'Lost': Course Corrections for 'Ab Aeterno'

I knew, both watching the episode and while writing my recap, that reaction to this week's edition of "Lost" would be intense. Earlier this week, I argued that fans of the show were suffering from mystery fatigue, but I never for one second argued they were suffering from "Lost" fatigue. I think their engagement has merely shifted from actively trying to solve the show to actively trying to defend/define its overall legacy. And that is going to carry people through to the very end.
 
Of course, the temptation to take all that focused energy and attack both the show and other fans is going to grow exponentially. I know I keep linking to this article, but I think I can never link to it often enough. The show's going to get more and more personal for people that watch, not just in terms of theories being ultimately proven right or wrong but the ultimate judgment on whether six years' worth of investment will be worth it. I'm not saying this is what SHOULD happen, but look, it's already happening. I've seen it. I've got a sunburn just from reading some of these comments lately.
 
Maybe asking people to act civilly is a pipe dream, since one person's passion is another person's vitriol. But I'll be periodically making that plea over the next two months, since we only have that short window to keep discussing this show. After that, well, we'll all move onto something different. We can spend that time yelling, or we can spend that time celebrating. Me? I'm a Kool and the Gang fan. You know which way I roll.
 
Onto this week's "Course Corrections" for "Ab Aeterno"! (In case you missed it last night, be sure also to check out the latest podcast, with info in the post about how you can win "Lost" DVDs.)
 
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It never ceases to amaze me how people claim to lose respect for someone simply for uttering an opinion that doesn't line up with their own. This isn't politics or religion here, people: it's an episode of a TV show. Just because I didn't think it was the greatest thing ever doesn't mean 1) you can't, 2) my opinion invalidates yours, or 3) either of our opinions is inherently "right." We're not talking mathematics here; we're talking art. We can't expect to always agree, and quite frankly, it would be a dull, dull blog if we did. Voicing your dissension is always welcome. Turning that difference into a personal attack is not, no matter if your target is me or another commenter. I've tried hard to make this space safe for conversation, not instigation.
 
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In that vein, the Richard/Isabella stuff was the weakest element of the episode. Which, you know, is a problem in that it forms for the emotional spine of Richard's choices. What I would have preferred isn't necessarily another origin story/motivation for Richard as much as more time with these two people. We don't even meet her until she's hours from death! Yet people are quick to call them the new Des/Penny, who. Again, this is all a subjective judgment call. I understand "Lost" likes to compress stories, and in cases such as "The 23rd Psalm," they manage to thread the needle and deliver a backstory of such power of economy that more would indeed be less. For many people, Richard's story was on par with Eko's in this respect.
 
I almost never quibble about how and when they deploy their story breaks, but I wish the writers of "Lost" had taken everything up through Witfield's acceptance of Ricardo on the Black Rock as the flashback of Season 5's "Follow the Leader." That would have necessitated an overall reconfiguration of the 2nd half of Season 5, but let's be honest: it's not like things were cooking on all cylinders for the entire duration of the show's time in 1977. You want me to buy into an epic love story spanning 140+ years involving a woman we just met last night? I tried, but I couldn't make it all the way. With a little more planning, though, I could have.
 
Here's how the new flow would look: Give me the full, expanded Richard/Isabella story during "Leader", flesh out these two people over the course of that hour, and get me invested in their relationship before she's on her death bed. Then, start Richard's flashback in "Aeterno" upon the roiling seas. You get more time with Richard/Isabella last year, you still are holding back a huge chunk of narrative change for "Ab Aeterno" which has the "Leader" narrative as its bedrock, AND you buy yourself more time with the newly formed Team Jacob. Richard's origin could have been answered last year, but his agelessness and purpose unrevealed until last night. Plus: more Ben, Frank, Miles, and possibly Insane in the Membrane Jack Shepard. How is this a bad thing?
 
