What They Died For.

Let's talk about LOST!   What They Died For.

Jack's eye opens.
He wakes up in his apartment, heads into the bathroom where he sees in the mirror that the left side of his neck is bleeding. {LA X}

He joins David for the breakfast the boy prepared; Opening a box of family size Super Bran cereal. David asks Jack if he's going to the concert and informs him "mom" is going too.
David- "You're not gonna get all weird are you?...Just don't get weird."
Jack won't.
Pregnant Claire walks in, "Morning" and joins them for super bran. {White milk pitcher is on a dark tray.} Claire feels fine and she shares, "He kicks like crazy at night."
Jack answers his cell. It's actually Desmond calling from his car pretending to be a representative from Oceanic Airlines claiming they've located Jack's missing cargo {not father or coffin}.
Jack-"My father's coffin, you found it?"
Oceanic/Desmond-"Yes sir. It'll be arriving in Los Angeles by the end of the day."   {It}
Jack thinks that's great news.
Oceanic/Desmond-"We at Oceanic are very sorry it's taken so long. Good day, sir."
Jack looks puzzled.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
On the beach Jack uses black thread from black fabric to stitch up Kate's bullet wound. {Kate stitched up Jack in Pilot.}

He warns her it's gonna hurt a bit; he has to do this or else it will get infected.
Kate is very emotional over the death of Jin and Sun and the fact they had a daughter. Jack doesn't seem all that moved by all of that.  Kate feels Locke did this to them/the Kwon's, and they need to kill him. Jack knows.

Sawyer looks out to the water at the wreckage from the sub explosion (red life jacket, white life preserver}. He's joined by Hurley, Kate and Jack.
Jack wants them all to get going.
Hurley wonders, "Go where?"
Jack- "Before Sayid died he said that Desmond was in a well. Locke wants Desmond dead then we're gonna need em."
James is getting motivated.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
In the parking lot Desmond sits in his car waiting.  He watches John Locke in his wheelchair at his handicap van. {Uses a remote to lock up} A student welcomes Locke back, "It's good to see you."
Desmond turns the key to start the car, and any plan he had to cause an incident is thwarted by Ben.
Ben recognizes the man in the car as "Him", the one who hit Mr. Locke. He wants somebody to call the police right now.
Ben-"I saw what you did. I'm making a citizen's arrest."

Desmond hits Ben and throws him to the hood of the car.
Ben-"I will not let you hurt Mr. Locke again."
Desmond-"I'm not here to hurt him. I'm here to help him let go."
Confused Ben asks, "Who are you?"
Desmond turns him over, "You wanna know who I am?" {Sayid said this line w/Henry Gale} He starts beating up Ben again and in the midst of the beating Ben has flashes of the beating Desmond gave him on the doc after Ben went to Our Mutual Friend to kill Penny.
Desmond tosses Ben to the ground and takes off in the car.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Ben leads Miles and Richard on a shortcut through the jungle on a trek back to the houses/barracks; he lived in these houses a long time, he remembers how to get there.
Miles-"Well I lived in these houses 30 years before you did...otherwise known as last week.  I don't know where the hell we are."
It's a good thing he's following Ben.  Richard asks Ben how much explosives he has access to.
Ben-"More than enough to destroy the plane 10 times over and keep it from ever leaving this island."
Richard feels it's been a long time and wonders if it's still there.   Ben claims he put thought into hiding the C-4.
Miles-"Let me guess...cookie jar."
Don't be ridiculous! Ben admits it's in his secret room behind the bookcase.
They arrive at the disheveled houses. {Playground, swing set}
Miles gets all "wonky" and claims that to be how he gets around dead stuff.
When Ben asks Miles what's wrong and "Is there something you want to share with us?"
Miles-"I don't think that..."
Ben-"What is it?"
Richard cuts him off and answers "It's Alex. It's your daughter...After you left I buried her."
Ben looks sadly down at the area near the picket fence and thanks Richard.

They enter Ben's dark rundown house.   He pulls the bookcase away from the wall to reveal Ben's huge closet that contains the evidence of the multiple identities he is able to have. {Black full length mirror} Miles sees the hieroglyphs on another door and asks "What's that, a secreter room?"

Ben-"It's where I was told I could summon the monster.   That's before I realized it was the one summoning me."
Miles looks concerned. Ben opens the safe containing the C-4 and asks Richard, "It's your idea, are we looking to cripple the plane or blow it to hell?"
Richard-"Blow it to hell."
Ben-"Then we better take it all."
As Ben and Richard carefully put the C-4 in the backpack they hear someone enter the house.
Armed, the head into the kitchen where they discover Zoe. Richard tells her don't move, "Show me your hands."
Of course Ben wonders who the hell she is and just then Charles Widmore enters and announces "She's with me. Hello Benjamin. May I come in?"
Ben is shocked to see him.
Charles helps himself to a glass of water from the faucet.  Shocked Ben asks what he's doing here.
Charles isn't afraid that Ben has a gun pointed at him and nonchalantly turns to Zoe instructing her to go to the doc, "take our equipment from the outrigger and then sink it."
Ben plays tough and wants answers but Widmore doesn't budge, "You shoot me and your chances of survival will be gone."     Widmore tells Zoe to go, "He won't do anything."
Richard watched Zoe leave.  Widmore directly asks Richard what he's doing there.
Richard-"We're getting explosives to destroy the plane on the other island."
Ben is pissed that Richard blabbed the plan.   Widmore wonders why they would want to do that as he's had that plane rigged with explosives since he got there. "As usual Benjamin, I'm three steps ahead of you."
Curious Ben asks, "How did you get back here, Charles?"
Charles-"Jacob invited me."
Ben-"That's a lie. You've never even seen Jacob."
Charles-"I most certainly have. He visited me not long after your people destroyed my freighter. He convinced me the error of my ways and told me everything I need to know for this exact purpose."
Ben-"What purpose?"
Just then Zoe radios Charles to inform him Locke is coming.
We see Locke approaching/rowing in the outrigger. She hasn't been seen by him. {Binoculars. Time on her watch.}
She tries to say that their boat is still there and she didn't have time...Charles tells her to run, get here as fast as you can.
Charles tells Ben "If you don't want to die we need to hide."
Ben looks over at Richard.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Ben sits on an orange exam table while the school nurse treats him. "This may sting a bit, Mr. Linus."

Ben-"It's Dr. Linus, actually."    She leaves to get him an icepack.  Ben sits looking at himself in a full length mirror.

"Dr. Linus?"  It's Locke wheeling himself into the clinic; he heard there was an incident in the parking lot.  Ben proceeds to share his encounter with the man he got into a fight with. "I saw the man that ran you down, Mr. Locke. He was back, I approached him and he just...attacked me. And the strangest thing happened...While he was beating me I think, I think I saw something. {Locke starts dialing up the police on his cell} What are you doing?"
Locke-"I'm calling the police."
Ben-"You may not want to do that."
Locke with the phone to his ear-"Well why wouldn't I want to?"
Ben-"The man told me that he wasn't trying to hurt you. He told me that he was trying to get you to let go. {on Locke's cell "L.A.P.D.. Hello. L.A.P.D.."} And for some reason I believed him. Do you have any idea what he was talking about, Mr. Locke? Does that mean something to you?" {Interesting to see both of these men visibly bruised.}
Locke looks like a light bulb goes off and is lost in thought; he disconnects the call to the cops.
As that officer is hanging up the phone, Desmond approaches the counter asking to see a detective.

Detective James asks Detective Miles, "What's with the getup? Somebody die?"
Miles, who putting on a gray/silver tie, reminds him of the benefit at his dads museum; the concert he's been telling James about all week. "Ring a bell?"
James sarcastically replies, "Yeah, it's all I've been thinking about."
Miles tells James he can still be his date if he wants to. {I thought Miles had a girlfriend} Miles confirms the redhead who hates James, Charlotte, will be there.
James-"I'll pass." {File boxes, binders, logs, an "Incident" binder}
A uniformed officer escorts Desmond over to Detective Ford.   Desmond admits he is the suspect of the hit and run at Washington Tustin High School and for badly beating a teacher there this morning.
Desmond is locked up in a cage/cell with Sayid and next to Kate.
Ford thanks Desmond for saving the tax payers the trouble of hunting him down. Desmond is delighted to be there with them.
Kate is lying on the cot and looks over at Des and says, "Terrific."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack leads James through the jungle and asks him, "Any idea exactly where this well is?"
James-"Sayid said it was close to our camp, we're about an hour away. If Flock wanted Desmond dead why didn't he just kill him?"
Jack-"Who know? Maybe it's one of his rules."  {His rules}
James-"The bomb on the sub...you said he couldn't kill us."
Jack-"I've been wrong before."   {Indeed you have.}
Remorseful James asks, "I killed em, didn't I?"
Jack-"No. He killed em."  {No Jack ass! James killed em. James was the one who ultimately pulled the wires. Locke may have had a hand in getting the explosives on the sub and maybe it was really part of a test, but Locke knew James would react that way. The responsibility is was literally in James' hands.}
James knows the truth.

