Across the Sea is undoubtedly the most divisive episode in all of LOST. It is extremely challenging and not for the faint of heart; if you're more literal-minded and don't enjoy episodes heavy in symbolism and/or allegorical substance, you're probably among those who couldn't stand it. I'm getting to the point where I'm really enjoying the episode, even if some aspects still baffle me to this day.
I won't bother summarizing the plot — if you're a dedicated LOST fan you don't need a reminder of what happened and your opinions of it are probably firmly established. Instead I'll simply roll out my interpretation and you can take it for what it's worth.
If there's one word I'd associate with ATS it's "origins". And by that I'm not just referring to the origin of mankind, but also human goodness and evil. Where DOES evil come from? Is it a product of circumstances, is it something we're naturally inclined to indulge in, is it merely something human beings have arbitrarily defined on their own?
Even as far back as the second episode of Season 1, the concept of tabula rasa was introduced. It posits the notion that we're born with a blank slate, with no predisposition for good or evil. From that point on it's a combination of environment, upbringing, and circumstances which determines whether we lean one way or another. There are many who disagree with this notion, insisting that we are born one way or another and are conditioned (by fear, reward, or other factors) to change our alignment.
The important thing is we really can't say definitively what the answer is. That's why ATS is so compelling, it explores these questions and takes some huge risks in the process.
The first risk was humanizing Jacob and Man in Black (MiB), something that was critically important even if many people weren't expecting it. It was tempting to view Jacob and MiB as pure deities, the classic God versus Devil scenario. But as we soon learned, Jacob and MiB weren't deities at all, in fact they were just as susceptible to light and dark forces as anyone else. The difference is Jacob had a more natural inclination toward "light" forces than his brother did.
That's not to say we didn't sympathize with Man in Black. It was perfectly understandable that he'd be spiteful upon learning the truth about his mother and his homeland. His desires to "go home" didn't seem all that unreasonable. The problem is, Man in Black would eventually become the host of the Smoke Monster, the embodiment of pure evil. So if you're thinking Jacob was a bastard for denying his brother the right to go home, you're not connecting the right dots. It wasn't his brother we were seeing in The Incident or Ab Aeterno, at least not the version we saw in Across the Sea. It was the same body, perhaps even the same overall ambitions, but this entity was comprised of pure evil.
Another critical element of ATS is the fact that Jacob was forced into his role of Protector of the Light. He wasn't exactly enthused about the prospect and I don't blame him; fostering human goodness can so often constitute a burden.
Let me clarify that a bit. Imagine you've extended a huge favor to someone out of the kindess of your heart, and in return that person shows little or no gratitude. Worse yet, they take it a step further and use it an excuse to take advantage of you. The natural inclination would be to harbor anger and resentment, which generally falls under the category of "dark" forces. For every person in this situation, they would have a varying degree of willingness to forgive that person (forgiveness being a "light" force). For some people it's easy to forgive, for others it requires much more effort and thus constitutes a burden.
In my opinion this goes a long way to explain why Jacob selected his successor in the manner that he did. It wouldn't have done him any good to force people into certain situations or rig their decisions to get the results he wanted. He needed to find the person who was most naturally inclined and enthusiastic about projecting human goodness with the least amount of burden. Jack was certainly a prime candidate for the position, but as we saw over five seasons he was also susceptible to the burdens of heroism and leadership. Hurley was the natural choice.
All of that said, there are still aspects of ATS that continue to baffle me:
* I'm not entirely sure why Smoke storms out of the cave upon Man in Black's descent into it. I'm not entirely sure what was being symbolized at that moment.
* I don't understand why Boy in Black could see his dead biological mother but Jacob couldn't.
* I'm confused by the fact that Mother would've preferred Boy in Black as the new Protector of the Light. That seems to fly in the face of ATS's underlying theme as I understand it.
One other point I'd like to make involves the controversial line, "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question." This was not a slam directed at the audience as some oversensitive fans insisted. It was very much a parallel to the subject matter at hand, the conundrum we face when trying to identify the origin of life, good, and evil. Whenever mankind discovers something that seems to shed light on those origins, we end up with more questions about the origin of that "something".
Long story longer, the writers took an absolute beating for this episode but I think a lot of it boils down to 1) the timing of the episode, 2) the unwillingness of people to study its deeper meanings, and 3) the mismatch of expectations going in. Over time I truly believe ATS will be met with less hostility and more appreciation.
Allison Janney's performance is almost as divisive as the episode itself. She broke even in my book, for I was neither impressed nor disappointed. Let's face it, every single role in ATS was an extremely challenging one, especially Mother's since we had no idea which way her "scale" was tipping.
I was slightly less impressed with Kenton Duty (young Jacob) and Ryan Bradford (Boy in Black), for they had a propensity for doing what child actors do — pretend instead of portray. In some ways I can't really blame them; it's not like they had real-life experiences to relate to events unfolding in ATS. But overall I did find their stilted performances to be distracting, especially the first time around.
Titus Welliver (Man in Black) and Mark Pellegrino (Jacob) are truly the saviors of this episode if you'll pardon the pun. Once we arrived at the moment where they were playing Senet I knew the episode was in good hands from there.
Even if you hate Across the Sea you'll hopefully recognize and appreciate the genius of director Tucker Gates. He takes any ordinary network television episode and turns it into a sprawling feature film. I honestly can't decide whose talents I have more admiration for, Tucker Gates or Jack Bender.
The effects at the light cave were tastefully done and not overbearing (which would've been the temptation there). The Smoke Monster's angry explosion from the cave was also nicely executed.
For some reason I really liked the set design of the well where Mother approached Man in Black, especially after MiB removed a stone and light beamed out of the opening. The lighting really made that scene evocative in some way.
Deductions for the moment Man in Black drifts down the stream and into the light. There's a moment or two where it's very clearly a mannequin or inflatable doll of some sort. Whatever it is, it looks like a bit you'd see on SNL where characters are replaced in a wide shot by stuffed dolls.
Considering I've watched ATS at least six times and still feel like I'm only scratching the surface, I'd say Longevity is one of the episode's strong suits.
Regardless of how close my interpretations are to the true intent, there's no denying the significance of ATS in terms of humanizing Jacob and MiB and not relying on a cookie-cutter God vs. Devil narrative.
The Adam and Eve revelation is also significant in terms of checking a major mystery off the list, even if people refuse to believe Damon and Carlton's claim that they had a pretty good idea of what Adam and Eve represented. Personally I believe them 100%. The forces of light and darkness have been a theme of the series since Day 1. The names "Adam and Eve" are obviously associated with origins, so it makes sense that Damon and Carlton would intend them to be characters responsible for the Losties' new lives on the island.
I can't say that I was too emotionally invested in any of the characters' trials and tribulations, however I think ATS more than compensates for that by giving us an extremely thought-provoking narrative.
I'm still very much in the process of reconciling my thoughts on the series as a whole, particularly in the area of ongoing spiritual themes. As I begin to piece it all together it's becoming obvious that ATS is the keystone in that entire structure, which makes it much greater than the sum of its parts.
