Dharma Station Break

Sorry it's been so quiet this week - there'll be a new column up by this evening!

Two For The Road (S2, ep. 20)

The Rewatch Column for "Two For The Road" is poured, stirred and chilled for your enjoyment at Chud.com! Click here to read it.

As always, I encourage you to Digg it if you enjoy it.

This Day In History

Five years ago today, September 22nd, the first episode of "Lost" was broadcast here in America.

If you'd have told me on that night that five years in the future I would be penning over-long missives on Lost's literary, theological, scientific and philosophical underpinnings I would have laughed heartily in your face for several minutes.

If you haven't jumped on the rewatch train I encourage you to do so. If you have, and you're enjoying these articles, I encourage you to add your thoughts, comments, criticisms and favorite baking recipes to the comments.

S.O.S. (S2, ep. 19)

The Rewatch Column for "S.O.S." is stuffed and mounted on Chud.com for your viewing pleasure. If you enjoy it, feel free to link to it!

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Too Much Information 6: Gnarly Gnosticism and Mondo Manichaeism

"I remembered that I was a son of kings,
and my free soul longed for its natural state.
I remembered the pearl,
on account of which I was sent to Egypt.
Then I began charming it,
the formidable and hissing serpent.
I caused it to slumber and to fall asleep,
for my father's name I named over it,
and the name of our second in command (our double),
and of my mother, the queen of the East.
Then I snatched away the pearl,
and I turned to go back to my father's house.
And their filthy and unclean clothing,
I stripped off and left it in their country."

- "The Hymn of the Pearl," excerpted from The Acts of Thomas

If you're an obsessive Lost fan like yours truly then you'll recognize the name of Thomas the Apostle from the Season 5 episode "316" in which Ben discusses Caravaggio's painting "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" with the show's resident physician/skeptic, Jack Shepard.

BEN: Thomas the Apostle. When Jesus wanted to return to Judea, knowing that he would probably be murdered there, Thomas said to the others, "Let us also go, that we might die with him." But Thomas was not remembered for this bravery. His claim to fame came later... when he refused to acknowledge the resurrection. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. The story goes... that he needed to touch Jesus' wounds to be convinced.
JACK: So was he?
BEN: Of course he was. We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack.

Ben draws a nifty parallel between Thomas and both himself and Jack in that scene. Thomas had other claims to fame though - ones that Lost doesn't discuss as explicitly, but which may be pertinent to the show's larger themes/preoccupations/interests.

Thomas the Apostle was also known by two other names: Doubting Thomas and Didymus. Both Thomas and Didymus mean can be translated to mean 'twin,' and instances of twinning and/or mirroring are littered all over this show. The Acts of Thomas and The Gospel of Thomas, both apocryphal texts, are named after Senor Didymus, and are considered to be 'gnostic' gospels. In order to explain to my latest Wildly Nutty Theory I'm going to talk a bit about Gnostic and Manichaen beliefs. This might seem a little dry to some of you, but I'll ask you to bite the bullet, take your medicine, grin and bear it, or pick another applicable cliche while I take your hand and walk you through what I believe are some of the keys to discerning the nature of Jacob, the MiB, and the Island Itself.

"Let none read the gospel according to Thomas, for it is the work, not of one of the twelve apostles, but of one of Mani's three wicked disciples."
—Cyril of Jerusalem, Cathechesis V (4th century)

Gnosticism and Manichaeism (Manichaeism being, depending on who you consult, either an 'offshoot' of Gnosticism or a similar system of belief that developed parallel to the Gnostic tradition, named after its apparent founder, Mani) were considered to be heretical by other Christians. Despite many similarities between, say, The Gospel of John and The Gospel of Thomas, neither The Gospel of Thomas nor The Acts of Thomas are included in what we consider today to be 'The Bible.' In fact, the Bible that you and I might refer to today looks very little like the sort of Bible that would have existed during Thomas' time. In that era, any Holy Books were not kept bound and ordered in a specific, chronological order, but rather stored as scrolls without the order imposed upon it by those who later assembled the Bible that we know today.

So why is that Thomas was deemed 'apocryphal,' while John was admitted into the rarified company of the King James version? Some claim that it's because of Thomas' cosmological worldview - a gnostic and/or Manichaen, dualistic worldview that more 'conservative' Christians found heretical:

For Thomas there are only two realms of existence: the material realm and the spiritual realm. The spiritual realm is a blissful reality of goodness, life, and light; it is the "Kingdom of the Father". The material realm is a reality of evil, death, and darkness...

