Man, am I fried. Been driving down to Santa Monica during rush hour almost every day this week. I’m working on a small project with friends at Demand Media which I guess doesn’t seem so small anymore. Writing, shooting, editing, animating… and of course, right in the thick of it, my car decided to start acting up. Seems to be the Crankshaft Sensor. I can’t even describe to you how awesome that is.

Anyway, it’s Saturday evening, and while I wait for some video to finish rendering on my other computer, I’m gonna take a bit of free time to sit down with some of my Lost thoughts… which actually do feel a bit lost to me, right now.

What was this episode about, again?

*staring off into space*

Ugg, I just remembered I have an audition tomorrow. Can you believe that?! On a Sunday?!

*sigh*

Well, that’s pilot season for ya. Casting directors so slammed, they schedule auditions on the friggin weekends.

*staring off into space*

*thinking about where to start this post*

*wondering how much I have to memorize for this audition*

*considering just skimping out on this post to start work on the audition*

*assuming I’m not even right for the role and have no chance anyway*

*opening the pdf to take a read*

*reading*

……….. hmm. Crap shoot.

Actually, you know what? Let me work on this audition for a bit. I’ll be back later to finish the post.

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… Okay, I’m back. I still think it’s gonna be a crap shoot, but whatever.

Anyway, let’s see, Lost… Lost.

Oh, you know what hit me during this episode? I guess it was the first time I really noticed the 180 degree turn the show has taken since last year’s heavy science tone.

We went from quantum mechanics to mirrors that can show us the front of people’s houses (a la The Golden Girls), temple springs that magically resurrect, and Jacobean hands that give “gifts” of everlasting life… or something. And yes, Pauline and Lizz, I’m giving in to the simpler explanation that Miles is just talking to ghosts.

So I’m wondering whether this huge shift is meant to prepare us for an ending that’s perhaps more metaphysical than some of us would have expected *cough “or liked”*. Or is this just meant keep our eyes away from “the man behind the curtain”. Like, “oh wow! That’s a giant floating head!”… but in reality it’s just a bunch of levers and donkey wheels (maybe even a space ship or two) making things look more magical than they really are?

Okay, so FLocke did tell Ben he’d need someone to stay on the Island after he and the rest leave. So I guess that kills my theory that the Island itself is a huge spaceship. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still a spaceship somewhere on (or under) the Island. But my assumption that the Temple was somehow critical to the mechanics of that ship also seem to be deteriorating.

Speaking of the Temple…. what in the world did FLocke need to get in there for anyway? Just to kill a bunch of people and add a few others to his army? I mean, why was that place so important? Wasn’t there something in there Miyagi was protecting? Hmm… I’m starting to think we haven’t seen the last of this Temple. I don’t know how I feel about that.

Well, I am glad Ben got the chance to redeem himself in the Alti-verse. I’m guessing some of you are too. Although, I’m starting to wonder if the Alti-verse is actually the Real-verse. Or the First-verse. Or the Second-verse, same as the First.

Regardless, the episode does seem to support this idea that the core essence of all these people is the same in any parallel universe where they exist. I actually like to think of them as different stories rather than different universes. And those stories will vary based on the characters choices, mistakes in each… not because the characters themselves are fundamentally different. I think that’s a cool concept to play with.

Does all this Alti-verse stuff make the show’s plot a bit confusing? Definitely. I mean, can you imagine being pitched this season back in 2003?! It wouldn’t have stood a chance. But what I think makes it work, now that we know all these characters so well, is that there’s something kind of alluring about the possibility of other versions of ourselves living other lives. Versions of John Cabrera who never moved to Los Angeles… or versions who perhaps prepared a bit more for certain auditions.

And I especially love the idea that Deja Vu may be the place where all our different stories/parallel universes sort of intersect.

But I suppose the most interesting clue from Alti-Ben’s storyline is the fact that, even in the Alti-Verse, he used to live on the Island. He experienced the Dharma Initiative for at least a short period of his life. So then is this Alti-verse actually a product of the bomb detonation? How would Ben and his father have made it off the Island after an atomic explosion? In fact, isn’t the Island underwater because of that explosion? When did they leave the Island? Was the bomb really what sent it to the ocean floor? Was Lil’Ben shot by Sayid? There’s a very big clue in all of this. I just can’t quite see it yet.

