Episode 6:04 (The Substitute)

Are you still on Cloud Nine? Because I am! I can't seem to come down from the high last night's episode provided.  It was AMAZING and absolutely goes on my list of Top Ten LOST episodes of all time.

A few trivial things about last night. The song Sawyer was playing last night was Search and Destroy by Iggy Pop and the Stooges.  The song makes reference to hydrogen bombs.  Hurley said 'dude' twice and I'd be okay if Sawyer never put pants on again. Next week's episode will be the 108th produced hour of LOST. I'm expecting big things from such an important number.

There were so many answers last night, I'm going to get right down to it.

1. The numbers – First appearing in Episode 18 of Season 1 (Numbers), 4-8-15-16-23-42 have been part of LOST folklore from the very beginning. They help Hurley win the lottery, they must be typed into the hatch computer every 108 minutes or the world will end, they appear on Danielle’s map, they are the serial number on the door of The Swan, and they drive Leonard crazy, but what are their origins? With the Losties stuck in 1977, could Hurley actually be tied to the origin of the numbers that later drive him mad?

HELLO! I came out of my pants Sawyer-style when we saw the names and numbers written on the rock wall.  We still don't know what the numbers mean, though according to Flocke, "Jacob had a thing for numbers".  We do know: Locke was 4, Hurley was 8, Sawyer was 15, Sayid was 16, Jack was 23, and Kwon (not sure if it’s Sun or Jin) was 42.  Any guesses if it was Sun or Jin? I'm going with Jin.  I'm thinking if it were Sun, she would have flashed through time with Hurley, Sayid, Jack, and Kate when Ajira 316 crashed.  Just a guess, though.  Why wasn't Kate's name on the wall, and why didn't she have a number?

6. Man In Black (Jacob’s Nemesis) – Since Walt and Locke played backgammon in the pilot episode; fans have known that black and white hold symbolic significance in the world of LOST. So when Jacob’s nemesis shows up on the beach wearing black while Jacob is wearing white, we knew that the scene was significant. But who, exactly is the man in black, why does he want to kill Jacob? How did he get to the island? Is he really bad, as his black shirt leads us to believe? How does he have the ability to become ‘Flocke’? Also, is there a biblical connection to the story of Jacob and Esau, in which two brothers fight for ‘birthright’ to rule over their father’s wealth and authority? Seems awful likely to this humble fan.

Again, not a lot of answers, per say, but I can't get the image of the white and black rocks on the scale in the cave. What we did learn, he doesn't think the island needs protecting, he's never read Of Mice and Men, and he still wants to go home.  Also, Richard Alpert is terrified of him.

9. Adam and Eve – In Season 1, Episode 6 (House of the Rising Sun) the Losties travel to some caves located in the interior of the island where they find two skeletons, one male, one female. Jack finds two stones on the bodies, one black, one white. The creators of LOST have said that the most common question they are asked is if they are making up the plot of the show as they go along, or if they have had it planned. They say that the long-term plot has been planned from the beginning, and in the end, viewers will be able to look back to Adam and Eve as proof that the creators always knew where the show was going to end. So this leads me to believe we will find out the identities of Adam and Eve, and they are probably characters we already know. Rose and Bernard, as the black and white stones may indicate? Sun and Jin, as the bodies first appear in a Sun-centered episode? Sawyer and Juliet, Jack and Kate, Aaron and Ji-Yeon, Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore? The possibilities are endless!

Back to the black and white rocks.  Were they the same ones found in the pockets of Adam and Eve? They were definitely similar.  Are Adam and Eve two people who were forced to "play the game" on behalf of Jacob and Flocke? Are Adam and Eve two people who take over the roles of Jacob and Flocke? I don't know, but it's intriguing.  I'm sure those rocks and the scale mean something very important to the island game.

11. What does it mean when Jacob touches you? - In Season 5, Episode 16 (The Incident), we see Jacob touch eight of our favorite Losties (Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Locke, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, and Jin) sometime during their life. He touches Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Locke, Sun and Jin before they travel to the island on 815 and touches Sayid and Hurley after they were rescued as part of the Oceanic Six. He also visits Illana in a Russian hospital and while we think he touched her, he was wearing gloves. When he touches John Locke after Locke falls eight stories, it appears that Jacob brings him back to life. What does this all mean? Will it have implications for the characters he touched in the future?


Apparently he touches you if your name is written on a rock wall on the island.  Now, if this gives you any kind of "specialness", I don't know, but it's got to mean something!  I heard a theory the other day, that I don't necessarily believe, but I found it to be very interesting.  Someone postulated that when Jacob touches you, part of him goes into you, making him immortal as long as all the people he's touched are alive.  (Think: Harry Potter horcrux).  I'm not sure it's that easy, but I do think Jacob's touch does mean something extra special.