While most people in this material world, according to this ancient belief, are lifeless, soulless beings (little more than animated corpses) created to serve the Lion and his rulers; a few people are actually spiritual beings in disguise. These chosen few — though clothed in a mortal body — are actually immortal pre-existent beings of light and "Children of the Living Father" who have become intoxicated and fallen asleep under the weight of the material world and its vices. These solitary elect, upon hearing the words of the Living Jesus, will then shake off their slumber and — upon the death of the material body — will return to the Kingdom of the Father.

Some of these themes seem relevant to Lost. Certainly the two realms of the Island and the 'real world' echo the notion of the material world and the spiritual world. The Gnostic/Manichaen notion of the material world (the world of 'the body') being somehow 'corrupt' or imperfect finds a home in the way the castaways are depicted as having been brought low by the world around them, pre-Island. The idea of a 'slumbering elect' being awoken by the "Living Jesus" to return to the 'Kingdom of the Father' echoes in the wake of Jacob's appearances to the castaways, the ways in which he's shown to interact with each of them and the ways in which they've subsequently 'awoken' to the reality of their suffering and the longing to do something about it.

But there's more if we delve a little deeper in the Manichaen end of the pool:

In the beginning...the two "natures" or "substances", light and obscurity, good and evil, God and matter, coexisted, separated by a frontier. In the North reigned the Father of Greatness...in the South, the Prince of Darkness...

As we've seen, Jacob and his Others reside to the North on the Island. By contrast, the MiB/Smoke Monster makes his home in the South.

...the "disorderly motion" of matter drove the Prince of Darkness toward the upper frontier of his kingdom. Seeing the splendor of light, he is fired by the desire to conquer it. It is then that the Father decides that he will himself repulse the adversary.

The Adversary, of course, brings to mind God's companion in The Book of Job, a book of the Bible that Lost references near-explicitly in the opening scene of Season 5's finale, 'The Incident.' But the description above also neatly encapsulates the little we've seen of the conflict between Jacob and the MiB.

[The Father]...projects from himself, the Mother of Life, who...projects a new hypostasis, the Primordial Man...With his five sons, who are...his "soul" and "armor" made from five lights, the Primordial Man descends to the frontier. He challenges the darkness, but he is conquered, and his sons are devoured by the demons...

Here's where I stretch things a little, in order to make a larger connection: (1) The Mother of Life calls to mind the idea of fertility, the statue on the Island, the baby-making troubles therein. (2) This talk about the 'Father' projecting a Primordial Man to challenge the darkness, and that Man's conquering, echoes the journey of one John Locke, who was touched by Jacob, who was rumored to be some kind of Savior, and who was 'conquered' by the MiB. Locke's form has been assumed by the still-mysterious Island Adversary and his identity used to bring about the death of the 'Father.' Locke's 'sons,' the other castaways left alive at the end of Season 5, have been devoured by figurative demons, by ghosts of the past and an aching desire to wipe the slate completely clean.

This defeat marks the beginning of the cosmic "mixture", but at the same time it insures the final triumph of God. For obscurity (matter) now possesses a portion of light...and the Father, preparing its deliverance, at the same time arranges for his definitive victory against darkness.

In terms of Gnostic belief, it would seem as though the defeat of the 'Father' at the hand of the Prince of Darkness results in a mixing of black and white, of material and spiritual - a reunification of sorts. That kind of coexistence is echoed in the various Dharma sigils we've seen scattered throughout the show and specifically in the eyes of Locke during Claire's freaky-ass dream sequence from Season 1. It's worth noting that Mani's belief system was apparently influenced by Buddhism.

More specifically, as it might relate to Lost, the end of 'The Incident' suggested that Jacob's death was all part of the plan, so to speak. As the Darkness has devoured the light, it has ingested the light and made the light a part of it. A communion between the two dualistic halves would appear to be the answer for the conflict. And this is another echo of Lost's preoccupations - communication with 'The Other,' understanding between differing sides, reunification first through conflict and then eventual recognition that 'The Other' is simply a part of the Self. This brings us from Manichaeism to Gnosticism.

Where Manichaeism and Gnosticism can be said to split definitively is over this concept of clear-cut dualism. Manichaeism posits two co-equal forces, dark and light. We'll call this 'radical dualism'. Gnosticism, on the other hand, typically posits that all things are emanations from an Ultimate God, a kind of platonic ideal of divinity. We'll call this 'mitigated' dualism.

