Jack's Ongoing Evolution Through the Looking Glass by Adrian McDonald

Where are they going with Jack?

"Everyone Loves Hugo" highlighted the kind of dualism I discussed in my last Dark UFO theory post (available at: http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2010/04/everything-that-rises-must-converge-red.html), specifically on whether one should try to figure LOST out, predict it, or to let it happen. On the one hand, Ben would have us speculate--"what will happen" Ben asks, when the Island is "done" with he and his companions; will their fate be the same as Illana's, RIP?

In stark contrast to this was Smokie and his stick. He did not know what he was carving, he told Sawyer. When the time was right, it would tell him. The desire to look into Pandora's box vs. allowing life to unfold...whatever happens, happens.

And we see these two philosophies at work with Jack as well. Is getting dynamite from the Black Rock a good idea? Maybe. Maybe not. Jack does not know. I think he would have gone with Alpert after Hurley destroyed the Black Rock had Hurley not asked Jack for his trust to follow him instead. I had the feeling Jack was only uncomfortable with Alpert because the latter was too certain in purpose. Such certainty may have gotten Jack in trouble in the past, the bomb comes to mind.

Such certainty was also a mistake made by Locke, who was never more certain of anything in his life that pushing the button was a waste of time. We know how that turned out. Jack knows the only certainty is uncertainty. It's been a hard lesson to learn. That said, Jack is not going to allow uncertainty to paralyze him either. You might say Jack is valuing the choice--free will.

Don't worry about how to break the ice with Smokie, Jack reassures Hurley; Smokie will likely do most of the talking. "Or he could just kill them all" Hurley says..."yup"..."he could" Jack responds. It could go either way, which Jack is at peace with.

You Can Abandon Jack, But He Will Not Abandon You--Compassion on Display:

Seeing as so many characters lost faith in Jack, in addition to the viewers, it would be more than understandable if he started doing the same thing. Abandon me, I abandon you. This is not the case, however, and I think it's a wonderful showing of compassion. Jack knew Hurley had not been instructed by Jacob on what do after the explosion. Why then, Hurley asks, did Jack go with him? Jack responds:

"Ever since Juliet died...ever since I got her killed...all I wanted was to fix it. But I can't. I can't ever fix it. You have no idea how hard it is to sit back and listen to other people tell me what I should do. But...maybe that's the point. Maybe I'm supposed to let go."

Hurley then challenges Jack. But I just want to make some quick points about Jack's words. He took responsibility for Juliet's death, which I liked. Jack manned up, looked in the mirror. And while I would otherwise be bothered with the notion of not being able to "ever fix it" (because nothing is irreversible Jack said earlier this season), he was talking about death. Even Jacob can't bring people back to life. Dead is dead (so far as we know).

Does Jack need to let go, Hurley questions? What if Jack letting go gets them all killed? What if indeed. Maybe Jack is supposed to let go, may he's not. I think we all know he does, for the most part, need to let go, but Jack is not, it seems, there yet. And the peace is found in the uncertainty.

In response to Hurley's rhetorical question Jack, after a few pensive moments, tells him: "Hurley, you asked me to trust you. This is me trusting you." Abandoned so many times by so many, Jack will not let this jade him. His friend is asking for his trust and he gives it. Even if a person violates your trust, I propose, true compassion is having the ability to keep on giving it. This faith, this hope in others was epitomized by Jacob in the S5 finale. Let down by so many people over, perhaps, thousands of years, he still had faith, trust, in humanity. Hope prevails over fear. The wonderful irony is that the only thing Hope "abandons" is fear. I could geek out on how this is precisely the conflict playing out in American politics, but I think it's self explanatory.

And then Hurley tells Jack that it's a good thing Jack does trust him, because he had no idea where he was going. And keeping with the notion that in the darkest moment comes the light, Hurley is then shown the way to go from Micheal. And the whispers are dead people...huge reveal, little shock (at least to me).

Confrontation of Good & Evil?

I had chills at the first "confrontation" between Jack and Smokie. We had never seen this happen. Waiting for it after the cliffhanger in "Everyone Loves Hugo" to happen in this week's "The Last Recruit" seemed like an eternity to me.

Even if we take Smokie's word that Jack had some contact with Smokie in the past in the form of his father, it was indirect at best. It was not, by any means, a confrontation. And was Jack's vision of his father really the smoke monster? If nothing else, Smokie has shown a propensity to lie. So is he? Jack said nothing of water, yet Smokie knew that's what happened when Jack followed his "father." But is this proof enough? Smokie could have known this from Locke's memories. Perhaps he was watching Jack from afar when Jack was led to water, not by him...but by the ghost of his real father, Christian.

