Sins of the Father: 6x05 - Lighthouse

"He's my friend."

And so ended one of the most creepy moments (for me, anyway) of Lost of all time. *Shudders* How far gone must Claire be to see John Locke, know it's someone else, and be so okay with it? I suppose she had three years to get used to it, and probably to be brainwashed in some way, but she is obviously "infected."

This is going to be a more "old school" post (to borrow a line from Hurley tonight) with just some random thoughts about tonight's episode, "Lighthouse." I'm still mulling this one over, in that I'm not sure what I thought of it. I really don't compare episodes that often, so I'm not saying it wasn't as good as "The Substitute"...well, maybe I am. But seriously, it was certainly different. My first reaction is to call it uneven, but I'm not sure that's true, either. And to borrow a line from a past episode, "we're gonna have to watch that again" to get a better idea of where everything fits in.

As Jim commented on a previous post, they kept with the pattern of having character-centric episodes that mirror Season 1. The fifth hour of Season 1 was a Jack episode, as was tonight's fifth hour of Season 6. (Naturally, they can't keep it up all season, with less episodes than the first season, and since we don't have characters like Charlie, they're going to have to fill in a newer character's story, which is fine with me. (Richard!!!!!)

I went with "Sins of the Father" as a post title tonight rather than with a quote from the episode since there weren't too many standout lines that summed things up, but also because it was something I said out loud to myself while watching Jack's flash-sideways. If I went with a quote, it would've been Hurley's "you have what it takes," which is what Jacob told him to tell Jack. "He said you'd know what that meant." And he obviously did, based on his reaction. Jack's reaction to Jacob's knowledge of something so personal, though, turned into a lunatic who was hellbent on finding Jacob. As he says later, "What does he want from me?!" We know who the "he" he is referring to really is, though.

When they reached the caves (more on that in a moment,) Jack told Hurley the story of how he saw the ghost of his dead father, which led him there. Is Jack putting two and two together? I'm wondering if he thinks his father might be Jacob, and this is why he needed Jacob to appear - well, be present, at least - at the lighthouse. ("How did we never see this here?" Jack asks. Hurley gives the best explanation we're going to get from the writers: "I guess we weren't looking for it, dude.") He's seeing the empty casket again. It's reminding him of seeing his father on the Island. Jacob knows that his father told him that he didn't have what it takes. He tells Hurley, "I'd make a terrible father." And then he sees the home he grew up in - his parents' home - in the lighthouse mirror when it is turned to his name (and number - Jack is the second one to see the number he is associated with). Like his father's casket, he can't take the thoughts and memories of the life he led under his father's hawkishly watchful eye, and he smashes the mirror, too.

Jacob needed Jack to see his childhood home and to think about all of those "daddy issues," and just as I suspected as I was watching Jack smash the mirror, apparently Jacob actually wanted him to do so, despite Hurley's initial thought of a "mission unaccomplished." But Jacob wanted Jack to go through this so that he could understand how important he is. He tells Hurley that Jack is there to do something, but he needs to find out what it is on his own. Jack had to see that he is important, that he was brought to the Island for a purpose, and that Jacob knows his worth.
Which in turn is a lesson that Jack shares with his son. His son?! Where did David come from? No, really, this is my biggest question about Jack's Alt. timeline: who is David's mother? There are two huge red flags that Jack did not have David with Sara: one, his hair is far from blonde, and although Jack's hair isn't blonde either, David's is a very dark brown; and two, the writers were extremely careful not to mention the mother's name or any specific information about it. When Jack went to her house, she wasn't home, we didn't see any pictures of her, there was not one clue. My best guess is the Italian woman who brought her father to Jack to have Jack "miraculously" fix him in (I think) Season 2, but there's the problem: if he never fixed Sara, the Italian woman wouldn't have brought her father to him, and they would never have met. Then again, we've already seen situations where things are so different that certain characters should not have met, but they still did in a different way, so it's possible.

Regardless of who David's mother is, this part of the storyline was very simple (a little too simple to be gripping, maybe?): Jack has David for what I assume is his alloted time for visitation as a result of a separation or divorce from David's mystery mom. David is a closed off youth of today, and Jack doesn't know how to reach him. David runs away, Jack finds out that he is auditioning for a prestigious music school that night, he drives over in his sweet Jeep to listen, and meets him by the bike rack to tell him that he will never treat David like his father treated him. He's the cool dad after all! He doesn't want the sins of his father to be visited upon his son. Pretty cookie-cutter stuff, although it was touching to see that Jack has it all figured out, at least more than the Jack that we see in the original timeline. What gives it some weight is the contrast with the Jack that we see on the Island, who's entire life is still ruled and haunted (sometimes literally) by the ghost of his father. He is emotionally crippled because he only sees himself through his father's eyes as a failure, and he can't get past it. Is this what Jacob needs him to do? Maybe letting go of the issues with his father will make him invincible to the Monster, who seems to be the one preying on those candidates who are at their weakest (which is what he accused Jacob of doing, by the way).

