Team Free Will Triumphs (Sort of) Again

I have calmed down enough now to have a few thought's on last night's Lost.  I plan to be liberal with spoilers after the jump...

I noticed in the second half of last season, somewhere around 'What Happened, Happened' that something was different. Someone was different. All of the sudden, I found myself liking Jack.
I have spent the past 4 1/2 seasons absolutely hating the guy. In my defense, he was Self righteous pretty boy with a God complex, then he was a pathetic loser with a fug beard and an oxycontin habit to rival Rush Limbaugh. Then, watching him struggle to manage being Ben Linus' butt boy and trying to coax everyone back to the island, I started to be intrigued. I do wonder if returning to the island cured him of his addiction, the way it cured Locke's spine, Rose's cancer and Jin's...er...junk. But that's beside the point.

Watching him take the passive route last season, sitting back and playing the role of Dharma Janitor and giving us all a break from his Follow-me schtick gave us a chance to see a Jack who was more reconciled to his path than ever before. And no small part of this I think was due to his guilt over being responsible for Locke's suicide. (I was going to put that in quotations, but realized that Locke would have done it anyway had Ben not shown up, so it still counts) He's now become a champion of the Real John Locke, and has spent all season defending the guy's memory and motives, and in the sideways world going so far as saving his life and trying to put him on the path of letting go. The conversation between Sideways Jack and Sideways Locke in the hospital hallway was brilliant (and beautifully acted by both actors) for both characters, and the point of it all I think was to prove a point to the viewers. Since day 1 of this show these two have been polarized. Man of Science and a Man of Faith. Last night's episode did away with all of those pretensions, it tore down the wall between them and we could see that they were really the same person after all. It was an excellent piece of television.

Of course then there was some house-cleaning to be done. Smokey is a clever little bastard, no doubt about that. Of course I never bought the whole "I can't cross water" thing, and figured that was a lie. I was also surprised that he kept Claire alive after the sub started to dive, since I'm pretty sure she's not a candidate. I'm thinking he'll use her for cannon fodder before it's all said and done.

The bomb was a nice parallel to Jack and Sawyer's fight over Jughead. Sawyer trusted Jack once already and it cost him the woman he loved. Not to mention he lost all faith in Jack in the process, which in the long run was far more damaging. I have no doubt that had Sawyer left the damn C4 alone like Jack said, we'd still have Sun, Jin, Sayid and Frank.  When Sawyer finally wakes up, he will probably feel even worse than Jack did after Juliet's death. And speaking of insanely tense explosions...Finally we got Sayid back. I figured last week that Desmond was still alive, and that he got through to Sayid and got him out of his zombie state. He came back, Free Will intact, and fell on the bomb to save the rest. You will be missed, Sayid Jarrah.

I'm going to gloss over the rest so bear with me...

Sun & Jin got a tragic, but beautiful ending. I went to the Television Without Pity forums immediately after and there were already five pages of people saying "Fuck You, Lost!" and ranting about leaving little Ji Yeon an orphan. I didn't mind that part as much as I think I should have. They both knew that their daughter was safe, wealthy, and would be loved. When Jack was dragging Sawyer out of the Sub and and Jin shared that last look...I will admit that's when my waterworks started, and they didn't stop for the rest of the episode. Even now I've got lint or something in my eye, dang it. You will be missed, Sun and Jin Kwon.

I feel like I should say something about Frank Lapidus, even though he's been tragically underused this season. I really think they kept him around as much as they did because, with Sawyer so angry and grieving over Juliet's death and Miles getting very little screen time, they needed someone to deliver humorously dry quips.  I'm glad he got one last one in before the end, and that we got the joy of the nickname "Chesty" while he was on the show. You will be missed, Frank Lapidus.

One last thought. Jorge Garcia. Sir, please submit for an Emmy. Of course sweet Hurley, who has lost so much, would keenly feel the deaths of two friends. Remember Hurley was the only one of the Oceanic 6 that came to see Sun after the baby was born, and to visit Jin's memorial.  His unrestrained sobs on the beach just. KILLED me. I can only hope that grief will not harden him or make him reckless, I have a feeling if Hurley does not survive the finale then Cuse and Lindelof will have to deal with an old-fashioned angry mob, torches and all.