LOST: The Incident

Jacob

Yeah, so Jacob is this guy living in the base of the statue. (long pause)  Apparently he's been there since at least the Black Rock days, and there's another guy(?) there who wants to kill him, but is bound by some rule or another saying he can't.  Oi.

So, obviously this other guy is meant to be, if not directly, at least a metaphor for the Devil, Satan, Beezlebubba, whatever.  That much is clear by the way he manipulates Ben into doing his dirty work, and hence, finding his loophole.

But what of Jacob?  I'll have to do a little more pondering on this one, to be honest.  But lets look at where else we see Jacob in the episode, namely when he shows up to each of the returning five, plus old JL, and somebody else....

Jacob + Kate

Young (maybe 10?) Kate steals a lunchbox from the store.  Jacob steps in and pays for it.  "No harm done. You're not going to steal anymore, are you, Katie?" She answers no, and he goes on his way.

Jacob + Sawyer

Again, a young Sawyer is found writing the infamous letter to the real "Sawyer" when his pen runs dry.  Jacob appears and provides him with another pen, and some words of consolation.  And thats about it.

Jacob + Sayid

Sayid and Nadia in the city, walking to someplace or another.  As they step out into the street, Jacob stops Sayid asking for help, leaving Nadia out in the road as Sayid goes back to the corner.  Just then a car (looked like two cars were involved actually, the one who hit her, and another that sped away) hits Nadia, and she dies.  Not before telling Sayid, "Take me home."

This one is curious to me.  Did Jacob do this to save Sayid from being run over? Or to facilitate Nadia's death? Both or neither?

Jacob + Alana

Now, not part of the equation until now, but here it is nonetheless.  She's lying in a bed, covered in bandages.  She opens her eye to find Jacob.  They speak in a foreign language (Russian? Some other Eastern European tongue?)  "I'm here because I need your help.  Can you do that?" She nods.

So she has dealt with him before?  It would seem so.

Jacob + Locke

Jacob is sitting on a bench reading "Everything that rises must converge" (significance unknown to me right now, but I'm sure somebody has already covered it).  Locke suddenly falls from his fathers office window to the ground.  Jacob walks over to him, wakes him up (brings him back to life?) and says "I'm sorry this happened to you" and walks away.

Jacob + Sun

At Sun and Jin's wedding,  Jacob appears in "the line" and offers him blessings in "excellent" Korean.  "Love is a very special thing, never take it for granted."  And he walks away.

Jacob + Jack

At Jack's first solo surgery, Christian corrects him and embarasses him in front of the team.  After getting ripped off by the vending machine, Jack calls him on it.  Christian basically tells Jack that he needs to believe in himself.  We hear the vending machine again, and Jacob gives Jack his Apollo bar.  "I guess it just needed a little push."

Jacob + Hurley

Hurley gets out of jail after the incident(!) at his house.  Outside in the cab is Jacob, and a guitar case.  He tells Hurley that he isn't cursed, but blessed, and that he isn't crazy.  He tells Hurley about the flight, and that he has a choice.  Jacob gets out of the cab and leaves the guitar.  "It's not mine."

So what is to be made of all this?

Jacob isn't bound to the island, per se, that much is clear.  The fact that he is there at each of these times and locations is evidence enough.  But the big question is....

Have we really been dealing with Jacob the whole time or the "other" dude?  By the way Alana reacts at the cabin, I think that the Christian Shepard apparition is not Jacob at all, but this other fellow, trying to weasel things to his own devices.  Ditto the Walt vision, Locke's father, all of it.  Including Claire.

If Richard is to be believed, Jacob simply allows things to unfold as they must, dropping advice and lending a slight hand where its required, but never really interfering in any concrete way.

It seems clear that most of the above encounters in one way or another facilitate later events on the island.  John's fall, Sawyer's letter, Jack's needing a push into leadership, Sayid joining forces with Ben, Hurley's mission to bring back the guitar case....  But Kate's encounter is a little less clear to me.....  It's clear that Jacob does want them back.  And we find out why.

"What about you?"

The bit with Ben is particularly telling.  It puts Ben and (the real) Locke on an even keel.  Neither have lead particularly special lives it would seem.  Ben has been (possibly) a disappointment to Jacob, and therefore Jacob just waited until his time was up as "the leader."

But what about the other "leaders?" like Eloise and Widmore?  Did they have a better connection to Jacob and therefore have a better insight than we know?  Too much reaching at this point.

"They're coming"

Right before evil-fake-Locke kicks Jacob into the fire, Jacob tells him, "They're coming."  We can only assume he means the Oceanic Five+2.  But to what end?

Or as he tells his pal at the beginning, "It only ends once, everything else is just progress."

Rose and Bernard

So the real question is... are these two the "skeletons in the cave?"  I'm going to wager "yes" on that one.  They've been warned that everyone might die, so maybe they go off to the cave to spend their final moments together? 

Jughead

Yeah there was other stuff going on, namely the usual Jack/Sawyer bickering over the women, Jack trying to take charge, Sawyer trying to hang on to what he's got and making the best of it.

Kind of a bummer that the episode ends on such a cliff hanger.  Usually there's some kind of morsel to be munched upon until NEXT YEAR!!! (sigh) but not so this time.  A big white flash and a "bonk" and thats it.

Obviously there is a lot I've left out, but the Jacob business is the real focus.  The significance of the Egyptian god, Richard's (Ricardus?) apparent Latin origins, just who is Alana working for, what's up with Rose and Bernard.... make a list.

I'm not really sure what to make of the new direction we're going in, either.  Either its going to be a very surreal and philosophical final season or I'm going to be sorely disappointed!