6x05 Lighthouse: Ginger Ale Talk

Overall reaction (and gripes!)
RACHEL: Okay.  Maybe it was just me but I was kind of.. underwhelmed by last night’s episode? I loved the Hurley parts, the Lighthouse was cool (though just more questions on that), seeing sideways-Jack reconcile with his son was sweet and I liked the Jin/crazy Claire scenes too.  But I was waiting for.. more?
SUSAN: I agree.  It was…meh.  I think I’m coming to expect that now.
RACHEL: Yeah…and then, the Numbers.  At first, it was exciting to see them pop up unexpectedly.   But now they’re everywhere and attached their names and we still don’t know why! What’s the significance of that certain sequence of numbers and them being the Losties’ candidate numbers?
SUSAN: Honestly, I’m still sticking with nothing.  They wanted to make them suddenly seem significant when they originally had no significance and this is where it has led them.
RACHEL: It feels that way.  That we’re just supposed to accept that it’s all one big coincidence at this point.
SUSAN: Yeah, also along those same lines, can we give Smokey a name already? I tire of the obvious avoidance.  All Claire can call him is “my friend”.  Yes, we get it, he’s not John Locke, so he then has no name? And Claire has been calling him “my friend” for three years?
RACHEL: I know! And I’m sure everyone knew that it was FLocke coming anyway.  Seriously, just tell us his name already! I kept waiting for a last minute reveal.
SUSAN: Yes.  I get it, I mean, it’s supposed to be a big moment.  The name will most certainly mean something but purposely avoiding the big reveal only hurts the storyline. 
RACHEL: I agree.  This prolonged wait makes me worry that once they do finally reveal his name.  I’ll be like.. that’s it.  
SUSAN: Also, I’m tired of the attempt to make it more appealing to people who don’t know the storyline.  All of the things that don’t really need to be said but are less-than-subtle reminders about things that happened in past seasons.
RACHEL: I know.  I mean, I don’t mind the little throw backs to season 1 because it’s the final season and maybe they’re being all sentimental about it.  But I’d much rather get answers to questions we’ve had since season 1.  We’re 5 episodes in and we haven’t learned as much as I thought we would’ve by now.
SUSAN: Yeah,  the whole format is weird.  Like, last week it was the awkwardly interjected moments of Jacob touching them - something Lost never does! They don’t just throw in “flashback” scenes like that.  And then this week I was noticing when Jack stepped on the inhaler, we all KNOW that’s Shannon’s inhaler and yet Hurley says, “It’s Shannon’s”.  Now, was that neccessary?  No, and it’s detracting from the style we’ve grown accustomed to, where we get to figure things out for ourselves with clues in the right direction.  I think what I’m saying is, it’s been dumbed down.

More questions.
RACHEL: Also, according to Lostpedia and other blogs, the name Wallace was next to 108 at the Lighthouse.
SUSAN: Hmm, do we know a Wallace? What was Walt’s last name?
RACHEL: Nope but I was just checking that [Walt’s last name].  Should be either Dawson (after Michael) or Lloyd (after his mom).  But whoever this Wallace is/was, his name was crossed out.  AND another interesting thing, Kate’s name was on the list this time.   Number 51 and not crossed out.
SUSAN: Interesting. What does that mean?  I’m getting annoyed because I’m afraid some of these things are mistakes. 
RACHEL: I know.. It’s sad, so far all we’ve done is complain about this episode!
SUSAN: LOL.  I think, for me, these were all things that have been bothering me this season and just sort of came to a head last night.  I kid you not, at the end I was yelling at the tv.  Like “JUST TELL US HIS DAMN NAME ALREADY”
RACHEL: Exactly.  Like I’ve been trying to remain optimistic and I was SO sure that things would pick up last night.  So now I’m disappointed cause it didn’t.
SUSAN: OH no, I remember the point when I really lost it.  Remember last week? how I’d anticipated the Adam and Eve explanation? I was so excited, how it would match up.  And then, last night, when I realized where they were and Hurley even WENT UP TO Adam and Eve, I thought “Oh!  Here it comes!  This will make the episode worth it!” Then…no.  It was just Hurley with a classic Hurley-wink at Lost theorizers and while that’s been cute in the past, it’s not gonna cut it in the final season. 
RACHEL: I know!! When he put that out there.. in my head I was thinking, okay aaaaaaand? We’ve been theorizing that for years already.
SUSAN: Exactly! YEARS.  What’s ironic is that they fought so hard to get an end date so they can wrap things up appropriately and they aren’t wrapping things up at all. 
RACHEL: Seriously!
SUSAN: Okay, so… we should write a letter.
RACHEL: YES - demanding answers ASAP.

