Relections on Lost (Part 1)

The final season of Lost starts a week from today, and I thought it would be fun to reflect on what has been my favorite show, and what I anticipate will always be my favorite show. There is so much to think about as we head into the big final season, and I figured the best idea would be to give my general impressions of each season and what I think are the significant parts that may prove to play a big role in the final season. So, without further ado, here is my discussion of season 1…

SEASON 1

I believe each season of Lost focuses on a particular theme. The theme of season 1 is The Castaways. The season focused mainly on the characters that found themselves on a mysterious island after a major plane crash. Flashbacks were used as a device to delve into the pasts of these characters to see what haunts them. Each character has their own personal demons that they must face on the island, and the first season is basically showing what these demons are and the castaways initial attempts to face these demons.

I think that one of the main purposes of the island is facing your demons. The island is a place of potential redemption for those that seek it. But, before this redemption can occur, the individual must get rid of their addictions and baggage from their past. The island can be a blank slate for those that choose it. You can let go of all the things that have weighed you down, and feel free to live a new life. However, for our castaways, this is easier said than done. Most of them hold on to their issues, not allowing themselves to partake of the redemption that the island holds for them.

Let’s look at some of these castaways and their own personal demons that haunt them. There is Jack, the leader of the castaways. His addiction stems from a desire to always fix everything. I believe that this comes from an early experience Jack had as a kid where his father told him he doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero because he can’t handle failure. These words haunt Jack throughout his life. He becomes obsessive about proving his father wrong and tries to become the hero. His role as leader of the castaways is proof of this, he is once again trying to be the hero, and whenever he fails, such as when Boone dies, he doesn’t handle it well, and starts obsessively wanting to fix things even though some things are just not fixable. He feels that revenge against John Locke is the way to fix the situation with Boone. Jack is even literally haunted by his father on the island as he keeps seeing a vision of him. This tendency of Jack’s I believe will be pivotal in the final season. In fact, in detonating the bomb, he was once again obsessively trying to fix all of the mistakes he made as leader, in this instance by making it so they never happened in the first place.

Kate’s addiction is running. She is always running from her problems instead of facing them. This is best shown by her running after killing her father instead of facing the consequence of jail. On the island, she has the perfect opportunity to stop running, face her problems, and have redemption. However, she still feels she has to run and even tries to get a place on the raft so she can once again run away. Sawyer is addicted to conning. He became the very man that he hated, the man Sawyer who was responsible for the deaths of his mother and father. He let his fixation on this con man consume him until he became a con man himself. He can’t let go of his anger at this man who ruined his life and his desire to get his revenge.

The bottom line is that every one of the castaways comes to the island with their own emotional baggage. The purpose of the island, I believe, is to get rid of this emotional baggage and live a life of freedom. These castaways were chosen for some reason to get a sort of second chance at life. They messed up in their pre-island life, but they can transcend their pre-island selves. The island is a place of reflection on those haunting pasts (thus, the flashbacks) and a place where you literally come face to face with those things that haunt you. You can either forfeit the opportunity and keep your emotional baggage, or you can accept it and receive the redemption that you seek. The story of John Locke is one in which he accepts this new chance for a brand new life. He gets the chance to be able to walk again, and he feels he has a real purpose now. Of course, it isn’t as easy as waking up and all of a sudden being able to walk- he has to face his own demons and he struggles with his issues, but he is truly trying to embrace the idea of redemption and new life.

The classic struggle between Jack and Locke, Man of Science vs. Man of Faith, is a huge symbol in Lost. They are the two approaches to using the island. The man of science relies on himself for change. He tries to become the hero, and struggles to give up any part of himself. The man of faith, however, lets the island guide and direct his path. He lets go of his own demons and becomes saved. I believe the dharma initiative and the others are a good characterization of science vs. faith as are the Man in Black and Jacob. The island does have scientific properties that can be tapped into, which I believe are of primary interest to the Dharma Initiative. However, there is also spiritual energy, the same that is able to heal Rose and Locke. If you truly become a man of faith, you can tap in to this spiritual energy and be healed and enlightened. If you doubt and rely on science or yourself, then you are left on your own. Locke’s legs give him trouble when he doubts. Ben ends up with cancer because he relied too much on his own abilities than the islands.

This is Jacob’s desire- to bring people to the island who are sick and to heal them. But, to be healed, they must have faith. These addictions and demons that the castaways bring to the island can be eradicated if they just put themselves aside and truly embrace the ability of the island to heal them. Jacob can’t heal them unless they fulfill their end of the bargain, which is why so many castaways continue to struggle even when they are on the island. Another component to this is the Man in Black who is the tempter. He is cynical and does not have the same faith in humanity as Jacob, so he tempts the castaways in order to keep them away from the healing that can be theirs. He is the smoke monster and takes forms of symbols and people that haunt the castaways and keep them away from the healing that could be theirs if they just had faith.

I think this dichotomy of faith vs. science is going to play a huge role in the final season. I think that the final season will be about redemption- the castaways finally facing their demons and becoming truly healed. The alternate reality that will be caused by the hydrogen bomb exploding will show the castaways that their lives were riddled with problems and those problems will only get worse as they are away from the island. The island is the true place of redemption, where they can deal with and conquer their problems and receive true redemption. The season will end with them either returning to the island to receive this redemption or somehow reversing the events that caused the alternate reality.