Hurley sees a young blond boy standing in the jungle. {Young Jacob}.  Kate asks him if he's alright. Hurley's fine and the blond boy has disappeared.  Kate walks ahead and Hurley turns right into the blond boy who just appeared out of nowhere!
The Boy/young Jacob demands the ashes he took from Ilana's things after she died.
Hurley-"What? Who are you?"
The boy knows Hurley has them in his pocket and he want them back because, "They're mine."
Hugo wonders what the boy wants them for. The boy grabs the ashes from Hugo's hand and runs into the jungle. Hugo runs after him coming upon grown Jacob sitting by a campfire holding the small pouch of ash. {Bright colored flowers}

Jacob-"Hello Hugo."
Hugo-"Dude, I've been waiting for you to show up where ya been?"
Jacob-"It doesn't matter I'm here now."
Hugo-"Did you see a kid run by here with your ashes?" {He knows they belong to Jacob! Bright red flowers.}
Jacob-"My ashes are right there in that fire. When it burns out you'll never see me again. You should get your friends, we're very close to the end, Hugo."
Hugo is surprised.

Armed with a rifle and his backpack, Locke comes ashore via the dock and notes the cases in the other outrigger. {Shoes on.}
Zoe is back at Ben's house.
Widmore feels there’s no time, "Linus has a hidden room, come on. . . What are you waiting for?"
Ben isn't interested in hiding. "He’s gonna find me sooner or later anyway. I’d rather have it over with."
Miles feels while these are both great plans, he's gonna go with surviving, "If you need us, we’ll be running through the jungle."
Ben has Miles wait as he asks for Widmore and Zoe's walkie talkies. He gives one to Miles,"In case I need you."
Widmore-"He’s gonna kill you. You know that."
Ben-"Then I guess this is goodbye."
Charles and Zoe hide in the secret room. Ben asks Richard if he cares to join him outside while he waits for the inevitable.
Nervous Richard tells him "I, I’m gonna talk to him. I know this man. All he wants is for me to join him, and if I can get him to leave with me, maybe that’ll give the rest of you a chance."
Miles wishes them good luck with that, and runs off.

Richard and Ben head outside. The smoke monster sounds are heard and Richard is tossed/pushed out of the way by the monster.
Stunned Ben sits on the porch chair and waits. Locke walks up from around the side of the other house and sits with Ben. {He takes out a large knife.}
Locke-"Just the man I was looking for."
Ben-"Well, you found me. Can I get you a glass of lemonade?"

Locke needs Ben to kill some people for him. {Ben needed Sayid to kill Widmore's people for him.}
Ben- "And why would I do that?"
Locke- "Because once I leave this island, you can have it all to yourself."
Ben suspiciously replies- "All right."
Locke- "Good. . . Now whose outrigger is that down at the dock?"
Ben- "I believe it’s Charles Widmore’s."
Locke-"And do you know where I might find him?"
Ben- "He’s hiding in my closet."

Ben drops his keys in the school parking lot. Alex {with her "Hi, I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas", hairdo} says hello to Dr. Linus and is happy to see him. She asks what happened to him and he explains he found himself confronting someone that had a bit of a temper.
Alex wonders why would someone want to hurt him; the nicest guy ever.
Ben-"Guess they had me confused with somebody else."  {WOW!!}
Alex-"Well, you shouldn’t be driving. My mom’s waiting for me over there. Let us give you a ride home."
Ben-"Oh, no, I’m not going to be any trouble to you."
Alex-"Dr. Linus, please. . . You’ve got one hand. You look like Napoleon."
Ben-"Excellent point."
Alex calls over to her mom by the car to ask if they can give Dr. Linus a ride home.
Danielle-"Of course. After everything you have done for my daughter, a ride is the least we can do. I’m Danielle."
Alex takes things one step further asking mom if Dr. Linus come over for dinner. {It’s coq au vin night.} Danielle insists he come, "Even if we have to kidnap you."
At the home of Danielle and Alex, Dr. Linus helps clean up.   Alex sits in another room doing homework. Ben asks Danielle, "...Where is her father?"
Danielle-"He died when Alex was two." {Claire was told her father died when she was two}
Danielle feels that’s probably why Alex is so attached to him. "All the interest you’ve taken in her. All the help you’ve given . . .you’re the closest thing to a father she’s ever had."
Ben seems moved and peeks in on Alex doing her homework.
Danielle asks him if he's all right. Ben blames his teary eyes on the onions.
Danielle-"Oh, I’ll put in less next time."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Ben enters the house with Locke; he directs Locke to the secret room. He informs Locke Charles and his lady friend are in here and she's armed. "But I’m guessing that’s not a problem for you."
Locke- "Wait out here. You don’t need to see this."
Ben- "I wanna see this."
They enter the dark secret room where Ben apologizes to Charles.
Locke-"What a pleasant surprise. How nice to be able to talk without those fences between us. {to Zoe} And who might you be?"
Zoe attempts to reply but Widmore tells her not to talk to him. Locke slits Zoe's throat!
Widmore-"Why would you do that?"
Locke-"You told her not to talk to me. That made her pointless. . . Now, Charles, it’s clear you’re not afraid to die. So, there’s only one way to motivate you to tell me what I want to know. Soon this will all be over. I’ll get what I want.  And I’ll finally leave this island. And when I do, the first thing I’m going to do is kill your daughter . . . Penny."
Widmore-"You’ll kill her whether I talk to you or not."
Locke-"No, I won’t. I give you my word."
Widmore-"And I’m supposed to take your word?"
Locke wants him to share why he came back here and he won’t hurt your daughter.
Widmore admits he brought Desmond Hume back here because of his unique resistance to electromagnetism. "He was a measure of last resort."
Locke-"What do you mean, “Last resort”?"
Widmore refuses to say any more in front of Ben.
Locke-"Well, then whisper to me."
Widmore whispers into Locke’s ear. Ben fires three shots into Widmore!
Ben-"He doesn’t get to save his daughter?"

Locke wipes off his knife and tells Ben, "You never cease to amaze me. Fortunately, he had already told me what I needed to know. So, no harm done."
Ben-"Good. . . Did you say there were some other people to kill?"
{Apparently there really wasn't anything smoke monster-y for Ben to see in the closet.}

Hurley leads Sawyer, Kate and Jack to Jacob.   Jacob's campfire fucking burns a loooong time. {It's dark/night} Jacob says hello to each, calling them by their first names.
Hurley-"He’s right there by the fire, he says hello. . ."
Jack tells Hugo "I heard him."
Hugo is surprised, "What, you can see him?"
Yep, Jack, Kate and Sawyer all can see and hear Jacob.
Kate-"So, you’re the one who wrote our names on the wall."
Jacob-"I am."    He also admits to writing Sun, Jin and Sayid's names on the wall too.
Kate-"Is that why they’re dead?"
Jacob-"I’m very sorry."
Kate is getting worked up, "You’re sorry?"    Hugo says her name trying to keep her calm.
Kate-"No, I wanna know why. I wanna know that Sun and Jin and Sayid didn’t die for nothing."
Jacob-"Come and sit down and I’ll tell you what they died for. I’ll tell you why I chose them . . . and why I chose you.  And then I’ll tell you everything you need to know about protecting this island, because by the time that fire burns out one of you is gonna have to start doing it."

Jack is sitting at his office desk working on the computer.   Locke wheels himself in to see Dr. Shephard. {Locke is minus the band-aid on his head}
Locke sees a photo of Jack, Christian and David and wonders,"Is that your son?"
Jack-"Yes, that’s, uh, last thanksgiving."
Locke smiles- "He looks just like you."  {Who, the smoke monster? Or Jacob, Locke, Christian?}
Jack- "Don’t tell him that. lol. So, what can I do for you, Mr. Locke?"
Locke- "Dr. Shephard, you and I were on the same plane from Sydney. You gave me your card, and . . . the next day I threw it away, no offense."
Jack- "None taken."
Locke continues-"Anyway . . . then a few days later I get hit by a car. And of all the doctors in Los Angeles, I ended up with you. Then a-after you save my life, you still want to fix me and I still don’t wanna be fixed. Okay. Then . . . the man who ran me down shows up at my school today, again. He beat up a teacher in the parking lot. But, do you know what he said to him? He said that he wasn’t there to hurt me, he was there to help me “let go,” which is exactly the same thing that you said to me the last time we saw each other."
Jack-"I’m sorry. Are, are you saying that I sent this man to run you down?"
Locke-"No. No. No. No. No. But, but what if all this . . . maybe this is happening for a reason. Maybe you’re supposed to fix me."
Jack-"Mr. Locke, I want to fix you but I think you’re mistaking coincidence for fate."
Locke-"You can call it whatever you want, but here I am. And I, I think I’m ready to get out of this chair."  {Jacob's chair? lol. Anyway, this Jack doesn't seem all that impressed by their connection and the belief in fixing Locke like he did in The Candidate.}
Jack smiles.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jacob sits around a fire with Jack, Hugo, Kate, and Sawyer. He explains he doesn't know where to start.

Hugo-"How about why you brought us to the island."
Jacob-"I brought all of you here because I made a mistake. A mistake I made a very long time ago, and now, because of that there’s a very good chance that every single one of you and everyone you’ve ever cared about is going to die."
Annoyed James wonders, "What mistake?"
Jacob-"You call him “The Monster.” But I’m responsible for what happened to him. I made him that way. And ever since then he’s been trying to kill me. It was only a matter of time before he figured out how, and when he did, someone would have to replace me. And that’s why I brought you all here."
James-"Tell me something, Jacob. Why do I gotta be punished for your mistake? What made you think you could mess with my life? I was doin' just fine til you dragged my ass to this damn rock."
Jacob-"No, you weren’t. None of you were. I didn’t pluck any of you out of a happy existence. You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me. You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you."
Kate-"Why did you cross my name off of your wall?"
Jacob-"Because you became a mother. It’s just a line of chalk in a cave. The job is yours if you want it, Kate." {Technically proving it is all pointless.}
Jack-"What is the job?"
Jacob-"There’s a light at the center of the island. You have to make sure it never goes out. That’s how you protect it."
James-"Your monster friend said there is nothing to protect it from."
Jacob-"You have to protect it from him. . . You must do what I couldn’t. What I wasn’t able to do."
Jack-"You want us to kill him? Is that even possible?"
Jacob-"I hope so, because he is certainly going to try to kill you."
Hugo wonders how Jacob's gonna pick. Jacob isn't going to pick. He wants them to have the one thing he wasn't given, "a choice."
Kate-"And if none of us chooses it?"
Jacob-"Then this ends very badly."
Jack-"I’ll do it. . . This is why I’m here. This is . . . this is what I’m supposed to do."
Jacob-"Is that a question, Jack?"
Jack-"No."
Jacob-"Good. Then it’s time."

