Found in Lost: Thoughts on "Something Nice Back Home"

OK, so we're a little later than usual, but here's our weekly Lost analysis. Enjoy! DON'T CLICK THROUGH IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP!

TOPH TUCKER '08

This was a nice Jack-centric episode, and filled in a lot of missing pieces to the story. Interesting how Hurley thought things were TOO happy, but by the end of the episode that's clearly proven incorrect. Still, that the idea that they're all dead has been given any sort of serious attention is interesting.

I liked the Red Sox reference and the Millennium Falcon, by the way. I'm glad to see Aaron's on his way to becoming as big a Star Wars fan as Abrams and Lindelof. :)

Jack's dad--that's interesting stuff. First of all, is it possible that the smoke alarm was set off by the smoke monster, appearing in the form of Jack's dad? ...or was it just a low-battery alarm? Also: where's Claire off to? (And what's up with Sawyer and Claire?) Interesting about whether Jack is fit to raise Aaron. Remember that psychic said he had found a nice, good couple in LA? Could that have been referring to Jack and Kate, years before they were a couple in LA? Or must it really be Claire who raises Aaron?

For a few episods now I've been wondering how much the research team knows about what Keamy and Co. are doing. I mean, they've been helping them out, disabling the Tempest and what not, but did they expect them to just start killing people like this? Miles certainly seemed surprised by his gruesome find. Could they turn good? I trust Frank; I trust Daniel, just because I like him, but I'm not sure whose side he's on; I don't trust Charlotte at all; and I trust Miles in the sense that even if he's not loyal to the Losties, he's not loyal to the Boaties, either. (I liked Daniel's 'attitude' speech.)

What exactly did Sawyer want Kate to do? Does he feel responsible for Aaron, since he was trying to take care of him and Claire, and apparently failed? And how do they have regular phone communications with the island? I mean, isn't that a big deal? I guess Ben had a phone.

Moving on to the main storyline--Jack's appendix. Rose's comment is especially interesting:

ROSE: I was thinking, "Why did he get sick?"
BERNARD: Why? It's just--it's just bad luck.
ROSE: The day before we're all supposed to be rescued, the person that we count on the most suddenly comes down with a life-threatening condition, and you're chalking it up to bad luck?
BERNARD: Well, what are you saying, that--that Jack did something to offend the gods? People get sick, Rose.
ROSE: Not here. Here, they get better.

It seems to me that the island, or some closely associated entity, sometimes exercises its power over your well-being as a tool.

Here are the implications of all we've learned about the island and healing: many injuries heal faster on-island; this healing power can be withheld or revoked; injury or illness maybe may be inflicted as punishment; this power over well-being extends off-island (Michael); certain people are "needed," or just favored.

Let's detour for a moment to talk about the Temple. Here's the Lostpedia entry:
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Temple

The logo is pretty interesting. Reminds me of a tree. But I imagine it's not just any tree. Tree of Life, anyone? :) I mean, looking at the logo, combined with the healing powers, combined with (!) the discovery of the bodies Locke called "Adam and Eve" in the caves... I'd say we have a pretty solid body of evidence.

Island = Eden
Barracks (within fence) = Garden of Eden
Monster / Ben / ??? = Snake?
Widmore = Exiled from the garden.

I may have talked about this before in one of these articles. But the Temple logo is a critical new piece of evidence that I hadn't noticed before.

Adam and Eve, found as they were outside the fence (in the caves), had been exiled from the garden. And anyone who can't find their way back has been exiled.

So if it's the Garden of Eden, then there's a Tree of Life, and a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. There's tons going on in Lost about knowing what is
good ("we're the good guys") and what is not. And there are these healing powers. Fascinating stuff.

Note that the Garden of Eden is generally placed, geographically speaking, around, oh, northeast Africa/Mesopotamia/Persian Gulf--aka opposite the globe from the estimated position of the island, where some weird stuff tends to show up, like the polar bear and Ben (teleporting?). Also, according to Wikipedia, the garden was apparently "one of the four holy places that the Lord has on Earth, the other three being Mount Sinai, Mount Zion, and the 'Mount of the East'." I think I've mentioned the idea that the island is just one of several special spots on Earth, and that Widmore's quips to Ben suggest that by that time she's hiding out in one of the other ones. Hm. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm.

And take a look at that image up top. Does that look like the island or what!?

Image from Wikipedia