I've already done my best to recap the major questions answered and new mysteries in last night's Lost in my weekly recap, but we all know that wasn't just an ordinary episode. Think of it as an hourlong "Previously on Lost" installment, a recapitulation of all the major themes, major characters and major concepts we need to have in mind going into Sunday's monster finale. Yes, the show has meandered a lot this season, but the writing of last night's episode was so tight that you have to assume everything we saw in "What They Died For" was important, or at least relevant to what's coming next.
Below are the 8 things I took from last night's episode that I think are signals of what to expect next, from the obvious ones-- Jack is now acting a lone wolf, Ben has to decide once more to be good-- to the ones I may very well be reading too much into. These aren't the only things that will happen during Sunday's finale, of course, but just what last night's episode is asking us to expect. It's a good a place as any to start predicting where things are going from here.
The power of love and family. Aside from all the get-em-to-the-concert action on Desmond's part, most of the activity in the alternative universe was characters finding happiness thanks to loved ones-- Jack sharing a peaceful breakfast with his son and half-sister Claire, Ben finding a surrogate family with Rousseau and Alex. We've already seen that a connection with a loved one can make people flash back to their island live, but it seems the Power of Love will be playing an important role in the alternate universe as well. The people finding peace in the sideways with no such loves in the island life may find themselves with a tough choice to make. And speaking of choices...
There is destiny, but there are also choices. Sitting just behind the overarching "man of science vs. man of faith" debate in terms of major Lost themes is free will vs. choice. We know the 815 survivors were fated by Jacob to come to the island, but it's been their own choices that determined who would actually be his replacement. And we know that Desmond is similarly playing god, bringing all the 815ers together again and forcing them to remember their other lives. Jacob emphasized to Kate last night that they all had a choice, and as Desmond gathers everyone for the concert, the characters are almost definitely going to be given the option of which life they want to lead. I'm expecting another classic Lost fight between the characters who believe Desmond and the ones who don't.
The two timelines can bleed together, literally. Jack wakes up in Los Angeles with a mysterious wound on his neck, one that looks pretty familiar from his injuries after the sub crash. And Ben sports a shiner on his cheek after Desmond punches him in the school parking lot, one that persists on the island. This is the first time we've seen physical evidence that the two timelines can collide, and even before Desmond pulls off his big scheme, I'd expect to see that physical proof manifest itself in even bigger ways-- like, people flickering in and out entirely? Or some of the ghost island whisperers becoming a little more real?
Ben must make one final choice to be good. It seems pretty safe to assume that Island Ben is pulling a con on SmokeLocke, if only because a character who's worked his way this long toward redemption can't about-face that quickly. We and Ben were reminded of Alex's brutal death right before he, Miles and Richard entered the Dharma barracks, and it's fair to assume that really was on Ben's mind when he shot Widmore dead-- Ben probably would have done that even if it wasn't what SmokeLocke wanted. Last night's episode was the first we've seen of Ben in weeks, and the combination of his on-island selfishness and alternate-universe redemption was a wonderful reminder of what a complex, endlessly fascinating character he's been. I have to assume that bringing him back so big in the penultimate episode means he'll be a major part of the finale, even if on the surface it looks to be the Jack vs. the Smoke Monster show.
Jack must accept faith in both universes. In his comfy doctor's office, Jack tells Locke not to mistake coincidence for fate-- ever the pragmatist, ever confident in his science. In the jungle, Jack drinks the cup offered by Jacob and gives himself over fully to the island. These two versions of Jack are going to have to come together, obviously, but Island Jack is still going to have to grapple with his choice, and the fact that he's now alone. It's not clear exactly who's going to have to kill the Smoke Monster, but Jack is going to have to grapple with his decision to take this solitary job, acting for himself, and not for others, for the first time since the island came into his life.
Locke must be redeemed. I'm willing to admit this is more of a personal hope on my part, given that Locke is one of my favorite characters and I can't quite believe that he truly died saying, "I don't understand." But bringing Locke back into Jack's office means something, I believe-- it means that the alternate universe Locke is aware that there's more out there for him, out of that chair, and in that way he might be capable of seeing the potenital he found on the island after all. Locke on the island is gone-- dead is dead, as they say-- but Locke's willingness to seek help from Jack suggests there's some redemption for him, even if it's just for the fuzzy matter you would call Locke's soul.
Desmond must be the proxy for the man he hated-- Widmore. Widmore's sudden death was all the more startling last night because Widmore was still a major player in the show's endgame, a shadowy villain whose major motivations had yet to be revealed. But while Widmore is dead, and we already know what he told SmokeLocke, he's still got one person left to speak for him-- Desmond, the would-be-son-in-law he hated and needed in equal measure. Desmond's revelation when put under the electromagnetic field wasn't just about the alternative universe, but that Widmore's plan was important. Widmore is gone, but Desmond still needs to act as his mouthpiece in order to stop the Smoke Monster, an amazing last-minute game change for one of Lost's best characters.
The rules are over, or never really existed. Sure, this season in general hasn't been all the keen on the rules as we knew them. But last night two things happened that couldn't have happened before-- Ben shot Widmore, and the Smoke Monster apparently killed Richard. Did Jacob's death make it possible for all these things to happen when they were impossible before? Or did the rules never really exist to begin with? I doubt we'll get a clear explanation on that one way or another, but it seems fair that both those things happened as one last reminder-- nothing is sacred, nothing is impossible.