Jacob leads Jack into the jungle. As Sawyer, Kate and Hurley watch them. James remarks, "And I thought that guy had a God complex before."  {Who, Jack? lol}
Kate-"James."
James knows.
Hugo-"I’m just glad it’s not me."
Jacob asks Jack if he remembers that bamboo field he woke up in when you first got there; "Beyond that field, across the ridge, is the heart of the island. That’s where the light is. . . That’s where he’s trying to go. And that’s what you have to protect."
Jack-"Past the bamboo? There’s nothing out there."
Jacob-"Yes, there is, Jack. And now you’ll be able to get there. . . Do you have a cup?"
Actually Jack conveniently has one.
Jacob washes his hands and scoops some water from the stream into the cup and recites some mumbo jumbo to make Jack believe he's offering a communion to him. "Drink this."
Jack wonders how long he's gonna have to do this job and Jacob tells him "As long as you can."
Jack drinks the entire cup of water.
Jacob-"Now, you’re like me."  {But you just said they all were like you!}
{The point that Jacob is totally privy to Jack "waking up in the bamboo forest" and that we know from the missing pieces episode So it Begins, it's Christian who has Vincent "wake up" his son.  Locke/smoke thing claimed to be Christian, but was it Jacob?  And does Jack actually think he has some "magical power" now?}
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Sawyer, with two officers tells his three detainees that it’s been real nice having them but they're shipping off to county.   Kate flirts with James wanting to be let go as she still claims her innocence and James believes her.   James feels that doesn't matter because he's a cop.
Kate-"You don’t seem like a cop to me."
James-"Nice knowin' ya."
Desmond, Sayid and Kate are riding in the back of a black and white police van.
{Dispatch over radio 1-Adam-21 responding}
Desmond tells his fellow passengers he thinks it’s time to leave. "I said, I think it’s time to leave. You ready to get out of here?"
Kate- "I’m sorry. Who are you?"
Sayid- "He’s a crazy person who turned himself in."
Kate- "What’d you turn yourself in for?"
Desmond- " I ran over a guy in a wheelchair."
Sayid- "You see what I mean?"
Desmond- "All right. I’m crazy. But do you want to get out of here or not?"
Kate- "So, what, are you just gonna tell the driver to stop?
Desmond- "The driver already knows where to stop. But when that happens you’re gonna have to give me your trust."
Sayid- "Our trust?"
Desmond-"That’s right? Because after I set you free, I’m gonna ask each of you to do something, and you’re gonna have to promise me that you’ll do it. So what do you say?"
They both half heartedly give their promise. This pleases Desmond.
The van pulls over, stops and the rear door is opened by Officer Ana Lucia Cortez!
Ana Lucia-"Who’s Hume?"
Des-"That’s me."
Ana Lucia-"Where’s your friend with my money? Otherwise I’m gonna have to say I shot all of you trying to escape."
Desmond tells her not to worry he’ll be here.  Ana Lucia un-cuffs Desmond. A yellow Hummer pulls up.{Plate 2WQI332} Desmond is excited because "Here he comes."

Hugo apologizes for being late. {He has a large yellow envelope.}
Hugo-"Oh, hey, you didn’t tell me Ana Lucia was gonna be here."
Ana Lucia-"Do I know you, tubby?"
Hugo nervously replies,"Oh, no. We never met. Anyways, here’s your money. A hundred twenty-five grand, right?"
Ana Lucia-"Yeah, that’s right. Nice not knowing you."
Hugo asks Desmond,"She’s not coming with us?"
Desmond-"No, she’s not ready yet."
Hugo tells Des he brought him his Camaro; the keys are under the floor mat and everything else he needs in the trunk.
Desmond is happy,"All right, good. . . Um, you know where you’re taking them, yeah?"
Hugo-"Absolutely."
Desmond-"All right, well, we should get going. {to Sayid} Okay, you’re with him, and you’re with me."
Kate-"What do you mean, I’m with you?"
Desmond-"We are going to a concert. Let’s go."    He hands her a sexy black dress.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Ben is following Locke through the dark jungle. He asks Locke,"If you can turn yourself into smoke whenever you want, why do you bother walking?"
Locke-"I like the feel of my feet on the ground. Reminds me that I was human. We’re here."
The look down into the well.  Ben wonders if Locke is thirsty.   Locke informs Ben this is the well he threw Desmond Hume into and that he sent Sayid to kill him and obviously he didn't.

Ben-"Looks like someone helped him out." There's a rope hanging on the inside.
Locke-"No, Ben. Someone helped me out."
Ben-"What did Widmore say to you?"
Locke-"He said Desmond was a fail-safe. Jacob’s last resort in case, God forbid, I managed to kill all of his beloved candidates. One final way to make sure that I never leave this place." {Whose candidates?!}
Ben-"Then why are you happy that he’s still alive?"
Locke-"Because I’m gonna find Desmond and when I do, he’s gonna help me do the one thing that I could never do myself. I’m gonna destroy the island."





What They Died For is a GREAT episode!
It is all an illusion but in the end it's all about heart, hope, love and...technology.
The on "Island" and off "Island" events will sync up!
When I first started to write my notes out years ago I would constantly come up with the question "Who is orchestrating this dance?" Well, I guess we're going to find out the answer.

Things to Note...Questions to Ask...
* Jacob's ashes-Smoke...
* Will Locke blow up the death star?!
* Locke's goal is to get off the "Island" and to go home.  Jacob has found a way to get on and off the "Island".
* Locke kills Zoe with a knife; he doesn't have to change into "smoke" to do it.  Locke is Locke!
* Where's Vincent?
* No matter what or when, Richard is the best dressed "Island" resident!
* David's mother-Juliet.
* Jack's neck is bleeding. This blurs with events of LA X.  Will Jack endure a slit to his throat on or off "Island"?   Zoe's throat/neck is slit.
* Doctors.
* Crazy. I've noted many times before that the "Island" adventure may be part of a form of therapy or rehabilitation.
* Pretend. Role playing. Fake. Illusion. Con.
* School. Teach. Learn. Well.
* Computer. Synch. Escape. Driver.
* Game. Deal. Rules. Hunt. Race.
* Ana Lucia Opted out of the "Island" adventure in season two when she told Michael "I can't do this anymore"
* Could the "smoke monster" be a creation, a figment of Jacob's imagination or actually part of Jacob and/or MIB or any of them? Or the "virus" in the system?
* Ben longs for the love of a family.
* Why would young Jacob ask Hurley for the ashes when he's already privy to taller ghost Jacob?
* Jacob can change images. Unless it was "Smokey" pretending to be young Jacob and then older Jacob.
* When Desmond is beating up Ben I am reminded of angry young Jacob beating up MIB. We have also seen Jack display this kind of physical "snap anger".
* In Par Avion, Mikhail tells Locke, Kate and Sayid that they are "flawed"
* Hurley and Desmond know what is going on.

Vocabulary and Research...
* Weird anagrams to Wired.
* Synch or sync:
- Synchronization, the coordination of events to keep them in time
- sync (Unix), a command for Unix-like operating systems
- Sync, a signal used in composite video systems to coordinate the timings of lines, fields and frames
- File synchronization or syncing, to synchronize directories or files on computers
- Oscillator sync, where a slave oscillator is reset by a master oscillator
- DIN sync, a standard interface for electronic music instruments.
* Sheila Kelley as Zoe, is a classically trained dancer and has been a pole-dancing teacher and wrote a book about it- S Factor:Where Woman Discover Their Sexy Inner Power. {For me this connects to Nikki's pole dancing in Expose. lol}






As we head into the finale I look back at all these notes I've taken and thoughts I've shared and it's interesting that there are a few things I've not wavered on since season one as far as wanting to know "how" their "Island" experience is actually happening.
I still feel there are computers, technology, machines involved as well as simulation/virtual, drugs, etc..  That is why no matter what happens to the "Island" the "Island" will always exist.
* Something is occurring in the head and mind-consciousness.  {Sleep state.}
* Things we see are not always real.
* There is a bug in the system, a glitch in the matrix, a virus.
* There is a human hand to all we are seeing and not a "mythological" godly one.
* Time is irrelevant as they are stuck in a bloody snow globe; "everything" happens within the confines of the "Island".
* There is a game element to these exercises.  This seems to play into the point of things being run over and over for the testing of probability and outcome.  Choices made,chance, checks and balances.  I.E. The Black Swan Theory or even game theory.  That is why it only ends once for this group of participants, and I guess that is when we should see who the last one standing will be.
* People/players/ participants are removed from the "Island" playing field via the various reasons I've mentioned many times over the years.

I always tell you that people and things are NOT what you think so be very careful who/what you assume. The sides and roles have switched many times.

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Maybe Jack, number 23 on the wheel of destiny, will assume the gatekeeper role and be the one who needs to be kept in.

