Lost
“Man of Science, Man of Faith”
Originally aired September 21, 2005
Now, having just ended season 4, and beginning to recap season 2, and having to try to remember where we left off with season 1, I’m beginning to feel a bit like Desmond, completely unsure where, exactly, I am in my timeline. But, best I can figure (whilst holding a tissue to my bloody nose), we left the Losties in season 1 with Sayid and Charlie having rescued Aaron from Danielle and her fake Others’ smoke signal; Michael, Sawyer, Jin, and Walt sailed off on the raft seeking rescue, only to run into the Others who abducted Walt and blew up the raft, leaving Michael, Sawyer and Jin’s fates unknown. And Locke, Jack, Kate, and Hurley blew open the hatch with a bunch of dynamite, to Hurley’s dismay having spotted the numbers etched into the top of the hatch door. Which just can’t be good.
Of course, before he started sticking his head into mysterious holes, Jack was just a surgeon in California with preposterous hair.
Jack’s working the ER shift, when two people come in following a head-on car collision: a man, Adam Rutherford, 57 years old, and a woman in her 20s who has already coded twice and is something of a human kabob what with the steering column of her car jutting out of her chest and all. Jack asks a nurse or an orderly or maybe he’s a cafeteria worker who has wandered into the operating room, to intubate Mr. Rutherford, but the dude is all “I CAN’T!” And really, dude? Well, then, why don’t you go back to dishing up some mashed potatoes and get out of the grownups’ way.
Anywho. Jack and his hair have to make a split-second decision about who to treat, and he chooses the pretty blond (go figure). He removes a chunk of metal from her chest, saves her life, and Mr. Rutherford (thanks to Skippy the Useless Nurse) dies on the next table over. At 8:15, natch. As Jack is about to send Blondie up to the ICU, she starts whispering that she wants to dance at her wedding. Hey! Look! It’s Jack’s to-be-wife Sarah! Hi, Sarah! So this is how you and Jack meet. Cute! Or bloody! Whathaveyou!
Lost note #1: Car crashes. We have many many many car crashes on the show, as I’m sure you’re sick of me pointing out. A refresher:
Michael is hit by a car:
Locke’s mother is hit by a car, sending her into early labor,
Kate is in multiple car accidents:
Jack causes a car accident when he tries to kill himself:
Juliet’s ex-husband Edmund is hit by a bus:
the woman who ends Christian’s career was in a car accident:
Martha Toomey was in a car accident when she lost her leg:
Claire is driving the car when she has an accident and her mother goes into a coma:
Anthony Cooper is brought to the island after being in a car accident:
Michael tries to kill himself unsuccessfully in a car accident:
Hurley is in a car crash as he’s being chased by the cops:
And Locke is hit by a car, and unharmed when he is reunited with his mother:
Lost note #2: Here’s something that jumped out at me upon rewatching this episode: I’d never noticed until now that the paramedics tell the ER nurses that Sarah coded twice. Innnteresting. So, we can add Sarah to the list of those who have had near-death experiences, including Charlotte Malkin, and Locke.
There’s also Carol, Claire’s mother, who was in a coma, hovering somewhere between life and death. And then there’s Claire herself … whose condition we’re still unsure of.
Jack and his hair review Sarah’s chart, when Sarah awakens and wants to know what happened to the other driver in the accident. Jack announces rather unceremoniously that he died in the ER. Sorry, killer.
Sarah then notes that she can’t feel anything and Dr. Tactful is just on a roll and explains that she’s broken her back and it’s unlikely she’ll walk again. But he’s going to operate and see what he can do … I guess Jack here is like Sampson, except that instead of his hair providing him with preternatural strength, it provides him with preternatural insensitivity.
Now, Christian sees all of this, and calls Jack and his hair out in the hallway to suggest that maybe Jack wants to give his patients a little hope every once in a while.
And Jack’s like:
That’s called false hope, Dad. Gah.
Yeah, but it’s still hope! chirps an uncharacteristically optimistic Christian. What the hey-hey is going on here?
Meet Kevin. Kevin is Sarah’s fiance, and all-around jerk. Kevin is stunned at Sarah’s accident, and when Dr. Jack and his hair suggest that Sarah might be recovered 8 months from now, in time for their wedding, Kevin’s all, yeah but will she be able to do it?
