Hello, hello.
Welcome to the second week of the Lost Rewatch. If you missed last week or you're slightly behind, then it's time to catch up. And short of watching the actual episodes yourself, my blog is a great place to get caught up. You can find capsules covering the first four episodes below. Don't be afraid to scroll down! But we've also got four more episodes to get through this week, so let's begin!
"White Rabbit" marks the first Jack-centric flashback episode, and along with the preceding "Walkabout," it's probably the best and most intriguing episode of the first season. We're introduced to the mysterious specter that is Dr. Christian Shephard, better known as Jack's father. Little did we know when we initially viewed this episode just how pivotal Jack's father and the strained relationship he had with his son would be in the Lost story.
Now, in getting to the episode I have one minor gripe about the opening scene that I wish to expound upon. Charlie's actions while the woman drowns out at sea will forever be puzzle me. As my wife astutely pointed out, when Charlie summons Jack to the water to help Boone and the woman that Boone is trying to rescue, he tells Jack that he doesn't swim.
Charlie doesn't swim? Really? Not at all?
If this isn't raising any red flags for other fans, then lemme just direct your attention to the third season's finale. CHARLIE SWIMS DOWN TO THE LOOKING GLASS STATION ALL BY HIMSELF SO THAT HE CAN SWITCH OFF THE SIGNAL THAT'S JAMMING THE RADIO FREQUENCIES ON THE ISLAND. Actually, prior to that, in the episode "Greatest Hits," Charlie counts his swimming lesson among his five greatest memories. Normally, I try not to be so critical of mistakes like this, especially when the writers have constructed such an enormous tale with so many different characters, but I felt that it was my duty to highlight this for others. Of course, if you choose not to believe that this was an error on the part of the writers, you could just say that the Charlie in this episode is still a junkie and that junked-up Charlie would never risk his own behind to save another person. I guess you could have it either way.
For Jack, the problems that accompany his role as leader continue to get worse in the episode. He's wracked with guilt when the woman drowns at sea, and he curtly tells Hurley and Charlie that he doesn't know what to do when they alert him to the lack of food and water left for the survivors. What's worse is that the mental and physical fatigue is beginning to take its toll on the good doctor, as Jack appears extremely worn down.
This segues into the first flashback involving Jack and his father. Our first impression of the elder Shephard is that he's a real bastard. The young, impressionable Jack is told that he doesn't have what it takes to make decisions. So much for paternal wisdom.
Back on the island, Jack's buggin' out because he keeps seeing his father, whom we later learn died in Australia. The ghost of Christian keeps walking into the jungle, and, naturally, Jack follows him. As we saw at the end of the previous episode, Christian leads his son to Locke, who was emerging from the jungle with a freshly slain boar. By the end of this episode, we see that the specter of Christian leads Jack to a freshwater source, which is obviously immensely needed given the paucity of bottled water from the 815 wreckage. So, this begs a question: if the specter of Christian Shephard is a manifestation of the Smoke Monster, like so many believe, then why does it lead Jack to food and water? I think we'll have to present the argument for Christian being the Smoke Monster at a later date, since we don't have evidence of it here in "White Rabbit," but let's run with that assumption. Does Smokey want the survivors to thrive on the island--which they eventually do--so that it can use them as pawns in its game? Is Smokey controlled by Jacob's adversary? That might explain it, since the finale of season five leads us to believe that Jacob and his adversary are playing some sort of game in which they exploit human beings to see what they'll do on the island. As always, this episode of Lost is raising more questions than it's answering, but the one burning thing we need to find out is why the specter of Christian is doing what it's doing. One last note: on the flipside, we must also remember that Jack nearly falls down a cliff into a pit of jagged rocks in the pursuit of his father. But it appears that he trips himself, and that no outside force sent him tumbling. But who saves him? JOHN LOCKE. Connection? Anyway, I suppose the nearly fatal fall is an example of Smokey's malicious intents? Kind of a weak argument if you ask me. Seems like whatever is controlling Christian was more directly responsible for the discovery of freshwater.
This episode also contains the conversation between Jack and Locke in which Locke elucidates his "destiny" position a bit further. He acknowledges that Jack's visions of his father may be a hallucination, but he offers a supernatural alternative as well. He tells Jack that he has looked into the eye of the island (WAS IT SMOKEY IN THE LAST EPISODE?) and what he saw was beautiful. Hmmmmm...this little detail appears to be increasingly important in light of what we've seen in the fifth season. How does Locke garner this information? Is it intuition? Did he literally see something revealed to him about the island? Again, I don't have answers, but this seems like it could shape up to be a crucial moment in Lost lore.
This great episode ends with the revelation that Christian suffered a massive heart attack in Sydney, and Jack was taking his body back on Flight 815 to Los Angeles to be buried. Of course, the big twist at the end here is that when Jack stumbles upon the freshwater source, he also finds Christian's coffin, and opens it up to discover that the body is gone. Truly a great OHMIGOSH moment. After seeing what happened with Locke's body this past season, I've been curious to know if we'll ever see Christian's death via flashback. This is just an odd thought I've had, but since Christian has turned out to have such a central role in some of the island's mysteries, wouldn't it make sense if we saw that before his death he was confronted by someone or something telling him of the work he was to do once he died? Again, this is just a thought I've had, but if we see a flashback of Christian's death somewhere in the sixth season, you'll have to give me some sort of credit for calling it.
Finally, Jack makes it out of the jungle and back to the beach and delivers his famous "live together, die alone" speech. Moving? Meh, maybe. But we see Jack reclaim his title of leader.
And so another episode is in the books. If this post seemed at all convoluted, I apologize. I'm a bit tired and I'm trying to get it out so I don't fall behind in the Rewatch. Tomorrow, we'll be onto the next one. And if we keep going at this pace, then January 2010 will be here before we know it. God willing.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment