LOST Blog 3: LOST and Religion

There are many things I like about LOST. I like the characters. I like the drama. I like the cliffhangers. I even like the crazy time travel stuff. But, as the series progressed, I began to notice something else I liked about LOST: all the religious symbolism.

Religious symbolism, you say? Oh yeah. There were nods to religion (some more subtle than others) all throughout the series, but things got really interesting in Season 6. While I initially noticed some of the analogies when I watched the series live back in 2010, I decided to write down all of the things I noticed as I re-watched each season a few months ago. As I finished in late December, I had myself a page full of references that I'm going to try to make conversational sense of right now. Disclaimer: This list is definitely not all-inclusive and I probably left out (and/or missed) a bunch of things. Ahem. (Oh, major spoilers to follow, by the way.)

Let my people go!

One of the most interesting nods to religion that I found came in the final episode of Season 3 as Jack led an exodus to the radio tower that the Israelites would have been proud of. In fact, Naomi even refers to Jack as "Moses" at one point. What I found even more interesting was that in that same sequence, two men in Jack's group can be seen in the background carrying luggage that looks vaguely akin to the Indiana Jones version of the Ark of the Covenant.

In Season 5, John Locke - or, rather, the Man in Black in the form of John Locke - leads his own exodus, this time leading a group of people to visit (and kill) the Island's Protector, Jacob. Similar to Jack's exodus, there are also men carrying an "Ark of the Covenant," which ends up being the real John Locke, lying dead in a gigantic metal casket. During this excursion, Ben Linus, in a mixture of awe and jealousy, refers to "Locke" as "Moses."

Speak softly and carry a Bible stick

Although his time on the show was somewhat short-lived, Mr. Eko was LOST's most openly religious character. After escaping a troubled childhood, Mr. Eko adopted a life of faith and repentance, characterized by his walking staff, which he occasionally carved Bible scriptures into. While on the Island, Eko often voiced his beliefs to his fellow Survivors, and at one point attempted to recruit Charlie to help him build a church. He also felt strongly about baptism. While his views on infant baptism don't mesh with my own convictions as a Mormon, whatsoever, I do respect the fact that Eko was urgently concerned about the salvation of his fellow men.

Though he never lived to see it, Eko's example did ultimately play somewhat into the "conversion" of John Locke, who, himself, was a man of faith (though he placed his faith in the Island and not necessarily in God). Locke, who mistreated Mr. Eko during one fateful encounter in the Hatch, became upset with himself after learning of Eko's smoky demise. At the time, Locke was a very confused man and was in search of answers to many important questions. He stumbled across Eko's Bible stick and read one of the verses that had been etched into the wood: "Lift up your eyes and look north." While it is uncertain what prompted Eko to carve Genesis 13:14 into his staff, the scripture inspired Locke to head to the northern part of the Island, where he eventually discovered the Others' village and barracks.

It is also of note that Mr. Eko's brother, who basically scammed his way into religion as a profession, crashed on the Island in a plane full of Virgin Mary statuettes. Of course, those porcelain statues were filled with heroin and kind of became the bane of Charlie Pace's tragic existence, but if we're talking about religious symbols in LOST, that's a pretty recognizable one.

Man of Science, Man of Faith

Speaking of John Locke, that was one curious dude. Locke, the "Man of Faith," came to the Island as a cripple. An unfortunate scuffle with his scumbag father left the poor guy paralyzed from the waist down, but, miraculously, he was healed as soon as he landed on the Island. Arguably, more good things happens to John Locke on the Island than for anyone else on the entire show. He loves it there. He has some sort of connection with the Island that he calls "beautiful." He regains feeling in his legs and can finally walk again, he comes face-to-face with the Smoke Monster and lives to tell the tale, and he achieves a level of leadership that he never got a whiff of back home.

But life on the Island doesn't always come up roses for Locke, who also struggles tremendously to receive what I suppose could be considered "personal revelation." The man is in a constant search for meaning in his life and, from time to time, hits an occasional dead end. None of Locke's on-Island struggles are more profound nor consequential than the night where he is brought to his knees, in tears at the Hatch. In pure desperation, Locke pleads with the Island, essentially praying to be shown some sort of sign - at which precise moment a light comes beaming up from the window in the buried Hatch door. This is a turning point for Locke, who takes it to mean that he does have a purpose and that he actually is important in the grand scheme of things. In the end, this ends up being (probably) a coincidence (Locke later jokes that it was probably Desmond getting up to go to the bathroom), but for Locke's overall arc in the show, this moment of supposed revelation is life-changing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Locke is Jack Shephard - the "Man of Science." Jack refuses to believe in any kind of destiny for a majority of the series. In the episode entitled "316," Ben references Doubting Thomas while he tries to convince Jack to return to the Island. At the end of that episode, Jack reads Jeremy Bentham's suicide note, which says, "Jack, I wish you had believed me. JL." Jack is ultimately convinced that everything bad that happens on and off the Island happens because he and the Oceanic Six left in the first place, which drastically shifts his attitude about faith and destiny. Toward the end of the series - especially in Season 6's "side-flashes," Jack replaces Locke as the "Man of Faith" and is portrayed as a much optimistic version of his previous self.

More scriptural references

Another scriptural reference is found after Jack has a conversation with Jacob during Season 6. When Jack returns to the rest of the Survivors, Sawyer asks him to come down from the mountain and tell them what the Burning Bush had to say. This, of course, is another allusion to the Old Testament, when Moses spoke with God and received instruction through a Burning Bush.

A reference to Original Sin and Adam's Transgression is made in Season 6 ("What They Died For") when Sawyer asks Jacob why the Survivors of Oceanic 815 were punished for his mistake. Jacob responds by pointing out that the Survivors were all living unhappy lives before they came to the Island. They were all flawed, which was why they were all chosen. They were like Jacob - alone and looking for something they couldn't find.

Speaking of Adam, let us not forget that the rotted, decaying corpses of the Man in Black and his mother are referred to by the Survivors as "Adam and Eve."

There are some very obvious "afterlife" overtones from the very first episodes of LOST (which I'll get to later), but none of these hints are more obvious than when Locke II (Locke in the Season 6 "side-flashes") mentions his belief in the afterlife when Oceanic Airlines loses Christian Shephard's casket. In the same episode ("LAX, Parts 1 & 2"), Locke II tells Jack II that his condition (paralysis) is irreversible, to which Jack, the born-again "Man of Faith," responds that "nothing is irreversible." This conversation would ultimately lead to Jack II repairing Locke II's spine, allowing him to walk again.

Consider the Source

The Heart of the Island is an interesting symbol. While it is difficult to describe the Heart of the Island in words, I suppose you could say that it is a central location on the Island from which a great amount of electromagentic energy and extremely radiant light emanates. Jacob's mother considered it the source of life, death and rebirth. The Dharma Initiative considered it a mysterious source of extreme power that could, if handled improperly, destroy the entire world.

