This was, without question, not only the best episode/s of Lost that there’s ever been, I think it was also the best programme I’ve ever seen on TV, period.

I was not only on the edge of my seat, throughout most of the show, I actually gasped, as in literally. As regular readers of my reviews of Lost will know, I’m utterly addicted and while I’m rather devastated that that’s it until next year, the season finale simply could not have been better.

I’m not going to even attempt to recap the finale; if you’re a fan, you watched it so you don’t need me to and if you didn’t watch it, you’re not a big enough fan so you won’t ‘get’ most of what this article will be about; I’m going to cover what questions we’re left with which we know season six – the final season – is going to answer…

My first question/theory is, is it possible that Jacob is God and the unknown man who we saw him with on the beach – when the mysterious ship the Black Rock approached – is the devil? Or some similar representation. Or maybe it’s the other way around? Perhaps the mystery man is God and Jacob the devil? Or maybe, they were neither… Incidentally, the Black Rock’s presence in the scene would mean it was set around the year 1845.

Through flashbacks, we saw a never-aging Jacob interacting with several of the Oceanic survivors at some point in their lives; with Kate when she stole a lunch-box, with Jack when he’d just had a run-in with his father over his interference, with Sun and Jin at their wedding and perhaps most notably of all, it seemed as if Jacob brought John back to life when his father pushed him out of the window…

Jacob touched John’s shoulder and he suddenly, with a start, awoke, so was John dead when he hit the ground? I suspect he was.

Also, Jacob saved Sayid’s life when he stopped him while Nadia crossed the road, only to end up rather dead after being hit by a car, which if you recall, Ben told Sayid was a deliberate hit-and-run, commissioned by Widmore.

And what was/is the ‘loophole’ that the mysterious man from the beach required and found that meant he could take on John Locke’s persona and appearance, and why did he even need to? Judging from the contents of Ilana and Bram’s box, the real John Locke was still very much dead, but why couldn’t black shirt man just kill Jacob himself? Why did he have to get Ben to do it?

Is it maybe something along the lines of how a vampire has to be ‘invited’ in before he can cross the threshold of a house where ‘good’ is present? I’m basing that entirely on watching The Lost Boys, but you can probably see what I mean; evil ‘can’t’ for some reason take on good directly.

And does Jacob being kicked into fire have any significance, as in Hell’s fire?

This all led me to think that perhaps the mystery man or Jacob was possibly ‘the smoke monster’ personified; we’ve seen smokey take on human form before, most recently when it either became, or showed, a human form when Alex threatened Ben.

My major confusion over the man in the black shirt –while Jacob wore a white one – was that in the opening scenes, the conversation between the two, who I’ll call ‘black shirt man’ and Jacob, went like this as they watched the Black Rock approach…

Black shirt man: “How did they find the island?”
Jacob: “You’ll have to ask them when they get here.”
Black shirt man: “I don’t have to ask. You brought them here. You’re trying to prove me wrong aren’t you?”
Jacob: “You are wrong”
Black shirt man: “Am I? They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.”
Jacob: “If it only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress”
Black shirt man: “Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?”
Jacob: “Yes”
Black shirt man: “One of these days, sooner or later, I’m going to find a loophole my friend”
Jacob: “Well when you do, I’ll be right here”
Black shirt man: “Always nice talking to you Jacob”
Jacob: “Nice talking to you too”

At which point, black shirt man walks away and the camera pans out to reveal the full statue.

Now, this is where the problem comes with the theory that black shirt man is the devil… surely, if he was the devil, he could kill God/Jacob himself?? Or if he’s God, maybe he’s not ‘allowed’ to kill? And if we assume black shirt man is a baddie, why would he be so opposed to violence and corruption? Devilish folk thrive on that sort of thing surely, so does that mean that Jacob’s the baddie?

I’m so confused!!

We later found out that Jacob lives in the base of the statue, so when Richard Alpert responded to Ilana’s question, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” with the Latin answer, “Ille qui nos omnes servabit” which means, “He who will protect/save us all” surely that would give further credence to Jacob being a ‘goodie’?

There were other hints of Jacob’s agelessness and/or immortality too, such as his tapestry which contained phrases written in ancient Greek – from Homer’s Odyssey 6:180 and 8:413 to be exact.

“ΘΕΟΙ ΤΟΣΑ ΔΟΙΕΝ ΟΣΑ ΦΡΕΣΙ ΣΗΣΙ ΜΕΝΟΙΝΑΣ” means, “May the Gods grant thee all that thy heart desires” and “ΘΕΟΙ ΔΕ ΤΟΙ ΟΛΒΙΑ ΔΟΙΕΝ” which translates to, “May the gods give you happiness.”

Again, surely so many references to Gods and goodness in general gives Jacob credibility as a good guy?

So, here’s what we need to know from season six:

Who exactly is Jacob’s enemy and why does he want to kill Jacob?

What is “the loophole” and how did black shirt man invoke or use it?

Why did he choose to take on Locke’s persona and appearance?

How come he knows everything that Locke does?

How and why does Jacob bring people to the Island?

How and why is Jacob on the Island in the first place?

What is the Island? Heaven, hell or nothing to do with either?

Jacob touches a young Sawyer

Why did Jacob visit some of the Oceanic survivors at various moments in their lives?

Why did he physically touch each one of them? Was it to bestow immortality? If it was, it clearly didn’t work on Locke, unless the body in Bram and Ilana’s box is a ‘fake’ Locke?

How does Jacob travel on and off the island?

Why did Jacob plan all the events and sequences that led up to the Oceanic survivors being on the Island?

Why did Jacob leave the cabin to inhabit the foot of the statue?

Who is it who’s been seen and heard during the times various people have been to the cabin?

What’s Christian’s got to do with Jacob and why was he in the cabin with Claire?

Was Ben lying when he said to John that he knew he was talking to an “empty chair” but was as surprised as John when things began flying round the room? Is it because Jacob only appears to those he wants to appear to?

Richard said he doesn’t age because of Jacob, so what did Jacob do – and why – that made Richard seemingly immortal?

What’s the significance of Jacob’s weaving and tapestries? Are these hints at his being a craftsman, just as Jesus was a carpenter?

Who is Ilana and who are her followers, including Bram? And why do they refer to themselves as “the good guys?”

Why did Ilana want the cabin to be burned down and what’s her connection to Jacob?

Why was Ilana in hospital and heavily bandaged when Jacob visited her?

Ilana and Bram discussed whether Frank Lapidus is a “candidate”; a candidate for what?

Is the guitar case that Jacob gave to Hurley the same one that belongs to Charlie, and if so, what’s in it now and why give it to Hurley?

Now onto some easter eggs, which, as always, could have significance or could be red herrings dropped in to drive us Lost fanatics into asylums…

For instance, the license plate of the truck that the young Kate and her friend Tom – remember him? He buried the ‘time capsule’ with Kate ages ago – featured the number 23

Patsy Cline music was playing in the store from which Kate shoplifted and in every one of Kate’s flashbacks, there’s always Patsy Cline music.

It was revealed that Ellie was pregnant with Daniel in July 1977 and since she was only a few months or even weeks pregnant, that would mean that Daniel was only 18 when Des visited him at Oxford, but he was a Professor by then. Prodigy and genius or date cock-up?

When John fell out of the window, Jacob was on a nearby bench reading a Flannery O’Connor book of short stories. It’s a real book that was published posthumously. Flannery O’Connor was dying when she wrote the book and several of the stories address issues to do with the end of life as well as some with religious overtones such as, ‘Judgement Day’ and ‘Revelation.’ The front cover also depicts a bird and an arrow, both of which have featured heavily throughout Lost.

When Sun revisited the old Oceanic survivors camp, she found Charlie’s Driveshaft ring in Aaron’s cot… why would it be there and what was the significance of her finding it, if there was any significance that is?

When it was revealed that John Locke’s body was in Ilana’s box, the camera angles and shots were identical in every detail to those of the last season’s finale when it was revealed that John’s body was in the coffin at the funeral home. That of course can’t be by accident, but why? Is it a clue about parallels and time repetition?

And of course, another big question is, did poor Juliet – who got sucked into the pit – detonate the bomb or was the ‘flash’ another time jump? If she did detonate the bomb, does this mean season six is going to open with all of the Oceanic folks back at the airport waiting to get on their flight?

Well, we’re just going to have to wait until next year to find out, but if you have any ideas or theories, please let us know!

Lost Sawyer con by Oceaniclost
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