Sunday, May 23, 2010

It all comes down to a vending machine and Zod

So - many people have been asking me about the finale. I have waited quite some time to blog about it...I needed to digest. There is a lot of vitriol and anger out there about unanswered questions. I think that kind of misses the point, because a) the power of this show is that questions were always posed, and answered in a manner that raised new questions...the debate, inquiry, speculation, and discussion that this show was the catalyst for during the course of six years was simply astonishing. This is not a show that can be summed up at the water cooler. If the finale would have made it such, I would have been deeply disappointed; and b) many questions were answered, but you have to go through debate, introspection, and speculation in order to fathom it (the average person doesn't understand Buber on the first read-through...try reading the Talmud without debate).

So - I am going to start analyzing things one at a time.

First - the on the island plot of Desmond uncorking the light/energy on the island, and Jack putting it back. This had me thinking that the Losties...they were stuck...lost - if you will - in their lives. They were lost and unable to 'move on'. They were alone. Their lives were 'frozen'. Kind of like - do you remember when a Nintendo video game - one of the originals that came out in the late 80s/early 90s would get frozen/stuck? What would you do? You would pull it out, blow on it, maybe toggle the power button on and off, and then put it back in and turn it on. This was similar to what happened on the island. By the way - similar to what happened when Sawyer went to go get an Apollo bar...he had to unplug it and plug it back in.

The light/energy was as it always was, but needed to be uncorked by Desmond. This gave rise to an element we last saw in Superman II. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

At the end of Superman II, Sup is in the Fortress of Solitude. Zod, Ursa, and Non were there, determined to kill the son of Jor'el. They had Lois Lane as a hostage, and Lex Luthor was in tow.

What Luthor set in motion was the following: Superman had previously lost his power - purposefully - when he went into a case in the Fortress that emitted a radiation that made him like any human. He later regained his powers. Now, though, Luthor betrays Superman and reveals to the threesome that if they put him back in the case, he'll be just another human again. Little does he know that Sup has been jury rigged the case, and now the radiation is emitted on the outside - not the inside - so anyone standing on the outside will lose their powers. Sup makes short order of Zod and his companions.

This is what happened when Desmond uncorked the island. It took away the powers from anyone on the island...Richard Alpert lost his immortality, as indicated with his growing of a gray hair. Man-in-Black was trapped inside the corporeality that he was in the form of at the time, John Locke. And he became mortal.

Once Jack put the cork back in, Jack could die. Once in the limbo-world/sideways world, he became the catalyst for certain other Losties to move on.

What are your thoughts? Leave some comments...
Next element will be posted soon.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Shavuot’s gift: What to do after ‘Lost’

Shavuot's gift: What to do after Lost
By Ami Eden

May 11, 2010

New York (JTA) -- Early on in the Talmudic tractate of Taanit, Rabbi Yitzchak causes a bit of a stir when, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, he declares: "Jacob our father did not die."

Rav Nachman rejects the idea with a sharp retort, asking: "Was it then for nothing that they mourned Jacob and the embalmers embalmed him and the grave-diggers buried him?"

Most rabbinic commentators essentially end up siding with Rav Nachman, albeit more politely, by treating Rabbi Yitzchak's comment metaphhorically, as some sort of moral teaching about righteous living on through our memories of their good deeds. But what if we were to take the comment literally?

The first question we might ask is, "If Jacob never died, then were exactly has he been all these years?"

Of course, for those of us with a standing appointment Tuesday nights, one potential answer is obvious: He's living on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific, fishing, weaving, and spending the rest of his days saving the world by keeping a satanic smoke monster all bottled up.

No, that's not from Rashi. It's a reference to Lost, ABC's groundbreaking show about a plane that crashes on the wierdest, not-so-deserted island you could imagine, the keeper of which is an enigmatic, ancient but young-looking man named Jacob. That smoky ting? It turns out it's his twin brother -- meaning, like his biblical counterpart, "Lost" Jacob has serious sibling rivalry issues. And did we mention that the series is shaping up to be primarily about his search for a replacement? The leading candidate: a plane-cras survivor named...wait for it...Jack Shephard. (Jacob the shepherd, get it?)

Ok. Ok. It's a stretch. Yes, the creators of Lost clearly want us chewing on the biblical reference. But they have had us chewing on plenty of unrelated references since the beginning. With just one episode and the 2 1/2 hour finale Ma 23 left, by the time you read this, it sseems increasingly clear that they have no plans (thank goodness) to offer up a unifying theory for the show as an exact metaphor for some other literary or religious work. So why dwell on the Jacob thing? Because of the parallel holds - not so much between the two Jacobs themselves, but the experienc of pondering them.

For Losties (think Trekkies, but cooler), watching the show is an exercise in probing a mix of literary, religious and philosophical allusions, wrestling with existential and moral questions, and of course, enjoying great storytelling about compelling characters. It's not much different from studying Torah -an experience marked by depth, meaning and intrigue, once you ge the hang of it.

Don't believe me?

Next Tuesday night wll be the last one with a new episode of Lost (the finale is airing the following Sunday). An hour or two later, many synagogues will be marking the holiday of Shavuot with Torah study throughout the night.

What Jack wouldn't give for a sign like that. So - check out a shul near you. You're going to need something to do when Lost ends.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Latin

So - I know I have been behind on postings, but I wanted to make sure to post this.

The 'mother' of Jacob and the man-in-black and the real mother both spoke speaking Latin. According to other blogs, the cloting, style, and demeanor of the shipwreck survivors, et al, are from the period period between 300 BCE and 200 CE.

The 'others'/natives on the island are either these individuals - with unnatural long life - or their descendents.

Remember - as Juliet pointed out, all the 'Others' spoke Latin.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Upcoming Episodes

Hello everyone! Yes, I know I have to update...way past due...

But - I wanted to clear up when the next episodes will air, as there is a lot of confusion out there...

The last episodes are, and will air on:

Across the sea - May 11, 2010
What they died for - May 18, 2010
The end (parts I & II) - May 23, 2010