Before I get to one of those candidates, two other quick things that were a part of the Jack story. One, Dogen has a son that shares the same interests as Jack's son in Alt. 2004. He seems to be a caring father. I wonder if we'll see him again in this timeline. Two, we return to the caves with Hurley and Jack, which was definitely nostalgic. But when Hurley was standing over "Adam and Eve" and musing about how they got there, and how it could be him and Jack if they jumped back in time and died at that spot...all I can say is that the Lost writers sure do love toying with us.

The other major story we had tonight in "Lighthouse" was Claire's. And what a story that is. If someone told you during Season 1 that this is the Claire we'd see in Season 6, you'd still be laughing at them. But here she is, in all of her mad, murderous, infected glory. It seems that the darkness really has taken hold of her, with her skull baby, her explosives-walled hut, and her axe, which she buries in Justin the Other's chest with no remorse. She almost seems to feel relief after she does it.

When she first mentions her "friend," I actually forget now who I thought it was. I knew it wasn't Christian, because she specifically mentions her father, but for whatever reason, I was not expecting the Monster to come strolling in as her friend. It obviously makes perfect sense. All I can say is, poor Jin.

Jin tells her the truth about where Aaron is, but she doesn't believe it. She's been believing for three years that the Others have him, or has been made to believe it without a doubt; either way, when Jin says that Kate took him, it doesn't seem to compute at first. But then it does, for when she asks Jin about it again, he covers for Kate and says that the Others in fact do have Aaron, and he's in the Temple, and he (Jin) knows a secret way to get in. (He's not a very good liar, is he? I don't think she's buying his "the Udders did take him" story, either.) But it's not looking good for Kate, who of course is now on a collision course with Claire as she is searching the jungle for her. Will Kate be the first major character to be killed off this season? Is this why her name didn't even appear inside the cave? (More on that in a moment.) I'm thinking that Claire might try to kill Kate even for just the thought that she took Aaron, whether Claire believes Kate did or not. It also makes me wonder, after a week of reading and listening to people discuss which Kwon has their name next to the number 42 inside the cave, what Jin's fate is. He's not exactly in a very comfortable place right now.

One more note about Claire that Toniann and I discussed after the episode: the writers had her say "my son" more often, but she still let loose with at least one quality "my baaaaybeeee!" in the episode.

One last thing for tonight about both Kate and the lighthouse itself. The one blog I was able to check out (The Fuselage is still impossible to get in to even with my login, especially since the west coast fans have seen the episode and are logged in now, too) had a comment from someone who freeze-framed the shots of the lighthouse dial , with all the names next to the numbers, and swears that they saw "Austen" written next to the number 51, and it's not crossed out. (15 backwards? That's Sawyer's number...) I haven't seen this for myself, so we'll see if this pans out.

Or...now I can just show you the screencap!


I dunno...it looks like it could be, but it's not crystal clear to me. I wish it was bigger. I'll have to wait for a better version.

But now we see the names next to the numbers on the dial, which, if we are to believe what we saw tonight, is the meaning of the numbers: they are compass bearings that allow Jacob (or someone) to watch them out in the world as they live their lives to assess their candidacy, I assume. Or was this just a vision that Jacob made appear to Jack to help him find his way? Will we ever know...?

Did we catch who or what was at 108, which is what Jacob told Hurley to turn it to (while knowing he wouldn't have the chance to)?

Was the music David was listening to that Jack "wouldn't know" Geronimo Jackson?

Will David be the musician that programmed the code in the Looking Glass Station?

"I'm a candidate. I can do what I want. Why don't YOU go back to the courtyard?"

"I just lied to a samurai."

Jacob got Jack and Hurley away from the Temple because someone is on their way there. "Someone bad." It's too late to help those that are already there.

And finally, who's coming to the Island? Who needed to see the lighthouse? Toniann says Widmore, and I can definitely see that. What do you think? Let's see some comments!

Until next time,

Good Luck & Namaste,

~ Matt