It was a beautiful afternoon. I was pushing Cindy Lou’s little brother in the swing. We were singing little songs, the kind kids like to sing over and over again. But 8-year-old Cindy Lou had an empty birth control pill dispenser in her hand and I wanted to know why she had it. Repeatedly opening and snapping it shut, she tapped it like it was a mini-computer. Finally she asked me, “Do you know what this is for?”
“Yes,” I replied. But she didn’t stop there, and I wasn’t prepared for the next volley. “Why do girls take the medicine that comes in this thing?” Gulp.
After a few seconds of trying to catch my breath, I started crafting an answer that I thought would meet her mother’s approval. Her mom talks about loving God all the time, so maybe I should say something about how girls who take birth control pills don’t love God. Or maybe I should just answer her straight and say it’s because they don’t want to have a baby. “Well, most of the time, when someone takes that medicine it means they don’t want to have a baby.”
“Why wouldn’t they want to have a baby?” she asked.
Oh boy, “Well,” what do I say now? “Because some girls don’t love God and they are doing things they should not be doing.” Well, that stopped Cindy Lou’s questions. But I was too dumb to realize that my answer would cause all kinds of problems for Cindy Lou regarding her mother. It wasn’t too long before her mom invited me sit on the couch with her for a little lesson in answering the questions of a child.
“Sometimes,” she said, “the best answer is the simplest answer.”
Having never experienced an interrogation by an 8-year-old, I asked, “What should I have said?”
“Because the doctor said so.”
***
All week long, LOST fans have been writing about Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and drawing every single parallel to LOST they can find. That’s all fine and good. The first one I read was pretty interesting. But I just can’t take it anymore: reading about all of the watching and rewatching and analyzing and combing each episode in search of clues.
LOST fans want to know so many details: Who are these people? How are they connected? Why are they connected? How come we’ve never seen that before? What’s Libby’s backstory? What’s the significance of Jacob’s touch? Why are those ashes important?
Well, here’s the simplest answer: Because the writers said so.
Here we are, week in and week out for six years, trying to figure out this t.v. show when there’s nothing to figure out, nothing to untangle. It is what it is because the creators of the show made it that way.
Yes, it’s really neat how LOST so closely parallels Alice’s story, but is it the key to unlock every mystery? Well, I guess you can decide that for yourself. I say, WHY NOT? It really can be that simple.
So, without further ado, here are 15 things we have to accept because the writers said so:
1. Sideways Sayid is just as much a murderer as Flashback and Flashforward Sayids.
2. Both Jacob and Smokey offer gifts in exchange for service.
3. Jin is connected to Keamey is connected to Omar is connected to Sayid.
4. Dogen can beat Sayid in hand-to-hand combat.
5. After years of faithful service, upon hearing of Jacob’s death, almost all The Others decide it’s just fine to leave the temple.
6. Dogen was REALLY the one protecting the temple.
7. Killing Dogen is what opened a way for Smokey to get into the temple.
8. Smokey can be invisible now.
9. Jacob’s death set the “evil” man (Smokey) free.
10. No man can kill Smokey.
11. Hide from Smokey in a pit because he’ll never look there.
12. Kate is following Smokey and his gang (Where did they come from? Where is James?).
13. There’s nothing special about the temple.
14. Everyone is expendable.
15. Keamey makes good eggs, but couldn’t remember the word “poached.”
***
Did anyone else think this episode copied Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith?
A couple of questions answered:
1) Sayid was dead for 2 hours, but something other than The Others brought him back.
2) The test Dogen performed on Sayid revealed which way his heart tipped the scale.
***
My prediction:
Kate’s curiosity about Locke/Smokey/MIB/Jeremy is going to get her killed. Actually, no…Claire is going to kill Kate.
What did you think of this episode? Are you pleased with the way the final season is progressing? Are you frustrated? Ready to quit watching? Kind of enjoy being toyed with by the show’s creators?
Leslie Wiggins 
8 responses to “The simplest answer is usually the best one”
Hated this episode, frustrated and sometimes want to quit watching. The creators could at least quit with the “Finally! Tonight! Answers!” To which I now reply: whatever.
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The teasers are getting ridiculous.
I think we need to resign ourselves to not having any real answers until the very end. Only 12 hours to go!! (roll my eyes)
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I completely agree. I’m beginning to think the creators are just as LOST as we are and that a large part of the story is dependent on which actors were willing to return. Think of the number of characters that have come and gone in various storylines: Walt, Desmond, Penny, Widmore, and so on. What about those questions? Why introduce all these weird temple types and so many new characters? Resolution is moving so slowly that I suspect we won’t get the kind of resolution we think we should. Maybe I’m cynical. Hope so!
