Lost Virgin Diary – What lies in the shadow of the statue?

Join me for another Virgin Diary entry on my favorite stranded castaways. This time I’m taking on the remainder of Lost’s Season 5 (Episode 11 “Whatever Happened Happened” through 17 “The Incident”) and the first six episodes from the final season, from Episode 1 “LA X” through 6 “Sundown.”)

I’ve finished Season 5 and have plunged straight into the beginning of Season 6 and I have a confession to make. I really have not been enjoying the new chain of events that have happened since Jack blew up the hydrogen bomb in the past at the end of Season 5, making it as if the plane crash never happened. It feels like a cop-out on the writers’ part to prolong/stall the events of Season 6 and also to keep me more confused than ever.

I don’t enjoy seeing a handicapped Locke struggling around (maybe that’s because I hero-worshipped him from afar to a certain extent), nor do I care about seeing Jack as a clueless father to a gifted pianist. And I especially didn’t enjoy watching Charlie almost overdose on the plane and being escorted away by the police in handcuffs, though it was good to see Charlie’s face again. He was a sight for sore eyes.

Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t appreciate this “what if” scenario the writers threw like a curve ball out to left field, but there you have it. It feels like the entire past five seasons (and all those precious little moments of characterization and revelations that I enjoyed during them) have been wiped clean. If the Oceanic plane crash never happened, then why should I care about the survivors and their stories any longer? That’s a rhetorical question of course. Really I’m still enthralled with the series and am feeling bittersweet about it coming to an end for me soon. I don’t like change very much.

What lies in the shadow of the statue? This question, which has been repeatedly asked now, fittingly reminds me of a Mad Hatter idiom from Alice in Wonderland. Why is a raven like a writing desk? I never understood that riddle either! As creepy as I find that enormous statue (which I guess is known as the Statue of Tawaret, the Egyptian goddess of protection, birth and fertility) that I’ve now seen in its entirety, I’m puzzling over this riddle with much anticipation in its answer. Please tell me they actually solve it?!

While Googling the Lost statue, I found some interesting results. I find it amusing that this one single image threw so many people into a frenzy during the last two seasons, as people struggled to figure out who the statue represented and what its presence on the island meant. Had I watched the series live, it certainly would’ve piqued my curiosity too. However, my curiosity about the statue mostly stems from fear. With its head of a hippopotamus, it looks more like a monster than the black mist ever did. If that thing suddenly came to life and walked around the island, I think that would be just about the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.

Events on the island are building to a climax, as pseudo-Locke is rallying his troops for a final showdown between good and evil. I’ve just witnessed the chaos and panic of the temple being set on fire and Locke (who is apparently the black mist monster incarnate now) making good on his promise to smite those who don’t have an interest in leaving the island with him. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next. And for once, I’m trying to ride out the tidal wave of changes that are surely coming as this series ends. Does anybody have any recommendations on what I’m going to watch next?

WTF Moments (Season 5, 11-17 & Season 6, 1-6):

• I meant to say last week that I really enjoyed seeing the Dharma Initiative in its heyday and observing the scientist who was previously only shown on the orientation videos. It was very enlightening, plus I love retro flashbacks. I think Season 5 was maybe my second-favorite season, after the first season.
• Aww … Sawyer was going to propose to Juliet? That made me quite sad. Maybe she was more likable than I gave her credit for. I’ll have to go back and re-watch.
• I loved that past-tense Hurley was trying to write the script for The Empire Strikes Back from memory since by his reasoning, George Lucas was probably going to need that script soon if Star Wars just came out.
• So, Daniel Faraday was sent to the island so his pregnant mother could shoot and kill him in the past? And his father was Charles Widmore? I just never see these twists coming!
• I love that Ben must follow Locke. For once, it feels like Ben doesn’t have a conniving plan up his sleeve … or does he? One thing I’ve learned is to never underestimate Ben.
• Left-behind Claire has really let herself go (ha-ha). She is crazier than Rousseau and that is really saying something!
• How/why did Jacob select the plane crash survivors as candidates for the island? It was interesting to see how he visited each of them during pivotal moments in their lives and I’m curious to see how they all tie together.
• Is Jacob really dead or will he rise again? What was the symbolism of Jack breaking the lighthouse mirror?
• Why does the scene in the lighthouse with the mirror Jacob used to observe everyone’s lives off the island feel so much like déjà vu to me? I can’t figure out where I’ve seen this before. It has a Clash of the Titans feel to it (original classic not the remake) – you know the scenes in which the Greek gods and goddesses observed human toils and changed their fates as they saw fit by molding the little clay sculptures of them?
• Is there a happy ending in store for anybody on the island?

Memorable Quotes:
“No matter what he’s going to grow up to be, it’s wrong to let a kid die.” – Sawyer (about 12-year-old Ben Linus)

“Time isn’t a straight line for us anymore.” – Miles

“I came back because I was supposed to.” – Jack

“I’ve seen this island do miraculous things. I’ve seen it heal the sick, but never once has it done anything like this. Dead is dead. You don’t get to come back from that. Not even here. The fact that John Locke is walking around this island scares the living hell out of me.” – Ben

“I died an hour ago. I was killed by an old friend who grew tired of my company.” – Jacob (appearing to Hurley)

“Nothing’s irreversible.” – Jack to Locke about his paralysis

“John Locke was a believer … a man of faith. A much better man than I will ever be and I’m very sorry I murdered him.” – Ben (as they buried Locke’s body on the island)

“If I never meet you, then I never have to leave you.” – Juliet (to Sawyer)

Clacked by Kim Tibbs
on Aug 07, 2012 @ 10:18 EST5EDT