And Dr. Jack and his hair explain to Kevin that Sarah might need professional help (HA! I just typed “hair” instead of “help”) for the rest of her life, and Kevin’s all woaaaahh.
So Dr. Jack and his Surgery Hair head into the operating room where they are going to perform a Kevinectomy. Sarah calls him over to tell him a secret: that she knows that she’s not going to dance anymore, but she’ll still wheel around at her wedding, so it’s cool. Jack then goes and does something a little rash, and promises Sarah that he’s going to fix her. Way to go, Dr. Unrealistic Expectations! Let the Surgery of Disappointment begin!
Time for a jog! Jack, being Jack runs up and down some stairs in a stadium, and look! There’s someone here doing the same thing! MUST. RACE. STRANGER. And that’s all well and good until Jack twists his ankle.
The stranger heads over and in what would become a familiar Scottish brogue, he asks Jack if EVERYTING IZ AIIGHT, BRUTHA? The Scot makes Jack take a seat and looks at his ankle, notes that Jack hasn’t sprained it, but he doesn’t think Jack will be catching up with him anytime tonight, brutha. Jack denies that he was trying to catch up. AYE, OF COURSE ‘EE WUZZNT. Jack’s all: what do you know about ankles? And the mysterious Scot explains that he was almost a doctor once (really? because that doesn’t really jibe with what we learn about him later, BUT I DIGRESS), and Jack reveals that, why! he’s a doctor! The Scot wants to know what Jack’s excuse is FER RUNNIN LIKE THE DEEEVIL IS CHASIN ‘IM. His excuse is that he’s training for a RACE ARUND THA WERLD. Jack explains that he’s just working some stuff out, Nosy. And the Scot is all AYE, A GERRRL. And Jack explains that it’s a patient, but the Scot’s not letting up: A GERRRL PATIENT, RIIIIGHT, BRUTHA? Jack reveals that yes, and her name is Sarah. The Scot’s curious as to what Jack did to her that he felt the need to punish himself, and Jack responds that he promised her that he’d fix her, and he couldn’t. And the Mysterious Scot is like, AYE, BUT WOT IF YAH COOD? And Jack’s all: Because that would be a miracle, “brother”-used-in-a-sarcastic-way. AYE. Says the Mysterious Scot. AND YAH DON BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? Well, the Mysterious Scot is GUNNA GIVE IM SOME ADVICE ANYWAY. YER GOTTA LIFT IT UP. And Jack’s all whaa? And the Mysterious Scot is like YER ANKLE. And then he gets up to leave, but not before they exchange names: Jack meet Desmond. He will factor in your life in unimaginable ways very very soon. WELL GOOD LUCK, BRUTHA. SEE YA IN ANUTHA LIFE, YEAH?
Yeah, indeed.
Lost note #1: “Running like the devil is chasing you,” is repeated later on this season, said in a scene involving two completely different characters: Locke and Ana-Lucia, in “The Whole Truth.” Now that we know that at least Widmore (if not also Benry) is after Jack and Desmond, this comment takes on a whole new significance, no?
Lost note #2: “See you in another life,” is one of Desmond’ favorite pet phrases, along with the ubiquitous “brutha.” He says it again to Jack in “Orientation,” and to Locke in “Live Together, Die Alone.” And Jack says it back to him in “There’s No Place Like Home.” Dave says it to Hurley in “Dave,” and Nadia says a variation of it to Sayid in “Solitary.”
So Dr. McClumsy and his hair are all stalkery (won’t be the last time!) and watching Sarah sleep. She wakes up, asks if she’s alive, and notes that he STANKS. Jack explains that he ran a tour de stade wherein you run up and down all the steps in a stadium due to your MEGA-INTENSITY.