As one travels further away from the Ultimate God, the fabric of being begins to degrade and break down. Think of this in terms of making photocopies. The original is clear, distinct. Any subsequent copy will be less clear and distinct. And copies of copies will degrade further and further, but each of those copies captures the essence of the original, no matter how degraded.

So, under a pure 'Gnostic' system of belief, there are no 'sides.' All things, even a 'false' god (or 'demiurge') comes from the original Source. In this system of belief, the 'Prince of Darkness' is a degraded copy of the 'True God," and has been viewed as an 'evil' god:

The demiurge as a tyrannical God having caused the imperfect material world and all of its suffering, is...not real but a construct or illusion of the human mind since no secondary creator God is necessary or of high importance as everything is eternal or emanated and can not be created or destroyed. The demiurge typically creates a group of co-actors named 'Archons', who preside over the material realm and, in some cases, present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it.

This again brings to mind the MiB/Smoke Monster, and more specifically the various 'ghostly' forms which the MiB has taken. His 'Archon' appearances in the forms of Yemi, Alex, Dave, etc. have emphasized to the castaways that they are not free, that their personal anchors of guilt and fear and shame will never leave them. The notion that 'the demiurge' is a construct of the human mind fits nicely in with the last episode we've rewatched, 'Dave,' where the title character was an apparent creation of Hurley's mind set on influencing Hurley with a solipsistic, selfish, 'evil' worldview. Under the view of 'mitigated dualism' the demiurge is not evil, simply flawed and unable to see or comprehend the full picture any more than you or I.

I'm going to suggest that this is the path Lost is taking. Rather than set up a fight between 'good' and 'evil,' the show is instead illustrating the struggle between 'free will'/progress and determinism/entropy. The MiB isn't a 'bad guy,' instead, the MiB is limited by the very flaws it's so good at perceiving and exploiting in others. It can't see past humankinds failings, or its own, and this is not a choice to be 'evil,' but rather the essential character of the entity. Jacob, by contrast, takes the longer view. He sees the potential in the freedom to choose, and while he recognizes the flaws in man and in the world, he doesn't see those flaws as permanent or insurmountable. Thus the line: "It only ends once. Everything that happens before that is just progress."

In the Rewatch column for “Dave” I suggested the idea that the Island is a kind of ‘dark god’ – a force that may not be entirely benevolent. Having plowed through all of this I'm inclined to change my mind. The more I consider all of this, the more I've begun to think that the MiB and Jacob are meant (metaphorically, in part) to represent two sides emanating from the Ultimate God described by the Gnostics.

In “Just Spitballin’” I suggested that the Island is analogous to Solaris, the incomprehensible, powerful planet imagined by Stanislaw Lem in his novel of the same name. I still believe this analogy is apt, and now I'm even more inclined to push it on all of you. If Jacob and the MiB represent emanations from an Ultimate Source, then that ultimate source is the Island.

In other words, metaphorically-speaking, the Island IS God. The God. The Ultimate, incomprehensible Deity. The Island is the Source. It is the well-spring of Creation. It is good and evil, black and white, 'right' and 'wrong,' progress and entropy. Like Solaris, like the Gnostic conception of God, it cannot be understood, it can only be encountered.

Catch up on Too Much Information!

Too Much Information 5: Mirrors & Delays
Too Much Information 4: Gods and Musicians - How The Mythologizing of The Beatles Helps Us Understand the Reality of the Dharma Initiative
Too Much Information 3: Loopholes and Prison-feet
Too Much Information 2: Who is the MiB?
Too Much Information: Stimulus/Response and Control Theory, or How I Learned To Start Behaving And Love Course Correction

Dave (S2, ep. 18)

The Rewatch column for "Dave" is now up at Chud.com - read it with your bestest imaginary friend.

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Too Much Information 5: Mirrors and Delays

TMI 5: Mirrors and Delays

Welcome back to "Too Much Information," the companion column to "Lost: The Rewatch" at Chud.com.

In this edition I'll be briefly reexamining two aspects of "Lockdown." You can read my initial column for the episode at Chud. Just follow the link in the last post from Thursday. Once you've done that, come on back and let's get obsessive!

MIRRORS

I've spent a lot of time during the rewatch pointing out instances where events, characters, or themes have acted as mirrors to reflect and/or distort other events, characters and themes. One of these mirrorings occurs in "One Of Them," with that episode serving to reflect Sayid and Ben's characters between Season 2 and Season 5. You can read my ramblings on that instance of mirroring right HERE.

