Deconstructing Lost's season finale: Does Jesus Christ run the island?

Besides being a little freaked to find the guy who played an abusive ex-husband on Dexter now playing the mysterious figure who runs Lost's island, Jacob, I had a few thoughts about Wednesday's appropriately mind-bending, two-hour Season Five finale, "The Incident."

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

--Somehow, dark-shirted Titus Welliver -- who popped up in the episode's opening moments as a politely murderous foil to Jacob -- morphed into John Locke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob.

--Vowing to find a "loophole" allowing him to kill Jacob, Welliver's character must somehow be prevented from killing Jacob himself. Thus the manipulation of Ben, until now the show's best manipulator. Ironies abound.

--Jacob (Mark Pellegrino, left), who spent most of the episode visiting our Losties at various stages in their lives, seemed to engineer the events leading to final scene -- down to saving Locke's life at a key point, despite likely knowing this might lead to his own death. And the whole final scene turns on one man's free will; his choice to do well or ill.

--Which makes me think Jacob is Jesus Christ (or Lost's equivalent), while Titus' unnamed shape-shifter is a manipulative Devil. Blame seven years of religious school education for the free will angle on all matters spiritual.

--Because Ben killed Jacob while following a vision brought by the smoke monster -- I'm sure I've lost all but the most hardy Lost fans already -- stands to reason this Devil figure is also the monster.

--I'm sure it's just me, but every time Matthew Fox's damaged hero Jack or Evangeline Lily's bad girl Kate hits the screen, I'm ready to fall asleep, hit fast forward or take a potty break.

--Because there's a Season Six coming, we know Jack's eventually successful plan to set off a nuclear bomb in the past to stop the plane crash that first stranded our Losties on the island must not have had the desired effect. If not, what's Season Six going to be about?   

--One mind-bending time travel question: Was Jacob in his present when he visited the Losties in their past lives (he saw Kate, for example, as a child and rescued Locke after he fell from a building)? Or were we seeing flashbacks to things he'd done, far in advance, to draw them to the island? And is there any difference?

--Why did Jacob select these particular people, especially the aforementioned, super-annoying Kate and Jack?

--Will Lost boil down to an eternal struggle between two supernatural beings over the true nature of man?

--How will any finale -- even the season-long wind-down planned for next year -- explain all this mess?

--How can we wait until 2010 for more?

Read some interesting takes by my pals and fellow Lost nerds at the Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and the Newark Star Ledger.

Here's a look at that compelling final scene, in which Locke's true nature is revealed and Ben takes on Jacob. *

 

Comments

[dc]

Is it just me that thinks the white flash when Juliet hit the bomb wasn't explosion but a time jump. I find it hard to believe one could set off a hydrogen bomb by hitting it with a rock. It would seem to explain Jacob saying at the end "they're coming" with "they" being the losties he visited.

[Mike]

Other items that suggest Jacob is a Christ-figure: does not answer when he is accused, does not resist when he is killed. Ben is a kind of Judas-figure appearing as a disappointed and disgruntled former disciple. Also note, the mention of Moses by Ben and the box which appeared intentionally designed to remind us of the Ark of Covenant carried by the priests of Israel.

[Erron]

I feel that Jacob is representative of Christ/God (they are equals) and the guy from the beginning of the episode that wants to kill Jacob is indeed Satan. Here are some parallels to the Gospel story. God's people, Israel, waited a long time to see their Savior and expected something completely different than what they actually saw when Jesus revealed Himself to them. Likewise, Ben represents the Jews. Ben waited a long time to see Jacob, obeying His commands (via Richard, maybe representative of the prophets) all the while. When Ben finally does see Jacob, he is not the powerful being that Ben expects and does not answer the questions that Ben has in his mind (i.e., Ben still has to trust in what Jacob says). So, Ben kills Jacob. When Jesus came, he was not what the Jews expected and did not answer all of the questions that they had (i.e., will they be brought out from under oppression and Roman rule), so they demanded Jesus' death. Jesus knew full well that coming to earth (revealing himself to his people) would result in his death, but through the work of prophets (prophecying precisely the arrival of the Savior), he led the Jews to himself. Similarly, Richard led Ben precisely to wear Jacob was. Anyhow, if this theory is correct, Jacob is not dead. Once Christ was killed, he overcame death, visited his followers, then ascended into Heaven to be with the Father. All of this to bring glory to Himself and rescue his chosen people. It's seems to be shaping up to a fitting end next season in the series finale. We'll see.

[Erron]

I feel that Jacob is representative of Christ/God (they are equals) and the guy from the beginning of the episode that wants to kill Jacob is indeed Satan. Here are some parallels to the Gospel story. God's people, Israel, waited a long time to see their Savior and expected something completely different than what they actually saw when Jesus revealed Himself to them. Likewise, Ben represents the Jews. Ben waited a long time to see Jacob, obeying His commands (via Richard, maybe representative of the prophets) all the while. When Ben finally does see Jacob, he is not the powerful being that Ben expects and does not answer the questions that Ben has in his mind (i.e., Ben still has to trust in what Jacob says). So, Ben kills Jacob. When Jesus came, he was not what the Jews expected and did not answer all of the questions that they had (i.e., will they be brought out from under oppression and Roman rule), so they demanded Jesus' death. Jesus knew full well that coming to earth (revealing himself to his people) would result in his death, but through the work of prophets (prophecying precisely the arrival of the Savior), he led the Jews to himself. Similarly, Richard led Ben precisely to wear Jacob was. Anyhow, if this theory is correct, Jacob is not dead. Once Christ was killed, he overcame death, visited his followers, then ascended into Heaven to be with the Father. All of this to bring glory to Himself and rescue his chosen people. It's seems to be shaping up to a fitting end next season in the series finale. We'll see.

[12:52]

No answers on Claire or Walt, either.

[Philip K. Dickensian]

For a long time now I've speculated that Lost has something to do with the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The brothers at loggerheads - Jacob and Esau -- and Benjamin, the son of Jacob. Last night's episode seemed to confirm it.

Jacob was clearly instrumental *in the past* (rather than his "present," if in fact there's a difference). If you'll remember Locke's recovery from his fall, the hospital workers seemed to regard his survival as a miracle. And Jacob clearly resurrected him from the dead when he laid hands on him.

[Sharon]

Eric,
As a former religious school vet myself, I couldn't help but think of the biblical rivalry of Jacob and Esau. Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright. Somehow I think faux-Locke feels Jacob cheated him out of something and he poked Ben into feeling the same way.