Sarah wants to know how the surgery went. And Jack is all: er … you know … your spinal column, it was … err … I couldn’t repair it (CRY). You’re going to be paralyzed for the rest of your life. (CRY HARDER AS THOUGH IT WERE HAPPENING TO YOU.) I’m SO SORRY. And Sarah’s like, you’re yanking my chain, right? And Jack through his man tears tells her that he is not. So Sarah wants to know if this is true, why is it that she can wiggle her toes? And sure enough, they’re wigglin’! So, Jack, stunned, starts poking her legs and then they both start crying and laughing and guess what, kids? I think we were just witness to the birth of Dr. McWeepy.
But before we get to the more reasonably shorn Dr. Jack, we should check in on the rest of the survivors who are waiting back at the caves for their leaders to return.
A refresher: towards the end of season 1, Loca Danielle materialized in the survivor’s camp and got everyone all hysterical by pointing out a column of black smoke and muttering crazily something about the Others coming. She led Kate, Jack, Hurley, Locke and the doomed Arzt to the Black Rock, as part of their plan to hide from the Others in the hatch. And then she headed back to the beach and kidnapped the baby. Which was TOTALLY UNCOOL. So Charlie and Sayid went chasing after her and discovered that she set the fire, and was trying to exchange the baby for her daughter. So, you know, the whole danger from the Others thing was totally a false alarm (at least for our terrestrial survivors … the Losties out on the water? different story).
And Charlie is really grouchy about it. He’s busy telling everyone to quit worrying about the Others — no one is coming, it was all a “ghost story.” So, chill.
Sayid is skeptical.
Shannon, for one, is not interested in chilling, because she’s managed to lose Vincent in all the hubbub. Well done, dummy. She storms off into the jungle to go find him. Sayid follows, and suggests that, you know, it may not be such a great idea her running around in the jungle at night on no sleep looking for a dog. She’s exhausted and the dog will come back on his own.
But Shannon feels responsible for Vincent (as she should) and that’s when Vincent begins barking. Sayid and Shannon split up to try to catch him and that’s when, alone, Shannon hears … something … whispers … and then OH MY GAWD …
IT’S WALT AND HE’S ALL WET (whazat? whyzo?) AND HE’S SHUSHING HER …
AND SAYING, UM, SOMETHING THAT I CAN’T UNDERSTAND* BUT IS TOTALLY CREEPY!!!! But then, when Sayid arrives? Walt’s gone. And Shannon is all: duuuuude.
*Walt says, according to those who have spent a whole bunch of time listening VERY CAREFULLY to the reversed dialogue, “Don’t push the button. Button bad.” What is he talking about? The button in the hatch? The button on Naomi’s satellite phone? Something we haven’t seen yet?
And then Shannon promptly heads back to the caves and starts yelling at everyone that she saw Walt and gets everyone all worked up and peeing their pants and stuff.
Which isn’t hard to do, what with Jack missing and all. Jack is off with Kate and Locke and Hurley staring down into the blown open hatch, which they figure is roughly 40 or 50 feet deep, and the ladder appears to be broken. OK! Guess we should saddle up and head home! suggests Jack. No way to get 40 people down there, so pointless. Let’s go. And Locke’s like, yeah, that’s cool, yo. But, one question: why don’t you want to go down there? In response, Jack sets his jaw and glares at Locke. And not for the last time.
So they start packing up their stuff, and Hurley begins pestering Locke about why he went ahead and blowed up the hatch despite all Hurley’s yelling and screaming and carrying on about how the numbers were bad, and Locke’s like yeah, well, you know. It’s why we came here, to get inside! And SquareJaw GrumpyPants interjects something about how they came here to save everyone’s lives, or was it “destiny?” And Locke’s like: that, too! And that’s when Kate points out that the inside of the hatch door reads:
Hey! Fun! And nothing to worry about, I’m sure.
Lost note: Fun fact! Quarantine comes from the Italian, meaning 40 days, which was the amount of time previously believed necessary to keep people separated so as to not spread disease. The Losties have been on the island for roughly 44 days by this point.
As they head back to the caves, Locke and Kate chat about how Jack thinks that Locke’s crazy and blah blah blah, but Kate saw Smokey try to pull him down into the earth, so he guesses that this makes Kate crazy, too. What this has to do with why Locke wants to go down into the hatch so badly? A little obtuse, but Kate seems to be buying what Locke’s selling, so you know, whatever.