I know there are readers to my notes who have a field day that I use quotation marks around the word "ISLAND".   I do that for a damn reason and not just because it looks fucking cool or to make it look more important, I do it because the "Island" isn't an "Island"...it's a magic box.

The Wizard of Oz, down the rabbit hole, the other side of the looking glass...Grownups playing make believe.   Is it all for fun and socializing or for therapy, rehabilitation, enlightenment and to find what you have lost?   Is it possible we will find out that none of the people we have come to connect with and love don't even exist?   I have hope that the Castaways are living participants in this adventure experience with their quest for balance.

Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz always had the power to go home, so do they.   But how far do they have to travel...maybe not very far at all.   Perhaps they're in a building in N.Y.C. or on a huge ship sailing around the world or maybe they're in their own homes.   Maybe through the inventions of technology we will find we can join in on all the "Island" adventures too. Who knows?

Who will have LOST, and who will have WON....

Love to all who are "LOST"™



Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode; we all know what they are. Understood? Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance.

Across the Sea.

Let's talk about LOST! Across the Sea.

Because I am tied up for the next couple of days I cannot write out my detailed notes as usual, but I will as soon as I'm home. This episode was so wonderful that I needed to get some thoughts down.

Profound metaphors galore!

Coming out of this episode found me with the hope that fans would relate to the metaphors of the story and find some of their answers within the magical images set before us.  The first answer I need to put before you, even though it is out of order in relation to the episode, is the confirmation of a game.  The confirmation has been given to us many times, although many fans choose to ignore it's there.
Note that viewers are led to believe (via neighboring episodes) that the Boy in Black represents the Man in Black, the "Smoke Monster"... Locke.

Game On!

Our answer came quite simply by the boys and it will not get any clearer than this.
Jacob- "What is it?"
Boy in dark- "It's a game. You play it."
Jacob- "How do you know?"
Boy in dark- "I just know." The boy in dark assigns the pieces determining who is which color.
The boy in dark-Black and Jacob-White.
Jacob wants his brother to teach him how to play and he will, but he has to promise not to tell "mother" because she'll take it away.  Jacob wants to play.  The boy in dark has insight to things being "off" with this woman who is raising them.  The Senet game is played according the rules the boy in dark instituted.  When Jacob tries to cheat/illegal on a move in the game, the boy in dark calls him out on it explaining when he/Jacob makes up his own game everyone else will have to follow "your rules."

In current time we have MIB/Locke playing by Jacob's rules.
It's interesting "Mother Island" claims she left the game there for the intuitive boy in dark to find.

Down the Rabbit Hole

I jumped out of my chair when we saw Queens of a chess board (of sorts).  The red-orange (pregnant and limping) queen, Claudia, emerges from under the water to gaze at the beautiful "Island."
Claudia delivers two sons (twins) via the assistance of a stern and forbidding looking woman with no name who lives in the caves.  This woman claims to be there solo and also arrived there by accident.  We are in the midst of the women speaking another language {Latin?-the language of the "enlightened" and Claudia w/Spanish and an Italian mix} which they apparently understand and then automatically in an instant switch to the very comfortable modern English.  Claudia has many questions but "Mother Island" feels "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question. You should rest. Just be grateful you're alive", so enough said.  Well, other than her telling Claudia that if there's other people on the "Island" she will find them.

"It" is coming

Claudia is told she delivered two boys, but she wasn't prepared with more than one name option for her "son". {She only refers to a single "him"}
"Mother Island" kills the natural mother with a rock. {Eko kills Others with a rock.}

There must be something more

The boy in dark finds the "planted" Senet game and is excited to have something to engage his brain and entice him into dreaming about life outside of the confines of the "Island".

Eyes in the Back of my Head

While “Mother Island” weaves her new fabric Jacob enters the cave; she knows without turning around that it is Jacob who entered and not the "other" boy.  She also knows he isn't telling the truth about what they/two boys were doing.  Jacob firstly mentions his brother is down at the beach staring out at the ocean. And then mentions they we just walking.

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places

She asks Jacob if he loves her and he obviously has reservations about her, but says yes anyway.

When "Mother Island" sits with the boy in dark it is revealed Jacob told her what he found and mommy claims that's because Jacob doesn't know how to lie.   Are you fucking kidding me?! We literally just saw Jacob do it!   “Mother Island” tells the curious boy "He's not like you... You're... special."   Mama lets the boy in dark keep the game as she claims it really came from her.  The boy in dark's imagination had hoped it came from somewhere else... from across the sea.
“Mother Island”- "There is nowhere else. The island's all there is."
But the inquisitive mind of the boy in dark wants to know where "we" came from.  Mama claims the boys came from her and she from her mother; all reproducing without the mention of a man.
* A reminder from Emily Locke- “I want to tell you that you’re special. Very special. You are part of a design. You do realize that, don’t you? That our meeting, me finding you… this is a sign of things to come. Great things.”

The boy in dark inquisitively notes the word "dead" when mother mentions her mother is dead, and he wonders what that is.  Mama touches him and confidently tells him, "Something you will never have to worry about."

We then see Jacob and his brother chase a boar through the jungle. The boy in dark says "Hurry up! He's getting away!"  The boys lose the boar but in the distance hear it squeal out in pain.  Quietly they sneak a peek to find men with their kill. The boys hide.

The human doesn't see things as they are, but as he is.

The upset duo informs “Mother Island” that they saw people who looked like "us", and want to know where they came from. Mother insists "They're not like us. They don't belong here. We are here for a reason."   By the way she says that line while looking directly at the boy in dark/John Locke.  The boy in dark takes full advantage of asking questions, "What reason?"  Her only answer is "It's not time yet..."
She blindfolds the boys and leads them on a trek through the jungle while admitting she knew about the people and didn't tell them because they're dangerous and she didn't want to frighten “you.” "Mother Island" explains the thing that makes all men dangerous, "They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same", yet she was every bit of that as well.  Again the boy in dark/Lock the "thinker" wants to know where they came from.  Mother only says "another part of the island. And you're never to go looking for them. If they found you they would hurt you." {Apparently that's not true because he ends up living with them for 30 years. But I understand the sentiment- as people will be people, with big egos and selfish behavior, etc.}  The boy in dark knows "We’re people. Does that mean we can hurt each other?"   Mom conveniently made it so they could never hurt each other.   But evidently that's not true either.  She feels that's just what people do.   It is apparent that this woman has no faith in "men"/people.  That's why Hurley/Hugo even feels he can trust the dead more than the living because living people can hurt you.

"Mother Island" brings them to the place, the reason they're here ... The light.  They are at a flowing stream that flows right down into a tunnel with the warmest most beautiful bright light anyone has ever seen or felt.

Trust Issues x 10

"Mother Island"  warns them not to go in there and to make sure no one ever finds it.  "A little bit of this very same light is inside of every man. But they always want more."
Jacob- "Can they take it?"
"Mother Island"- "No, but they'll try. And if they tried, they could put it out. And if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere."
She claims to be the protector of the light, but can't protect forever.  One of the boys will have to carry on.  It sounds like "Mother Island" is keeping the light trapped in an effort to thwart people from having it, and breaking hearts. She really is protecting her own broken heart.

Dream within a Dream

The boy in dark can see the image of his dead birth mother, while Jacob cannot.   She wants to show the boy where he came from. "It’s across the island a place you've never seen."   He learns that 13 years ago the day before he was born their ship wrecked.   Dead Mama enlightens him to their being many things across the sea. "You come from across the sea too."  {Dead mama-manifestation of the smoke monster- "Mother Island". Hmmmm...}

“I've looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful.” 

The boy in dark won't live a lie so he gathers his and Jacob’s things and wants to leave and never come back.  He reveals "Mother" lied about EVERYTHING including her loving them. This infuriates Jacob and he beats him up.  But the boy in dark confronts "Mother Island" sharing that he now knows the truth and he's going to go home; the boys don't belong there.   Mama tells the boy in dark that no matter what he's been told he could never leave this island, but the boy knows that's not true; one day he will prove it.   He walks away from the two.  When the boy in dark looked at the light he saw the "truth" and wanted to live his life according to the truth, not the crap "Mother Island" was feeding him.  His thoughts were to be formed on the basis of fact, science, logic, reason, "gut feeling/clarity", and freedom, and he wasn't going to be influenced by this woman, her "Island" traditions or any other dogma.
The boy in dark/MIB/Locke is an enlightened "freethinker".

“The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side” 

"Mother Island" admits to Jacob she killed their birth mother because she would have taken them back to her "bad people" and she couldn't let that happen, as she needed him to stay good.
Jacob-"Am I mother?"
"Mother Island" says yes.  Jacob feels she loves "him/Boy in Dark" more than him. Clever mom claims to love them in different ways.  Jacob will stay with this insane murdering baby napper of a woman and this makes her happy.

Big Boys Play Games Too

Jacob and his brother have been having secret covert sessions to play the game.  Jacob says mother never asks about Man in Black, but that's a lie.  Jacob "watches" the little villagers and their behavior to see if they are really bad.  He doesn't think they're so bad.
MIB-"It may be easy for you to say... Looking down at us from above. Trust me I've lived among them for 30 years, they're greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy, and selfish."  But he puts up with their ways because they're a means to an end.  He tells his brother, "I'm leaving, Jacob."  He proves the magnetic field of the island to Jacob by throwing his dagger at the well.  He explains he and the smart men discovered that metal behaves strangely.  They dig, explore and invent.  MIB begs Jacob to go with him but Jacob declines.  Jacob is loyal, I'll give him that.  But is his loyalty based in ignorance and fear?   "Island Mother" kept him close at hand seemingly because in my opinion he was the one amendable for coercion.  That is a concept we only thought pertained to Castaway John Locke.  Her sheltered mind was limited by her ignorance, pain and fear.

