5.16 - The Incident

Title’s significance: Jack’s plan at The Swan may or may not be the “incident” we’ve heard so much about.

Recap: For the first time in LOST history, Jacob gets his own flashbacks, beginning with a meeting with his nemesis when The Black Rock came to the island; the Man in Black hates Jacob and wants to kill him but for some unspecified reason can’t. Off-island, Jacob visited a shoplifting Kate, Sawyer at his parents’ funeral, Sayid at the time of Nadia’s death, Ilana after a mysterious injury, Locke after his fall, Sun and Jin at their wedding, Jack after his “count to five” surgery, and Hurley before he boarded Ajira 316. Jacob seems to know ahead of time that these people will be where they are, and he makes a point of touching almost all of them.

In 1977, the submarine sails away from the island as Kate tries to talk Sawyer and Juliet into stopping Jack, who works with Sayid to remove the plutonium core from Jughead. Dr. Chang tries to stop Radzinsky from drilling at the Swan site, but Radzinsky won’t hear it. On the sub, Juliet sides with Kate and stages a takeover, and as Jack and Sayid move the plutonium core, Roger Linus recognizes them and shoots Sayid, initiating a firefight. But Jin, Miles, and Hurley arrive just in time to stage a getaway. Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate make it back to the island to find Rose and Bernard living in the jungle with Vincent. Wounded, Sayid modifies the bomb, but they’re stopped by Sawyer, who tries to talk Jack down, but the two get into a violent fight, stopped only when Juliet professes her faith in Jack. When Radzinsky learns that Sayid escaped with a bomb, he calls for backup, but Jack’s already at The Swan. Miles posits that Jack might actually cause The Incident, not avert it, but they go to save Jack from Phil and his gunmen. Jack’s group overtakes the Swan site, but the drill’s already hit the electromagnetic pocket, so Jack tosses the bomb in – and nothing happens. The electromagnetism starts tearing the site apart and sucking Juliet in. As debris rains down, we see Juliet still alive, and she strikes the plutonium core again and again – eight times before it detonates.

In 2007, Locke is leading The Others to Jacob. Richard asks how Locke came back to life, and Locke suggests that he wants to kill the other survivors of Ajira 316. Ilana and Bram bring Frank and a mysterious box to the main island, and Locke reveals that he wants Ben to kill Jacob. Bram and Ilana go to Jacob’s cabin, noticing that the ash around it has been disturbed; the cabin has been abandoned for some time, and Ilana burns it. Ben confesses to Locke that he staged the meeting with Jacob back in Season Three because he was embarrassed he’s never met Jacob; Sun finds Charlie’s DriveShaft ring at the beach camp. Richard’s group comes to the four-toed statue, where Richard reveals Jacob has been living, and Locke brings Ben inside for an audience. Bram and Ilana come to the statue, looking for “Ricardus” – Richard, who knows what lies in the shadow of the statue; Ilana opens the mystery box and out rolls… the corpse of John Locke. Inside, gloating that he’s “found his loophole,” UnLocke eggs Ben on to kill Jacob; Jacob offers Ben the choice not to kill him, but Ben feels betrayed and stabs Jacob. Before dying, Jacob mutters, “They’re coming,” which distresses UnLocke, who then kicks Jacob into the fire.

As Juliet detonates the bomb, the screen goes to white instead of black.

Thoughts: One of the best episodes of the season, written by Damon & Carlton and directed by Jack Bender (one of the most underrated contributors to LOST). The wonderful thing about this episode as a finale is that it has connections to scads of previous episodes but it puts the plot so far forward that I simply cannot wait for the next episode – it’s even more agonizing knowing that, for the first time in a long while, the next episode isn’t immediately at my fingertips. And for whatever reason, I was really emotionally invested in Sawyer and Juliet this time around; I want to see these two end up together.

Favorite moment: For Part 1, it’s almost certainly the opening scene between Jacob and his nemesis, but I loved Rose telling Kate, “It’s always something with you people.” For Part 2, it’s either when Ben tells Sun of the statue, “It was like that when I got here,” or Ben’s angry confession to Jacob.

Characters introduced (in order):

• JACOB, ageless man of mystery and apparent deity-figure of the island
• JACOB’S NEMESIS
• CAPTAIN BIRD, Dharma submarine captain

What we learned:

• The statue was still standing when The Black Rock came to the island.
• Jacob doesn’t age.
• Ben reveals that Jacob is “in charge of” the island.
• Jacob is responsible for Richard’s agelessness.
• Rose and Bernard have been living in the jungle all along.
• Bram says that his team are the good guys.
• Ilana is working for Jacob.
• Ben staged the meeting with Jacob.
• Sun has Charlie’s DriveShaft ring.
• Jacob speaks fluent Russian and Korean.
• Juliet’s parents divorced when she was young.
• Jacob posits that Hurley’s curse might actually be a gift.
• Hurley got the guitar and the information about Ajira 316 from Jacob.
• Dr. Chang hurts his arm at the Swan site.
• Phil is killed at the Swan site.
• Richard knows the answer to the riddle.
• Locke has been dead all along and his form manipulated by Jacob’s nemesis.

Questions:

• Why does Jacob’s nemesis want to kill him?
• How did Jacob and his nemesis come to the island?
• Why did Jacob visit the survivors of Oceanic 815 before the crash?
• What is significant about Jacob’s touch?
• How is it that Jacob manages to not age?
• What’s a “candidate,” and is Frank one of them?
• How was Ilana injured?
• How do Ilana and Jacob know each other?
• What does Jacob need from Ilana?
• If Jacob hasn’t been using his cabin, who has?
• What happened to the rest of the statue?
• Who built the statue?
• Who tore the statue down?
• Who’s coming?
• Is Jacob really dead? Can he even die?
• Did Jack & Co. prevent the incident – or cause it?
• What happens to those in 1977?
• What happens to those in 2007?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This episode needs to be required viewing for anyone ready to watch the final season.
• This episode finally introduces Jacob to us, apparently a being of great power and perhaps even omniscience. Jacob is going to be a central figure in the final season.
• The introduction of Jacob also sparks questions about destiny, fate, and free will. Are the survivors really in charge of their lives?
• Jacob’s nemesis appears to be impersonating Locke, and I’ve long suspected that UnLocke is also the smoke monster. Don’t be surprised if this turns out to be the case.
• “Just because two people love each other doesn’t mean they’re supposed to be together.”
• If the Jughead plan works, are we going to see Richard Malkin again, now that he presumably wouldn’t have kept Claire and Aaron together?
• Did Jack & Co. prevent the incident – or cause it?