Rather than focusing on its negative properties, I always thought the image of light shooting out of the Heart of the Island was a powerful one. Similarly, light is a common symbol in religion, so it was easy for me to find connections here. Jacob's mother tells him that every living being possesses a portion of the light, just like Christians (and Mormons, particularly) believe that each living being possesses a portion of the Light of Christ or Holy Ghost.

But just as Satan uses clever counterfeits to distort the work of God, the Man in Black is able to confuse Ben Linus for a great deal of his time on the Island. During the middle of the series, Ben Linus occasionally goes to a secret room below his house in "Otherton" to supposedly summon the Smoke Monster to do his bidding. This hidden chamber contains a murky puddle of water that Ben must unplug in order to communicate with the Smoke Monster. After unclogging the drain, Ben speaks into the hole and tells the Monster where to go. (If you recall, at one point, Ben tells the Monster to meet him out front, but, to his surprise and probable disappointment, "John Locke" walks out of the jungle instead of the Smoke Monster. Little did he know that the man who stood before him was the Smoke Monster...) Later in the series, Ben realizes that he was not summoning the Smoke Monster, after all; the Monster was summoning him. Furthermore, we don't realize this until Season 6 - and not a big deal is made of it, either - that Ben's summoning spot looks very similar to the Heart of the Island, which can also be unclogged by removing a plug from the center of a pool of water. We see this in the world today as confused individuals often have pieces of the truth - or, at least, something that partially resembles the truth - are led astray due to their incorrect practices and beliefs.

Bullet points: Good and evil, fate, brothers and Shephards

- In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi says "it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things" (2 Ne. 2:11). Apparently LOST's head writers were thinking along those same lines because the "good vs. evil" motif is probably the show's most obvious nod to religion. Black and white are popular visual symbols, as well. From backgammon to the clothes worn by Jacob and his brother, monochromatic elements are some of the most heavy-handed clues around.

- Another central plot line is the concept of fate or pre-destination. Several of the main characters, including Charlie, most prominently, believe that it is their fate to have crash-landed on the Island. John Locke, who begins pushing the button in the Hatch seemingly out of "blind faith," thinks the Island is a pretty swell place for a retirement home, as does Rose, both of whom had serious medical issues miraculously healed upon arrival. Walt also really likes the Island - he even burns the Survivors' raft to ensure that they don't find a way off of it. Others, meanwhile, like Jack, Sawyer and Juliet, to name a few, believe that the crash is not their destiny and actively pursue any means of getting back home. On the religious side of things, a fun conversation (with one clear, correct answer, mind you) that occasionally pops up in LDS culture is that of agency vs. pre-destination. Do our lives have pre-determined endings? Do our actions have real consequences or, no matter how hard we try, will we always, inevitably wind up at the same conclusion? In the end, the death of Jeremy Bentham was apparently enough to get Jack to believe that it was, in fact, his destiny to be on the Island, prompting the classic line, "We have to go back, Kate... WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!" An incredibly in-depth look at fate, destiny and free will can be found on Lostpedia, but I'm not going to get into that discussion any further at this time.

- Locke and Mr. Eko, who both, at times, consider the Hatch to be somewhat of a holy place, remove their shoes upon entering.

- Hurley, who was raised in a religious household, prays for help in starting the Dharma van in "Trisha Tanaka is Dead."

- Locke refers to Ben as a Pharisee in "The Man from Tallahassee."

- Aside from their comparatively similar names, am I the only one that thinks that the relationship between Jacob and his twin brother is very Jacob-and-Esau-esque? I don't know. Just a thought.

- Then, of course, there's the Shephard family. Kate Austin has a particularly hard time getting over that blatant symbolism. In a moment during the waning hours of the series, Desmond takes her to the church for Christian Shephard's funeral and Kate, realizing the obvious religious meaning behind the deceased man's name, exclaims, "Seriously? Christian Shephard?"

The ageless wonder

Let's talk about Richard Alpert. Richard, to me, is one of the most fascinating characters in the entire show. In his long-awaited flashback episode, "Ab Aeterno," Richard, who is depicted as being very religious before his time on the Island, accidentally kills a man. Richard takes the mistake very hard and his sin weighs heavily on his soul. He is sent to prison, where he spends time meditating and reading scripture before being sent away as a slave on the Black Rock.

Before he gets shipped off, a Catholic priest tells Richard that the devil will be waiting for him in hell. When the Black Rock runs into the tidal wave that causes its shipwreck, Richard peeks outside the ship and spots the Island's Statue, which he mistakenly believes to be "the devil." Once shipwrecked, the Smoke Monster attacks and kills every passenger on the Black Rock before sparing Richard. This traumatic event reinforces Richard's belief that Smoke Monster is the "devil" that the priest was referring to. Upon his arrival on the Island, Richard also sees a hallucination of his wife, Isabela, who tells him that they are all dead and are in hell. She also refers to the Smoke Monster as "the devil." This is a belief that Richard harbors for the rest of his life. At one point, he tries to convince the Survivors that they're trapped in some form of Purgatory.

Angels and demons

Not unlike our guy-lined buddy, Richardus, many viewers quickly jump to the conclusion that the Smoke Monster/Man in Black is "the devil" and Jacob is "god." Certainly, there are a ton of similarities and the whole black and white/good and evil aspect is there, so I can see why people make that assumption. Let's break down the arguments for each character:


Case: The Man in Black is "the devil"

• The Man in Black practically offers the world to several characters with very little intention of keeping his promises.
• The Man in Black uses tactics that are confusingly similar to Jacob's in order to convince people to do things.
• The Man in Black often refers to people as "friend" while making false promises and deals.
• The Man in Black offers Richard the option to change his mind after entering into a promise with Jacob.
• The Man in Black manipulates people, giving them the illusion of free will.
• The Man in Black makes Jacob promise not to tell their mother about the game they've been playing without her knowledge.
• The Man in Black is a skilled liar.
• The Man in Black does not have his own physical body.
• He is referred to by Jacob as the embodiment of evil.
• The Man in Black is extremely jealous of those who have the agency to do as they please - especially their ability to leave the Island.
• After discovering the Light that emanated from the Heart of the Island, the Man in Black led men to it. These men had "interesting ideas about what to do with it."

Case: Jacob is "god"

• Jacob does not want to force anyone to do what is right. He says that having to step in and remove their agency is "meaningless."
• When speaking of his chamber in the shadow of the Statue, he tells Richard, "No one comes in unless I invite them in." Sounds like you better set up an interview for a recommend renewal ASAP.
• The ritual involved in becoming the Protector of the Island somewhat mirrors the sacrament or communion.
• Jacob is "not like" the Man in Black. He does not know how to lie.
• For the most part, Jacob is an unseen leader. The Dharma Initiative sees Jacob as an Island deity worshipped by the Hostiles.
• Jacob has the power to do miracles. For example, Richard's agelessness is a gift from Jacob and John Locke is brought back to life by Jacob after seemingly falling to his death. Also, he no longer appears to age and can teleport himself anywhere in the entire world.
• Jacob is a vigilant figure who oversees the actions of many people. Take a look at his Lighthouse, for crying out loud.
• Jacob visited - and touched - those he watched over at times when they felt most alone and vulnerable.
• Jacob believes that there is good in all men and wants them to become like him.

