What I’m Watching: Lost (The Penultimate Episode)

Lost: Season 6, Episode 16 “What They Died For” (B+)

This is certainly a marked improvement over last week’s tangential episode, but it’s still not nearly as excellent or exciting as it should be. Locke telling Widmore to whisper something to him is an example of killing time that the show doesn’t have – now is when all of the questions need to be answered explicitly and not put off until later. Jacob making himself visible to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer is the opposite of that delayed anticipation, and it’s nice to finally have some things cleared up. I liked Jacob telling Kate that names on the wall of the cave didn’t mean anything and the job was hers if she wanted it. Jack has obviously been Jacob’s successor for a while now, but to have him officially accept it without fully understanding what exactly he’s doing lends itself to the notion that Jacob never quite had a full grasp on what he was supposed to be doing as protector of the island. Widmore being so quickly killed underlines the futility of some of the show’s plotlines and how easily characters can be disposed of without ever having any purpose at all (see: Zoe). Ben’s sharp relapse to cold-blooded killer comes a bit of a shock considering how much he’s seemingly changed this season. It does set up the sideways universe as the opposite of the timeline we’re more familiar with, where everyone is happy instead of alone and in search of something like the candidates, as described by Jacob. I’m loving the way things are going in the sideways universe, with Desmond being completely on his game and Hurley seeming to be aware of what’s going on as well. The cameos by Rousseau and Ana-Lucia were welcome, and it’s nice to see some friendly faces, even if for just a second. I’m still hoping next week is going to be exciting and fulfilling, since there are so many puzzles left unsolved at this point and two and a half hours can’t possibly explain it all. In any case, I’ll certainly be tuning in tomorrow night and I hope you will be too. Check back for a review of the finale later this week and share your thoughts!