Wow. Eleven. We're eleven episodes into this season, meaning that there are only five episodes left this year. Story-wise, Lost has come very far this season, but it's still so hard to tell how all the plot threads will crescendo in the final episodes of the season. This time-travelling epic of a story has been confusing, and now we're reaching the end where everything will come together. Actually, with tonight's episode, I think that's already started. Nearly every abstract theory about time I've had over the past ten weeks was vindicated, other theories were shot down, and a definite direction for a few key characters was outlined. Prepare to be confused, because this is going to be an intense dissection of an intense episode.
Fixing Things
The island, as an omniscient being, has a master plan for everyone on it. Boone and Charlie, for example, were supposed to die. Locke was supposed to be the leader of the others. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Sayid, Miles, Daniel and Hurley were supposed to go to 1977 and become part of the Dharma initiative. Some of these plans weren't always pulled off without a hitch; sometimes, castaways stepped in and tried to change things, but in the end, had to accept what was going to happen. Jack brought this idea into the light when Kate asked him to save little Ben. Jack refused, and mused that maybe the island wanted to fix things with interference. Jack wondered if he wasn't supposed to try and fix things on the island, something he did quite frequently three years ago.
This line of dialogue helps to sort out much of the plot of season five. The season, as a whole, has been about course correction. The island's master plan in season four was interrupted by Ben, Jack, and others. If all had gone according to plan, the freighter folk would have waltzed in, nabbed Ben, and taken him. But Keamy (the teenager-shooting villain) was intent on torching the entire island, killing everyone, which necessitated Locke visiting Jacob and receiving instructions on how to save the island. If all had gone according to plan, he would have turned the wheel, left the island, and everybody would have been sent back to 1977, with a few key exceptions (Sun might have left the island with her baby, for instance). They would have played there part in the Dharma era, and things would have gone on as planned.
But that's not how things happened. Ben turned the wheel, meaning Locke stayed on the island and Ben left. Then, through a long series of trials, Jack got himself and five others off the island on the helicopter, when five of the six were supposed to stay on the island. Because Ben turned the wheel, and not Locke, the time shifts began happening. Locke later corrected this. Jack finally realized that he was supposed to be back on the island, and brought himself and his friends back. Now, everything is back on track and according to plan. It just took a lot of course correction.
Jack recognized this, saying that he wasn't supposed to meddle in things. His flight from the island isn't the first example of times he's tried to fix things when he shouldn't have. He nearly went crazy trying to save Boone, who was supposed to die. Other characters are guilty of this as well. Desmond tried over and over to save Charlie, but both had to accept Charlie's eventual fate. The fact that Jack has learned that he and everyone else should just do what the island wants them to do without trying to 'fix' everything perfectly illustrates Jack's maturity from strict man of science to man of quasi-faith. Still, his refusal to save Ben seemed kind of harsh, right? Actually, that brings me right to my next point.
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