However... I'm not sold on the idea that Jacob is a Christlike character - because he's not. He says it himself: he's flawed - and we definitely get to see some of those imperfections and mistakes in his personality and actions during his brief time on screen. He's a mostly benevolent, semi-Messianic figure to a large degree, sure, but I would never go so far as to compare him to the capital-G God or Jesus Christ. Here's why:

• While Jacob generally appears as a pretty mellow, contemplative guy, the first few times we actually get to see him, it's apparent that he started out as an emotional, jealous dude. Jacob's temper gets the better of him a couple times early on in life. I mean, he murders his own brother, for goodness' sake. He also engages in fisticuffs and nearly drowns Richard Alpert the first time they meet. He is, at one point, described as "unforgiving" - a characteristic certainly unbecoming of someone that many compare to the Savior of the World.
• Eventually, Jacob's temper subsides and he turns into the mild-mannered, soft-spoken man we often see him as in Season 6. But, to me, it seems like he has toned down his emotions so much that he sometimes comes off as being insincere. His infamous question to Ben Linus shortly before his untimely assassination stands out more than anything. Ben, frustrated to no end about his mistreatment as an authoritative figure on the Island, asks Jacob, "What about me?" Jacob, straight-faced, responds, "What about you?" This exchange pushes Ben over the proverbial edge and he stabs Jacob to death. Similar indifference can be noted as Jacob visits several of the Candidates off-Island. He is often heard saying "I'm sorry" to the downtrodden future passengers of Oceanic 815, but his words lack any tangible feeling. Sure, Jacob says that he cares for these people, but it sometimes seems like he's just a guy who has grown tired of his job and is determined to find a replacement so he can call it a day and head home. Surely, we sometimes think that God has forsaken us or that he doesn't much care about our present circumstances. Surely, God sometimes puts us through challenges, difficulties and tribulations. But God surely cares for his children, regardless of what decisions and mistakes we have made. Jacob never particularly struck me as this type of "god." I'd bet you money that the actual God would never respond with a humdinger like "What about you?" (The Doctrine and Covenants is full of people asking for their standing before God and he responded much more lovingly than that.)
• Jacob is highly inaccessible to all but a very select few people on the Island, and even some of those who do have access to him find him vindictive and unapproachable at times.
• I'm not saying it's true, but, as one TV blog suggests, Jacob says he's not the devil - and that's exactly what the devil would say.
• Jacob is unable to absolve Richard of his sins so that he doesn't go to hell. Christ, on the other hand, selflessly atoned for the sins of everyone who would ever come to the earth.
• Although Jacob's death has some ramifications for the Island and its inhabitants, the demise is surprisingly unceremonious and almost insignificant. One minute he was there, and then, suddenly, he wasn't. Life went on. In contrast, the death of Jesus Christ is arguably one of the most significant, well-known events in the history of the world.
• Jacob's fascination with Candidates seems more like a game, a test or a hobby than anything else. There were apparently more than 240 Candidates, initially, although LOST only focuses on about six to 10 of them. The purpose of Jacob's hobby was to prove to the Man in Black that not all men were as corrupt as their mother said they were. But when a Candidate was not up to snuff, for whatever reason, or, say, became a mother like Kate and Sun, Jacob scratched them off of his list and moved along without them. The actual God has a purpose for each of us and would never discard anyone on a whim. Undeniably, there are requirements to get into Heaven and all of that, but those rules are clearly laid out for anyone to read and know and God is very forgiving of those who fall short.
• Along those lines, Jacob says his plan is all about agency and free will, but, not unlike "The Adjustment Bureau," he makes a habit of nudging his Candidates in the direction he wants them to go, whether or not they realize it.

I figured I'd take my questions about Jacob to the source, himself, so when Mark Pellegrino came to Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience a couple weeks ago, I made sure to take a second to ask him about the inspiration behind his character and his thoughts on the show's mythology. Here's what he had to say:

"I […] received direction very early on when I was doing Jacob – like, literally, the first day that we were filming – that, for me, was the in-road to that character and it was accidental. I was doing a scene – and I don’t even remember what scene it was, to be honest with you, but I remember the direction. Jack Bender, who was one of the executive producers on the show and directed many of them, said, ‘That’s it, Mark! That’s it: Jesus the Carpenter.’ So I always thought of Jacob as that down-to-earth, Messianic figure… that very identifiable figure where the god-like aspects of it were in the background and what came to the foreground was an empathy and understanding for the souls of other people. […] What instantly affected me on that – as an image of that – [were] the great, first three chapters of ‘The Master and Margarita,’ where it’s a scene between Jesus and Pilate that has always moved me very much because of Jesus’ accessibility, but also His power… So that was kind of my template that I worked from. I don’t know whether it showed or not, but that was kind of the idea. [Laughs]"

At length, I have come to a conclusion: Jacob is a Christ-like figure, but not always a Christlike character. Notice the hyphen. It's important. While Jacob is to be seen as a metaphor for Christ - a sympathetic (not always empathetic) leader whose purpose was to help others and lead them away from sin - he was not Christlike in his approach, often letting his emotions, anger and frustration play a part in his leadership. Overall, though, I think that Jacob, for as mysterious as he was during his short-lived time on-screen, was a good guy. I just think he's a little misunderstood.

The wine bottle

When I was watching LOST for the first time, the scene that really made me notice how much religious symbolism was involved in the plot was the "bottle and the cork" scene from "Ab Aeterno." Jacob is speaking with Richard Alpert on the beach and Richard, the skeptic that he is, has a few questions for the Protector of the Island.

In order to explain to Richard what, exactly, the Island is, Jacob holds up a bottle of wine. He asks Richard to think of the wine as what he keeps calling "hell." Jacob says there are many other names for it, as well - "malevolence, evil, darkness..." The wine, he explains, swirls around in the bottle because, if it wasn't kept in the bottle, it would spread. He then plugs a cork into the top of the bottle. The cork, Jacob says, is representative of the Island - the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs. (At the end of the episode, Jacob gives the wine bottle to the Man in Black as a way to "pass the time"; the Man in Black smashes the bottle in a fit of anger.)

He goes on to say that the Man in Black believes that all men are corruptible because it is in their very nature to sin. Mormons refer to this as the "natural man," so, doctrinally speaking, LOST is on the right track here. It is then that Jacob explains his purpose: he brings people to the Island to prove the Man in Black wrong. "And when they get here," Jacob says, "their past doesn't matter." This line is a bit uncharacteristic of Jacob, who seems a little ruthless at times, but it's an interesting bit of dialogue, nonetheless.