To everything there is a season

Everything dies! 
Jacob is the one that doesn't want to leave this island, "It's my home." (He's comfortable there- used to the way things are.)
"Mother Island" approaches the work site and appears down in the well where MIB is heating coals. He shares with her his time with the villagers learning and exploring a way to find the light that she didn't want him to have and share.  He explored the idea of "What if I can get to it from someplace else?"   He removes a small piece of stone to let in a bit of the beautiful light that shines on the wheel.  The special man knows how to do all this. They even invented a wheel that will help him on his quest to get back to where he belongs.

MIB/Locke says goodbye to his mother. She bids him goodbye; but smashes his head against the stone wall; knocking him out.
  
There is no Choice...You Must Believe in Free Will

Mom wakes sleeping Jacob, "It's time."   She's letting MIB/Locke go.
In the night she leads Jacob to the tunnel that houses the light.  When asked what's down there she replies, life, death, rebirth... it the source, the heart of the island. {Hmmm...Enlightenment!} She wants Jacob to promise her he'll never go down there because it would be worse than dying. She gives him some wine as some sort of promissory communion to accept the responsibly of protecting the light, and finding his replacement when the time comes.  Jacob doesn't want the responsibility but knows he's got the gig by default.  When he drinks the liquid she poured she claims, "Now you and I are the same."   Well, now that Mother and Jacob are the same... the evil, flawed shoe must fit.

Free will is the purported ability of agents to make choices free from constraints. 

MIB/Locke regains consciousness outside of the well in the daylight and not inside the well where he was knocked out by the "mother".   Mother has destroyed the well.  He sees black smoke rising in the distance and discovers the village is burned and his people are killed.

The Game Continues

Jacob notes that a storm is coming and will see "Mother Island" back home.  Mom sets off to the caves where she finds her stuff is destroyed and the Senet game is there.  {Locke destroyed a few things while on the "island" too. His reason was to keep the people/Jack who needed to be there, to stay until they are ready to go home.}

MIB/Locke Slays the Monster!  (He let go of the metaphoric monster that caused part of his life long suffering)

He plunged the knife into "Mother Island" before she could speak a word, all in retribution for her terrible act of killing the other "Island" residents, trying to kill him, stopping him from leaving and to stop her from continuing her bad ways.   "Mother Island" thanks him.   Jacob walks in seeing the aftermath and not understanding beats up MIB/Locke.  MIB/Locke doesn't fight back with Jacob.

Jacob brings/pulls MIB/Locke to the beautiful light and throws him face down into the stream that floats him unconscious into the light.   It is important to note that Jacob actually tells MIB/Locke "Don't worry brother, I'm not going to kill you" before he throws him down onto the rocks.  Black smoke is released.   Jacob is sad and confused.  He finds his brother dead on some rocks at a stream.  Jacob cries.

Jacob lays the dead woman and the man with the white/black stones to rest in the caves- together.   "Goodbye brother."  Jacob only bids his brother goodbye- not the woman who raised him.

They are all guilty of everything "Mother Island" told the young boys.

All aboard the Crazy Train 

Mental Health and issues with reality!
"Mother Island" was indeed insane and evil. Don't try to tell me she wasn't!  She stole two newborns and killed their birth mother so she could keep them and mold them to her own distorted beliefs. She lied, manipulated, controlled and sheltered them from the truth.  She destroyed, burned and killed the village and its residents.   She also felt that the other "Island" people would want the "Island" light so "she" kept the light hidden, claiming to be its protector and hoping it would never be found.   In this episode I saw a woman who lost faith in a man/men, people and herself.  She seems to be trapping her own "light" in an effort not to get hurt again.  But in her stealing the boys and trying to make her own little emotional safe haven, "MIB/John Locke the Curious" was going to expose her for what she really was.  Unfortunately the scars of this entire mothering experience left MIB/John Locke with pain and confusion and even more motivation to finally close that unhappy chapter of his past and finally leave this place.

ASS U ME

See how the viewer can assume certain things and yet when the truth is revealed it really means something else.  How about that!  There's a plethora of this in our story.  You can assume who the "monster" is in this episode, who is the next Jacob, who is the next MIB, what the “Island” is, who is on what side, who is really Jacob, which baby was whom, and all those wonderful fantastical things, but we were shown under no uncertain terms not to assume anything!   With the reveal that Adam and Eve where really “Mother Island” and her stolen child was one of the greatest bits of information we've ever gotten.

Things to note...Questions to Ask...

* Mental Health issues.
* Push
* Children
* MIB/Locke owns the dagger.
* In House of the Rising Sun, "Adam and Eve" are laid to rest in two separate alcoves.
* Boy in Dark/MIB/John Locke is an enlightened free thinker, independent and wants to live in truth, while Jacob doesn't seem very bright and is fine to live under the unhealthy thumb of "Mother Island"
* Jacob does illustrate anger and vengeance. He is more of a follower than a leader.
* Jacob is a liar.
* Wine.
* Do you think that we'll find that John Locke was an alcoholic too?
* Am I the only one who finds it weird that the "boys" aged and then stopped aging at a certain point? * "Mother Island" is evil.  Mom burned the village and its people. {Fire- Smoke- we've seen this  relate to Kate. But fire is a form of cleansing.}
* Children without "fathers".
* People who look the same but are different. Where did we come from?  Do I entertain the "alien" word again or do we chalk it up to created images within the experience?
* Magic healing paste.
* Different languages.
* Ship.  Wheel.
* Are we to believe there is only a finite amount of "light"?
* Imagination. Make believe. Create. The mind creates positive and negative thoughts and beliefs.

* In addition to us already being aware that Locke's mother was crazy, John Locke tells Eko in The Cost of Living, that he saw a bright light and it was beautiful.  And in Deus Ex Machina we learn about Locke's love of playing games with his brother.

Vocabulary and Research...

* Across the Sea is the fifth song from Weezer's second album, Pinkerton. The song appears on Come On and Kick Me!: The String Quartet Tribute to Weezer and Only in Dreams: Classical Music Inspired by Weezer.  The song was written by Rivers Cuomo at the same time I was very depressed and very lonely, thoughts of becoming a monk and mommy issues.

* The Other is a 1972 psychological horror film about twin brothers who have fun with their shenanigans but the end reveal is that one of the twins has really been dead the entire time.

* Senet, a board game a from pre-dynastic and ancient Egypt. The oldest hieroglyph representing a Senet game dates to circa 3100 BC.  The full name of the game in Egyptian meaning the "game of passing."  The Senet game board is a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten .  A Senet game has two sets of pawns (at least five of each and, in some sets, more).

* Claudia: was a Vestal Virgin, who conceived Romulus and Remus.  In Roman mythology Vesta pertains to a Roman goddess, the Sacred fire of Vesta, and the Temple of Vesta.  The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. They cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. The goddess of the hearth and home, collecting water from a sacred spring, preparation of food used in rituals and caring for sacred objects in the temple's sanctuary.  By maintaining Vesta's sacred fire, from which anyone could receive fire for household use, they functioned as "surrogate housekeepers", in a religious sense, for all of Rome. They were also put in charge of keeping safe the wills and testaments of various people such as Caesar and Mark Antony, and guarded sacred objects. The Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children, and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits to the male colleges of priests.


“Enlightenment is imagining figures of light, but making the darkness conscious.”  
You know that for me this story of struggle with deep, deep emotional pain, confusion and the need to be free of it, is happening under the guise of a game. It is about Dharma, walking your path, finding what you lost and enlightenment.  Clues to all of these things, including truth, balance and enlightenment were right in our faces.

The Wheel
The Light = the Truth. LOVE and HOPE

I find it disgusting that this woman took away every aspect of innocence and hope with the child/children.  She was not nurturing, caring and both boys knew she did not know how to love.  She was selfish (because she lived in fear)... The Fucking End!

Again we seem to get hints to the concept of two halves really being parts of the whole and then again two completely independent people.  I can see traits that seem exclusive to the Jacob we already know, yet here we get a clearer picture of him, and traits that what were thought to be exclusive to Boy in Dark/MIB {Locke} are not, but are shared by both.  The reference to there being "two" boys seems to come predominantly from "Mother Island."  If you re-watch you can see the natural mom, even though was told there are two, only refers to one- "him."  There are other times within the episode they are really referred to in a singular manor.

"A little bit of this very same light is inside of every man. But they always want more." 

Nowhere does "Mother Island" say the light is evil incarnate!  She only mentions if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere.  When Jacob asks "mother" about what's down there, she tells him it's life, death, rebirth... it the source, the heart of the island.  That my friends, is some more enlightenment talk for ya!   Light is the good part of man and this Queen Bitch is keeping it from them. I feel like I'm leaning toward someone having to do this all over again, hence we need another plane to crash.

"Only when you are ready to open your eyes, ears, mind and heart, in the LIGHT you will find TRUTH." -Karen Mauro


 Love to all who are "LOST"™

Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode; we all know what they are. Understood? Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance.

The Candidate

Let's talk about LOST!   The Candidate.

