This is something I found with some pretty interesting stuff in this. It came from Jon Mankuta. There are some punctuation problems with pasting text that I could fix, but am too lazy to. Deal with it:
This was posted by a Writer from Bad Robot that worked on lost (not by me
in any way)…
First … The Island:
It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout
the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was
put in purposely to f*&k with people’s heads and show how far the show had
come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered
Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the
world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will
always need a “Protector�. Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley won’t be the
last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother,
nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to
kill him — even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.
Thus began Jacob’s plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one
thing he couldn’t do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that
spanned generations. Yet everytime he brought people there, the MIB corrupted
them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along
and helped Jacob understand that if he didn’t take a more active role, then
his plan would never work.
Enter Dharma — which I’m not sure why John is having such a hard time
grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the
island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the
MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interferred by “corrupting�
Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he
was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben’s “
off-island� activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they
were concerned. So the “Others� killed Dharma and later were actively trying
to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that’s
what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn’t do for himself.
Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB’s
corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben.
Now, was Dharma only
brought there to help Jack and the other Canditates on their overall quest to
kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma
group that we were never aware of? That’s a question that is purposley not
answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than
the one you come up with for yourself. Still … Dharma’s purpose is not “
pointless� or even vague. Hell, it’s pretty blantent.
Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his “candidates� (our
Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free
will. Hence him bringing a host of “candidates� through the decades and
letting them “choose� which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he
knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the
protector in the end. Maybe he didn’t. But that was always the key question of
the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew
from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a
part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to
kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector — I know that’s how a lot of the
writers viewed it. But again, they won’t answer that (nor should they)
because that ruins the fun.
In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first
episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off
the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he’d always been missing.
And, in Sideways world (which we’ll get to next) he in fact saved everyone
by helping them all move on …
Now…
Sideways World:
Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and
metaphysical discussion (for me at least — because I love history/religion
theories and loved all the talks in the writer’s room about it). Basically what
the show is proposing is that we’re all linked to certain people during our
lives. Call them soulmates (though it’s not exactly the best word). But
these people we’re linked to are with us duing “the most important moments of
our lives� as Christian said. These are the people we move through the
universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It’s loosely based in Hinduisim with
large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.
The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious
philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “
sideways� world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened� and
find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and
move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife.
According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways� purgatory with
their “soulmates� throughout their lives and exist there until they all move
on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or
even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and
moving.
It’s a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and
subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be
together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not
JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God
(depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always
about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith.
It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been
at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot
twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.
How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer.
Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that’s THE
answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it
was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept
revealing more, and more of a larger mosiac.
But the writer’s took it even further this season by contrasting this
Sideways “purgatory� with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to
Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB.
He wasn’t allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the
opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy
with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They
made it into Sideways world when they died — some before Jack, some years
later. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways
world until they are “awakened� and they can only move on TOGETHER because
they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was
their destiny.
They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Roussou, Alex, Miles, Lupidis,
(and all the rest who weren’t in the chuch — basically everyone who wasn’t
in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again,
here’s where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think
about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to
find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It’s possible that those
links aren’t people from the island but from their other life (Anna’s
parnter, the guy she shot — Roussou’s husband, etc etc).
A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn’t go into the
Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you
the answer to that very question. Ben can’t move on yet because he hasn’t
connected with the people he needs to. It’s going to be his job to awaken
Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest.
He has to attone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley’s number
two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own
people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the
links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte,
Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It’s really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.
But, from a more “behind the scenes� note: the reason Ben’s not in the
church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is
because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never
changed it. The writers always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they
knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It’
s pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and
be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily
changed their ending and put him in the church — but instead they problem
solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church … and then
that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder — the original ending
started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack
closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ’s ending.
And they kept it.
For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on
it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done
before. I’ve been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to
count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I’ve loved (X-Files, 24,
Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None
showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for
network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I
learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around
the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who
slaved on the show for 6 years.
In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the
afterlife, and all these big, spirtual questions that most shows don’t
touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story — even with all
the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a
creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.
(
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