What follows is an intriguing exchange where Richard inquires as to how many people Jacob had brought to the Island:

"Many," the Protector responds.
"Well, why didn't you help them?" Richard asks.
"Because I wanted them to help themselves... To know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them. It's all meaningless if I have to force them to do anything. Why should I have to step in?"
"If you don't, he [the Man in Black] will!"

After thinking for a moment, Jacob offers Richard a position as an intermediary between him and the people he brings to the Island. If Jacob can't step in, Richard can, instead. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch, but this is somewhat reminiscent of the role of the Holy Ghost, who resides on the earth to help God's children make appropriate decisions since God and Jesus aren't always available to "step in." Again, that's probably a bit of a stretch, from a gospel standpoint, but kind of interesting to think about.

The church / The End

There are a lot of churches in LOST. Several of Mr. Eko's storylines revolve around churches, Sawyer's parents' funeral is at a church, Jack gives a eulogy for his father at a church, Desmond used to live at a monastery, Charlie confesses his sins at a church, Kate gets married at a church, the Others have a temple and, of course, Eloise Hawking's secret Dharma base, the Lamp Post is based in the back of a church in Los Angeles. See? Lots of churches. But no scenes involving places of worship are more poignant than that controversial ending in Season 6... While a deep discussion of The End will have to wait for another time, I've got to touch on it lightly while we're on the topic of religion.

As Season 6 draws to a close, the Survivors begin to arrive at the Lamp Post church one by one for Christian Shephard's funeral. Outside, an interesting conversation takes place between Ben and Hurley, where Hurley invites Ben to join them in the chapel. Mr. Linus refuses, saying that he is not ready to go yet and has a few things to wrap up before he can come in. While no extra clarification or context is given, I have always thought that this meant that Ben was not yet dead and either still had some sins to repent of or had a couple extra tasks to wrap up in mortality. This also leads me to the (correct) assumption that everyone else who does go inside is already dead. I believe that the "Survivors" were unable to "move on" until they came to the realization that they were already deceased. Whether that was in the plane crash or otherwise, that's totally different conversation.

At long last, Jack arrives at the church and heads in the back door, where he finds his father's coffin. When he touches the casket, his mind is immediately flooded with memories from the Island. Jack opens the box and finds it empty inside. Christian appears behind Jack and begins speaking with his son. During the conversation, Jack gradually comes to the realization that he, too, is dead. His arrival at the church, along with the other Survivors, is a representation of their entry to the long-awaited afterlife.

Christian explains to Jack, "There is no now here," which is fairly consistent with a popular theory about the concept of time in heaven. (For instance, Mormon doctrine teaches that one day in heaven is 1,000 years on earth. That's a long time.)

Papa Shephard then describes the church building as "a place that you [the Survivors] made together so that you could find one another." He continues, "The most important time of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you." Two points here:

• Doctrine and Covenants 130:2 says "And that same sociality which exists among us here [on earth] will exist among us there [in heaven], only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy." Mormons believe that they will be able to live with God and their families (and their friends, I assume, too) if they live worthily in this life. When Jack realized that he was dead, he was immediately reunited with his father and the people who were most important to him.
• Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once taught that, while salvation is an individual matter, exaltation is a family matter. Jack couldn't make it to the church alone. He needed everyone else in order to get there. On the religious side of things, an individual can gain salvation alone (by keeping the commandments and remaining faithful to covenants), but exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom is only achieved through temple marriage and endurance to the end and cannot be obtained individually.

Conclusion

To put a nice, shiny bow on this behemoth of a blog, I cannot emphasize enough that these are just my thoughts. Obviously, LOST has absolutely nothing to do with gospel doctrine or, certainly not, the LDS Church. I simply thought it was interesting that glimpses of doctrinal truth were evident throughout the series. Although I would (probably) never quote or reference the show during Sunday School or sacrament meeting, I do think that my own, personal testimony of the gospel was at least slightly strengthened as I saw the things I referenced in this blog and said quietly to myself, "Hey, you know what? There's a little bit of truth to that!"

Anyway, what did YOU think? Am I totally crazy? Up in the night? Way off base? Is it completely wrong of me to even bring this discussion up? Or did you notice anything similar? I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter.

In the meantime, I leave you with this final clip, which will either make you feel a little nostalgic or really ticked off. Take your pick.

Namaste... and good luck.

LOST: Questions and Answers

The number one complaint I hear when discussing LOST with people is that the show was just too gosh darn confusing. Too much time travel. Too many polar bears. Too many questions and not enough answers. To steal a phrase from Jacob's so-called mother, "Every question you ask will simply lead to another question."

As I re-watched LOST, I tried to keep an answers-oriented mindset. There were questions that I didn't feel were answered when I watched the show live a couple years ago, so, from the get-go, I set out looking for resolutions to my lingering concerns. While watching LOST this way was probably more meticulous than practical and likely consumed way more attention and energy than I'd ever recommend someone else to use, I believe I was able to answer most of the big questions. There were a few questions that I didn't get answers to, but most of them had no significant impact on the plot or development of essential characters.

So, I suppose what I'd like to do at this point would be to list my questions, categorized by character, and answer as many of them as I can. Also, it is of note that a few of my questions were recorded in my trusty notebook simply for the sake of Daniella Varas, who was watching the series for the first time. She occasionally had a question that I already knew the answer to, but I would record it anyway for drama's sake.

**Minor and major spoilers to follow.** Additionally, going forward, a basic knowledge and understanding of LOST, its plot and characters is an implied prerequisite.

Here we go.

***

The Island

Q. Who were "Adam and Eve" (the skeletons the Survivors found in the caves early on in the series)?

A. The Man in Black and Jacob's "mother."

Q. Where do the polar bears come from?

A. In a very informative DVD bonus feature in the Season 6 box set entitled "A New Man in Charge," a Dharma training video explains that polar bears were brought to the Island as Candidates, based on their intelligence. Experiments and tests were done on the polar bears by the Dharma Initiative. When the polar bears had solved a logic puzzle in the cages, rewarding them with a fish biscuit (Sawyer solves this puzzle while he is locked up), the polar bears were taken to the Orchid Station, where they would turn the Donkey Wheel, thus transporting the bears to "The Exit" in Tunisia. Several things are of note here: You will recall that John Locke and Ben Linus both turn the Donkey Wheel at points during the series. For some reason, the climate surrounding the wheel appears arctic, which would be suitable for polar bear survival. Charlotte Lewis, an anthropologist by trade, had been working at an excavation site in Tunisia, where she found a polar bear skeleton and a Dharma collar. This is the same place where Locke and Ben wind up after turning the Wheel.

