We're Not Going to Guam, Are We?

First, let me say that if you are not a fan (or fanatic) for the series “Lost”, you should just skip this one. Don’t worry - I’ll be whining again about politics soon enough. I just wanted a break from it for a while.

We got season 5 a couple of days ago in order to refresh our recollections and get psyched for the final season to come, and have burned through the first seven episodes in two days. I continue to be impressed with the level of respect that J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cuse have for their viewers. Rather than spoon feed you with the obvious, they make you work a little to understand where they are going with the series. Last year’s offering raised the bar by throwing in multiple periods of time travel for different groups of characters, making you wonder who was where and when, Hints dropped one week may only become apparent a few episodes (or years) later.

Example: When Ben and Jack are in Eloise’s church discussing their pending flight to the Island, Ben talks about a print of Caravaggio’s Doubting Thomas (1602) hanging in the church and stresses resurrection. Yet, at the same time he is driving around in a van with Locke’s body inside and the words “Canton-Rainier” printed on the outside. That’s an anagram for Reincarnated. Until the last episode of season 5 you might think that Locke has been resurrected on the Island, but it becomes clear that he has been reincarnated as another being, the black counterpart to Jacob. That’s the kind of layered subtext that’s out there but only realized when you put in the effort to find it.

I also like their willingness to knock off pretty main characters: Boone, Shannon, Charlie, Clair, Michael, Charlotte, Faraday, Jacob. The list goes on.

The black/white dichotomy between Jacob and his eternal nemesis is played out by lesser beings as well: Ben and Locke, Ben and Jack, Young Ben and Mature Ben. Okay, Ben is a bad guy. But he’s also about the most compelling villain in television history. Here’s a bit of trivia for you (and Lost fans are nothing if not trivia-driven): who has had the shit beaten out of him more: Ben or Sawyer? And why is Sawyer, the most buff guy on the Island, getting knocked around so much?

Another prominent theme in the series (and there are scores of themes to choose from): sacrifice, up to and including martyrdom. Charlie dies so that the other survivors have a chance at escape from the Island. Kate gives up Aaron. Sawyer jumps out of the helicopter. Desmond turns the key. Locke dies in order to bring the others to the point of agreeing to return to their exile. Jack will give anyone anything. Anytime. Jacob becomes a willing sacrifice.

So many questions: When will Ben realize that he has been played? What is Jacob’s greater plan? Is his dark opposite in control, or is it only temporary? What changes will he wreak? Will Widmore get back to the Island? How will the final season begin? Will they all be back at the airport in Sydney, or in Los Angeles, as though nothing had happened? Will they not know each other? Will Richard Alpert run out of eyeliner? And who will be called upon for the ultimate sacrifice at the show’s conclusion, for someone must make it. My money is on Jack.

Though Egyptian symbology abounds on the show, so do Christ figures. Someone’s going to go out big as a martyr. Hell, it could even be Ben.

A final thought: Each of the last two seasons has ended with Locke in a box. Do you suppose that they're trying to tell us that Locke is dead?