Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: C | 5 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT CJ Cregg Bested By Bai Ling
By Cindy McLennan | Season 6 | Episode 15 | Aired on 05.11.2010
Haruspicy 101: People have been trying to fix this episode and its main players in time and space. Mark Pellegrino (Jacob) has cited 43 A.D. and in the episode, Titus Welliver's character mentions a 30 year period of his life. To reconcile these numbers with Jacob and "Esau's" ages throughout the episode, I'm assuming: In Act 1, Claudia washed up on the shores of Craphole circa 1 A.D.; Acts 2 and 3 of this episode are set around 13 or 14 A.D; Acts 4 and 5 are set in 43 A.D. As to Claudia's nation of origin: she speaks Latin -- the lingua franca of the western provinces of the Roman Empire. However, she chooses the Hebrew name Jacob for her firstborn. Judea was under Roman rule in the First Century A.D., but the lingua franca of the eastern provinces was Koine Greek. So, in my mind, Claudia might be a Jewish woman hailing from Rome (although sometimes I like to pretend she's Pontius Pilate's wife, which screws with everything, including my assumed time-table, so never mind about that; that's just my stuff).
Haruspicy 102: People are wondering when Lost abandoned Egyptians for Romans. And what about the Temple -- a site so central to the beginning of this season? Well, it's got a lot of hieroglyphic markings, but with the mikvah featuring so prominently, I can't help but think of the Temple at Jerusalem. When Rome sacked Jerusalem circa 70 A.D., perhaps some Jewish refugees set sail and wound up on Craphole. Egypt fell to Roman rule around 30 B.C. at Cleopatra's death, but it's not like Egypt disappeared or anything, so I'm just assuming that at some point, Egyptians were drawn to Craphole -- perhaps then, or perhaps in the late fourth century A.D., when Emperor Theodosius I banned non-Christian rites and closed pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire. Maybe some Ancient Egyptians set sail searching for a new, free land, and ended up on Craphole. Suckers.