Q. What is the Smoke Monster?

A. The Man in Black.

Q. What is the significance of the random horse that Kate sees in Season 2?

A. While the horse does mirror a horse that is seen in one of Kate's flashbacks, I was unable to find any further meaning behind its appearance. Horses are also seen during the episode "Catch 22," outside the communications station that is inhabited by Mikhail.

Q. What is the significance of 4:00 on the Hatch countdown clock?

A. Every 108 minutes, someone (usually Desmond or Locke) needed to press a button to reset the Hatch clock. When the clock hit 4:00, an alarm would go off as a reminder. The number 4 is an important one in LOST. It is one of Hurley's "cursed" Numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) and corresponds to John Locke as one of Jacob's Candidates, which is interesting. The significance of the number 4 in the countdown clock is never specifically addressed. Interestingly, the submarine bomb in Season 6 also starts counting down from 4:00.

Q. Why does the statue only have four toes?

A. While the unnatural number of toes is unanswered, we do find out how the statue is broken - the Black Rock, carrying Richard Alpert, crashes into it during a tidal wave, breaking the statue off mid-shin.

Q. Why do all the pregnant women on the Island die?

A. This was my biggest complaint after watching LOST for the first time. I felt like this topic was never fully addressed and was one of the biggest loose ends as the series ended. In the aforementioned  bonus feature, "A New Man in Charge," the Dharma training video mentions that Dharma workers must ensure that no female polar bears get pregnant on the Island, as the abundance of electromagnetic energy on the Island had extremely negative effects on early-term gestation. As far as I know, that's about as specific as it gets. Several women who got pregnant on the Island die during child birth. Claire, who gave birth to Aaron on the Island, was very pregnant before the Oceanic crash. Danielle Rousseau was also pregnant when she got to the Island and would later give birth to Alex on the island. Sun got pregnant on the Island, but gave birth to Jin's baby off the Island. During the Survivors' time with the Dharma Initiative in the '70s, Horace Goodspeed's wife, Amy, gives birth on-Island; Sawyer assumes that whatever causes pregnant women to die hasn't happened yet, leading to the assumption that the burst of electromagnetic energy caused by "The Incident" is a major contributor to the problem.

Q. Where did the Black Rock slaving ship com from?

A. At an auction attended by Charles Widmore, the auctioneer is sells a painting of the ship, which he describes as being from the mid-19th century. We also learn that the ship was headed to Siam in 1845 and was found in Madagascar. Richard Alpert arrives at the Island as a prisoner on the Black Rock sometime after 1867.

Q. It is mentioned, in passing, that the Island used to be a volcano. What happened to the volcano?

A. The volcano is located under "the Heart" of the Island and appears to be plugged up be a switch-like rock that Jack removes in Season 6. When that rock is removed, the Island begins to shake uncontrollably, implying that the volcano is not entirely dormant.

Q. Why does it spontaneously start pouring rain on the Island so frequently? - UNANSWERED

Q. Who shot the fire arrows at the Survivors during the Time Jumps?

A. While never directly addressed, it is heavily implied that the Primitive Others (also known as "Hostiles," led by Young Charles Widmore) shot the arrows.

Q. Who brought the outriggers with AJIRA water bottles during the Time Jumps?

A. The outriggers probably belonged to the group led by Caesar and Ilana, but the answer is never specifically given.

Q. What causes the Time Jumps, where the Island sporadically bounces the Survivors to different years and locations?

A. The Time Jumps start because Ben Linus moves the Island after the Man in Black (in the form of Christian Shephard) specifically told John Locke to move it.

Q. When the Oceanic Six come back to the Island on AJIRA 316, why do the passengers get separated from each other? (Ben, Locke, Frank and Sun are separated from Jack, Hurley, Kate and Sayid) - UNANSWERED

Q. What are the whispers that signify the arrival of the Others?

A. Dead Michael explains to Hurley that the whispers are people who are stuck on the Island and can't move on.

JACK SHEPHARD

Q. What happened to Jack's wife?

A. They both cheated on each other and broke up. So depressing. So LOST.

SAWYER

Q. Does he ever find out who "Sawyer" is?

A. Yep. (This is a great example of a question that I wrote down for Daniella's sake.)

JOHN LOCKE

Q. What did Locke see when he stared down the Smoke Monster?

A. Not sure... but whatever it was, it was beautiful.

Q. How was his paralysis healed?

A. Uh... magic?

Q. What is so special about backgammon?

A. Locke is seen playing backgammon on the Island and is later shown in a flashback playing as a child. Backgammon pieces are black and white, which symbolizes LOST's running theme of good vs. evil. It also resembles the game that is played by Jacob and the Man in Black.

Q. The Island magically heals John Locke of his pre-crash paralysis. Why, then, does Locke temporarily lose the use of his legs after Boone's death? - UNANSWERED

Q. Why didn't the Smoke Monster kill John Locke?
A. Locke was a Candidate.

Q. What happened to Helen?
A. She left John when she met Anthony Cooper. She was always unhappy with Locke's obsession with his father and I guess meeting the creep face-to-face was the final straw.

Q. Why doesn't Lock recognize Richard Alpert when they first meet on the Island?
A. During the Time Jumps, present-day Locke hadn't told 1970s Richard to find him (as a child) yet. That's really confusing... but it makes sense to me, ok?

HURLEY

Q. What do the Numbers mean?

A. Each of Hurley's "cursed" Numbers refer to one of the Survivors that Jacob has selected as a Candidate to become the next Protector of the Island.

Q. Why is Hurley so unlucky? - UNANSWERED

Q. Why doesn't he lose weight on the Island?

A. He had been hoarding Dharma food.

Q. What's the big deal with his comic?

A. On Oceanic 815, Hurley is seen reading a comicbook. Walt later sees a polar bear in the comic and, subsequently, a polar bear charges at and is shot dead by Sawyer. With that being said, I have no idea what the significance of the comicbook is.

Q. What is in the guitar case that Hurley is seen carrying in Season 6?

A. A giant ankh symbol that, ultimately, proves that the Oceanic Six were sent back to the Island by Jacob.

SUN & JIN

Q. How does Sun get pregnant on the Island?

A. Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much....... Just kidding. I suppose that Sun gets pregnant by a previously infertile Jin in the same way that Locke is cured of his paralysis. She just... does. The Island let it happen.

CLAIRE & AARON

Q. Why was Claire abducted? What did they do to her?

A. She was abducted by the Others so they could run pregnancy tests on her.

Q. Why was the off-Island psychic so adamant that Claire needed to raise Aaron?

A. This is never specifically addressed - and the psychic ends up being kind of a quack - but the reason why Claire was flying from Sydney to Los Angeles was to give Aaron up for adoption. If she would have kept Aaron herself, she wouldn't have been on that flight in the first place.