Jack, in the meantime, is walking back with Hurley, and questioning the whole “THE NUMBERS ARE BAD!” hoo-ha. Hurley reluctantly tells the whole story: that while in a mental hospital he overheard the numbers which he later played in the lottery and why am I telling you guys, you know this story by heart. And after all is said and done, all Jack can say is, “You were in a psych ward?” Which isn’t exactly what Hurley was looking for. He was hoping for a little more, “You’re not crazy,” or, “You’re right, the numbers are bad.” And then Hurley points out that Jack’s bedside manner isn’t exactly awesome. Word, Hurley.
‘K. So they get back to the caves just as Shannon is becoming really difficult on the whole Walt issue, and causing Sayid to just diiiiie with embarrassment. Jack explains that they found this hatch and opened it up, but they can’t all possibly get inside of it, but it’s cool, because no one is coming, and even if they did, they have guns and IT’S GOING TO BE COOL and oh and by the way, Dr. Arzt is dead so? Any questions? Er … yeah. What’s Locke doing with all that cable behind you?
Yeah, despite all Jack’s nonsense about “there’s a mysterious hatch, but you don’t need to worry your pretty little heads about it” rah-rah speech, Locke has his own plans which involve lowering himself down inside. Smell ya later, Jackie! And guess what? Kate’s going to go with him. Because she’s worried about Locke hurting himself or something. Live together, die alone. And all that.
And once Kate catches up with Locke over at the hatch, he explains that he was waiting for her to arrive, because, you know, faith and all that. Locke’s plan is that he’s going to lower her down which, Kate and I are sure sounded like a great plan to Locke, but to Kate, not so much. But she does it anyway because Kate = sucker.
Locke lowers her down as she uses Jack’s little trick of counting to 5 to beat back the fear. But a lotta good that does her, as a huge bright light turns on from the bowels of the hatch, and Kate, like so many hapless drivers on backcountry roads, is abducted into a large foreign metal thing.
Let’s hope they don’t employ the probe.
Back at the caves, predictably, Jack packs his gear so as to save Kate, because damsel in distress and Dudley Do-Right and all that.
Hurley catches him and tries to remind Jack of his big speech and the waiting until morning and etc., etc., but yeah. Jack’s changed his mind. Again.
So, Jack’s at the hatch, alone, with no sign of either Kate or Locke, and he somehow manages to lower himself down safely (interestingly after protecting his hands:
Unlike Locke who ends up with literally bloodied hands:)
… and the first thing that he notices are a bunch of mirrors and lights all over the bottom of the hatch. Once inside the subterranean tunnels, he spots pipes and electrical equipment and an empty pair of boots …
and he makes sure to cock the gun he brought along with him. He also spies a very creepy mural,
… and the fact that the key that he wears around his neck appears to be magnetically attracted to something on the other side of the concrete wall. And that’s when the Mama Cass begins to blare and Jack makes his way into a geodesic dome filled with 1970s era computer equipment, complete with a terminal and screen with a blinking >: symbol. Jack is just about to hit the “EXECUTE” button when who other than Locke appears and suggests that he might not want to do that.
Oh! And look someone is holding a gun to his head! Why, who could it be? I dunno, but the voice is yelling at Jack to drop his gun, and Jack is all “HEY, LOCKE? IS THIS THE DESTINY YOU’VE BEEN YAMMERING ABOUT?”
But before we answer that, let’s go back to the very beginning of the episode, wherein a beeping noise awakens Some Dude, and we have another eye-opening, just like the beginning of season one with Jack.
Some Dude gets up, goes to a computer terminal where he types something and hits execute, and the beeping stops. Some Dude then strolls across his totally sweet 70s-era pad, complete with lava lamp, plays a little Mama Cass on the record player, “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” because it’s awesome exercise music.
Some Dude takes a shower, makes a smoothie, does a little laundry, and injects himself with something labeled CR-4-81516-23 42 (of course) and that’s when something goes boom.
Some Dude suits up, heads into an armory to grab a gun or three, and powers down. Some dude uses a periscopey thingamabob to check out the situation, and as Some Dude scans the situation, we see that the thing-that-went-boom was, of course, Locke exploding the hatch open.