It only occured to me after I'd already written up "Lockdown," but there's another possible mirror in that episode that's in the same style as the Ben/Sayid mirror I wrote about above. Let's consider Ben and Locke.

In "Lockdown" we're shown John becoming literally and figuratively isolated, both in flashback and on the Island. That isolation is mirrored in the Season 5 episode "The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham."

In "Lockdown," Locke's isolated space is the section of the Swan that closes around him, locking him in. It's both literal and figurative, in that Locke's Swan isolation can be seen as an extended metaphor for how Locke becomes isolated and cut off in his flashback. In "Jeremy Bentham" that space is the motel room John has rented out. He's become isolated and cut off in his efforts to reunite the Oceanic 6.

In "Lockdown" Ben comes to John's rescue in that space. In "Jeremy Bentham" Ben appears to come to the rescue, and instead murders Locke. Interestingly (and this is the point where you call the men in white coats for me), "Lockdown" is the seventh-to-last episode of Season 2. "Jeremy Bentham" is the seventh episode of Season 5.

What does this mean? It means that I've fallen prey to psychosis, most likely. But in a broader sense the mirroring I'm talking about is very much present throughout this show, and I suspect that there is a thematic and/or structural reason for the writers to so consistently reinforce this across the seasons. If you go back and read the Season 2 columns you'll see that I've attempted to point out some instances of this mirroring. What I'd love to hear are theories about the purpose of this. Why do you think Lost is attempting to do something that's simultaneously difficult/ambitious and obscure/strange?

If I were to float an idea about this, I'd suggest that the effort at mirroring is meant to represent and to strengthen the show's internal preoccupations with notions of 'The Other,' with reflection (meaning reflection upon one's life, the ways in which people can reflect each other, and the way in which events can reflect other events) and with Apophenia, which is the compulsion to find order or meaning in the random/meaningless.

Like Seasons 2 and 5, I suspect that Seasons 3 and 4 will also mirror one another. I'll point out potential instances of this phenomenon as it pops up. But you already know too much about what I think. What do you think?

DELAYS

In my write-up of "Lockdown" I speculated on how and why the Dharma food pallet got to the Island. I suggested that (a) delivery was automated, (b) Dharma wasn't aware of its operations becoming compromised, or (c) were aware, but continued to make necessary food drops because of the importance of the Swan.

Chud commentor 'Francis Wolcott' (whose name makes me fear for any Ladies Of The Night in his general vicinity, but who seems decidely non-sociopathic in his posts) noted that there's another possibility I didn't mention and that, in retrospect, should have been obvious (or at least worth bringing up):

The unique time corridors that apparently surround the Island and make traveling to or from it such a difficulty and a hazard may have caused a significant lag between when the food was dropped and when it arrived on the Island. That makes a lot of sense (in terms of the rules of this show at any rate - it probably sounds like unhinged crazy-talk to anyone who doesn't know how far off the map of relative normalcy Lost has gone over the past two seasons) and I thought it was worth pointing out.

Also worth pointing out: two of this blog's commentors have floated ideas about the food drop in the blog post for "Lockdown," and they're worth a read.

Next week will hopefully bring three new Rewatch columns, which I intend to start in on this weekend. If you're reading and enjoying this blog and/or the Chud.com columns I encourage you to forward them on to friends, to give me free advertising on the web sites you frequent, and to tattoo your backs with the Back To The Island web address.

Catch up on Too Much Information!

Too Much Information 4: Gods and Musicians - How The Mythologizing of The Beatles Helps Us Understand the Reality of the Dharma Initiative

Too Much Information 3: Loopholes and Prison-feet

Too Much Information 2: Who is the MiB?

Too Much Information: Stimulus/Response and Control Theory, or How I Learned To Start Behaving And Love Course Correction

Lockdown (S2, ep. 17)

The rewatch Column for "Lockdown" is up at Chud.com. Take a gander, why dontcha?

The Crash

Posted here is the fourth limited edition print inspired by the show and created by artist Eric Tan, titled 'The Crash.' I managed to nab one of these off of DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com before they sold out, but you can still pick up a Hurley/Numbers-centric piece, as well as a rendering of a Dharma van. Just click HERE.

I'm loving these. What do you think?

The Whole Truth (S2, ep. 16)

The latest Rewatch Column for "The Whole Truth" is up at Chud.com. Go forth and rub your eyeballs all over it.

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