Q. Does anyone ever get the S.O.S. letter Claire sends with the bird in Season 3? - UNANSWERED

Q. How does Claire's mother get out of her coma? - UNANSWERED

Q. How the heck did Aaron survive the helicopter crash? - UNANSWERED

Q. Was Claire Time Jumping along with the other Survivors?

A. Yes.

SAYID

Q. Where did Sayid go after being separated from the other Survivors during the AJIRA 316 flight?

A. He wanders out of the woods and is eventually found by Dharma Jin.

MICHAEL & WALT

Q. Why is Walt so special?

A. In "A New Man in Charge," Hurley explains that Walt was meant to stay on the Island. He is recruited by Hurley and Ben to go back to the Island to work in an assistant role, a la Richard Alpert.

Q. Who was driving the car that hit Michael at the crosswalk? - UNANSWERED

Q. Why can't Michael die, commit suicide or be killed after leaving the Island?

A. The Island needed him to be alive so he could help the Survivors. (See "Meet Kevin Johnson.")

DANIELLE ROUSSEAU

Q. Why did she write the Numbers all over the papers in her hideout?

A. She heard the Numbers being repeated over the radio when she arrived on the Island. She likely scribbled the Numbers down in a state of insanity.

Q. What happened to her original crew?

A. The Smoke Monster made them "sick" and she was forced to kill them.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD

Q. Why wasn't he in his casket after the Oceanic crash?

A. The Smoke Monster began inhabiting his body.

Q. How is he alive on the Island?

A. He's not.

DESMOND

Q. Why did he have to inject himself while in the Quarantined Hatch?

A. This was purely a scare tactic by the Dharma Initiative to make sure he didn't leave the Hatch.

Q. When did Desmond get his psychic powers?

A. Desmond begins having psychic flashes after he turns the fail-safe key.

THE DHARMA INITIATIVE

Q. Why was there a glass eye in a desk drawer at the Arrow Station?

A. UNANSWERED, although I assume that it probably belonged to the eye-patch laden Mikhail.

Q. Who was Roger Workman, the body that Hurley found in the Dharma van?

A. Ben Linus' father.

THE OTHERS

Q. Why are the Others obsessed with children?

A. Not specifically addressed, but it probably stems back to the pregnancy problem.

Q. Why do they walk around barefooted?

A. Initially, this is a ploy to make the Survivors think that the Others are a primitive people, but Others are spotted without shoes long after Jack and company meet Ben Linus, so this question remains partially UNANSWERED.

Q. Why haven't the Survivors ever heard of Geronimo Jackson and the other bands whose records are found in the Hatch?

A. One comment that is made when the Survivors first discover the Hatch makes it seem  like Geronimo Jackson was some little-known artist that possibly could have been exclusive the the Island, but we later learn otherwise. Charlotte says she loves Geronimo Jackson, Locke picks up a hitchhiker that wears a Geronimo Jackson shirt and Locke has a Geronimo Jackson poster in his high school locker, so it's not like this guy wasn't popular off-Island.

Q. How did Mikhail come back to life after "dying" at the Fence?

A. He says that the pylons were not set to a lethal level.

Q. What is the truce between the Dharma Initiative and the Primitive Others?

A. No killing each other.

BEN LINUS

Q. Why isn't Ben cured of his paralysis immediately like Locke was? - UNANSWERED

Q. Why does Ben tell people that he was born on the Island?

A. Possibly to cover up for the fact that he purged most of the original Dharma Initiative.

Q. Why do so many bad things happen to Ben on the Island?

A. He says that he deserves them - that they're his destiny.

Q. Why/how does Ben wake up in the middle of Tunisia?

A. He turned the Donkey Wheel, moved the Island and wound up at "the exit."

Q. When Ben wakes up in Tunisia, why is his arm hurt?

A. He hurts it going down to the Wheel.

Q. Why doesn't Ben remember getting shot by Sayid as a child?

A. When Richard heals him, he forgets the incident and loses his innocence, although he does remember being healed at the Temple.

ROSE & BERNARD

Q. Was Rose cured of cancer by the Island?

A. She tells Lock she knows about the Island's healing powers. She also tells Bernard that she felt her sickness leave her after the crash.

CHARLES WIDMORE

Q. What is locked up in Widmore's submarine?

A. Desmond.

Q. What did Charles say to the Man in Black before he died?

A. He told the Man in Black that Desmond was a fail-safe.

JULIET

Q. What was Juliet going to tell Sawyer right before she died?

A. "It worked."

ALEX ROUSSEAU

Q. Why don't the Others want Carl and Alex to be together?

A. Ben was probably afraid that Alex would get pregnant and die.

JACOB

Q. Why is Jacob invisible the first time Ben takes Locke to visit the Cabin?

A. He wasn't really there. Ben was pretending to talk to him.

Q. Who can find Jacob's Cabin?

A. Ben, Locke and Hurley all find the Cabin. Hurley believes that he and Locke can locate the Cabin because they are "the craziest."

Q. Who was Jacob referring to when he said "They're coming"?

A. Either his bodyguard, Ilana, and her group on the AJIRA flight or Charles Widmore and his team, but no clarification is ever provided.

THE SMOKE MONSTER

Q. How does Ben summon the Smoke Monster?

A. At first, he is shown unclogging a drain and telling the Monster where to go, but Ben later admits that the Monster was, in reality, summoning him.

Q. Why did the Smoke Monster choose to appear in the form of Christian Shephard?

A. To help Jack find water and, ultimately, get off the Island with the Survivors.

Q. Why did the Smoke Monster choose to appear in the form of John Locke?

A. Because Locke was "stupid enough to believe [he was] on the Island for a reason" - a belief he would pursue until it got him killed. Also, because Jack conveniently brought a dead, uninhabited body back to the Island.

RICHARD ALPERT

Q. Why doesn't Richard age?

A. He makes a deal with Jacob which, basically, grants immortality. Previously, Richard had asked Jacob to bring his wife back from the dead and to let him get out of "Hell"; both requests were denied.

DANIEL FARADAY

Q. How did Faraday get off the Island during the Dharma Years?

A. Faraday went with a team of scientists to do research at the Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

MILES STRAUME

Q. Why does Miles want $3.2 million?

A. It was double what Charles Widmore originally offered him to go to the Island.

MARVIN CANDLE/PIERRE CHANG/EDGAR HALLIWAX

Q. Why does he go by different names?

A. In "A New Man in Charge," Pierre Chang mentions that he does not want to require an alias in the future, but this is the only instance in which Chang's multiple personas are referenced.

ILANA

Q. What is in the crate that is carried by Ilana's crew?

A. John Locke's dead body.

Q. "What lies in the shadow of the statue?"

A. "Ille qui nos omnes servabit," or, in English, "He who will save us all" (Jacob).

THE CANDIDATES

Q. Who are the Candidates?

A. John Locke (4), Hugo Reyes (8), James "Sawyer" Ford (15), Sayid Jarrah (16), Jack Shephard (23), Jin Kwon (42).

Q. Why isn't Kate a Candidate anymore?

A. She becomes a mother, so Jacob takes her off the List, though he mentions that being a mother is not an automatic disqualifier.