Lost note: “Make Your Own Kind of Music” is in the final scene of the final episode of season three, playing as the two Portuguese guys play chess. It’s also in “Flashes Before Your Eyes,” the first brilliant Desmond time-traveling episode.
So, yeah, back to Jack’s question, regarding whether or not this is the destiny that Locke spoke so much about? Why, yes it is, Jack. Because, you see, the dude holding a gun to Locke’s head, a.k.a. Some Dude? That’d be Desmond, your Scottish jogging buddy, who suggested that miracles might exist. So, let’s not be so snarky with Locke regarding destiny, mmkay?
Something I wrote back when I began to recap season one that I think bears repeating here:
I’m going to have to establish some ground rules, though. The thing is, these entries will be a little different from the season 3 entries, and for a very specific reason: I’ve seen all these episodes before. Multiple times. I’ve read the transcripts, I’ve poured over screen captures, I’ve thought about them WAY TOO MUCH. So, as such, I’m not going to pretend that this is the first time I’ve seen an episode, and I am going to end up spoiling events that happen in future episodes. Sorry! But I don’t know that I’m capable of pretending that I don’t know how some of these things end up, so if you haven’t seen the episodes, get thee to a DVD collection post haste, and then come back and read along.
Or watch them on abc.com the IMDb app for free. They’ve got every episode for your viewing pleasure, as long as you have a decent internet connection …
How about that beginning, huh? For starters we have another eye opening, which, I’m sure you know, I dig. The eye openings, as has been said before, represent consciousness, awareness, enlightenment, waking up. And Desmond is no exception.
His life, just like Jack’s in “Pilot, Part I,” is about to be forever changed when he wakes up that morning (or afternoon, or in the middle of the night … since he can only sleep in about 100-minute increments, it’s kinda impossible to know exactly what time it is when he wakes up, but I think it must be close to evening time since the Losties then blow a hole into the hatch later on.)
And that parenthetical actually brings me to my next point: it’s so interesting to watch this episode, particularly that opening sequence, knowing what we know now about the time wonkiness on the show. Here’s poor Desmond, sleep-deprived because his job requires him to exist outside of a natural circadian rhythm. Desmond is not within normal time, and time, literally, is messing with his consciousness, long before the hatch blows.
Not only that, but Desmond is living in what appears to be a little time capsule from the 1970s. This opening sequence, much like the opening sequence in “A Tale of Two Cities,” is disorienting. We don’t think this could be on the island, because we don’t expect there to be showers and bunk beds on the island, much less exercise bikes, computers and washer/dryers.
(And yes, let’s not waste any time on this issue: the washer dryer combo is anachronistic for 2004. If I’m not mistaken that model hadn’t come out by then, much less when DHARMA would have installed them at least three years earlier, if not decades earlier. But, that’s all it is. A prop error. Unless … in some time loop, DHARMA managed to get a washer dryer from the future and install it in the Swan hatch in the past … OMG, I’VE UNCOVERED THE SECRET TO LOST!!!)
This is the first time that we’ve really had that jolt of disorientation regarding where we are and when we are. As I said, in “A Tale of Two Cities” throws us for a loop because we don’t expect the Others to bake muffins and have book clubs, and “Through the Looking Glass,” trips us up because we don’t expect to see the future, especially the future off of the island. This episode plays with both time and space. Based on the trippy lava lamp (duuuuude) and the Mama Cass and the exercise bike, we could be in the 1970s. And as I said earlier, we don’t expect modern conveniences on the island.
So, you know, that’s kinda cool.
And as I said, for Desmond, this moment when the Losties enter the hatch is a new life for him. He can emerge from the hatch: he’s a hatchling! And he doesn’t realize it just yet, but he’s about to be given an opportunity at a new life …
You know how much I go on and on in this blog about birth imagery in this show … it’s everywhere. And this episode is no exception. Locke ties a cable around Kate’s waist and lowers her down through shaft. Which, of course, is very much a birth image, down to the umbilical cord. And to a degree, the opening of the hatch, and the Losties entering into it, is the beginning of a new life for them, the beginning of a new experience.