Better off..
SUSAN: So is it just me or does almost everyone’s life get better without Jacob in it?  Locke is marrying the woman he loves.  Jack is a daddy now, and being daddy has helped him through his issues just as Helen helps Locke through his issues.
RACHEL: Hurley is no longer cursed. 
SUSAN: Yes, he’s Mr. Optimist now.
SUSAN: Claire is (presumably) going to have Aaron and raise him. 
RACHEL: Sayid, also presumably, will find Nadia. 
SUSAN: So far Kate and Sawyer are just living out their track. 

Upcoming face-offs
RACHEL: You know how Jacob said that something bad was headed to the Temple?
SUSAN: Yeah, I took that to be Flocke and his gang. 
RACHEL: Yes, I was thinking FLocke and/or Claire too.  But also, does that mean Miles is gonna die?!
SUSAN: I’m actually starting to think Sayid will be the one who kills Miles and as he’s dying, Miles will say how he knew something was wrong because he never felt Sayid die. 
RACHEL: I could see that happening actually.  But I don’t really want Miles to die! Can’t it be Kate instead?
SUSAN: Hahahaha.  Well, Jacob doesn’t seem to care much about her so I’m sure something bad will happen.
RACHEL: I think so too.  I’m expecting a showdown between Claire and Kate because you know Kate will tell Claire that she took care of Aaron (at least I think she would?) and then Claire will go psycho on her.
SUSAN: Definitely.

Which side is “good”?
SUSAN: You know, what’s weird.  Something I liked about last nights episode (crazy!) is that I find myself less certain about the side I’m on.  The off-island lives without Jacob in them seem…good.  Sayid doesn’t seem “sick” and Claire, I mean yeah, she killed the guy but they tortured her, like Sayid, and presumably wanted to kill her, like Sayid.
RACHEL: I know what you mean.  The “good” side definitely seems less clear.  Because it seems like Jacob has been manipulating them their entire lives. 
SUSAN: Yes and possibly not for the better.
RACHEL: But I don’t think I’m on board with FLocke being the good guy either.  Maybe they’re both bad and they’re both manipulators and the Losties just need to get away from them both as soon as possible.  It seems like they’re just pawns in whatever their war/game is. 
SUSAN: Yeah, I feel like, Jacob might represent the greater good and Flocke might represent the individual good. 
RACHEL: Ohh, interesting!

Other things we noticed
RACHEL: Back to FLocke but do you think that Claire came to the assumption on her own about the Others having Aaron? Or do you think that’s a lie that maybe FLocke was feeding her for his own purposes?
SUSAN: Definitely a lie.
RACHEL: Agreed.  Also another thing I noticed - she addressed her father and her friend as two separate beings.  That could just be her craziness talking but I thought that was worth noting.  She knew that Locke wasn’t John Locke and seemed to just.. accept that. 
SUSAN: True. 

Flash-sideways Christian
SUSAN: Something I thought was interesting - David was really upset at Christian’s funeral.  Why? Why was it that David was close with him, even though Jack wasn’t?
RACHEL: Oh yeah!  Even Jack was surprised by that. 
SUSAN: Also, what do we expect will come of Jack’s mom reading about Claire and why didn’t the same thing happen in the other timeline?
RACHEL: Another timeline change? That actually bugged me.  They bring up her name being in the will for a split second and then.. nothing.
SUSAN: Yeah… I get that they need a way for Jack to know he has a sister but…that’s huge if it happened in this timeline and not the other.  Did Christian not have a will in the other? Why would he add Claire this time and not the other?  It doesn’t make sense.  He cared about Claire in the other timeline too. 
RACHEL: Exactly.  Unless.. and this is totally a stretch but maybe in her (Jack’s mom’s ) grief at losing her husband AND son, she didn’t bother to look for it initially.  But then Jack came back.. so yeah, I don’t know.
SUSAN: Maybe.

