More Thoughts on "The Incident"

After re-watching "The Incident" a few times, I've actually discovered that I liked it quite a bit. I think that what originally left me feeling a bit trepidatious about it was that it made me feel as though I no longer had any clue what the hell was going on anymore. I guess that, for the past few seasons, I've spent a little too much time speculating and theorizing about LOST. So much so that I almost had it all mapped out in my head. After you spend a lot of time going so in-depth about certain theories, ripping each one apart, in order to figure out if it has validity, it hampers you from just sitting back and enjoying the show thoroughly. Since realizing that, I've decided to truly just let the ride take me wherever it may go, to just enjoy it fully because, well, we only have one season left of this wonderful show.

So, with that said, the one thing that I've been thinking the most about from "The Incident" is Jacob. I'm still not sure whether he is good or evil. But, I have been thinking about the black and white theme that has gone on throughout the entire series and showed up heavily in the opening scene of "The Incident" when Jacob and the man in black (let's call him "Esau" for now), are having their conversation on the beach.

But who are "Esau" and the man we know as Jacob? Why are they on two opposing sides?

The writers have often said that in the end of the series, we will know for sure that they knew what they were doing all along. They have also said that the scene in "House of the Rising Sun," when Jack and Kate discover their very own Adam and Eve in the caves, is going to be proof that they had it planned out from the beginning. In that scene, Jack also finds two stones in the pocket of one of the bodies, which are black and white. What are the significance of these two people? What is the significance of those two stones?

Something that I've often noticed in this show, and that perhaps has happened too much, so much so that I anticipate it at this point, is that when they introduce a new character, they make you think one thing about them from the start, and then eventually flip it on you, so that they usually end up being the complete opposite of what you originally thought them to be. It's a neat character story-telling stick. For instance, Jin. When the show began, everyone was supposed to hate Jin. You were supposed to believe that he was this controlling, insensitive husband and that Sun was innocent. After a while, we learned that it was Sun's fault that Jin became that way, that he worked for her father, doing things he didn't want to do, just to be married to the woman he loved, and for that, she cheated, lied and manipulated. Everything that we know now of Sun and Jin is the total opposite of what we were originally first introduced to them as. Who doesn't love Jin now?

This is the point which leads me to thinking that Jacob is evil. It's as if someone that has used reverse-psychology on you enough, that everything they tell you, after time, you immediately think the opposite of because you know where you always end up. In the opening scene of "The Incident," Jacob is in white and "Esau" is in black. Esau says that he wants to kill Jacob, while Jacob says that everything he is doing on the island is progress. This leads you to believe that Jacob is a God-like being, and that for some reason, Esau is jealous and wants to overtake him in some way or fashion. But, you have to read between the lines.

Esau states that Jacob has brought many people to the island and they all end up in conflict with eachother, but Jacob retorts and says that it is just progress. Jacob doesn't seem to be bothered by conflict or people dying, and Esau appears to strongly oppose this. If Jacob believes that this so-called "progress" is all a sacrifice for the greater good, what exactly is the end result? What are they progressing to? Is it the fate of everyone that ends up on the island? Or does Jacob somehow lure then there unwillingly?

It also appears that Jacob set up his own death. He set in place all of the events that lead to his death. Jacob visited some of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 throughout their lives, even before the crash, making sure that they would come to the island.

Benjamin Linus became the leader of the island, being chosen by Richard Alpert, under Jacob's command, but Jacob never even spoke to Ben. Benjamin Linus sheepishly followed Jacob's call for years, without asking any questions, for the sake of the island. Ben visited a cabin that he believed was occupied by Jacob, but was unknowingly visiting Esau instead, who was apparently trapped inside. But, who told Ben that was where to visit Jacob? Richard Alpert would be my guess. Why would Richard tell Ben to go to the cabin when all along he knew that Jacob resided inside the four-toed statue? Because Jacob told him to. This is why Ben brought John Locke to the cabin in which he broke the circle of ash, and heard Esau exclaim "help me" to him. John Locke's body would eventually be possessed by Esau in order to set-forth in motion Jacob's murder by the hand of Benjamin Linus. Jacob even instigated Ben into killing him. He didn't try to stop him, or try to talk him out of it. Why wouldn't Jacob even try to talk Ben out of killing him? He acted as if he expected the whole thing to happen, asking Esau, appearing as John Locke to Ben, "So, you found your loophole?" It was as if he anticipated the whole sequence of events happening. So my question is, why would Jacob do that, and for what reason? Or, more importantly, is that even the real Jacob? Was this all supposed to happen from the very beginning?

