Any THINKING about all things LOST only for the Red Class and those that we
deem worthy.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Substitute
This final season feels a bit like The Matrix Revolutions. Somber and profoundly significant. Not a lot of fun, but meaningful. And almost... inevitable.
Great episode. Tons of irony. Tons of great parallels.
What got my attention most, though, was something that I noticed in the scene where Locke is interviewing at the temp agency. In the first shot, there are three posters on the wall. The words "dream," "dream job" and "job" stand out in the posters. First, I thought about the possibility that the alternate timeline is a dream. Then I thought about the possibility that "job" is really a reference to Job from the Bible. I don't know the Bible well at all, so maybe someone can jump in on this one. Wikipedia has some stuff that seems to link Locke to Job, but this part is what really got my attention:
"In Palestinian folk tradition Job's place of trial is Al-Joura, a village outside the town of Al Majdal. It was there God rewarded him with a fountain of youth that removed whatever illnesses he had, and gave him back his youth."
On another note, if anyone has theories about why certain characters are linked to certain numbers, I'd be excited to hear them.
Yes, I thought it was an excellent episode. Ben is a fantastic European History teacher.
My only two guesses (for now) about the numbers is that they're either like tournament seeds (haha) or thoroughly meaningless.
Richard's a candidate too, yes?
Loved the white & black stones, the scale, the list, the idea that there's nothing to protect, the Monster's wish that everyone would just leave his island alone (cue Camp & Tempest references)....
The monster can no longer shape-shift. Hm.
Ben's eulogy was great.
Loved the Monster shouting to little Peter Pan / kid Jacob "DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO."
I appreciated Sawyer's fatalism when approached by the Monster. He's seen it all. "Ghost of Christmas Past."
Makes me think -- if our heroes could be shown their place in things from a different perspective... if they could, ahem, be shown what their lives would be like without the island... which life would they choose?
The Monster wants to go home. Sawyer *thinks* he wants to go home. And now they'll just click their heels three times, and... *poof*
GLINDA: "You've always had the power to go back to Kansas."
DOROTHY: "I have?"
SCARECROW: "Then why didn't you tell her before?"
GLINDA: "Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself."
This isn't your home, James.
They've been free to leave all along.
Think of all the opportunities to leave. The rafts, helicopters, subs, sailboats. What kept them on the island? Or, as frequently: what brought them back? Free agency.
Is it just me, or was there a guest director this episode? Weird closeup on the job agency woman who first interviewed Locke, uncharacteristic mini-flashbacks in the Jacob cave.
Tons of slo-mo/screen cap bait in the cave. That'll require repeat viewings.
"Inside joke." Now one of my favorite lines from the whole show.
Wikipedia quote on Jacob and Esau: "Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents" (Genesis 25:27).
Interesting considering that it seems like all we ever see Jacob do is sit around (with the exception of his off-island shenanigans), and all we see Esau do is run around hunting people.
There's a lot more about the relationship between the two, too much for me to swallow right now. But another quick thing, that may play into Camp's "Smokie could be the good guy" theory, is that Jacob actually deceived his father Isaac to receive the blessing that Isaac intended to bestow upon Esau. So Jacob is kind of a trickster.
That close-up was indeed very odd. But we've seen mini-flashbacks before.
The director is Tucker Gates (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tucker_Gates), who previously directed "Confidence Man", "...In Translation", "Born to Run", and "I Do". So, he's no Jack Bender (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack_Bender), but not a total n00b.
On the Monster being the good guy: he's certainly been making a case for himself.
On the numbers: maybe they can be significant and non-random, yet still not have any discernible rationale behind them. Like pi. The numbers just are.
The weird close-up may have just been a way to capitalize on that actress' weird eyes, but I think that it was probably done so that we'd be more likely to recognize her; she was Hurley's fake psychic in the original timeline. I love the way that she asks Locke a "psychic" question.
A. I loved businessman Hugo Reyes, not Hurley. B. Helen's shirt said Place and Karma which I thought to be an odd phrase but relevant to the show and good wardrobe choice. Where they are affects what they do and changes the good or bad Karma that comes to them, Evil Ben on the Island suffering for his mistakes, Good Ben being a nice teacher in a school. And Kate has no redemption on the island, so is stuck a fugitive in the alternate timeline and so forth. C. Its also interesting to see yet another Other who was formerly a top dog broken down, first Widmore, then Ben, and now Richard the ageless 2nd Hand Man is reduced to a coward.
Great episode. Tons of irony. Tons of great parallels.