The “infection”
SUSAN: I didn’t pick up on this play on words.  It’s basically what Claire’s said: ”If there’s one thing that’ll kill you around here it’s infection.”
RACHEL: Yes! Does that mean she’s dead and Sayid too? Or is it more metaphorical, like everything they once were has died?
SUSAN: But couldn’t she just be..obsessed?  The way Rousseau was with finding her child. 
RACHEL: True it could be that but something about Claire, at least to me, seems more .. evil or off? More so than Rousseau’s obsession. 
SUSAN: Maybe.  I think I may be slightly biased but I like Jacob less and less.  It was creepy to me, the way he knew just what to say to get Jack to do exactly what he wanted. 
RACHEL: It was and the realization that he’s been watching them via that mirror presumably.  
SUSAN: Yes, plotting.  I know Flocke is “playing” too but his way seems…more fair? Oh also, I liked seeing Kate stick with her choice for once.  Sawyer doesn’t want her, Jack does, but she didn’t run to Jack.  She held to it and went after Claire.  For a VERY brief moment, I had a little bit less Kate hate. 
RACHEL: Agreed.  I was glad that she didn’t go with Jack. 

Jack and Hurley’s .. candidacy
SUSAN:

“The Lighthouse doesn’t cast light outward. It casts light inward, and reveals the state of your heart. For Jack Shephard, his heart is still locked up in his childhood home, his father’s house, his past, and he won’t be free and realized until he leaves all of it behind.” (via Doc Jensen’s recap)

I agree and I don’t agree.  I like the idea of it focusing inward but it seems like when people do reach that point, of fixing what would appear in their mirror, they die.
RACHEL: Agreed.  I like the idea of focusing inward too and letting go of their past issues but yeah, it doesn’t seem to lead them anywhere?  Redemption does seem to equal death for the Losties. 
SUSAN: So if, when people die, they are redeemed and possibly recruited to Jacob’s team then it would stand to reason Hurley is the only possible leader.
RACHEL: Possibly?  But at the same time, Jacob does seem to find Jack extremely important.
SUSAN: Honestly, I’d prefer Hurley.  I’m tired of Jack’s whiny tantrums.  It was nice, in this episode, to see Hurley stand up for himself and tell Jacob he doesn’t like secrets and wanted to be told up front. 
RACHEL: Yes it was.  All of Jacob’s actions in this episode - why all the secrets and manipulations?  He knows that danger is headed toward the Temple, he knows the MIB is out there and probably knows that he’s “recruiting”.  Why not just tell Jack what he needs to do, similarly to how he tells Hurley.  He already got Jack’s attention with the “you have what it takes” line, Jack probably would’ve listened to Jacob through Hurley at that point.
SUSAN: Has Jacob appeared to Hurley when he’s not alone? I was just thinking…
RACHEL: Yes, with Dogan
SUSAN: Ohhh right.
RACHEL: I just had a thought! Is that why Dogan can’t kill Sayid?  He’s forced to protect them due to their candidate status?  Because even in Sayid’s current state.. Jacob hasn’t crossed off his name.
SUSAN: Ooo - well, I has assumed his name was there because Jacob died and could no longer cross off names.  But I like that, the protection clause.
RACHEL: Yeah because I was wondering, if they think Sayid is so evil, why not just kill him?  Justin (the Other) had no problems with killing Claire which contradicts what Dogen said about the pill.  How it needs to be taken “willingly”. 
SUSAN: So it could be more lies.
RACHEL: Yes because poison is poison? I don’t see how taking it willingly would make a difference.
SUSAN: I like it.