"Across The Sea" Disc Ep 6x15

[broncojeff]

Sooooo... Why can Jacob leave the island? other candidates have been able to come and go & it hasn't affected whether they are a candidate. So that kinda tells me that MIB was never really a candidate to be the protector of the island... it really always was going to be Jacob.

I'm going to watch it again tonight... it didn't sit well with me last night but I'm coming around more & more as the day has gone on. I'm curious what I'll think about it after a second viewing.

[spinaltumor]

I don't think they ever said Candidates couldn't come and go.... MIB could have gone before, it's just that their mother thought it would corrupt them. Plus then she'd have to find new candidates if they both left....

After MIB became Smokey/released Smokey/whatever...he may not be able to leave for another reason.

If he couldn't leave as a normal person, than the mother wouldn't have gone through the trouble of knocking him out and filling in the well.

[lifi12085]

Maybe its just me, but did anyone else notice the obvious use of black and white to represent good and evil. It was in the pieces of the game, even the clothes they wore their ENTIRE lives were either white or black. I don't know, maybe its not too important to look into, but I almost feel like just with the color symbols, we are being led to believe that jacob is good and mil is bad, BUT it seems too easy for lost, maybe we are being set up to see MIL is good intentioned after all.

[spinaltumor]

Darlton talk about this episode and the season as a whole, and the finale:
www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/exclusive-interview-lost-producers-damon-lindelof-and-carlton-cuse-talk-across-the-sea

Little possible spoilers in there in terms of Darlton alluding to some things that may or may not be explained, but nothing big.

The interview makes me kind of cringe, though....

[monsterjester]

So what were they speaking at the beginning of the episode? I figured it was Latin, but it almost sounded like the two women spoke different languages, before they Englished it up for us. I'm with Jay that Allison Janney's distinctly American accent was distracting. I believe the magic cave is just the most exposed, and perhaps most powerful, of the electromagnetic anomalies on the island at that time. Her shpiel about it just came from whoever indoctrinated her to her faith in the island, and taught her about spells and magic wine immortality. MIB told Jacob that there were "very smart men" and that they had figured out how to build the donkey wheel. Where did the stone wall come from down in the well, the one where you can pull out a stone and see the light? Did they build it after the well, or was it there before? What about filling the well in and burning down the village, killing those people? I'm with Jack that she must have powers of some sort, or had help. I'm not a hater, but I do find it kind of ridiculous that MIB has no name--I understand crazy momma not wanting to name him in hopes he would remain as protector of the island, but 30 years with the bad men must have resulted in SOME sort of moniker. Or maybe he intentionally said he didn't want one, or they just didn't show us since that name would have nothing to do with the story.

[blop]

For all those wondering about Jack's "40-50 years" comment, I found this quote on an article about body decay:

""Iceman" is an extreme example of low temperatures halting decomposition. "Iceman" is the body of a Stone Age hunter discovered by a tourist in september 1991 on the Similaun glacier on the Italian-Austrian border. This 30-year-old mountaineer met his demise by falling into a crevasse 5300 years ago, or more then 3 millenia before Christ was born ! Not only was his body preserved, including the elaborated tatto on his back and knees, but so were his leather clothes, an arrow quiver, 14 arrows and a copper axe."

Sure, the island isn't a freezing cold place, but the point is that there are ways for clothes to last. Maybe they were excellently made! After all, they were carefully hand-made unlike today's mass-produced clothes. Also, they were in a cave where they are more protected.
Jack obviously is no clothes expert. He's a doctor. Sure, you can say it's a bit of a stretch that the clothes were still there, and it is, but it's possible and I don't see it as a "plot hole".


As for that interview, it doesn't make me cringe at all. I enjoy the answers, and I enjoy the questions they raise and continue to raise even going into the final episodes. For me it's about the characters and about the themes and motifs, and overall mythology - a constant source of discussion whether or not we get answers for everything.

[spinaltumor]

Damon's just a little sassy at times.

And the article says Jacob and his mother wove the clothing so it was more "well-made" than your average clothes. Maybe Jacob randomly changed their clothes 50 years ago, haha.

[monsterjester]

I figured any continuity errors with the age of the clothes and the position of the bodies might be attributed to Jacob maintaining them and weaving them new threads over the centuries--I mean, he had to get bored, right?

[markedman]

Two things came to mind when we found out Adam and Eve were really 2000 years old and not 50:
1) D&C are definitely making it up as they go along
2) It could be explained because the Island stops the aging and decay of people. (and clothes?).

[spinaltumor]

Plus the mother and MIB were sort of immortal...before...dying. So maybe that immortality rubbed off on their clothes...

[blop]

Maybe the mom dribbled on her shirt while drinking her wine of immortality.

[spinaltumor]

Haha!

[ForTheIsland]

I really just can't believe something so small is the main point of discussion...hha

[spinaltumor]

The wonder of Lost. We debate over fabric.

[broncojeff]

Maybe Jack couldn't tell how old Adam & Eve are and just made something up... he's human & certainly doesn't know everything about everything in the world.

I don't know maybe its just me but the 40-50 year old bodies that are really 2000 years old is kinda a small thing for me when you are talking about a group of people that have survived a plane crash & an atomic bomb explosion... oh yeah & have traveled through time.

I love that this show has created such a suspension of disbelief that we can have lengthy discussions talking about all this crazy stuff.