Q. Why were they brought to the Island?

A. Jacob explains that he brought the Survivors to the Island because he made a mistake. That mistake was creating the Smoke Monster, who tried for centuries to kill Jacob. Jacob knew the Island would inevitably need a new Protector and the Candidates were all potential replacements. All of the Candidates were alone (off-Island) and were (mercifully) taken out of an unhappy existence. Jacob, in essence, believed that the Candidates were all like him.

***

Well, there you have it. Those are all the questions that I either had going into my second watching of LOST or questions that were raised as I re-watched the series. Certainly, this list is not all-inclusive, nor is it in any way adequate in comparison to the vast wealth of knowledge amassed over at Lostpedia, but I think I did a pretty good job in finding answers on my own.

What questions do you have? What loose ends were you upset about when you watched? I'd love to get a little commentary going, although it's probably very unlikely, so feel free to comment below or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time,

Namaste... and good luck.

LOST: Why I still love LOST

I just finished watching LOST for the second time. While many people have mocked and ridiculed me for this decision, I'm totally ok with it. Sure, it was an enormous time commitment, but, in the end, I feel like I learned a few things and I feel like it wasn't time totally wasted. In this, the first of what could potentially be a series of blogs, I'll do my best to explain to you haters why I still love LOST, four and a half years later.

***

Let's start at the beginning.

When LOST first aired, way back in 2004, I didn't want to watch it. I didn't really know much about it; I just knew that tons of people loved it and, for that reason alone, I didn't want anything to do with it. I'm a rebel like that. I did a pretty good job of actively avoiding the show, but I did find myself up late one night watching some recap episode while I was down at Snow College. The recap meant nothing to me. Some little kid got kidnapped and it ended with some guys staring down a hole with a broken ladder. Big whoop. Didn't care.

When I came home from my LDS mission in 2008, my family had been watching LOST, renting the seasons on DVD one disc at a time from Blockbuster. (FYI, Blockbuster used to be this popular video store where people could go rent movies... It doesn't exist anymore.) Again, I tried my best not to watch it and usually found myself trying to figure out what this thing called "Facebook" was whilst my mom and siblings watched in the family room.

I remember one specific episode while my family was in the middle Season Three when I kept hearing a song called "Shambala" by Three Dog Night. I didn't know what was going on, but I had loved that song for years. For the first time, I figured that if they were playing 'Shambala,' that show couldn't be that bad...

My brother Austin would often watch episodes down in our basement at night, just outside my bedroom, and I found myself checking the show out from time to time. He would explain to me this weird phenomenon about how pregnant women kept dying on the Island, which I thought was pretty strange. Nonetheless, it intrigued me enough for me to actually sit down and watch a full episode.

The first full episode I watched was called "Expose." It focused on two characters named Nikki and Paolo. I remembered something about diamonds and them being buried alive. Later, I would hear that episode described as "terrible," "pointless" and "the worst episode" of the whole series. But hey, I didn't know any better, so it didn't bother me too much.

Within a couple shows, I was hooked, but my problem was that I jumped in head-first in the middle of the third season. I wanted to learn about all the stuff I'd missed, so, starting with Episode One - I kid you not - I looked up episode summaries on Wikipedia and read about every single episode until I was caught up. If something sounded really important or crazy, I looked the episode up on Hulu (which, believe it or not, used to be completely free) and, before I knew it, I was all caught up with my family.

I continued watching with Austin until he left on his mission later that year, then continued watching with my siblings Amy and Cody. My mom pretty much watched on her own when she had time in her busy schedule. Austin had the ending spoiled for him at some point and never watched all the way to the end. But for Amy, Cody and I, LOST became a weekly tradition, complete with gummy bears and mint Oreos, as we anxiously awaited the fate of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and the rest of the rag-tag crew of Survivors.

In May 2009, LOST came to its controversial end. I know of very few programs that have ever been so hotly debated or polarizing. For me and my siblings, I think the ending sat just fine at first. A few days later, the adrenaline wore off and I realized that there were a few things that I didn't think the writers adequately resolved and whatnot, but, overall, I honestly didn't mind the ending that much. On the other hand, to this day, my mother hates - absolutely despises - LOST. She will never watch another second of it in her entire life. Certainly, there are others just like her all around the world.

But why was LOST's tremendously loyal fan base so divided by the conclusion? I think there were a few contributing factors:

• Not enough answers: Of course, the main thing that people will always go back to is the argument that there were too many loose ends. The show, detractors say, simply raised too many questions in the first five seasons to possibly answer all of them by the end of the series.
• The fate of the Survivors: I won't spoil it here, but I inevitably will throughout the course of these blogs, so be ye warned. I think a lot of people didn't like how it ended. My mom calls it a "cop out." This is the really hard thing about series finales - you can never please 100% of viewers. Has it ever happened before? I doubt it. But, especially with a show like LOST, somebody was bound to be unhappy.
• Too confusing: Time travel almost always leads to two things - confusion and plot holes. Such were the complaints of many LOST fans during Seasons Four through Six. Lots of time jumps, lots of confusion. Admittedly, things got a little crazy. And, admittedly, it's not easy to keep track of all the whos, whens and wheres.

Obviously, that bulleted list is not all-inclusive. If there's a reason why you hated LOST that wasn't listed above, I'd love to hear it (and debate it).

I understand these concerns. I really do. I had some of the same concerns, myself. I was actually pretty reluctant to start the series over again because I didn't want to be let down, but, years ago, I bought all the seasons on DVD and many of them were still wrapped in the plastic. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I like to call "a waste of money." I'd feel horrible if I just left the box sets sitting on the shelf for the rest of my life, so I knew I'd have to watch them eventually. It was just a matter of time.

At length, I decided that the time had come to give the series another shot. But this time around, in hopes that I could somehow subside a few of my long-standing questions and concerns, I decided I'd take notes. Along with my trusty notebook (and a very good sport in one Daniella Varas), I began at the beginning, watching the episodes that I had once read about on Wikipedia. Four and a half months later, I finished the show with about 25 pages of notes and a greater understanding of the story and all of its complexity. And you know what? I didn't hate it the second time through, either.

In my notes, I kept track of a handful of things (some of which were much more noteworthy than others):

• First and foremost, I wrote down all of my questions and answers, when they occurred.
• I wrote down all the connections I could find between the Survivors (off-Island connections and any meaningful on-Island interactions)
• I kept track of why the Survivors were flying from Sydney to Los Angeles.
• I listened for terms describing why the Survivors were special.
• After realizing that many of the Survivors have hallucinations while on the Island, I kept track of which characters were having these visions.
• I couldn't help but laugh at all of the Survivors who tripped and fell on their faces during the series.
• Ben Linus has got to be one of the most frequently beaten characters in all of television... so I kept track of how many times Ben got beat up.
• At one point, I decided to write down profound quotes or phrases that succinctly describe certain characters.
• I marked significant deaths of major characters.
• I wrote down any religious symbolism that I noticed throughout the series.
• I made a list of similarities between Oceanic 815 and Ajira 316.
• And I also kept track of a few other things that I won't list right now, as not to give away any premature spoilers.

