Lost Review: Jacob Knows Jack

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On an episode that moved many things and people into place, Lost still provided a number of answers and featured a fascinating sideways look at Jack's life in 2004.

Indeed, "Lighthouse" was all about the Shepards, Jack, Claire and... David?!? Yep, Jack has a son. The man that spent his entire life trying to live up to his father's expectations and taunts (You don't have what it takes) has a broken relationship with a teenage boy in this parallel timeline.

As was the case when Locke came to peace with his wheelchair-bound status last week, though, Jack mended communication with David by the time this episode concluded. He said David could never fail him. He said he'd always love him. He said, in essence, what Christian never said to Jack.

Once again, it leaves us wondering about this sideways universe: most of the castaways we've seen in it appear happier than ever, having learned from the trials that caused them so much grief on the island. Is this an epilogue to the journey we've been watching for five-plus seasons?

Hurley and Jack

Then there's Claire. We didn't see her in 2004 again this week, but we did see the full effects of one being "claimed." And it ain't pretty, as the Other with a knife plunged into his chest can attest to.

While a panicked Jin tried to think of Aaron-based lies that would placate this Rousseau-like woman and save his own life, we asked ourselves many questions and made notes about Crazy Claire:

  • When did she get claimed?
  • She confirmed that Fake Locke had been under the guise of Christian for awhile, as she used to hang out with her father and now chills with her "friend."
  • Seriously, has the word "friend" ever been uttered with more chilling mystery?
  • Is this the fate to which Sayid can look forward?
  • What's the deal with Fake Locke and babies? Did he somehow arrange for the mothers he claimed (Claire, Rousseau) to be far away from their children? And is this related to the pregnancy problems on the island?
Everything about the Claire storyline was fascinating and kudos to Emile de Ravin for playing this wild version of the character so well.

Then there was the lighthouse. Was that the church at which Jacob touched Sawyer that we saw in the mirror, prior to Jack turning the dial to 23? Have you noticed that every sideways world cutaway has featured at least one scene with a character staring into a bathroom mirror? Interesting...

Crazed Claire

What else did we pick up on in the tower? More names and numbers (Jacob really does have a "thing" for them, huh?). Linus was on there, so was Almeida, Rodriguez, Cruz... and Austen! We needed to watch the scene a few times, but "Austen" was definitely listed - at 51. So Kate is NOT part of the infamous 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 crew? What could that possibly mean?

Once again, this development has us wondering about Jacob's intentions. He seems like a nice guy. He appears to have the island and the castaways' best interests in mind. But these numbers clearly leaked into the real world and they didn't exactly bring Hurley luck. If Jacob has been manipulating him to come to the island all along, he killed some people (like Tricia Tanaka) along the way.

Jacob also emphasized free will with Hurley (who was hilarious this week), as he so often does. I'm a candidate, I can do whatever I want. But how much free will is there when you get yourself involved in so many situations? Is Jack now free to figure out his fate? Yes... but he had to be manipulated rather severely (You DO have what it takes, man!) to get to that place.

Considering Jacob's focus on this issue, and the "rules" by which Fake Locke must play, we continue to believe that choice and free will somehow play a significant role on the island.

Before turning it over to readers for their takes, a few more observations:

  • This was the show's 108th episode.
  • Kate is now wandering around the jungle, searching for Claire. Okay then. Her and Jack seemed a bit too at ease with the other's random mission.
  • Dogen appeared to know who Jack was in the sideways world, didn't he? He made a point of talking to him.
  • It's frustrating that Jack would have heard about the "darkness" inside of Claire, yet would seemingly still have no followed up on it. Yes, we need to accept that Lost must maintain mysteries by having its characters remain in the dark for awhile and not ask obvious follow-up questions... but it can be annoying sometimes.
  • Nice to see Adam and Eve again. Hurley is basically acting like the audience this season, throwing out possibilities for who these skeletons could be and yelling at Jacob to be more clear.
  • There's one more problem: Fake Locke has become such a fascinating character that storylines without him seem to drag. We can't get enough of this man/entity, which is both good and bad.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE EPISODE?

Lighthouse Review

Editor Rating: 4.3 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 (36 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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Lost Season 6 Episode 4 Quotes

I was broken and thought the island could fix me.

Jack

Jack is here because he has to do something. He can't be told what that is. He's got to find it himself. Sometimes, you can just hop in the back of someone's cab and tell them what they're supposed to do. Other times, you have to let him look out at the ocean for a while.

Jacob