Thoughts on Jacob

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Tilion

Regarding the voice John heard inside the hut...You guys are aware that for a second or two we actually got to see a long-haired figure sitting at the table?

I certainly missed that myself, but then if you follow through with what Steve Jordan is saying, it doesn't matter, we could still be seeing that scene from the point of view of Ben or John, and that it was simply in their imaginations. Or, an elaborate hoax with a film projection. Personally, I have become a little disheartened by the changing goal posts. Characters say or see one thing with great authority, then you find out later they were lying or it was something else entirely. The advertisements for next Season say that "The Answers are Coming", so I will wait and see. I'll still keep reading your speculations though!

[TK-421]

No, there was definetly someone there. I never believed Jacob was a hoax.

Just like I don't believe Ben is lying when he tells Jack in the season finale that he's doomed then all to death when he called the ship on the satellite phone.

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by TK-421

No, there was definetly someone there. I never believed Jacob was a hoax.

Just like I don't believe Ben is lying when he tells Jack in the season finale that he's doomed then all to death when he called the ship on the satellite phone.

Maybe Ben believes they are all doomed...

Dave, you're right about one thing: The constant mis-information can be maddening. It reminds me of Nowhere Man, a short-lived series about a man who had somehow fallen into a deep, deep conspiracy centering around one of his photographs. Every episode promo promised to reveal what was going on... only to throw more mis-information at us, every single week. After awhile, I think everybody just got sick of it (I know I did), and gave up on the show. Result: They didn't finish the first season. And to this day, no one cares.

Lost has proven to be a lot more interesting than that, and I do believe the writers know a good way to close this arc. But in the meantime, we're all going crazy, and wondering just how much we can put up with before we throw a baseball bat through the TV and give it up.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Ben is so obviously unhinged and so obviously dishonest, it's hard to tell if he's lying, telling the truth, delusional, or simply mistaken -- on any given point, actually.

Sometimes he tells lies for no apparent reason, like when he told Kate he was born on the island, which we've since learned is not the truth. What was that about? What did he think he had to gain by it?

I still have no idea what the deal is with Jacob, but I'm willing to entertain (and, more to the point, be entertained by) any and all theories.

[Steve Jordan]

This evening, ABC presented an "enhanced" version of last season's cliffhanger ending. The "enhancement" was pop-up text from the writers (and a nice sense of humor they have, too).

One thing that was implied by the writers' pop-ups tonight was this: Whatever Jacob is, Ben clearly believes he is real... he's not just inventing an invisible boss for everyone else's benefit. The pop-ups clearly implied that Ben does "take orders from Jacob," and that he is the only one who can hear him... except, now, for Locke, which clearly upsets Ben.

In general, when the pop-ups alluded to something which is still in doubt, they would say something to the effect of: "... or was it?" "Or did they?" "They believe that..." etc. No such hedging about Ben's belief in Jacob.

The ep also reminded me that Desmond started seeing into the future after being in the station for a long period of time, and getting back to civilization. He spent a lot of time in the station. So did Ben, probably. And Locke spent a lot of time down there, too.

Maybe whatever gave Desmond his precognitive abilities also has something to do with Ben and Locke being able to see and hear Jacob.

Allegorically speaking, this would make Jacob a sort of "voice of God," with Ben and Locke his disciples, and the crash survivors are the heathen unbelievers to be converted... or culled. (By the way, this doesn't ruin my "Cold War allegory" theory, it just means Ben is actually following an unseen leader, as opposed to inventing one to justify his own actions. Makes Ben a bit less devious, but maybe a bit more crazy.)

Lost-igorically speaking, maybe Jacob was an original inhabitant of the island, and somehow Ben and Locke are tuning into Jacob in the past, trying to warn them. (Nostradamus?)

Or...

...or maybe, like Des, Ben and Locke have developed precog abilities, and are tuning into Jacob from... the future?

Flash-forward, anyone?

(I need to go to sleep...)

[TK-421]

I saw it and it was well done.

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by Tilion

Regarding the voice John heard inside the hut...You guys are aware that for a second or two we actually got to see a long-haired figure sitting at the table?

After the last 2 days' recaps, I did indeed see the figure in the chair (if I saw it last season, I didn't remember it). However, as we were seeing him from Locke's POV, I'm not sure the figure wouldn't count as simply an hallucination on Locke's part... much like his vision of Walt, coaxing him out of suicide in the Dharma grave.

(Thank God for those recaps... I'd forgotten so much over that stoopid-long hiatus...)

[CharleneHaines]

Yes!!! That was insane! I did not see it the first time... My brother popped the disc in and found that exact scene... To me... it felt like seeing a ghost in your house. It was an intense moment...

[socialcrawl]

Originally Posted by TK-421

Sorry to burst you bubble Ian8781, but if you watched the special recap of all the secrets revealed so far hosted by the show's Producers: Carson Cuse and Damon Lindehoff that aired last night on ABC, your theory was put aside.

Here's what they said: "There is a theory that the characters are in some sort of purgatory but we have both said that they aren't and they are very much alive and breathing and somewhere in the space-time continuum."

good call. I think Ian's thought was very far fetched even for it being Lost. And I definitely don't think this show is going to take the religious route with hell and heaven and god and whatnot.