When Smokie has taken form in the past, he always seemed visible to all present. Both Kate and Sawyer saw her horse. If Smokie was Christian when he took Claire in the night, then it was not just Claire who could see him....Miles did as well. If it was Smokie as Christian in New Otherton last season, both Sun and Frank could see him. But no one seemed to notice Jack's visions of his father. No one saw his father in the surf of the beach. Was that really Smokie? I thought Smokie hated the water. Why would he stand in it? Moreover, why would he lead Jack to it? If Smokie wants everyone dead, he would not have delivered Jack to water. Things were about to tear themselves apart on the beach that day as the Losties flipped over not having water. Why not let them tear each other apart? How better to prove Jacob wrong, again. But no...Jack saves the day, Evian in hand. "If we can't live together, then we're gonna die alone." Jack should know, his father's empty casket fresh in mind! . If Smokie cannot leave the island, who did Jack see in LA while working late?

I am inclined to think Smokie was lying, but I really don't know. He either was, or he was not. Not to know, is to know after all.

Smokie, You Got it All Wrong--John Locke was a Believer, You are the Sucker:

If Smokie had a chance of getting Jack to follow him, he really dropped the ball when he cut Jack (who was waxing poetic about Locke) off and said "John Locke was not a believer, he was a sucker." But as he had done with Hugo, we know Jack is not ready to abandon Locke. When Alpert asked Jack last season what was so special about Locke (because he didn't see anything special), Jack advised him not to give up on Locke.

If Locke was a sucker, what does that make Jack, who put the shoes of his deceased father on Locke's lifeless feet before Ajira flight 316? Bigger sucker just does not seem adequate. And that's because Jack, like Locke before him, is now a believer...not a sucker. Jack does not abandon. Smokie made a giant miscalculation. But when Kate asks Jack if he believes Smokie, Jack, in what should surprise no one at this point, responds "I'm not sure."

I would say that I was bothered Jack was too willing to "abandon" his sister, Claire, not to mention his friend Sayid--who told Jack shortly after becoming zombified that he only knew what he trusted--and he trusted Jack. After all, Jack leveled with Sayid, did not give him the poison and even told Sayid what they wanted Jack to do to him. Why does Claire "trust" Smokie? Because, Claire explains to Jack, he was the only one that didn't abandon her. Not that I think she was abandoned...but that's how she sees it. Truth is always a matter of perspective.

And had Jack abandoned Claire and Sayid by remaining on Desmond's old boat, had he made it to Hydra Island, I would have been ****. But he didn't. He may have been late to the dance, but Jack took another leap of faith and got out of the boat. The metaphors are overwhelming.

No Jack, It Doesn't Feel Right; Thank You For Jumping, Again:

Jack is not Smokie. Feeling the island doesn't feel right. We know this. Jack knows this. It's part of why he came back. It feels like the last time he left the Island because, as before, it's a mistake. Evil escaping and all that. Sister..yada yada. And Sawyer says "they got pills for that." No **** Sawyer. Tell Jack something he doesn't know.

In "Happily Ever After" Charlie suggested that certain choices were not, in fact, choices at all. After all, as he proves with Desmond, the choice between leaping from the moving car or staying safely within may have the guise of a choice, but it's really not. What sane person would jump? Wait for it....Jack! Jack jumped again, another leap of faith. Doing the right thing may seem insane...they can escape, it seems, and he would only be abandoning a crazy sister and zombie former friend. But that's not the case and Jack knows, knows mind you, that the only sane thing to do is Jump. There is always a choice.

Back in LA X, Jack looks into the mirror again. In the operating room, he looks into the mirror. Is he looking at himself? Or is he looking at Locke? Is there a difference? Are they not also the same? One? If you read my stuff, I think you know where I stand on this.

Is Jack the next Jacob? He values choice. Check. He has proven to be, on occasion a miraculous healer. Check. He refuses to give up on people, no matter how hopeless it seems. Check. They do have much in common. I don't know if Jack gets the job, or if the job will even be necessary in the near future. I do think it's curious that the last episode of LOST, is happening on a Sunday...the 23rd of May. 23? Jack? Not to know, is to know. If you like this post, I invite you to visit my lost blog at: http://lost-looking-glass.blogspot.com/

Thank you for reading.