"Live together, die alone" - Lost S05E16 'The Incident'

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Talk about dramatic irony. For the entire fifth season of Lost, I was beginning to lose my faith in what I thought was one of the best shows to ever hit tv. Gladly, the writers proved me wrong. With a suspenseful extravagance of action, tears and, naturally, the raising of a few questionmarks and eyebrows, the season came to a powerful ending, reminiscent of a series finale. Not only did they know what they were doing from the beginning, but, thankfully, Lindelof and Cuse managed to throw a few open-ended situations in the plot to remind us viewers that the end is not as near as we thought it would be. Some, actually, suggest that it will take some more time than we first thought for Sawyer to see LA.

I will not provide a summary but a random commentary of the episode. I always find it really hard to summarise Lost anyway. The question "Where to start?" has become even more rhetorical since the introduction of time travel in the series and the jumping back and forth between the 70's and the 00's. Lost has always been a show that, above all, made me curious when watching it. So, let's speculate.

I've already read discussions on Locke's body and 'Locke'. He must be really dead. Christian's body was not in the coffin when 815 crashed on the island, and then there he was, walking among the characters with his white trainers and Claire on his side later on. Locke's dead body, on the other hand, is still there. This must only mean one thing: he hasn't been resurrected. Which only raises the question: "If that's not Locke, then who is he?" Good question, but also clever way of keeping Terry O' Quinn in the cast, I must say. The Lockeless episodes felt a little poorer without his presence. Some claim that who appears to be the new Locke is Jacob's 'friend' we see in the opening scenes of the episode. Maybe that was the loophole he was talking about. Ben killing Locke was not part of the plan, and this guy took good advantage of it.

The love quadrangle was one of the highlights of this episode on so many levels. Poor Juliet. The writers were criticized for making her react in an out-of-character manner when she 'changes her mind' and decides to help Jack detonate the bomb. However, she is human, and, as intelligent and rational as she might be, she loves. And she loves Sawyer, and he hurts her without meaning to, and she makes a rash decision. But all the shocks and apocalyptic moments of the show came after rash decisions, and if anyone was allowed to make one all this time, that was Juliet. Kate, on the other hand, causes trouble once again just by being there, and being a little troublemaker. She just can't stand still. She loves Jack, she decides to help him even though she knows things will never be the same. And oh, the irony, when Juliet truly dies alone, when she clings on for dear life, first hanging from the chains that Kate is struggling to hold, and then by grasping Sawyer's hand. Touching stuff. I liked how they brought that line back into the show, and they made it count. Jack, on the other hand, was peacefully passed out a few metres away, while all hell was breaking loose. Oh so typical of our 'hero', who, deep down, is just a little man, struggling for recognition and meaning. I'm curious to see how that will turn out for him next season. The writers will have to try really hard if they want to make him likeable again, because the more I watch the series, the more I start thinking that much of Jack's pain is self-inflicted.

One of the most enjoyable moments of the episode was Sawyer smashing Jack's face. I'm all for objectivity when it comes to reviews, but as far as Jack goes, he deserved it. Narrow-minded, stubborn, irrational, partly insane, partly alcoholic, an epic failure, Jack Shephard has turned into the new Locke of the show, dragging everyone down the spiral with him. If Locke's truly dead and he never came back, then (another hit of dramatic irony) the only point at which he did something meaningful in the show was when he died, because that brought everyone back (hence we got Season 5). Let's wait and see the results of Jack's latest actions. I'm really interested in seeing how a grief-stricken Sawyer will deal with Jack next season, if Juliet's truly dead and the past hasn't been erased.

The fading to white at the end was the icing on the cake, even though credit for that really must go to Alan Ball and the Six Feet Under people. Fading to white can mean a new beginning, either in life, or in what comes after it. White, like a blank canvas, might be suggesting that whatever happened over the past years will actually be erased, and a fresh start is ahead for everyone (apart from poor Juliet, probably, who served her role as the tragic heroine in the series. She will be dearly missed. Maybe the fading to white also meant Juliet finding her peace.)

I think what needs to be overcome in oneself in order to truly enjoy and appreciate Lost is rationality. Juliet's possible death, one of the few truly rational characters (well, not completely) of the show, might be hinting something at us, along with killing Faraday, the only guy who could explain the time travel. If the phenomena that have been taking place in Lost can be explained, only time will tell.