But I think even more than a birth image, the descent into the hatch is something of a death image. Or at least a descent into the Underworld. In a number of mythologies and religions, the realm of the dead is literally the area under the world, it exists right under our feet. For the most part, access to the underworld was strictly limited to the dead. However, that doesn’t mean that some living heroes and characters don’t manage to make their way to this other world: Orpheus, Odysseus, Persephone and her in-between state, Gilgamesh, and Dante are all examples of folks who have traversed between the world of the dead and the world of the living in myth and literature. Traveling to the underworld is never easy, the heroes have to get past a protector or guardian, and then they are forced to leave — they are not allowed to remain in this underworld.
(And it’s not just the fact that Jack, Kate, and Locke are traveling below ground that conjures the underworld and the dead. The episode has a few other references to death: the flashback begins with Adam Rutherford’s death, and Sarah having coded twice; Charlie’s reference to the Others as a “ghost” story; Walt’s ghost-like appearance and backward talk [which has always creeped me out, and I still don’t understand what was supposed to be going on there entirely]; and this is admittedly a stretch, but the empty shoes that Jack spies in the hatch.
Empty shoes are sometimes a symbol of a dead person (who can fill his shoes?, etc.), and it’s an interesting call back to the opening moments in “Pilot, Part I” when Jack makes his way through the jungle and passes a pair of white tennis shoes that bear a striking resemblance to the shoes Christian’s ghost is wandering around in.
From a practical position, Locke prolly took them off as he entered the hatch so as to attempt to sneak up on whoever it was who took Kate. But. In Judaism, believers are forbidden to wear shoes with leather soles on certain holy days, and when there has been a death in the family. Additionally, God told Moses to remove his shoes before approaching the burning bush, and there are a few other passages in the Old Testament where people are instructed to remove their shoes. The removal of shoes is a sign of respect of the sacredness of a location: Freemasons are asked to remove their shoes before entering a lodge, Pythagoreans believed that one should perform sacrifices barefooted, the Eastern religions require that shoes be removed before entering a temple and [At least according to admittedly less than reliable sources] the practice of taking off ones’ shoes is widespread everywhere from ancient Peru to Ethiopia.
The idea is that shoes are not only dirty and can contaminate a holy place, they are also meant to protect one’s feet, and that holy places are not a danger to the individual. It’s akin to removing one’s hat in a place of worship; a sign of respect. So. Could Locke’s empty shoes on a practical level be about helping him sneak through the hatch, and on a symbolic level be about his reverence for the hatch itself, which he described as being a part of his destiny? AND AS IF THIS PARENTHETICAL HASN’T GONE ON QUITE LONG ENOUGH: in light of “There’s No Place Like Home,” if empty shoes are a symbol of death, and Jack comes upon Locke’s empty shoes in the hatch, and John is something of a John the Baptist figure, will JACK FILL LOCKE’S SHOES AS THE LEADER OF THE ISLAND, i.e., JACOB? Just sayin’.)
And because I always bring it back around to the monomyth: this descent into the hatch, the descent into the literal “under”world of the island, is the crossing of the first threshold. This is the moment when the hero has accepted the “call to adventure,” and he crosses over from the world that he knows into the unknown. And very often this unknown world is protected by a threshold guardian.
Sound familiar? Jack, previously having refused the call, changes his mind, leaves the world that he knows (as well as anyone newish to the island could know it, at least) to enter into a completely foreign one: the hatch, where he encounters a threshold guardian, Desmond.
And now, a digression: in my recap of “Cabin Fever” I discussed the threshold guardian in relation to Jacob:
Interestingly, the threshold guardian is sometimes represented as a hermit. Think The Man on the Mountain, whom one has to reach to receive some great wisdom. In the tarot deck which we’ve discussed here before, in the Major Arcana there is the hermit card.
The image on the card is of a old man holding a lantern. The card represents guidance, introspection, solitude, understanding. From Wikipedia.org:
The Hermit may be the old man or woman, metaphorically, that we meet who gives us the insights or tools or training we need to confront the beasts of the forest, the sealed cave, the gated castle, the wormhole.The Hermit is related through a cross sum (the sum of the digits) to The Moon. While The Hermit mostly integrates the lessons of the sunlit world, the Moon stands at the threshold of light and dark and churns the waters of life. In both cases, treasures can be uncovered through contemplation of what is brought forth. In both cases, monsters may be found. Some say that The Hermit is a Threshold Guardian, representing an obstacle the Querant, the hero of the piece, must overcome to move on.