I found that my notebook helped me keep track of important, pivotal moments in the series. I also found that most of my questions this time around were, in fact, answered - and the ones that weren't really weren't that important to begin with (like whether or not anybody got the SOS message that Claire sent with that bird in Season Three). I get why many of you mocked me for being such a nerd about it - and I wouldn't recommend that anybody else watch the show that way - but, for me, it was ultimately beneficial and helped me have an enhanced experience as I watched.

***

Now, on to the big question: why do I still love LOST?

• I love LOST because, if nothing else, it is one of the most complex dramas in the history of entertainment. With its unique, complex cast and their backstories (and future-stories and side-stories), there was always something interesting and new going on. It gave me people to like and people to dislike. (For the record, I never liked Kate or Juliet. Never.) It gave me reasons to laugh and (almost) a couple reasons to cry. In general, it was vague, but it did so in a way that promoted eager investigation, and often tied in many hints, clues and Easter eggs that provided a payoff for longtime fans with a keen eye. On occasion, I would look something up on Lostpedia, merely out of curiosity, but was quickly intimidated by the sheer magnitude of facts and trivia compiled by super-smart viewers. Too much information.
• I love LOST because its tragic tale of hope, in a sort of sickening way, made me feel connected to the characters. In some ways, I think most people who watch the show can relate to a couple of the Survivors, and, as such, we relate to them and want them to succeed. Those castaways had some really depressing lives and it made me wish better circumstances for them. That was something great about LOST. There were many characters that I came to love - and I grew emotionally invested in the outcome of the story. Toward the end of the series, although I was happy that my months-long binge watching had come to an end, I felt a small sense of sadness that the story was almost over. I'm not going to go as far as to say that these fictional people were my friends, but... you know... kind of.
  
• I love LOST because, deep down, it is a story of redemption. The rivalry between Jack Shephard and John Locke is fascinating. In many ways, the two couldn't be more different. It was the series-long struggle between the "man of science" versus the "man of faith." Jack thought with his head. Locke thought with his heart. Both of them acted hastily their fair share of times, often to the dismay and detriment of their fellow castaways. What really interested me this second time through was their interactions during Season Six. Contrary to their typical characters, both men find a new sense of purpose in the final season and realize that they weren't always right all of the time. Jack develops faith and Locke has to rely on science. There's a lot more that goes into it (and the topic may eventually earn a blog post of its own), but watching Jack and Locke - and Hurley and Sawyer and Ben and a host of others - find redemption as their journeys came to an end was satisfying to me.
  
  
• I love LOST because of its symbolism. I remember sitting at home during the initial airing of Season Six and finding myself enthralled by the "good versus evil" storyline. As a member of (and teacher in) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'm a firm believer that the gospel can be found all throughout pop culture. As I re-watched the series with that belief firmly in mind, I was able to find many more instances of symbolism (religious and otherwise), and that, to me, was pretty cool. It's not just a story, fun and fancy free. There's some deep, profound stuff in there, too.
• I love LOST because of its cliffhangers. I've always had a hard time watching sitcoms and programs with standalone episodes because I feel like there is nothing driving those shows forward. I used to watch The Mentalist, for instance, but gave up on it after a couple seasons because it was like there were a dozen episodes where the guy goes around and solves random crimes and then the final two episodes of the season resumed the "Red John" story. I felt like I could miss an episode here or there and really not be missing out on anything. With LOST, you've got to watch every single episode (even the one about Nikki and Paolo), because, if not, you're going to be missing an important piece of the puzzle. Every episode felt significant - and the final 10 minutes of each week were often pivotal as the show moved forward.
• Finally, I love LOST because of the impact of its characters on TV culture. LOST references are all over the place - and so are members of the cast. Jorge Garcia starred in the short-lived FOX drama "Alcatraz" and has also had humorous guest spots on shows like "How I Met Your Mother." Matthew Fox and Saïd Taghmaoui co-starred in one of my favorite movies, "Vantage Point." Josh Holloway lasted about five minutes in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." I can't watch the "Hobbit" movies without remembering how much I can't stand Evangeline Lilly. Michael Emerson is in "Person of Interest," Daniel Dae Kim is in "Hawaii Five-O," Nestor Carbonell is the mayor of Gotham City and a bunch of other LOST alumni can be seen in guest spots in a ton of different programs and movies. Just like Daniel Radcliffe unsuccessfully trying to shed his "Harry Potter" label, those actors and actresses will always be LOST to me. Additionally, the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 will never be the same. I tweet them out every time I fly into LAX (true story) - and every now and again you'll hear jokes about Oceanic Airlines (Daniella heard one on "White Collar" a couple weeks ago, for instance).
• I love LOST because the conclusion was a bit open-ended. It didn't spell every little thing out, but I think I'm ok with that. Open-ended conclusions require a bit of imagination on the viewer's end, and that's a good thing. Thinking allows the viewer to make up their own mind about how things ended. There are still a few things that I totally don't understand about LOST, but that's all right. It gives me something to talk about. (Oh wait, nobody wants to talk to me about LOST, for some reason...) There will always be speculation about what happened and what didn't happen and why things were a certain way - and maybe that's how they wanted it. It divided the fan base in a major, major way, but the cast and crew seem to be at peace with it, so maybe that's how they like it. It wasn't a totally happy, warm and fuzzy ending, but, I mean, with a show as depressing and tense as that one was, what were you honestly expecting?

Those are just some of the reasons why I still love LOST. I could go one and on about smaller moments, like the time when Sawyer referred to Frank Lapidus as the pilot who looked like he walked of the set of a Burt Reynolds movie, but I won't. Doing so wouldn't help any of you truly understand my appreciation of this series, so I won't bore you any further.

Personally, I don't feel like the time I spent re-watching LOST was a waste, as my dear mother insists. Also, I'm not going to beg you all to sit down and watch it from start to finish. All I recommend is that those of you who watched LOST and hated it maybe soften your stance a little bit and that those of you who refuse to watch it for whatever reason think about giving it a chance somewhere down the line. Life is long and you've got to watch a new TV show at some point. Consider these blogs my recommendation.

With that being said, and with this being the first in a series of many LOST blogs to come, full, detailed spoilers will be sure to follow in the forthcoming installments, consider this fair warning.

I had a great time re-watching LOST and really need to thank Daniella Varas for taking one for the team and sitting through it all with me. That's a very big commitment and I'm incredibly glad that I didn't have to do it all by my lonesome.

All hail, LOST, one of the greatest TV shows of all time. ...and to those of you who read this entire post and will continue reading, I say...

"Namaste... and good luck."