I did think in Armageddon type terms with Locke seemingly building an army for some kind of showdown…
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I did think of something interesting after reading Shannon’s post (RocksInMyDryer). What if, in addition to Alice in Wonderland, the story also more overtly parallels biblical prophecy? Smokey parallels the dragon that is released to wage war all over the world? That gathers an army? Maybe we’re heading toward a Lost-sized Armageddon. What do you think?
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Frustrated, yes. Ready to quit watching, no. At this point I have pretty much decided to quit trying to figure out where they are going and am just hanging on for the ending. I’ve watched too long to bail out now, and I want to know how it will all end, but I’ve realized I don’t have what it takes to try to analyze it, and I’m sure not going frame by frame and watching it over and over. Life is too short. I would like to watch the whole series again in total once it’s over though and see if I can see what clues were dropped along the way that we couldn’t see w/o knowing the end.
Leslie: It’s fun to rewatch previous seasons, but there aren’t any real clues. The writers wrote as they went along. Though they’ve known the ending all along, I think the process of getting there has unfolded for the writers the same way it is unfolding for us. Yes, there are echoes of the previous seasons, but not clues. I used to look for clues, but realized from one of the podcasts that each season is a self-contained season.
I was sad about Sayid, though. But we can’t say we haven’t seen it coming. Me, too. I really wanted him to prove Dogen wrong. This was probably one of the creepier episodes. Very creepy. Those looks between the characters were creepy. I’m starting to think neither Jacob nor MIB/Smokey/FakeLocke are the good guy. I know. I really wish the good and bad were more obvious.
I do wish they would quit toying with us with the teasers and just admit we’re not going to understand it until the finale. If then.
I was hoping we’d like all the characters better in the alternate world – ala Jack – but Sayid is still a conundrum. I like him, but I really shouldn’t.
Very not Christian view with the good or bad outweighing the other in the heart. But I’m not expecting the show to be written w/ a Christian worldview, so I’m willing to just watch and see where they’re going with that concept.
The funny thing is that Dogen didn’t say his heart weighed more toward evil. He said the wrong way. To Dogen that could mean anything since we don’t know which side Jacob is yet.
I think you are right about Kate. I do not anticipate her surviving this – probably at Claire’s hand. Not sure if she’ll actually commit herself to the ‘dark side,’ though, since commitment isn’t really her thing. Probably she’ll just be killed. Not even sure I care anymore as far as she’s concerned. She’s one of the more frustrating characters to me.
I still think Sawyer/James may be running a long con on Smokey. If I remember correctly, we did not see him there at the end with all the followers? I didn’t notice him if he was there. I hope he’ll come out okay. He’s one of the characters I saw as hopeful of ‘redemption’ – not using that in a Christian sense, mind you, since I don’t see that happening in this show.
I do hope Jin ends up okay and reunited with Sun. That will be supremely disappointing if not. TRUE!
And what about Walt? Why was such a big deal made about him being ‘special’ in the early going to completely drop that story line? Do you think we’ll see anything about that later, or is he really out of the story now?
I think the Walt character was originally written to be important, but because the actor playing Walt starting maturing rather quickly they had to write him out of the story. In the story, he’s not supposed to have aged that much. So, I think he’s gone for good. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him in the ALT world at least once.
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Ugh.
I didn’t like last night’s show nearly as much as the week before. The temple people get on my nerves and the plot there is thin, thin, thin.
I won’t give up. Been here for 6 years and I’ll wait it out. But I too am tired of teasers and theroies. Just give me some darn-diddly answers please!!!!!
Which I guess we won’t get until the last ep. Something inside me is scared this is going to end up the next Twin Peaks 😦
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I really liked last week’s episode better, too. I wonder why? Probably just because it was Jack, Hurley, Jacob -centered. Hurley’s my favorite. People who love Sayid really seem to like last night’s episode. I have one friend who emailed and said, “I HATE THIS SHOW!” He was really upset with this episode.
I’m not giving up, either, though. But I agree with the previous women: they’re not going to give up too many resolutions this early.
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I love the Lost Untangled clips on abc.com….I need the silliness after the intensity of the show!!
I’m not frustrated, it’s very entertaining. But I don’t see why they have to wrap it up all ready. There is plenty more to fill another season! I want to know what Charles Widmore and Desmond are up to!
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