Dr. Jack Shephard wakes up Mr. Locke from his surgery.   Locke's eyes slowly open to blurry vision and then clarity.
Jack-"Mr. Locke, can you hear me? {Jack smiles} Welcome back."
Locke, who is on oxygen, realizes he knows him. Jack replays them being on the same flight from Sydney and how Locke lost his knives.  He explains to Locke that he was rundown by a car and just came out of surgery {Dural sac ruptured) but he thinks he got everything back where it belongs.  Jack uses his penlight to look at Locke's pupils and also reveals that while was operating he got a look at the initial injury to his spine and put him in a wheelchair.  Jack was hoping Locke could tell him how that happened because he feels he's a candidate for a new surgical procedure they're developing and if it works it could restore feeling to his legs, in fact he may even walk again. Jack seems pleased.
Jack-"If you'll give me a shot, Mr. Locke, I think that, that I can fix you."
Locke thinks about it for a few seconds and declines the offer. This response stuns the good doctor and he goes on to explain that there's minimal risk and the benefit...Locke cuts him off, "I said no." {He smiles.}
Helen barges into the room relieved to see John. This is the first time they let her see him. Indeed they are relieved to see each other. Very happy Helen thanks Dr. Shephard for saving him. {She kisses Jack on the cheek and hugs him tight} Locke smiles at this.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack opens his eyes/wakes up. He is in the outrigger.

Kneeling Sayid {working on a gun} welcomes him to Hydra Island. Jack is a bit confused.
Sayid-"At least you didn't have to paddle."

Over at the cages the Widmore team is setting up the pylons. Seamus and goons lead James, Frank, Hugo, Claire, Kate, Sun and Jin. Seamus demands James get in the cage but James there's no way he's going back in there, so he grabs dough boys rifle and a shot rings out a few feet away indicating Widmore's arrival. Widmore threatens Kate's life if James doesn't drop the gun. James feels Widmore isn't going to kill them because he's throwing them in the cages.
Widmore-"I have a list of names. Ford. You're on it. As are Reyes and the Kwon's. Kate Austen she's not.  It doesn't matter to me if she lives or dies."
Nervous Kate doesn't want James to listen to Widmore. James relinquishes the gun to Seamus and in return Seamus hits James with the rifle and throws him in the cage.
Widmore tells James, "You may not believe it but I'm doing this for your own good."
James-"You're right. I don't believe it."
Widmore asks one of his goons if the fence is "live" yet. He's told it will be in about an hour. Widmore doesn't have an hour and tells them to work faster.   Seamus looks nervous.
Widmore-"He's coming."

Bernard is crafting/working/drilling on a set of fake teeth.  He is so into his grinding away at the mold/impression that he doesn't hear Jack say "Hello" a few times.   Jack heard the drill, walked in and asks if the man knows where he can find Dr. Nadler.   Bernard removes his glasses and mask. {He doesn't have his doctor name on his white Dr. shirt.}
Bernard-"Well, you can find him right here. And if you're not a patient, you can call me Bernard."
Jack introduces himself as a surgeon at St. Sebastian and is hoping to get a look at one of Bernard's patient files.
Jack-"His name's John Locke. And our records said that you had done some emergency oral surgery on him about three years back."
Bernard-"And what are you looking for exactly?"
Jack-"I wanna know how he was hurt."
Bernard asks Jack why he's so interested in Mr. Locke. {He has a peace about him while waiting for Jack to answer.}
Jack explains he met Locke a week ago on the same flight back from Australia.
Bernard-"Oceanic 815.  I sat across the aisle from you. Memory serves you were flirting with my wife Rose when I was in the bathroom. It's pretty weird, huh?"
Jack is curiously stunned, "Yeah."
Bernard-"Maybe you're on to something here. Now I can't break patient confidentiality and tell you something I shouldn't. But I can tell you that when I treated Mr. Locke there was another man in the same accident with him." {Bernard writes something on a notepad.}

Jack-"Like that was three years ago, you just remember that?"
Bernard-"Of  course I do, Jack."
He hands Jack the paper and wishes him good luck, "I hope you find what you're looking for."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Disoriented and confused Jack is still sitting in the outrigger asks Sayid what happened. Sayid informs him Widmore's people fired a mortar attack on them. "Locke saved you."
Sayid shares some water with Jack from his canteen. The rest of Sayid's group who weren't killed scattered into the jungle, "It's just the three of us now."
Jack-"Why did he bring me here?"
Locke appears and tells Jack it's because Jack's friends got themselves captured and now they're going to have to rescue them.
Jack-"Rescue them from what?"
Locke explains Widmore has them in a cage about a half a mile inland.   Jack tries to ask a question but Locke cuts him off, "You know I would ask him, except I don't think he's gonna give me a straight answer. But I can't imagine that his intentions are good. If we move right now we can break your people out run for the plane and be off this island before Widmore knows what hit him."
Locke arms up Jack and readies him for the mission.
Jack-"They're not my people. And I'm not leaving the Island."
Locke-"Well, Jack, I'm hoping you still change your mind about that. But your friends do want to leave, and since they just ran away from me, on my own boat, I'm gonna need your help convincing them they can trust me."
Jack-"Why should I trust you?"
Locke looks right in his eyes and reveals, "Because I can kill you, Jack. Right here, right now. And I can kill every single one of your friends and there's not a thing that you can do to stop me. But instead of killing you I saved your life, and now I wanna save them too. So will you help me?"
Jack contemplates while looking over at smirking Sayid and back at Locke.

James and Kate pace in the cage. James asks her, "Feel like we're running in circles back in these cages? 'Cept last time the gun was to my head." {And yes you fucking are!}
Kate insists he wouldn't have killed me.   James comes clean about the cave he told her about, the one where all the names were written.  "Your name was there too...but it was crossed out. He doesn't need you, Kate."
Jin and Sun chat about the baby who is with Sun's mother. Jin tells her about Widmore's people finding her camera on the plane and he showed Jin the pictures.  Jin thinks their daughter is so beautiful. Sun presents Jin with his wedding ring and places it on his finger.
The power is cut to the Hydra cage area where the lights and pylons were energized.  Seamus and goons find somebody cut the power and Seamus instructs a team to the generator now.  The monster sounds, breeze is heard.
Hurley-"And we're dead."
Smokey arrives and in its classic mechanical tic tack, clinking manor, takes out Seamus and the goons, all the while the Lostie's watch from the cages. Smokey even knocks over one of the travel sized pylons.
Kate struggles through the bars to reach the keys that are conveniently hanging out of Seamus' pocket. Hurley tells her to hurry because he feels, "When that thing's done with them he's coming for us."
Anxious Frank isn't waiting so he kicks at the door to his cage.
Kate still can't reach, but it doesn't matter because Jack shows up to help them all out.
Kate asks Jack what he's doing here.
Jack-"I'm with him." {Nodding in the direction of the mechanical smoke sounds}

Frank is leading the group to the plane; which is about a 1/4 mile just over the ridge. Kate seems a little excited as she asks Jack, "So you're coming with us now..."
Jack lets her know he's taking them to the plane but he's not getting on it, "I'm sorry Kate, I'm not meant to go."
Kate looks sad. James thanks the Doc for coming back for them. Everyone readies with their weapons when they hear something approaching. It's just Sayid.
Jack lets them know it's okay, "Sayid's with us. He's the one who turned off the generators."
James feels the more the merrier. They need to go because Locke's waiting.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
The woman at the desk is asking Jack if he's a relative of Mr. Cooper and what  the nature of his visit is. This is the SUN PALMS NURSING HOME.  Helen happens by with a tulip plant.  He confesses to her that he's there to see Anthony Cooper about the accident he was in with Mr. Locke. Jack asks if she knows him. This makes Helen curious and worried. She pulls him to the side and asks him to please go.   Jack tries to explain he's there to help "him".    John told Helen about the operation and he doesn't want it and  Jack wonders why.   Helen wants him to leave this alone, "You saved his life. Why can't that be enough?"
Jack replies with a bit of desperation in his voice,"Because it's not."
Helen leads Jack into a cafeteria with patients, while Housekeeping is being paged to call 23.
Jack seems surprised when Helen wheels over a catatonic Anthony Cooper; John's father. {He just stares and drools.}

{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Locke marches strongly over to the grounded Ajira plane.  The guards fire at Locke but their bullets have no effect on him.  He breaks the neck of one and shoots the other.  He takes the digital watch from one of the dead men and heads up the "Gilligan's Island" made steps into the plane.

On board he follows a set of Red, White and Black wires that connect to something.
Frank is happy when he arrives with the group to the plane and wonders what it will take to get this baby to fly.   James is first to see a dead guy.  Sayid examines the first body and determined his neck's been broken.  Locke walks out of the plane and admits he broke it. "If it's any consolation, Widmore knew that I would kill these men."  He goes on to explain they were only guarding the plane for show. If Charles had really wanted to keep Locke from actually getting on board he wouldn't have moved his little fences.
Hugo is puzzled, "Woah... wait, now he wants us to leave the Island?"
Locke-"No, Hugo. He wants to get us all in the same place at the same time... a nice confined space we have no hope of getting out of... and then he wants to kill us."
Apparently kill them with {He presents 4 bricks of C-4 from the backpack}.
Locke-"I found them in one of the overhead compartments, wired to the electrical system of the plane. If we would've turned it on... boom."
Jin-"So what now?"
Locke-"We can't be sure he didn't put more explosives on the plane. It's not safe. If we're gonna leave the Island, I think we have to take the submarine."
That's what James has been saying all along. Concerned Hugo states that "He's not supposed to leave the Island. I mean, Alpert said..."
James-"Screw Alpert. He ain't here. {says to Locke}That's twice you've saved our asses. Guess I was wrong about you."
Locke smiles and thanks him. "That submarine is gonna be heavily defended. We're gonna need everyone."
Jack will help him but he's not going with him. Locke feels that's fair enough.

