Talk to the Flocke: Reactions to the "Lost" episode "The Lighthouse"

If last week's episode was a fillet mignon served with $100-a-glass wine and a desert made of pure gold, this week's episode of "Lost" was a damn fine hamburger served with greasy fries. It was satisfying, but not "oh my God you HAVE to TRY THIS" satisfying. That said...it's grown on me. It's grown on me quite a bit. I think what we had here was a good character-based episode that served the important purpose of reminding us that Jack, not Ben or Locke, but Jack, not Sawyer or Kate, but JACK is the hero of this show. I know everybody wants to spin it to be somebody else, but they are supporting players (cool-ass supporting players, but supporting players) to the lead of the show. Jack's journey is a good one, full of flaws and missteps and good intentions. He's the hero of this show. He "has some work to do." Also, the episode gets mad bonus points for a few mythology notes. Enough preamble, let's do this yo.

Things I liked

• Jack's flash sideways: Yeah, I liked that he had a kid. I liked that HE was the one working through creating the daddy issues. Sure, when he was involved with raising Aaron, some of those things came up, but back then he was troubled more by the whole "this is my sister's kid" thing. I liked that we saw him trying to break the cycle. Also, the Dogen appearance was crazy. Does that mean that Dogen ISN'T really old like he said? Or is he somehow appearing in the flash sideways as an agent of Jacob still? He sure did seem to know SOMETHING.
• The Lighthouse: Yeah, I know it SOUNDS like horseshit that we hadn't seen the lighthouse on the island before, but we're dealing with quasi-immortal beings who can turn into smoke. I'm guessing they could hide a lighthouse with some kind of trickery if they wanted to. Anyway, the gears were totally reminiscent of the frozen donkey wheel, which is cool because it keeps that nerdy cohesion between the designs. Also, seriously, how cool is it that we know now how they spy on people off the island. Sure, it doesn't make a lot of scientific sense (although I'm guessing we're going to get some vague "quantum mechanics" explanation at some point for it), but it was totally cool. More on this in the answers section below.
• Hurley's transformation: I LOOOOVED the conversation between him and Jacob. The open and honest way he explained that he would keep doing what Jacob wanted provided he stopped effing with his emotions. Perfect. I also really liked the way in which he's stopped fighting against the weirdness around him. No more panic, just going with it. What else are you going to do at this point.
• Claire's squirrel baby: The best thing involving Claire in 6 seasons. Also, props to Cameron (my friend) for dubbing it the "faby."
• Adam and Eve: My favorite mini-mystery is back! Hurley's theory about who the skeletons were cracked me up because that's been an idea for a long, long time. That said, I like that they called attention to them again. That's important in my book. Thanks for not dropping that one, guys!
  

Things I didn't like

• Claire: Claire sucks. Claire sucks bad. Claire is the worst actress in the history of television. From her ridiculous line delivery to the fact that she can't even swing an axe believably, I detest her. I find her "madness" confusing and nonsensical. Worst of all, I don't even care about it. I like that Flocke is building his army, I don't care that Claire is one of them. Let's move on. Although, one quick issue: Her connection to Flocke AND Christian is disorienting. I have long thought Christian was a good guy, but now that we see Claire hanging out with Flocke after hanging out with Christian before she disappeared...I'm no longer sure. Oh, mind you, I don't care about Claire's involvement in this, I just care about Christian.
• The pacing: I want them to pick up the pace a bit in the flash sideways. We only get half an episode for one season to really invest in what's going on in this entirely different world. Give us more of it. Don't make us guess whether or not Jack's ex-wife and baby momma is important, show us who she is. Don't send him on a boring car ride around looking for his son, have him come home and instantly find a note or something that suggests where he went. Get where you're going faster in that world, show writers. So far, that half of each episode is too full of lazy writing. Don't tell me it's that I'm too amped up and want more mythological answers. I do, for sure, but I want the flash sideways to not dawdle because they don't have time to make us care. Make us care faster by moving faster through what's going on.
• The editing: So Kate shows up and then just leaves? Hi Sayid! Bye Sayid? It was kind of all over the place. Again, my biggest problem this year is that they seem to be writing poor structurally. They need to think about framing their episodes a little better.
• Christian's body: So, they had a funeral...did they have the body? If not, why worry about the will THAT YOU COULDN'T FIND WHEN IT WAS SITTING ON THE SHELF and not about the missing body. If it did get returned for the funeral, where was it? Things that could be explored instead of watching Jack drive around from place to place.
  

Answers

• I see you: Well, there's only one real answer, but it's a big one. They've been spying on these people from the beginning and it's been through the lighthouse. Cool. The question then becomes, have these people been manipulated or watched? Intriguing.
• Jack is important: I liked this reveal. Not that it was shocking or an "answer" per se, but we know now for sure that he is the central figure in Jacob's plan. I think there's no question that this show is going to require a redemptive sacrifice from Jack. My bet is, it's NOT going to involve him sacrificing himself, which he is more than willing to do, but allowing something bad to happen in front of him for the greater good. Also, I think he's the new Jacob. I do. I know it's "obvious" and not as fun as thinking of Hurley or JeYeon or whatever, but this is just fine for me. I buy it.
• Kate: Austen is number 51 on the wheel. It's becoming increasingly obvious she isn't a candidate at all. So, why is she important? My guess is that she's involved in the sacrifice that Jack has to make.
  

Reflections

To me the reason why this episode has grown on me is the significance of the lighthouse and "Alice in Wonderland" and the sparkles of "does Jack remember" in the flash sideways.

• Lighthouse: The theme of the show is clearly free will versus fate, but never before have we seen it like this. They could well have manipulated them since childhood, or the Man in Black and Jacob could have just been watching. Really interesting. Also, the fact that 108 keeps getting brought up leads to an interesting idea. If 108 is the sum of all the numbers, then why do we assume that only one candidate is needed? What if this is a group effort?
• Alice in Wonderland: Jack's stories have always echoed through this "looking glass" lens, going back to the white rabbit episode and references and his following his white shoe-wearing father through the jungle. I like this. I also like that Flocke is kind of the Jabberwocky. It's cool.
• Sideways: This is the crux of the show. I think we're getting the post-show during the show, if that makes sense. I think there's every chance that the season ends with them getting to enter the flash sideways world, making what we see happening the epilogue, the "what happens next" stuff. That's cool, but you have to make us care more about it. The pace is too deliberate right now and the questions are too frequent. I like the idea, I just want better execution. That said, I loved the appendix scene and the Claire reference.
  

Overall, I give the episode a B. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I need more of Christian, who is just not being mentioned enough. I need the final pieces to come together. When Jacob tells Hurley that they can't get back in time, that better mean that next episode the SHIT GOES DOWN. They walked to the lighthouse in half a day, if they can't get back to the temple "in time to warn them" we'd better see craziness next episode. This laid some groundwork, but next episode, let's see some craziness go down. What say you, my fellow "Losties?"