Lost: Uncorked

We now have all the answers we need to figure out the secrets of Lost, thanks to the last phenomenal episode, "Ab Aeterno." It's all about wine. And who is our island wine expert? Desmond, of course (Oh He of the exposed chest hair)!

Desmond was a monk at the Moriah Vineyards; Moriah being the name of a biblical mountain in Jerusalem. That's important because lately the show has been all about bored gods on a mountaintop. I'm talking specifically about Jacob. He explains to us that the island is a cork that holds an evil wine (maybe an alcohol-heavy blend from Argentina). We don't yet know how an evil wine might pop its cork, but an even-money bet would be: by killing Jacob. So why then, if this would allow the evil to escape, would Jacob ever bring people to the island who might kill him? That would make him a pretty crappy guardian.

Jacob says it's to prove a point to the man-in-black. To prove to him that man is good and can change. But what happens if he makes his point? Man-in-black turns into a happy wine? Doubtful. This isn't the reason. It's because immortality is just boring. Jacob needs people to play with. He brings them to the island to watch them struggle. It's him who needs the entertainment. Bringing people has the added bonus of tormenting his nemesis until he gets so mad he smashes bottles in the wilderness.

But now for the big answers. Sure we have a metaphor for the island, but still what is it? In an earlier post I said it was a machine. I stand by this prediction. It's a machine built by Egyptians and run by magnets. When the Dharma Initiative drilled into the magnet and caused an explosion, they risked releasing the man-in-black. They then had to build the Swan station to continually build up the magnetism and retain the island's original properties. I'm thinking after the explosion in Season 5, Marvin Candle picked up the remnants of his arm and then had a visit from Jacob who told him he had popped the cork and needed to plug it back up again, which Candle did.

But now the cork is again comprised. We have no Jacob. Ilana is feckless in installing a replacement. The man-in-black has already begun his march off the island. Desmond better show up tonight and put a cork in this thing already.

O heaven! were man But constant, he were perfect.

Last week I attended Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company. In the beginning of the play, Proteus is madly in love with Julia. His friend Valentine (the other gentleman) leaves Verona and asks Proteus to join, but Proteus won't leave Julia. He's too in love. But then Proteus' father demands he leave and join Valentine. He cries and carries on. He gives Julia a ring (in this version he had to first extract it from his own nipple) and vows to love her eternally; she gives him a ring. He arrives in Milan and reunites with Valentine, who introduces Proteus to his own new love, Silvia. Proteus instantly falls in love with Silvia and schemes to separate she and Valentine. Both Julia and Silvia are stunned at Proteus' inconstancy.

Here is where Lost comes in. Watching this week's episode, Recon, I was struck by how much Sawyer is like Proteus. He is madly in love with Juliet (Shakespeare!) and has a ring he meant to give her. She dies and he wails and cries on the beach and wipes his salty tears on Kate's sleeve. The next day this is forgotton and he's all "How YOU doin'" to Kate on the beach. And in the flash sideways he's knockin' boots with not one, but two other women.

Sure, it's not 100% fair to condemn him for violating Juliet's memory in a flash-sideways. But his undercover name was "LeFleur" so he still has loyalties to some memories/impressions from other timelines.

Now I was never a big Juliet fan myself, and I realize that in this very column I begged for her death, but for Sawyer to completely forget her in a couple episodes is just harsh. Just like Proteus would not leave Verona because of Julia, Sawyer would not leave the island because of Juliet. And now she's long forgotten and he's ready to go down ... in the sub ... with Kate.

I never believed Sawyer really loved Juliet -- and neither did Juliet for that matter. This episode was the proof. Juliet, had you read "He's Just Not That Into You" you might still be alive today.

Choose Your Own Adventure

It's clear to me that Lost has turned into a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. The real question is who is doing the choosing?

That question is not as important as the choices being set up.

When the Man In Black managed to kill Jacob, he didn't just kill him. He created a parallel reality where Jacob never existed. My crackpot theory of the day: The flash-sideways views are a world without Jacob.

In the world with Jacob, Sayid marries Nadia and it's clear Jacob assists in Nadia being hit by a car and dying. Without him there, Sayid probably would have been killed. I'm certain Jacob had a hand in something similar with the mother of Jack's newly introduced son. In a world with Jacob, she probably died before meeting Jack. In a world without Jacob, she meets Jack and they have a son. Though Jack still probably becomes a drunk who's addicted to pills and she leaves him. Jacob can't change one's true nature.

Now we have Man In Black leading the surviving others somewhere. I am certain he is going to give them a glimpse into their lives sans-Jacob. Then they will have an opportunity to choose. Which looks better to you? Your life with Jacob's interference or without? Choose your own adventure ...