Claire runs over to Locke and tries to apologize. Locke tells her its alright and he understands why she went with them.
Sawyer very quietly tells Jack,"Hey doc, listen up... you don't wanna leave this Island, that's your own damn business. But I'm gonna ask you for one last favor. I don't trust that thing one bit, so here's what I need you to do... once we get to the dock you make sure it doesn't get on the sub."
Jack-"How am I supposed to do that? You saw what it did back there."
Sawyer-"Just get it in the water I'll take care of the rest."

Over the PA we hear "CT test to Trauma 3. CT test to Trauma 3."
Jack is literally standing over Locke.
Jack-"Mr. Locke, are you awake?"
Locke  is sleeping but speaks, "Push the button."
Jack looks confused, "Mr. Locke, can you hear me?
Locke, still sleeping says, "I wish you had believed me."
In the distance Jack hears Claire's voice. She's in the hallway.  Jack leaves sleeping Locke and walks over to Claire.
Claire was just looking for Jack; the lawyer told her he worked there.

In a little break room Jack buys an Apollo bar from a vending machine.  He offers it to Claire but she declines.   Jack apologizes for having to run out of the will reading the other day, as he had an emergency.  Claire doesn't mind and notes this is as awkward for her as it is for him.  She tells Jack, "Never even met this man."   She has a white box.
Claire-"Anyway, the, uh, lawyer gave me this. She said, uh, there’d be more stuff to come, but that my father especially wanted me to have this."
She presents a pretty wooden box from the white cardboard box that is roughly the size and shape of a shoe box. {Box within a Box!} "Do you know why or what it's supposed to mean?"
Jack doesn't have any idea, "But, then…I, I didn't know about you either."
Claire asks how their father died.
Jack-"He was found in an alley outside a bar in Sydney. He drank himself to death. I flew down to bring his body back…but then, uh… the airline lost it."
Claire:-"I just flew in from Sydney a few days ago."    Yeah, last Wednesday; Oceanic flight 815, they're both puzzled.  Jack takes a look at the wooden music box that plays "Catch a Falling Star".

Jack-"I’m sorry. I...I wish I knew why he wanted you to have this."
Claire-Yeah, me, too. {puts it back into the white box} Well, um. It was nice seeing you again. Thanks for trying to help."
Jack- Where are you staying?
Claire-Uh, just down the road…a motel."
Jack-Why don't you come stay with me?"
Claire- "Stay with you? I mean, we're…we're strangers."
Jack- "No, we're not strangers. We're...we're family."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Locke and his little armed group are staking out the sub. Locke puts the backpack down. {I only see one backpack}
James feels just ‘cause there ain’t any goons on the dock, doesn’t mean they ain’t on the sub so he calls the play. "We’re goin’ in hard. Got it? Lapidus, Hugo, Jin, Sun, you’re with me. The rest of you wait 30 seconds, head down the dock behind us. {to Jack and Locke} You think you two can get our backs?"
Jack-"Absolutely."
James-"All right. Let’s go home."
He heads down into the sub hatch and the rest follow. 
Over the intercom in the sub we hear "After engine room, power the bilges. After engine room, power the bilges, please."
James and Frank burst into a room demanding to know where the captain is.  They are led to the captain where Frank knocks out the guy who led them there.
Threatening James tells "Hoss" to get ready to fire this thing up.  Frank will guard the captain while James retrieves the rest of the group.
Locke hands Jack one of two backpacks and they head toward the sub.  Locke asks Jack if he's sure he won’t reconsider.   Jack is sure.
Locke-"Whoever told you, you needed to stay had no idea what they were talking about."
Jack-"John Locke told me I needed to stay."
Jack pushes Locke into the water.
Kate-"What happened?"
A shot is fired and Kate is hit in her left shoulder!  This makes Jack snap! He automatically flips into angry commando mode! {Just like at Dharmaville before the "Hydrogen bomb incident"}
There's a shootout.  Jack fires a rifle, then a handgun!
Sayid covers Jack while he carries Kate down into the sub.   Sayid calls out for Claire {who shoots a man out of a tree}
Sawyer hears the shootout.

Locke climbs out of the water onto the dock with his backpack and he is pissed off!  He's got some constitution!  He fires back at Widmore's men just like Jack did!   Claire is surprised.
Inside the sub Jack tells James Widmore’s people shot Kate and he tells Hurley  he needs a first aid kit.  James heads up top to get Claire who is still involved in the shootout.
James-"Claire!"
Locke turns and calls out, "James!" {turns and shoots an approaching bad guy} He seems concerned as he runs toward James.   James gives Locke the ol evil eye, abandons Locke and Claire on the dock, closing the hatch on them.
Inside the sub James yells out to Lapidus, "If you can hear me…DIVE! DIVE!"
Lapidus tells the Captain, "Let’s go!"    The sub starts moving out.

Claire sees the sub leaving, drops her gun and runs after the sub telling them to wait.  Locke stops her.
Down in the sub shocked Jack asks James what he's doing.
James-"What we came here to do…leaving."

Locke tells upset Claire it’s alright.
Claire-"No! They’re leaving us."
Locke-"No, trust me. You don’t want to be on that sub." {He mischievously grins a bit like the Cheshire cat and watches the sub move out.}

Inside the descending sub, bleeding Kate is upset Claire is still up there and has been left behind.
James is concerned about Kate, "Is she gonna be okay?"
Hurley can't find the first aid kit. This troubles Jack. {Yet it is right next to Frank's head! Is that kit written in black?}
Jack has Jin get his pack so he can get a shirt out of it to use for pressure.  Jack tells Kate to relax, everything will be OK. He thinks the bullet went straight through.  Jack reaches into the backpack and reveals a bomb with a digital watch for the timer, counting down; 3:54
Hurley-"Dude, where did that come from?"
Jack-"Locke…We did exactly what he wanted."
As the sub continues its descent Jack says they have to get to the surface.    Jin radios Frank to tell him to take them up.
Frank yells, "We're diving!"
Sayid has the bomb while Jack tends to Kate.
Hurley-"Dude, how'd that get on the sub?" {Are you fucking kidding me?! He just heard from Jack he said "Locke"}
Jack-"Locke put it in my pack!" 
Jin wonders why he would do that when he wanted to go with them.
James-"Damn right he did, that's why I shut his ass out!"
Jack-"He wanted you to shut him out!"
He asks Sayid how that thing works, "Can we shut it off?"
Sayid explains it's Jury rigged to the battery which detonates the explosives. It's at least five minutes until they're up, according to Frank.
James-"We ain’t got five minutes. What’s it gonna be Sayid?"
Sayid-"These wires...they’re leads from the watch. If we disconnect them from the battery, technically speaking, the bomb should be inert."
But you need to pull them out simultaneously and he's not sure...James moves him aside.
2:46 on timer.   Jack tells James to wait and not pull the wires out because he feels nothing is going to happen.
James feels if he doesn't pull the wires that Locke's gonna blow them to kingdom come.
Jack-"No, he’s not! Locke can’t kill us....This is what he wanted. {2:27} This is what he’s been waiting for.  Everything that he has done has been to get us here.  He wanted to get us all in the same place, at the same time, a nice, enclosed space where we had no hopes of getting out of."
Jin doesn't understand.
Jack-"Locke said that he can’t leave the Island without us. I think that he can’t leave the Island unless we’re all dead. He told me that he could kill anyone of us whenever he wanted. So, what if he hasn’t because he’s…he’s not allowed to. What if he’s trying to get us to kill each other?"
James-"Stay out of my way, doc."   {1:54}
Jack-"Now if he wanted that thing to blow up, why would he put a timer in it?  Why not just throw it inside?"
James doesn't care and Jack still feels nothing is going to happen.  But James feels it's not Jack's decision to make.
Jack insists "He can't kill us!"
James isn't going to stand there and do nothing.  Jack looks James in the eye wanting James to trust him that they're gonna be okay.  {1:35}
James-"Sorry, doc, I don’t."
James pulls all the wires from the timer and it pauses at 1:31 and then countdown runs faster.
Sayid needs for Jack to listen carefully. "There’s a well on the main island, half mile south from the camp we just left.   Desmond’s inside it.  Locke wants him dead, which means you’re going to need him. Do you understand me?"  {Technically they just left Hydra Island. lol}
Jack-"Why are you telling me this?
Sayid-"Because it’s going to be you, Jack."
Sayid grabs the bomb, runs down the hall and into another compartment and the bomb explodes!  The alarms sound.
The sub starts filling up with water.   Lapidus checks out what happened and is knocked down with a door that bursts off its hinges.
Sun is pinned against the wall with what looks like a metal box with wires poking out of it.   Jin tries to free her!  Sawyer tries to help him.  Jack instructs Hurley to get Kate out of there while he takes care of everyone else.   He gives Hurley an oxygen tank.
Hurley-"I have to go after Sayid?"
Jack-"There is no Sayid!…Listen to me. Take this tank and buddy-breathe and swim out where the blast hole is, okay? Hurley, you can do this, okay?'
Hurley listens.   Jack joins in trying to free Sun while the sub is sinking.
James-"Push!"
Jin-"One three."   1...2...3!    They remove the giant metal box but Sun is still trapped and James gets knocked out by a large piece that fell on his head.  Jack pulls him from the water.  The sub creaks and moans.
Jin works hard to free Sun but she wants him to go save himself.   Jin won't leave her at all, "I’m going to get you out of here."  He tells Jack to save unconscious James out of there and he'll get Sun free.
Jack gives Jin an oxygen tank because he feels he can get James out of there without it. {WTF?!}
Jin-"No, you can’t Jack….Just go!"
Jack knows he's "leaving them" and swims with Sawyer out through the blast hole up from the depths.
Jin tries to catch his breath while trying to free his wife and she begs him to go.
Jin holds her face," I won’t leave you....I’m gonna get you out of here."
Sun still begs him to go.
Jin says something in Korean and knows they're doomed, "I won’t leave you. I will never leave you again…{in English} I love you, Sun."  They kiss and hold each other.
Sun is crying, "I love you." {And add to that the heart wrenching music that has me crying like a damn baby!}