All of this fate talk leads me to think about John Locke. I'm a bit unnerved as to where his character has gone. First, we find out that there is a man whose death Jack Shephard is so distraught over, then we find out that his name is Jeremy Bentham, then that John Locke is actually the Jeremy Bentham, and is off island, going under a pseudonym. We witness his brutal murder by the hands of Benjamin Linus, only for him to be resurrected once they return to the island, only to find out that John Locke was dead all along and there is someone, who we call Esau, impersonating him. I'm not sure that I'm a fan of the whole "he's dead-not dead-no really, he's dead" thing. The fact that John Locke has been dead since the end of Season 3, in "Through the Looking Glass," and we didn't even know it, is the most angry and frustrated I've felt since beginning this journey. There better be a damn good point to this, because killing off John Locke without us even knowing it, and making his death less significant than it should be, is a cop-out, in my opinion.

From the very beginning, we have been told that John Locke is special, a miracle, that he's important. When he arrived on the island, he finally found somewhere that he belongs, his calling. He became the spiritual leader on the island. We quickly learned of how much he had been through in life, which is what made his arrival so redemptive. His parents abandon him, only to later con him into giving his father his kidney, which makes him feel lost and angry. Then, he finally finds a woman, and he's happy, she helps him get through his pain and anger, but his father shows up again to mess with is life. John Locke can't resist, and becoming prey to his lost childhood and need parental guidance and acceptance is what ultimately ruins his relationship with Helen. This all causes him to never let go, trying to see some good in his father, hoping it will be there eventually, but it isn't. Just when you thought John Locke's life couldn't get any worse, his own father pushes him out of a window from the eighth story of a building, causing him to be paralyzed, though it's a miracle he's even alive.

But then, finally, finally he finds a place in life. The island. He crashes there and realizes that suddenly, he can walk again. After four years of being paralyzed and in a wheelchair, he can actually stand up and walk again after the plane crash. This must be a special island. John Locke must be special. This must be his destiny. And, for a while, it seems like it is.

Somewhere along the line, John Locke loses that. He becomes lost again, frustrated, not knowing where to go. But that's fine, we all say, it's character development. Sometimes, you need to hit the bottom to come back up again. It's all a sacrifice for the greater good. John Locke will get redemption in the end. He has to.

Then, his own father, Anthony Cooper, shows up on the island somehow. Great, his lifelong hangups have followed him to the island as well. Then, he cons Sawyer into killing his father so that he can join the others and they both can be at peace, and all is well and good with the world, at least for a while.

Until we find out that he's dead for no good reason. He didn't kill himself, Ben Linus did. He didn't resurrect from the dead, "Esau" or "smokey" impersonated him to orchestrate the killing of Jacob, which was put in place from the very beginning. So, what, exactly is John Locke's destiny? Did he die for nothing? Is there a purpose to all of this? I don't really know. But I have a glimmer of hope that Mr. Locke will be redeemed in the end somehow. After all, it is a common theme on this show that before a character dies, they are redeemed, and then sent on their way. John Locke has never gotten redemption. Every time he's been close to it, he gets the carpet ripped out from underneath him. Sure, he's had multiple chances, and I'm not calling him a great leader, but he belongs on that damn island.

Remember Locke, first arriving to the island, how he seemed to fit there, how he seemed to know everything, how it seemed like he had been there before, experienced it all before? Maybe he has.

Which leads me to this. When John Locke left the island to visit the other survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 that also left, he visited Walt. Walt told him that he has dreams about Mr. Locke and that he saw people standing around him, trying to hurt him, that he was wearing a suit. It occurred to me, that the "Esau" character that impersonated John was no longer wearing a suit, but that the real John Locke, who was taken from his coffin and placed in a crate, for some reason, was still wearing the suit from his very own funeral. So, will the real John Locke be the one who has people standing around him, as we left him on the beach, trying to hurt him? Maybe. Maybe, he will actually be resurrected in some form. Maybe the incident has something to do with what happens to him. Maybe he will be the next Jacob, or the next advisor to the island, like Richard. Maybe nothing will happen at all. But, I still have hope for you, John Locke.

After all, Jacob even touched John Locke after his eight story fall. If Jacob is truly good, doesn't that make John Locke special? Doesn't that mean he had to go the island for a reason? Jacob must have plans for him...

"There are two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark..."