Beyond the Clouds.

With only 4.5 hours left of Lost, we’ve arrived at the episode many have been waiting for since the finale of season 5. Since early in season 6, there have been rumblings of the nature of tonight’s episode, “Across the Sea.” Michael Emerson (Ben) has gone so far as saying the episode is “unlike anything you’ve ever seen on network TV.”

So what is the big deal? What is going to happen tonight?

Going off of the title of the episode, there are a couple options. One, there is a literal “across the sea,” which is symbolic of the movement of the action from Hydra island to Desmond’s well on the main island after last week’s tragic submarine explosion. The other option is across the sea more figuratively, as in the sea of time and space. As in the long-awaited story of how the island and its inhabitants came to be.

And when you read the episode description, option #2 is exactly what we’re getting.

Get ready for the Jacob / Man in Black backstory.

We are almost guaranteed a huge dose of mythology answers and ah-ha moments as the island’s oldest inhabitants are finally able to tell their story. How did they come to be? What is their connection to one another? What is the source of this centuries-old disagreement that led to distrust, destruction, and death for so many people? What is their endgame? What are the rules everyone keeps referring to? What are (and how do they have) their powers? How does MIB become the smoke monster?

And possibly: WHO THE HECK ARE ADAM AND EVE?

Plan on a nearly entire flashback episode this week without a lot of island time. I think I can accept that. We’re talking a pretty incredible story here.

In this week’s Podcast, producers Damon and Carlton said that this week’s episode speaks for itself and you should go in with as little knowledge as possible. So I’m going to keep this post pretty short and sweet.

[Insert Disclaimer Here.]
As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.

On the billboard as guest stars tonight…
Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, Titus Welliver as Man in Black, Allison Janney as Woman, Kenton Duty as Teenage Boy, Ryan Bradford as Boy in Black, Lela Loren as Claudia, and Ivo Nandi as Oldest Hunter.

Maggie says: C.J. Cregg???
Trust me, guys: I share your excitement. I loved West Wing like 95% of our readers. But before we get to CJ…

I had to laugh a little bit when I saw “Boy in Black” listed as a guest star. Although, I suppose that at some point, Man in Black was “boy in black,” but it seems a little ridiculous to me to cast someone with such a name. We’ve seen Kenton Duty as “teenage boy” before. He’s the blond kid who keeps appearing randomly, laughing at Flocke at one point and reminding him of the rules (whatever they are). Many are speculating that teenage boy is Jacob, and I’m definitely in that camp. Perhaps tonight will answer the question of what teenage boy is (an apparition?) and why his hands were covered in blood the first time we saw him (CREEPY). Plan on answers, folks.

To the point that there are two young boys on the island, it would stand to reason that they have a parent figure. I’m guessing this is where Allison Janey (formerly of West Wing fame) as “woman” fits in.

"Flamingo."
I’ll be honest, though. I’m more than a little WORRIED that they have cast CJ to be on Lost. I don’t know about you, but ever since West Wing, I have had a hard time separating Allison Janney from CJ. At some point in the last 6 years, I read that many well-known actors have come to the Lost producers since the show began, asking if they could guest star. And they’ve purposefully NOT cast them on the show because they want the characters to be the focus, not the easily-recognized actors, which might cause some confusion. So it is super interesting that Allison Janney is coming in, no matter what the role, because she is recognizable and definitely pegged as CJ Cregg for me for ever and ever.

But back to her role tonight. I’m guessing that “woman” translates into MOM. I think Allison Janney is playing Mom…to both Jacob and MIB. I’m still convinced that Jake and MIB are bros. Tonight’s story is going to be very interesting. Remember, MIB (as Flocke) made a comment about his crazy Mom a few episodes back. He told Sawyer that he was once a man and knows how it is to “feel joy, anger, fear, and experience betrayal” and to “lose someone you love.” And he told Kate that he once had a “crazy” mother, who caused him issues he is still trying to get over. CJ = MOM = Crazy? Perhaps.

TV Guide says…
The motives of John Locke are finally explained.

Maggie says…are we finally going to get a name for MIB??
We have a fairly good understanding of what MIB wants to do: kill the candidates and leave the island that has had him trapped for so long. But we don’t know how he got here, why he feels such desperation, and how long this has been going on. Tonight will probably change this. Not to sound like a broken record, but you should probably be really really excited right about now. The potential for this episode is huge.

Questions from the Audience
Dharma Blog reader Dan inquired what timeline MIB and Jacob originally lived in. And the truth is, we have no clue. NO clue. There were hieroglyphics in one of the underground tunnels our characters have been in that depicted the smoke monster…but that means little to nothing. Why? Because, if I understand the MIB right, he has spent DECADES, nay CENTURIES, nay MILLENIA, switching into different forms/different people…all in an attempt to get off the island. So, the actor Titus Welliver is just playing ONE iteration of MIB, not ‘the original’. And I’m guessing that during the Egyptian times (hello, limited knowledge about Egpytians…), MIB took the form of an Egyptian (?) and at times, went all SMOKEY on everyone.

So…this all means that if we are getting back to the ORIGINAL ORIGINAL MIB tonight, we’ll finally have an understanding of the age of the island. I’m thinking B.C. ish. Maybe Biblical “ADAM AND EVE” generation is pretty darn close. And we’re going to find out why MIB is so angry. And feels so betrayed. And who he lost (per his comment to Sawyer). And what crazy issues his Mom caused (per his comment to Kate). And the whole cycle of his reiteration, generation after generation, will begin…because ____. Not sure. Something is going to happen. Deal with the devil? A Jacob v. Esau thing? A la your typical Biblical brother spat? Maybe. And so on. And so forth.

Quick tidbit on Esau
Since many theories about MIB are riding on his name being revealed as Esau, here is a quick Sunday School refresher:

- According to the Book of Genesis, Esau was the fraternal twin brother of Jacob.
- Their parents? Issac and Rebekah. Their grandparents? Abraham and Sarah.
- Esau was born first and when Jacob was born, he held onto Esau’s heel. This was seen as a sign that Jacob wanted to be born first and was trying to hold back Esau.
- As the first born, Esau was entitled to inherit the wealth of his father after his death.
- One day, Esau returned from an unsuccessful hunting trip and was famished. He saw that Jacob had been cooking lentils and he asked for a serving. Jacob asked him if he would be willing to sell his rights as the first-born son in exchange for a bowl of lentils. For some bizarre reason, Esau agreed.
- Regardless of whether Esau was being serious or flippant in selling off his birthright (he was hungry after a long day of hunting, after all), Jacob didn’t forget Esau’s promise and, with Rebekah’s help, tricked his aging father into giving Jacob the blessing that traditionally would been reserved for the first-born.
- After Jacob received blessing from their father, Esau vowed to kill Jacob. To protect Jacob, his mother arranged for him to live with her relatives in Haran. Jacob lived in Haran for about 20 years.

So, Maggie, what happened when Jacob returned home?!!??
Well, my little Dharma Blog readers, I’m going to keep that card in my pocket. Sure, you could google it…but how about instead, you just enjoy tonight’s episode and see if any of this Esau stuff comes to fruition. Then we can talk analogies between Jacob and Esau. Deal?

Come back tomorrow for Charlie’s review…it’ll be a doozy!

4.5 hours left. Let’s do this.

Namaste,
Maggie