But you know, for me, this episode actually felt more relevant to Jack’s story than to Ben’s. At least as it relates to the overall mystery. And my theory (which I’m currently calling “Jac(k)ob”) seems to have gained a bit of traction.

We now know that Richard’s strange anti-aging is due to a laying of the hands by Jacob sometime in the past. According to Richard, if Jacob touches you, you’re given a gift. In his case, it was a very powerful Oil of Olay. The question is whether the others we’ve seen touched by Jacob, received that same “gift”.

Locke was touched. It brought him back to life. Was that his “gift”? Or was he also given a similar anti-aging gift that we just never got a chance to see. Would the rope have snapped had he tried to hang himself? Was he only able to die because it was at the hands of Ben?

Is Sawyer ageless now too?

Are the Kwons? Is that what saved Jin?

And how about when Jacob brushed Jack’s fingers as he handed him the Apollo bar in the hospital? Was Jack also given the gift of eternal life? Is that why the dynamite extinguished? Or is it something bigger?

Is it because he’s the chosen candidate and therefore very important to Jacob… perhaps similar to the way Locke was so important to MIB? I do think it’s interesting that Locke used to be the one determined to stay on the Island but wound up being used as an Island escape. It’s reasonable to assume that Locke’s counterpart, Jack, a man who wanted nothing more than to get the hell off the Island… might be used by Jacob for the opposite purpose, no? I like that. It just feels nice and logical.

Of course, I do keep asking myself what roles all the other Shepherds play in this game?

1.) Christian Shepherd is somewhere on the Island. He told us once that he “speaks for Jacob.” I guess I used to think he was the Smoke Monster… but I’m not so sure anymore. I keep going back to when Locke met him in that Donkey Wheel cave. It was odd that Christian asked him to say hello to his son. Don’t you think? It just doesn’t sound very Smokey to me. What would be Smokey’s motive there? Also, unlike the other forms Smokey’s taken on… Christian’s body is missing.

2.) Ray Shepherd, Jack’s grandfather, seemed like an oddly placed plot device. And he made a couple of interesting remarks to Jack last season; one about his desire to escape the retirement home; to go somewhere where he could never be found. And another, reminiscing his younger days when he had adventures. I also think he has a striking similarity to Jacob.

3.) And then there’s the newest Shepherd, David. What is his role in Jacob’s master plan? How does he fit into the Island? Well first of all, we have to remember, David isn’t part of Jack’s original Island story. He’s a character who seems exclusive to the the Alti-verse. Which would make it difficult to justify his importance to Jacob and the Island, right? It would be hard to explain how the “23 – Shepherd” scribbled on the cave wall could represent David…… unless…. he does exist in both timelines, and Jack just doesn’t know about him. Like from a previous affair? Since David is in his early teens, he would have been born sometime in the early nineties, right? And if he were to exist in both timelines, the mother would have to be the same in both. It couldn’t be Sarah, since he met her much later. And it couldn’t be anyone Jack met on the Island because the times wouldn’t match up either. So is there anyone who would have been roughly Jack’s age in the early 90s, and who Jack may have had a relationship with around that time?

I’m honestly asking, since I have no idea.

Anyway, I guess there’s still a part of me that thinks all these Shepherds play the same role. That perhaps there’s an uncanning connection that links them in a way that’s more than just family members.

And finally finally finally, we got a little more Black Rockage up in hee-ya! Along with what seems to be more support for a little hunch of mine: The Black Rock arrived with The Others… specifically with Richard.

And recently I talked a bit about the chains that may have been a part of Richards personal journey on the ship; chains that may have also played a part in the ship’s magnetic attraction to the Island… and perhaps even it’s odd location in the jungle.

But I don’t want to get too excited until it’s absolutely confirmed… although I am getting more confident over a gentleman’s bet with James Gunn.

Oh, which reminds me! Earlier today James sent me a tweet saying that he met Carlton Cuse yesterday at Night of 140 Tweets, to which I promptly replied:

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