying to save her friend, Elizabeth Mitchell, now being torn apart physically to go with emotionally and knowing what she has to do. The moment she lets go and drops – and when Holloway lets loose a scream of pain we’ve never heard from Sawyer in five seasons – is absolutely gutting.

But that’s not the final moment, any more than what happened in 2007. Juliet regains consciousness in the pit. Blood is leaking from her mouth. She sees the bomb and grabs a rock. She begins to hit it. “Come on,” she cries. “Come on. Come on, you son of a bitch!”

BOOM. Fade to white.

What has happened? Perhaps we should have gotten a hint with Jacob’s last words. “They’re coming,” he says before he is kicked into the fire.

Jacob has always seemed to have a foreknowledge of what was going to happen in the lives of the Oceanics. He didn’t seem to do anything to stop himself from being killed. Why? We saw him weaving a tapestry at the beginning of the episode and by the time its over, he’s finished weaving. “It takes a long time when you make the thread, but that’s the point I think,” he tells Ben.

There’s clearly a deeper meaning. Tapestries tell stories and Jacob has clearly been telling stories of the island for a very long time. Nothing seemed to surprise him, not even the arrival of ‘Locke’ and Ben. Is it possible he knew how this would work out? Or is it just a warning to the Man in Black that his problems aren’t over yet?

The final moments of the episode show a trailer. “Lost. Final Season. 2010. Destiny Found.” We remember Jacob’s line when to the Man in Black. “It only ends once. Everything until then is just progress.” The series is now heading towards the end of its run, but even after that ending we’re still not sure its over. How satisfying the final season has been a controversy debated to this day, and it is one I have thought and rethought about countless time ever since it aired. I will be going into greater detail when we get to Season 6: what I thought we could get, what we actually got – and how I’ve changed my mind over the years.