Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 1374 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Live Alone; Die Together
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 16 | Aired on 2009.05.13
Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) said the finale would make me want to eat my soul, but I can't take another bite. Surprisingly meaty bird -- the crow. And anyhow -- eat my soul? No way. I know where that thing's been, and this recap isn't about a wretch like me. We are still tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery and there are far more wretched people whom we can spy upon and gossip about. So let's get to it, shall we?
Previously on Lost: Daniel explains to Jack and Kate how "the incident" at the Swan is responsible for the crash of Oceanic flight 815. He wants to destroy the energy emanating from the hot pocket under the Swan by detonating the Jughead -- a hydrogen bomb. The music tells those of us who might not be paying attention that this is Cuh-RAZY, and Jack's eyes dance along to the beat.
Island; Four Toes: We're not on it, in front of it, or looking at it from a distance. Oh, no. We're right inside of the statue. We're inside of it with a man who is wearing rope sandals and homespun cloth. He works at a spinning wheel. We cut to him weaving a tapestry -- a fire is his only light. I start to worry about smoke inhalation because that's a pretty big fire he's got cooking and I don't see a chimney or any other kind of vent. Then I remember this is just a TV show, so I breathe and light a cigarette. We cut to...
The Beach In Front Of Four-Toes: Mr. Homespun wades into the surf and retrieves a fish from a primitive, conical trap. I refrain from making a way-too-easy red herring joke here, because come on, this is Lost. The whole thing is a red herring and I'm the joke, but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. And besides he then takes the fish to his beach fire, filets it, and sets it to cook on a hot, fire-blackened rock. Knowing that The Black Rock is somewhere out on the horizon, my mind wanders to the risen Christ cooking breakfast for his disciples on the shore, while they were out fishing (John 21). I've always loved the deeper meaning of that account. They betrayed him, deserted him, denied him -- yet he fed, redeemed, and restored them. To me, it's the God of Jacob's relationship with Israel in microcosm, which is then a microcosm of the divine's relationship with all of mankind. Those of you who are fans of (other) Faith(s) can probably find stories that speak similarly to you, and those of you who are exclusively fans of Science can substitute "world" or "earth" for deity, there. We rape and pollute it, shed blood upon it, yet it sustains us, even taking us to its bosom and nursing us back to health.