LOST: Man in the Mirror

Jack is back. After being annoying the past few seasons with his constant angst and struggle between being a man of science and a man of faith, Jack has returned to my good graces. And as always, he is the best man crier in the world.

This week’s Universe X story was Jack-centric, which follows this season’s pattern of mirroring the season one flashbacks (“White Rabbit” where we first learned all about Jack’s daddy issues). X had some surprises (Jack has a son, David, Jack doesn’t remember having his appendix out, Jack is rockin a retro hair do), but it also showed that Jack is essentially the same man he has always been (committed doctor, has family issues, is a manly crier, was terrified of failing his father). This episode forced Jack to deal with the notion that he “doesn’t have what is takes”. In Oceanic 815 Universe, Jack reflected on himself from the opening shot, gazing into his own reflection (mirrors, self evaluation, yeahyeahyeah) in the pool at the temple. His issues came to a head in the lighthouse, where he questioned Hurley (poor guy) about what Jacob wanted from him, why his name was on the wheel, why was he on the island? causing him to loose his ish and smash the mirror reflecting his childhood home, which I’m guessing represented his most formative years with his father. In Universe X, Jack’s own insecurities and issues with potential were finally revealed to him in his own son’s eyes (deep), when David told his father that he keeps him at a distance because he doesn’t want Jack to see him fail. Fearing he is perpetuating the cycle that Dead Doc Shephard started (does he have what it takes to be a doc, a father, a leader?), Jack tells his son he can never be a failure in his eyes (reflectionnnnnn), which I think essentially freed him from the need to prove himself in general. So, David makes Jack realize…. something profound and cathartic that paralleled the release Jack got from smashing the mirrors. Ta da!

Ok that felt too much like high school lit analysis, so let’s get to more interesting things:

Claire: Is there an Urban Outfitters on this island? Claire was back in full force this week as the new resident crazy-lost-her-baby-mother, taking over that role from Rousseau. And I must say, Rousseau does crazy like Claire doesn’t even know crazy. Granted, she was alone on the island going on decades, whereas Crazy Claire has only been there three years, but something about Claire just ain’t right. Apparently she has been infected and there is that darkness in her according to Dogen, which puts her at odds with The Others (hence, killing them). She says they branded and tortured her, but luckily she escaped. Claire wasn’t the most island savvy when last we saw her, so my money is on they released her into the wild after conveniently forgetting to lock her door or something. Also, Claire seems super pissed and jaded about the other Losties leaving her behind, but really, she is like that drunk friend that wanders off at a party and at some point, you just aren’t responsible for her whereabouts if she doesn’t answer to calls and texts. So, even though Crazy Claire wandered off with her dad in the middle of the night, left Aaron nuzzled in a tree, and shacked up with papa in Jacob’s Cabin, somehow she still thinks The Others took her baby and the Losties abandoned her. I don’t get it. Something clearly happened.

Claire is bat-shiz loony here, talking about her “friend” and asking Jin if he is still her friend like she is trying to score crack cocaine from him (some friend she is for not being impressed with his English skills), not to mention the weird fur/skull faux baby she made and put in a bassinet. I love Jin. He kept his cool while Claire rambled about her jungle pals and infection, and tried to first save Justin’s life by telling the truth, then managed to save his own life (and Kate’s) by lying. Again, Kate didn’t take Aaron, Claire abandoned him. And honestly, Claire said she would have killed Kate if she was raising Aaron, but do I even have to ask who would probably win in that fight? So now Jin has thrown the Temple people under the bus to buy himself some time with Crazy Claire by telling her that The Others really did take Aaron. Not sure how this one will pan out… Jin seems too kind to really be a master of manipulation, and I’ll be heartbroken if he becomes collateral again like on the freighter. Where the eff is Sun?

Also, how big is this island that huge structures just keep popping up and people are roaming around without ever running into each other? Oy.

I think the biggest takeaway from this episode is that Jack had to break himself to fix himself, and that he is the newest recruit to team Jacob. So far I think the teams are as follows:

Jacob: Hurley, Jack, Richard

Flocke: Claire, unfortunately Sayid, possibly Sawyer.

Even though I know the whole black vs. white, dark vs. light, evil vs. good dynamic is a huge theme of this show, for some reason it just isn’t settling well at this point. Isn’t the whole world about shades of grey? I have a sneaky feeling that when all is said and done, either Jacob and Flocke will really be the opposite of what we think, or they are actually one and the same. It’s all a little too blurry for me right now, but I’m just glad to have Jack back the way I like him: old school. And preferably in manly tears.

Season 6 Episode 5: Lighthouse (Originally Aired February 23, 2010)

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Wednesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Mario Perez