ReplyDeleteWhat got my attention most, though, was something that I noticed in the scene where Locke is interviewing at the temp agency. In the first shot, there are three posters on the wall. The words "dream," "dream job" and "job" stand out in the posters. First, I thought about the possibility that the alternate timeline is a dream. Then I thought about the possibility that "job" is really a reference to Job from the Bible. I don't know the Bible well at all, so maybe someone can jump in on this one. Wikipedia has some stuff that seems to link Locke to Job, but this part is what really got my attention:
"In Palestinian folk tradition Job's place of trial is Al-Joura, a village outside the town of Al Majdal. It was there God rewarded him with a fountain of youth that removed whatever illnesses he had, and gave him back his youth."
On another note, if anyone has theories about why certain characters are linked to certain numbers, I'd be excited to hear them.
Oh, and I forgot to mention how amazing it is that Locke is in a temp agency: "temp" = substitute; "agency" = free will.
ReplyDeleteOne huge thing that i think we should all appreciate is:
ReplyDeleteBen the history teacher = Alex Gould the history teacher. Right down to the sweater-vest.
Excellent point about the temp agency, hahaha.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought it was an excellent episode. Ben is a fantastic European History teacher.
My only two guesses (for now) about the numbers is that they're either like tournament seeds (haha) or thoroughly meaningless.
Richard's a candidate too, yes?
Loved the white & black stones, the scale, the list, the idea that there's nothing to protect, the Monster's wish that everyone would just leave his island alone (cue Camp & Tempest references)....
The monster can no longer shape-shift. Hm.
Ben's eulogy was great.
Loved the Monster shouting to little Peter Pan / kid Jacob "DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO."
I appreciated Sawyer's fatalism when approached by the Monster. He's seen it all. "Ghost of Christmas Past."
Makes me think -- if our heroes could be shown their place in things from a different perspective... if they could, ahem, be shown what their lives would be like without the island... which life would they choose?
The Monster wants to go home. Sawyer *thinks* he wants to go home. And now they'll just click their heels three times, and... *poof*
GLINDA: "You've always had the power to go back to Kansas."
DOROTHY: "I have?"
SCARECROW: "Then why didn't you tell her before?"
GLINDA: "Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself."
This isn't your home, James.
They've been free to leave all along.
Think of all the opportunities to leave. The rafts, helicopters, subs, sailboats. What kept them on the island? Or, as frequently: what brought them back? Free agency.
Remember, Ben. You have a choice.
Is it just me, or was there a guest director this episode? Weird closeup on the job agency woman who first interviewed Locke, uncharacteristic mini-flashbacks in the Jacob cave.
ReplyDeleteTons of slo-mo/screen cap bait in the cave. That'll require repeat viewings.
"Inside joke." Now one of my favorite lines from the whole show.
Wikipedia quote on Jacob and Esau:
"Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents" (Genesis 25:27).
Interesting considering that it seems like all we ever see Jacob do is sit around (with the exception of his off-island shenanigans), and all we see Esau do is run around hunting people.
There's a lot more about the relationship between the two, too much for me to swallow right now. But another quick thing, that may play into Camp's "Smokie could be the good guy" theory, is that Jacob actually deceived his father Isaac to receive the blessing that Isaac intended to bestow upon Esau. So Jacob is kind of a trickster.
That close-up was indeed very odd. But we've seen mini-flashbacks before.
ReplyDeleteThe director is Tucker Gates (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tucker_Gates), who previously directed "Confidence Man", "...In Translation", "Born to Run", and "I Do". So, he's no Jack Bender (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack_Bender), but not a total n00b.
On the Monster being the good guy: he's certainly been making a case for himself.
On the numbers: maybe they can be significant and non-random, yet still not have any discernible rationale behind them. Like pi. The numbers just are.
The weird close-up may have just been a way to capitalize on that actress' weird eyes, but I think that it was probably done so that we'd be more likely to recognize her; she was Hurley's fake psychic in the original timeline. I love the way that she asks Locke a "psychic" question.
ReplyDeleteA. I loved businessman Hugo Reyes, not Hurley.
ReplyDeleteB. Helen's shirt said Place and Karma which I thought to be an odd phrase but relevant to the show and good wardrobe choice. Where they are affects what they do and changes the good or bad Karma that comes to them, Evil Ben on the Island suffering for his mistakes, Good Ben being a nice teacher in a school. And Kate has no redemption on the island, so is stuck a fugitive in the alternate timeline and so forth.
C. Its also interesting to see yet another Other who was formerly a top dog broken down, first Widmore, then Ben, and now Richard the ageless 2nd Hand Man is reduced to a coward.