TUIW Conversation: Lost – “The Substitute”

Each week, after taking a couple days to digest the episode and read what the blogs are says, we’re going to have a TUIW Conversation about Lost to try and unpack the episode, bounce theories off each other, and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on with our favorite group of TV castaways (sorry Gilligan!)

Jonah: Well, to paraphrase Strong Bad, it was like Discount Answer Warehouse on Lost this week. In fact, as Alan Sepinwall and others have pointed out, Smokey seemed almost amusingly interested in distributing answers to the mysteries of the island, even telling Richard he would never have kept anything from him. It may not be Jacob and a chalkboard, but its nice to see our endgame approaching with a character who wants to tell people what’s going on with the island. But where to start? With the candidates? The numbers? The little boy? Happy Locke and uptight Ben? What did you think, Michael? Were you as satisfied by “The Substitute” as I was? And, to give you a more substantive question than that, which candidate do you think is most likely to take Jacob’s place as protector of the island?

Michael: I was also pretty satisfied by “The Substitute,” particularly the revelation that our Losties were there as “candidates” for Jacob’s job. I’d say we know it ain’t gonna be Locke and apparently not Sawyer, and I see whichever Kwon it is (or both of them) bolting the first chance they get. That leaves Jack and Hurley. Hurley would be great, and remember, Jacob entrusted him with bringing his message to the Temple, but I don’t see him as a leader. I can’t quite see Jack having a sudden desire to do it either. What about Kate, who’s name wasn’t up there? This seems to be the big “goal” of the season, which will certainly lead to a lot of intrigue. This week, we also got a little bit more on who Smokey is, as well as the nature of Jacob’s “leadership.” Smokey claims to want no part in controlling the Island, and then there’s Jacob who wouldn’t say a word even to Richard, an immortal man who seems to have been his right hand man. What do you make of this? Is Jacob perhaps not as good as we thought?

J: Man, it sure does seem like working for Jacob is a tough job. Between Richard, who was apparently in the dark about a lot of things, and Ben, who never even met the guy, it seems like Jacob is, at best, yet another of Lost’s neglectful fathers. And yet, despite what Smokey was saying, I imagine that protecting the island is a stressful job. Between its healing properties, frozen donkey wheel for timetravelling, and mysterious statues (not to mention a homicidal pillar of black smoke), I bet there’s a more important purpose to being island protector than Smokey was letting on. Still, I think this just moved us further in the direction of “why these people?” Was Jacob justified in manipulating their lives to bring them to the island? Is there some higher purpose to it? Especially considering how much happier everyone seems to be without the island. Hurley is the luckiest guy in the world (with a bit of a benevolent streak), Rose is at peace with her fate, Ben may be self-important but he seemed more well-adjusted, and, of course, there’s AlternaLocke who is much more at peace with the universe. Jacob oozed patience and benevolence in “The Incident,” but the flashsideways, more than Smokey, are making him look much darker and more manipulative. One more AlternaPoint I’d like to make: given that so much of the on-island stuff was devoted to Locke and Sawyer, let’s not forget about how their paths are intertwined in the show’s established history. If AlternaLocke’s on good terms with his father, maybe AlternaSawyer’s family was never conned? What do you make of the sideways storyline? Is the new style of storytelling starting to gel for you?

M: AlternaLocke’s peace with his father may mean something for Sawyer, but so far, the motives for being on the plane from Sydney has been the same for each character, so I don’t know (Sawyer was there to kill a man he thought was the real Sawyer). I think “The Substitute” was the first chance we got to see the flashsideways as a nice juxtaposition of the Island. AlternaLocke is the exact opposite of the dead Locke who’s dying thought was as depressing as it gets. Changing the subject a bit, I’d like to address an idea that one of our readers had involving the nature of Smokey and Jacob’s war. Last season, Charles Widmore told Locke that a war was coming and he needed to be on the right side. Additionally, Ben and Widmore at least twice argued about “breaking the rules.” These so called rules were mentioned by the mysterious boy that Smokey chased after. Do you think Ben and Widmore were a previous string of fighters for Smokey and Jacob? Is this war part of a mystical balance between good and evil that needs to be maintained? Not to be too vague again, but what do you think about this?

J: It certainly seems like Widmore may be on Team Smokey, although he didn’t seem to want Locke to die. Also, don’t forget that Ben knew pretty much nothing about Smokey and his true identity and he had never met Jacob. I’ve always imagined the Widmore-Ben feud to be more of a personal squabble, but I’m interested to see how it all ties in. I think there’s something to this notion of balance, which leads me to my big candidate/ending theory: that the show will end with Jack taking his place as the protector of the island, while Smokey remains eternally trapped as Locke. Their rivalry continues, even though the real Locke has turned Jack into a believer. I’m also starting to warm up to the theory that the flashsideways are actually flashforwards to the Losties’ happy endings. Whatever sinks the island and resets the timeline hasn’t happened yet and will end up being the result of the coming war. How do I reconcile these two theories or the fact that neither makes much sense? Well, uh…I’ll get back to you. Any other theories to share? Like is there a specific reason why Smokey needed Sawyer and Richard or is it just because they’re (respectively) a candidate and an old acquaintence? Do you think Sawyer is really on Team Smokey, or does he, like Doc Jensen thinks, have one last long con left in him?

M: Interesting theory! Jack and Locke have long been rivals, and what a twist would that be to have Jack be the one that needs to protect the Island with Locke wanting to leave! I’m not so sure about Sawyer. Maybe when things get hairy, he’ll start to defect, but I think the promise of getting the hell away from that Island and the sad memories of Juliet is his top priority right now. We briefly mentioned the theory I have, which is that the lives of the characters are so different in the flashsideways because Jacob never touched them on account of the Island having been sunk. The whole in that theory is Hurley, who’s happy and successful, even though Jacob didn’t touch him until after 815 crashed. Maybe it has something to do with the numbers not being cursed since Jacob didn’t attach a meaning to them? I think “The Substitute” probably gave us more episodes than any other episode, but there’s still a ton of questions to be answered. The good thing though is that I think we’re working towards them. I’ve heard some grumbling about starting new mysteries with the end in sight, but patience is a virtue. Did anyone think everything would be answered in one episode? I think the major mysteries of Lost will all make sense by the time we get to the finale, and I have to say, if we have more episodes like “The Substitute,” it’s going to be a very fun ride.