18. Why can’t Ben kill Widmore? – In Season 4, Episode 9 (The Shape of Things to Come), Ben travels off the island Ben visits Widmore in his bedroom in the middle of the night. Widmore asks Ben if he’s come to kill him and Ben replies “we both know I can’t do that.” Why would this be? What is the relationship between these two characters and how will it end? Is one man good and the other man bad? Does the Widmore/Ben relationship shadow the Jacob/Man in Black relationship? I’m sure we’ll learn more about this relationship in Season 6.

Are the rules in the Ben/Widmore game the same as the rules in the Jacob/MIB game? The answer appears to be 'yes'.  We know that Flocke isn't allowed to kill Jacob, but we're still not clear on the rules.  No little bloody blonde boy, I don't know the rules! SO TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE!

20. Aaron Littleton – is he meaningful to the island? – Born on the island in Season 1, Episode 20 (Do No Harm) Aaron Littleton has had a rough life. Bound for adoption, injected in-utero with the weird Dharma vaccine, kidnapped by Danielle, left in the jungle by his mother, taken back to the United States to be raised by Kate and Drunk-bearded Jack, and now in the loving care of Claire’s mother, rumors abound that Aaron is a very special little boy. Biblically speaking, Aaron is the son of Jacob, making him a significant piece of the island puzzle. Some even think Widmore is Aaron’s paternal grandfather, making the island connection to Aaron even stronger. Others speculate that Aaron died in-utero and was “resurrected” by Jacob’s nemesis. Still others think he’s the Adam of Adam and Eve. Much speculation for such a little boy!
I'm going on the record.  That young blond boy that appeared to Sawyer and Flocke? That's Aaron.  I don't know how he got there and I don't know why he was bloody, but I really think that was him.

25. Who does Illana work for? – Illana (no last name) crashes on the island in 2007 after escorting Sayid on Ajira 316. Once the plane has crashed she and a few other survivors (including Bram) stuff John Locke’s corpse into a giant metal box and begin wandering around the island to find Jacob’s cabin. When they find Jacob’s cabin deserted, Illana takes the group to the ‘shadow of the statue’ where she shows John Locke’s body to Richard Alpert. We’ve seen both Illana and Bram before, off the island. Illana is visited by Jacob in Season 5, Episode 16 (The Incident) where she says she will ‘help him’. Bram throws Miles into a van in Season 5, Episode 13 (Some Like it Hoth) and tells him not to work for Widmore. So how are they connected to Jacob and the island? How does Illana know her way around the island enough to find Jacob’s cabin and the statue? Who do they work for, who are the “good guys”?

I'd like to add a question into this Illana section: How does she know FREAKING everything?
 
39. Frank Lapidus is a candidate for what? – Lapidus first arrives on the island as a member of the freighter team, but we later learn that he was suppose to be the pilot of the ill-fated Oceanic 815. He brings the Oceanic Six to the freighter via the helicopter and returns to the island as the pilot of Ajira 316. When Illana’s team takes off in search of Richard Alpert and Jacob, Illana asks Lapidus the infamous question, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”. Lapidus doesn’t have the slightest idea, so she knocks him out. When he wakes up, the group tells him he may be “a candidate” and that he can come with them. What the heck is he a candidate for?
 
Well, we now know that Frank wasn't a candidate, after all. Ohh, poor Lapidus. (At least, I didn't see his name, did you?) But we do know what the candidacy means.  A candidate is someone who could take over Jacob's role as protector of the island. Good to know, thanks for clearing that up LOST.

Remember, you can view the full list of questions by clicking here.
 
Great episode.  Something to think about.  This season's episodes are taking the same pattern as Season 1.  The first/second episodes in Seasons 1 and 6 were about multiple characters.  The third episode of Seasons 1 and 6 were Kate-centric episodes.  The fourth episode of Seasons 1 and 6 were Locke-centric episodes.  If this pattern follows, next week will focus on (highlight for answer and next week's episode title): JACK! Season 6, Episode 5 is called "Lighthouse".  Very interesting.

Also, I'm now writing a weekly LOST Recap for Geekosystem.com.  The post will be up every Wednesday morning for your reading pleasure. Check out this week's by clicking here.
 
Now for a fun bonus.  Ever wonder what the LOST theme would look like if the show was a 1960's sitcom? Wonder no longer.

 
Thanks to reader Nate for this fun piece of LOST!
 
Join me tomorrow when I bring you the latest and greatest in Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) news!