An orderly is pushing Locke down the hospital hall and wonders if someone is meeting him.  Locke confirms his fiancée, Helen. "She’s, um…{he sees Jin with white roses and does a double take at him. You see Jin get let into the room behind Locke}…probably stuck in traffic….Hey, I’ll take it from here. I’m pretty good at this."
The orderly wishes him the best of luck and Locke thanks him.
Jack is happy he caught Locke, "I hadn’t have a chance to say goodbye yet."
Locke-"Well, goodbye…and thanks again, Dr. Shepherd." {Shake hands.}
Jack confesses he went to see his father. Locke is shocked.
Jack-"When you didn’t want the surgery, I felt like I had to understand why…and, uh, I thought that if I could find out why you’re in this chair, that maybe…"
Locke-"I was in a plane crash. I had my, my private pilot’s license for a week, and, uh, I begged my father to be my first official passenger. He was terrified of flying.  But, I looked him right in the eye...I told him that he could trust me.  And we barely got off the ground. I still don’t re...I don’t remember what I did wrong, but it was my fault. It was my fault. This man, who I loved more than anything, will never walk, or talk or…"
Jack-"You know, the first time you and I met, uh, back at the at the airport…you told me that my father was gone...and, uh, it hurt to hear that, but I knew you were right. Your father’s gone, too, Mr. Locke."
Locke-"Uh, no, no, he’s not.
Jack-"Yes, he he is, and you can punish yourself as much as you want and that’s never gonna bring him back…What happened, happened…and…you can let it go."
Locke-"What makes you think letting go is so easy?
Jack-"It’s not. In fact, I don’t really know how to do it myself. And, that’s why I was hoping that…maybe you could go first."
Locke laughs through his tears, "Goodbye, Dr. Shephard." 
Jack calls out to him, "I can help you, John…I wished you believed me."
Locke stops, seeming to let that register and then wheels off.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack pulls James to the beach and is relieved when James breathes.
Kate-"Jack…I couldn’t find you. I couldn‘t find you."   They hug.
Hurley asks if James is okay and Jack tells him he got hit pretty hard, but he’s breathing.
Kate-"What about Jin and Sun."
Jack shakes his head indicating they didn't make it.
Kate and Hurley cry hard from this loss.
Jack walks away from them and stands at the water's edge and cries.

Locke is standing on the dock looking out to the water, he tells Claire, "It sunk." {He sounds a bit sad}
Claire-"What, the submarine? They…they were all on it, everyone…What? They’re…they’re all dead?"
Locke- "Not all of them."   Now he seems angry; he takes his backpack and rifle.
Claire-"Wait. Wh, where are you going?"
Locke-"To finish what I started."   This man on a mission walks away.




The Candidate is a GREAT episode!!!
What is going on in Locke's head and what is he seeing in his sleeping mind?
Locke is punishing himself from guilt and holding on to all that pain. He feels he obligated to stay paralyzed not only physically but emotionally.
I was very sad to see a few of our Lostie's move on but I expected it and expect even more loss.  In the off "Island" info of last week the Kwon's found what they were looking for and Sayid did too with his closure with Nadia, so he sacrificed himself in the game/journey.  In my opinion it's when those types of things happen, i.e. they find what they're looking for (love, closure, healing, forgiveness, letting go, over addiction, enlightenment, etc.) or in other instances a person is getting to close to unseating the leader or they aren't needed in the game/on the "Island"  any longer they are removed from the playing field and move on.   If one still doesn't find what they have lost then it seems you have to start all over from the beginning.


Things to Note...Questions to ask...
* Locke is indeed emotionally "paralyzed"
* Family. Relative.
* Same accident.
* Wires. CT scan. Head. Dreams. Subconscious.
* Mental and physical disabilities.
* Lapidus isn't on Widmore's list.
* Hurley can't find the first aid kit yet it is in the control room right next to Frank.
* We learned earlier this season that unconscious people can't hold their breath yet we see they are led to the surface from some very deep water.
* It was Sawyer's free will decision to call the shots on the sub mission and to pull the wires on the bomb. {Even if Locke knew he would do that.}
* Sawyer was wrong about getting that thing/Locke in the water.
* Alcoholics-Desmond, Christian, Jack.
* Locke doesn't seem threatened by the pylons and being in the water isn't a factor with anything.
* Does Locke have a thing for blowing up submarines?  He took C-4 from the Flame Station.
* There's always a way to go "further down below".    "The depths."
* In the "Pilot episode, part 1"  Jack admits to Kate to taking flying lessons but it wasn't for him.
* Could part or the entire adventure be part of a world of make believe, subconscious and/or altered state.

Willy Wonka:
Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three
Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination.
Take a look, and you'll see into your imagination
We'll begin, with a spin, traveling in, the world of my creation.
What we'll see, will defy explanation
If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it. Wanta change the world? There's nothing to it.
There is no life I know, to compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free... if you truly wish to be.

Vocabulary and Research...
* Dental impression: Accurate representation of a person's dentition and other areas of the mouth. From an imprint of a person's teeth and gums in wax or plaster, a dental impression forms a "negative" of those teeth and gums, which can then be used to make a cast or model. This may be used for the fabrication of dentures, crowns or other prostheses. Common materials used for dental impressions are sodium alginate, polyether and silicones - both condensation-cured silicones and addition-cured silicones, such as polyvinyl siloxane.
- A crown is a type of dental restoration which completely caps or encircles a tooth or dental implant and is typically bonded to the tooth using a dental cement.
* Tulips: is a poem by American poet Sylvia Plath about her experiences in a mental hospital. The poem was written in 1961 and included in the collection Ariel published in 1965.
- TULIP: Calvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life. Calvinist theology is sometimes identified with the five points of Calvinism, also called the doctrines of grace.
- Tulip: is an information visualization framework dedicated to the analysis and visualization of relational data.



I don't know how else I can illustrate to you the metaphors and subliminal information that is displayed within the story. We are still shown the Castaways' journey to "this place" is necessary to heal their emotional and psychological  pain.   The "Island" adventure's challenges blur with "outside world" issues and events in an effort to reach some sort of resolve.

Not everything we see is totally black and white, nor are people and things always what we think they are.  The goal, besides one person being the victor of the "Island" journey and game, is for "balance" not only on the "Island" but within each "person".

One thing we can bank on is the game element.   Jacob and MIB is each other's adversary. Both of their aim is to prevent the other from achieving their goal.
Locke neatly sets it all up for us in Deux Ex Machina when describing a game he played with his brother.  It's wonderful when he explains the concept and goal of the game Mouse Trap that directly connects to what we've seen on the island.
Yes, of course the concept of chess is being played out, incidentally after all these years I really need to see who the Queen is in all of this.
I find it important to go back to the first game reference we were shown, Backgammon.
In the game of Backgammon the pieces are known as checkers, stones, men, counters, pawns, or chips.  It's interesting that the objective is to remove (bear off) all of one's own checkers from the board before one's opponent can do the same. 

Even though I always question if things are real or not, and give many examples and use descriptive analogy, it still is important to mention that until we know what the "Island" actually is, we're in the dark.  Ultimately it may be that the "Island" will represent different things to all of us.

Jack does see himself in Locke. This episode is one that I'll use as an example of an instance when Jack and John seem to be talking at themselves and not necessarily to each other.
Exploring the psychology of seeing the yin and yang of particular beings, i.e. Jacob and the MIB and also Jack and Locke, is part of the LOST story.  They do indeed at times have that intense opposition while maintaining such closeness. 

Locke is doing whatever he needs to do to win the game and to go home/leave.  I can totally see Locke doing some terrible maneuvers in this battle, but is there a chance at all that he is doing it to free as many of them as possible and in turn freeing himself?   Or is it all just evil, to kill for the sake of killing?
Is the greater good to end the game, to leave, or just replace the two main players?   Jacob feels it only ends once and I guess that will be when we see who will be the last one standing.

Locke and Jack know that letting go isn't easy.  Locke is ready to go home/leave- as a matter of fact Dr. Shepherd gives him permission to let go as he himself cannot "let go" just yet.    At this point Jack feels his destiny is the "Island" just as Locke once did. 
It's going to be Jack.
Will Jack learn to let go over the next few hours or will he be the one destined to stay bound to the "Island" to relive his misery over again...or worse?

Love to all who are "LOST"™

It's VERY important to revisit:
The Man from Tallahassee  {Locke and his issues with depression and Anthony Cooper. Plus he blows up the sub.}

Orientation 

There's no place like HOME.

Through the Looking Glass    {Sayid tells Jack he's willing to sacrifice himself}

Born to Run  {We see the MRI Magnetic Resonance Imagining sign}

Maternity Leave  {Sun mentions that a mother should never leave her child}

Some Like it Hoth

This image rang a bell with me when I saw the bandage on  Locke's head and visited Dentist Bernard.

Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode; we all know what they are. Understood? Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance.