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LOST- Final Season thread

@DCGoldPants

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Like a lot of folks, I'm hooked on this.

A buddy of mine blogged on the most recent episode...and I wanted to share it with you guys.

Here is my take on this week:

Well, this was one Whopper of a story. And by whopper, I mean War Operations Plan Response (WOPR), the top secret military computer that inquired of us all, “would we like to play a game?” Of course there was no reference to global, thermal, nuclear war in Lost, as there was in the 1983 epic film WarGames, but there certainly is an interesting parallel.
I don’t imagine anyone is worried about spoilers, given that WarGames is 27 years old, but in the end, the WOPR, or Joshua as it is known by its friends, runs through a series of scenarios that pits the United States against the Soviet Union in a full out nuclear war. A war of course where there are no winners. In running these scenarios, Joshua turns to tic-tac-toe, with similar results. No one ever wins. This point was reinforced last night by Hurley and Miles as they played island tic-tac-toe with similar results. No one ever wins, which is a not very subtle reference to the struggle between Jacob and the Man in Black. This point was underscored by M.I.B. last year when he says that it always ends the same. Jacob counters that it only ends once, and everything is progress.
In the end, given that there was no winner to the WarGames scenario, Joshua inquired if anyone would like to play a nice game of chess. I believe Jacob and M.I.B. would prefer a game of backgammon, one of the oldest games in the world, pitting light against dark. Regardless, unlike global thermal nuclear war, and tic-tac-toe, there will be a winner in this epic struggle for the island. What I find interesting are parallels between backgammon and the struggle (citing Wikipedia here)
Although luck plays an important role, there is a large scope for strategy. With each roll of the dice players must choose from numerous options for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. Players may raise the stakes during the game. There is an established repertoire of common tactics and occurrences. Backgammon playing pieces are known variously as checkers, stones, men, counters, pawns, or chips.
Certainly sounds like the struggle for the island, doesn’t it?
I will be the first to admit that I watched The Substitute four times last week, straining my feeble brain for clues. Wondering what wild and wicked path we as viewers were being led down as I tried to unravel the riddle. Upon the fourth viewing, in which I was barely paying attention given that it was just filler before The Lighthouse, it hit me.
What if FakeLocke is in fact telling Sawyer the truth? Probably not the whole truth, and certainly not nothing but the truth, but essentially the truth.
Sometimes the most obvious answer is right in front of us, like a Lighthouse that nobody has ever noticed before. What if Jacob did write the names of those candidates on the ceiling of the cave? The M.I.B. is simply eliminating those candidates. This is their game, and it has gone on for centuries. Destiny versus free will. White versus Dark. Global Thermal Nuclear War.
What if Sawyer does have a choice, or three, but a choice that is not without consequence? He can certainly do nothing, and leave his fate to the M.I.B., who I am convinced will kill Sawyer once he serves his purpose, thus eliminating another candidate. Sawyer can become the protector of the island, and again, the M.I.B. will do his best to kill him, eliminating him as a candidate. Or Sawyer can just leave, which is exactly what the Oceanic Six did. How did that turn out?
But as the child reminded M.I.B., he can’t kill him. Him being Sawyer. Those are the rules. You can’t kill a candidate. You can manipulate others to do that, but you can’t kill a candidate. So M.I.B. goes about his day, manipulating Losties in the hopes of getting them to do the one thing he can’t…kill any and all hope of Jacob’s plan to find a successor by getting those around him to kill off all of the candidates. He was already successful in manipulating Ben to kill Jacob, finding his loophole, making progress towards the end game.
Some other random thoughts:
There has been some discussion about why Miles’ name is crossed off, but he is still alive? What if the reference to Straum is in fact a reference to his father, aka Pierre Change, aka Marvin Candle, aka Edgar Halliwax? And in fact Miles’ father was a candidate?
Like many, I am convinced that Sawyer is going for the long con against M.I.B., Jacob, and anyone else that has manipulated him.
And I’m sorry, but Emile de Ravin might be the IT girl right now, but she can’t act her way out of a paper bag.
 
Saw an interesting theory in a WaPo chat: the flash-sideways isn't actually a sideways, its a flash-diagonal. Choices made in the LOST world effect the characters in their flash-sideways.

Sayid chooses Flocke, therefore he goes back to killing in the flash-forward.
Kate chooses Flocke, continues to run in the flash-forward.
Jack chooses Jacob, reunites with his son in the flash-forward.

I think we'll see more examples of this in future episodes.
 

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