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I meant to write about the pretty lil' butterfly that coasted into the Black Rock during Hour 74 of Richard's attempt to break free from the chains that bound, but happened to be looking at my computer screen when it appeared. Yes, I'm a hunt-and-peck typer. Sad but true. In any case, I'm not quite sure what to make of it: could be The Man in Black fluttering in to turn into Isabella, could be Jacob sending a non-human emissary to see how his latest crew of humans was doing. I suppose we should be amateur lepidopterists on top of everything else and keep our eyes trained for more butterflies as the season progresses. (Or, we could just all watch The Venture Brothers' episode, "The Lepidopterists," which is the single funniest half-hour of television in the last five years. That sounds like more fun to me.)
 
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A great example of why writing recaps immediately after watching episodes yields imperfect results: had I not been putting my brain back into my head after hearing Jacob's cork analogy, I would have realized that Richard's wish to never die was the logical extension of his inability to be purged of his sins. I still think he asked it flippantly, or at least with the same expectation that he would have had he asked for something like, "A lifetime supply of Mentos." But I was wrong to assume that request came out of nowhere simply to give Richard a reason to be ageless.
 
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One thing that really struck home, more than at any time since Season 1, is just how much of a debt this show owes to "The Twilight Zone." Yes, the creators are all on record as being fans of the show and cite it as an influence, but in Season 6, I really feel that anthology series' influence more than ever. A while back, around the time of the release of "Cloverfield," I coined the term "Earth JJ," to account for his various projects ("Alias," "Star Trek," "Lost," even "Mission: Impossible 3") all inhabiting an Earth slightly different (and highly more exciting) than our own. What the sideways stories in general, and "Ab Aeterno" specifically, highlight is just how the narrative structure of "Lost" allows them to tell a whole host of types of stories (cop show, Victorian tragic romance, family drama) under one overarching concept. Anthologies can be hit or miss, given the disconnect between characters and events that can sometimes occur under a high-concept umbrella. But "Lost" takes the flexibility of the anthology and places it under a consistent, unifying thread. Just fantastic.
 
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I had this great anaology to make between Jacob's wine cork and the Swan station's "dam," but then Televisionary went and beat me to the punch. Damn his eyes. His take, in short: "...the Dharma Initiative's experiments into the electromagnetic energy properties of the island were creating a situation from which the Nemesis would be allowed to make his escape." (Read the whole recap here.) Can't wait to have him on the podcast so I can scold him via Skype. I can only try and go one step further by redirecting everyone to "The Letter of Truce," contained within the special Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit Season 5 DVD set. One of the counters to the truce between the DI and The Others? "If the DHARMA Initiative digs or drills any more than ten meters into the ground, even in their designated territory, the truce is violated." Hmmmmm.
 
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A lot of you are taking umbrage with the year 1867 and its relation to the slave trade. Issues like this get differing mileage for different people: all depends on what you're focused on. If you watch "24" for an accurate representation of how long it would take events to take place in real time, well, you're gonna be upset. I'm sure there's a perfectly fine historical case to be made for the events between Canary and Craphole Island, but honestly, I didn't sweat it too much. I was focused on the emotional through line of Richard's journey, and his desperate attempts to stave off a seemingly inevitably journey into Hell pushed me through any possible historical anomalies just fine. Then again, I'm the guy who laughs every time "Fringe" tries to pass off some college in Vancouver as Harvard, so like I said: to each his/her own. Getting bogged down in stuff like this is a good way to get mad or go mad. Nitpicking this stuff can make us feel smart, but also make us look stupid. So, a grain of salt, I'd say.

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Onto this week's mix tape! For the ageless wonder, Oasis' "Live Forever" seems like an obvious choice, as is the double meaning of Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U." If he's feeling dramatic and diva-like, he can always crank up the classic Dusty Springfield song "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" when thinking of his encounters with Isabella. By season's end, I can see him humming Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" as he prepares to stage his final attack against The Man in Black. Speaking of TMiB, each time I see him, The Vines' "Get Free" pops into my head. I also imagine him dialing up No Doubt's "Don't Speak" on his iPod while sitting on the Pier One bench after sending Ricardo to kill his nemesis. And given Jacob's party platter for Ricardo, I'm guessing he's a HUGE fan of the solo artist Samuel Beam, aka Iron and Wine.
 
Those are my thoughts 48 hours after "Ab Aeterno": what are yours?