It’s not that Locke must overcome Jacob via Christian. But rather, he must pass through Jacob’s hermit cabin in order to move forward, and confront the challenge of saving the island. And he must pass through the cabin alone. Locke must face the hermit Jacob, but Locke is also a little bit of the hermit himself.
Now, if we were watching this episode for the first time, this would not be evident to us, of course: consider 20/20 hindsight a hazard of time travel. But what else is poor Desmond but a hermit? Desmond has been trapped in this subterranean other world for three long years, and for the last 44 days or so, he has been completely alone. As we will see later on, but kinda have the hints of here, Desmond isn’t a real threat to Jack or Locke or Kate, but they (specifically Jack) must encounter him so as to move forward emotionally.
As I’ve pointed out before, the monomyth is psychologically about the maturation process of the individual’s ego. It’s about crafting your identity and accepting your place in the adult world. And so, the journey into the realm of the dead is about the maturing process of confronting and accepting death, and about accepting the darker aspects of one’s own soul, the “dark night of one’s soul” as someone (but I don’t know who) once put it.
This is Jack’s episode. This is his journey into the night of his soul. This is about his acceptance that rationalism can’t explain everything. This is about his journey from non-believer to should-be-believer. In the flashback, Jack accepts scientific fact (Sarah won’t ever be healed), dispenses a little hope on his father’s advice (I’ma gonna fix you!), and then discovers that miracles are possible (Sarah is healed). On the island, events follow the flashback very neatly: Jack denies “destiny” in favor of rational fact (this is a worthless hole in the ground), dispenses a little false hope to the survivors (go to sleep, you’ll be fine!), and then discovers that perhaps it was destiny after all (hi, Desmond!). Desmond is not Jack’s destiny, per se, but rather a reminder that miracles, that destiny is possible. And it exists on this island.
When this episode first aired, there was a lot of discussion about how Jack was obviously the Man of Science and Locke was the Man of Faith. Or maybe Desmond was the Man of Faith … with Jack, of course, remaining the Man of Science. But I just don’t think it’s that simple. The title is Man of Science COMMA Man of Faith. What this means is that the man of science and the man of faith could be one and the same. And guess what? It is! And that man is Jack!
This episode is all about the construction of Jack’s faith, first in miracles (and his own abilities) and secondarily in the idea that the island might, after all, be his destiny. (And guess what? Damon Lindelof, the writer of this episode, confirms that this is in fact the case: Jack is both the Man of Science and the Man of Faith referenced in the title, in the commentary in the DVD. So, for once, I’m not just making stuff up.) And going back to my rather epic parenthetical above, it’s interesting, both the Freemasons and the Pythagoreans operate on the philosophy that there is a mathematical order to God’s universe. The Freemasons conceptualized it as architectural, and the Pythagoreans were much more about math, but the idea is the same: the secret of God’s universe can be discovered through the sciences, through the natural order that is readily available to us (see Pi if you haven’t already). They believed science is faith.
So the question is, why does it take Jack so long, leaving the island, in fact, to embrace this faith (which was already put in place thanks to the Sarah miracle) that was obviously reinforced in this moment? For most people, one look at Desmond here would be enough to be like: “Yo! Locke! Whaddya know, but you were TOTALLY RIGHT! This is our destiny! What a crazy island, huh?” But not Doctor O’Stubbornly. Nope. It’s gonna take getting some folks killed, leaving the island, seeing his dead dad wander around, popping a bunch of pills, and ruining not only his career but his relationship with Kate before he gets the message.
Sigh.
No Mr. T blog, alas. He refuses to play along because he’s a bad sport.
Instead, as a tribute to my husband’s affection for Desmond, I present the following:
(Thanks again, Bunny 15!)
And, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but I love me some Sayid and Hurley. But where’s the rest of the O6?
Lost originally aired on ABC and is now available to stream on Hulu and IMDb.
This post originally appeared on the Hearst site Tubular.