'Lost': Introducing the 'Light vs. Dark' series
I've got a few projects lined up to help pass the time between seasons of "Lost," and today I'm happy to announce one of them. Some people have asked if I am repeating the "We Have to Go Back" campaign this off-season, but to me, that particular project is done. And done well, if I may say so. But that doesn't mean that there's not particular moments we can't revisit in light of what went down in Season 5.
To that end, I'm creating the "Light vs. Dark" series, in which I will look at seminal moments in "Lost" by asking the following question: did Jacob or the Man in Black have a hand in fashioning that moment? I want to ask this question about many key moments in "Lost" history because the season finale cinched a theory I'd held for quite some time. That theory? Looking at mysterious events on the Island as the byproduct of a single entity made little to no sense; looking at them as byproducts of two warring entities did.
So, think of "Light vs. Dark" as an addendum to "We Have to Go Back," in which we'll look at the involvement of two of the show's most mysterious figures from the very beginning. To me, doing so will shed a ton of light on the overall arc of the show. I'll spend next week focused on a fairly related perspective, one I'll keep quiet about for now. But after that, I'll start looking back from Season 1 forth at the moments in which either Jacob or the Man in Black attempted to exert their influence on most of the main characters of "Lost."
But I'll need your help. I've compiled a list of Season 1 moments I want to analyze at the outset of this project, but I want you to help fill in the gaps. My one rule? We rule out all things Smokey. I want to bracket it aside as a third-party phenomenon now. I've also left off Walt, because to me his unique nature seems separate from either Jacob or the Man in Black. (I'm willing to be convinced of the contrary, however.) But anything else on or off the Island that you feel bears the unseen but keenly felt presence of the Island's power players is fair game.
With that in mind, here's my initial, incomplete list
- The white light that Locke sees in "Walkabout"
- A blue-suited Christian Shephard appears in "White Rabbit"
- Charlie's guitar appearing above him in "House of the Rising Sun"
- The cave collapse after Charlie screams "I'm a bloody rock god!" in "The Moth"
- Claire's dream in "Raised by Another"
- Malkin's prophecy in "Raised by Another"
- Boone's fever dream in "Hearts and Minds"
- Sawyer's boar in "Outlaws"
- The curse of the "Numbers"
- Locke's dream/legs giving out in "Deus ex Machina"
I look forward to reading your additions to that list in the comments below!
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude. He invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed.
How about Charlie's hanging? Charlie was dead and Jack failed to revive him. But then Jack suddenly sprung back into action and saved him. Always thought there was something strange about that... Was Charlie 'supposed' to die then?
No moments to add -- just wanted to say I think this is a cool plan.
No moments to add -- just wanted to say I think this is a cool plan.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm guessing the Man in Black chose Bai Ling to give Jack his tattoos.
Well we have to start with the pilot.
- Most people are alive after the crash, especially the people Jacob touched in the "Pilot."
- Locke can walk in the "Pilot."
- Boone dies at the same time as Aaron's delivered successfully reeks to me of Light or Dark involvement in "Do No Harm."
- Shannon's bullet merely grazing Locke's head instead of killing him in "The Greater Good."
- The introduction of the Black Rock, a vehicle that housed a people that we KNOW were important to Jacob in "Exodus Part 1."
- The opening of the Swan's hatch might have been part of the plan for either side in "Exodus Part 2."
That's all I got, but I think alot of the struggles Jin & Sun's marriage went through in its early years and throughout Season 1 was because some unseen force pushed them to disobey Jacob's wedding day words to them, or they just simply forgot to heed them.
And this quote I dug up in "Do No Harm" is very interesting, considering Jack's actions and reasoning in "The Incident":
Christian: "Commitment is what makes you tick, Jack. The problem is that you're just not good at letting go."
Clang goes the anvil.
Very nice Ryan. I'm with you all the way.
How about Locke's dreams/visions about the beechcraft and Horace building the cabin?
Re Charlie being saved from hanging-was it not said during the first season that he was supposed to die (having nothing to do with Island phenomenon)but was saved because his character was popular?
Hmmmmm..."you GAVE him away, Claire."
Methinks the past tense indicates a message from the future. I, for one, am going to be looking at things from a past-influenced vs. present-influenced perspective. What if one side can only influence the past, while the other can influence the present? Me personally? If I were trapped on an island, living in the present, for an eternity, I would get pretty bent on killing the dude responsible for it all, especially if he had the luxury of going back in time and leaving the island. In fact, he would have no idea how much I wanted to kill him.
I'm thinking that we have to take a closer look at ALL of the flashbacks in Season 1 (well, maybe not the toy plane or the icky Boone/Shannon in-sex!). At the time, they simply seemed like a way to flesh out the characters and give some general hints about the Island's powers. It will be interesting to see if any Jacob/MiB tidbits found there way in as well - if they did, that's some mighty fine planning on Darlton's part!
"their", not "there" - spell-check, please?