Got to hand it to ABC, this third season of LOST is a vast improvement over Season 2. Last night's episode -- 3.20: The Man Behind the Curtain -- gave us quite a few new startling revelations and, here it comes, our first introduction to Jacob!
Lost: Meet Jacob
Unless you have caught every episode of LOST (and have a photographic memory) there is a good chance that you did not find any importance to the name Jacob. Hell, there is a huge chance you didn't even catch that glimpse of him last night.
Near the end of The Man Behind the Curtain, Ben takes Locke inside what he calls Jacob's home. We can't see anything, but Ben is obviously talking to somebody. Can Locke not see Jacob because he did not kill his father with his own two hands? (one theory of many, I'm sure)
When Locke raises his flashlight to confront Ben, shit immediately hits the fan and, even with all the quick camera movement, we were able to get this screenshot. What was once an empty chair now features the long-discussed Jacob.
Jacob!
Neither of my housemates caught the glimpse but I did. I immediately popped up and hit the rewind on our HD TIVO to show them the glimpse. Can't believe you missed it? Well, here is a slow-motion shot of the actual scene in progress.
Never heard of Jacob? Though I am sure many of you believe the character's name has only been introduced this last episode, we have heard of Jacob in previous episodes on different occasions.
Examples:
1. Jack does the spinal operation on Ben and Picket has this to say to another other: "Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's list." This would suggest that Ben's only reason for including Jack was to get the lifesaving operation.
2. During one of our first introductions to Mikhail (the one-eyed Other) he tells Kate that he was brought to the island by a 'magnificent man' and assures us that he is not talking about Ben. We now have to assume this 'magnificent man' was Jacob.
3. Though the rest of the Others may have never seen Jacob, they do believe in his authority. Juliet gives him credit for curing her sister of cancer, based on a promise from Ben.
All the facts suggest Jacob is God-like and I find it interesting that he even has the look of Jesus. Though this hasn't been discusses, I guess we should assume that it was Jacob's will, such as God's, to have Juliet's ex-husband hit by a bus for some greater good -- as in having Juliet join the Others on the island.
And, just to make your head swirl a little more, anybody notice the (Wonderful) Wizard of Oz analogies when it comes to Ben and Jacob? I hadn't made the connection until Locke pointed out Oz when discussing Jacob in this past episode. When Ben was first caught he told Locke and the other castaways that his name was Henry Gale and that he crashed on the island with a hot air balloon. Henry Gale is a character from Oz and the hot air balloon, well, come on.
Desmond also has a flashback where we see a man wearing bright red shoes get crushed by construction. Remind you of the scene when the Wicked Witch of the East was smashed under Dorothy's house? And last, but not least, the episode featuring the first real introduction to Jacob is called The Man Behind the Curtain. Quote from Wizard of Oz: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." It turns out that it was this man behind the curtain that was pulling er, all the strings.
Thanks to some added help from Wikipedia, here is a little more:
In The Bible, Jacob was the closest common ancestor of the people who eventually became the Israelites, so he could be considered the father of God's chosen people. In the episode of Lost titled "Not in Portland", Karl was watching a brainwashing film, and one frame read "God loves you as he loved Jacob."
Is it coincidence that Jack 'Shepherd' Shephard is also the leader of his own flock of castaways?
Add to Heffee!
