Broken Frontier

Since the first episodes of Lost, one question has captured the minds of viewers: what is the smoke monster? Over the years we have gradually learned more about smokey and his alter-ego: the “Man in black”. This week's Lost episode “Across the Sea” is a glimpse into the island's past, particularly the history between Jacob and the “Man in black” and the origins of the smoke monster.

“Across the Sea” opens with shipwreck in the distant past. A very pregnant woman pulls herself from the wreckage of the Roman-era ship and onto the shore of the island. The expectant mother, Claudia, is helped by a mysterious Latin-speaking woman who was already on the island. Soon Claudia goes into labor and gives birth to twin boys: blonde-haired Jacob, and one who is dark haired and unnamed (sound familiar?). The mysterious woman then murders Claudia and takes the boys for her own.

We flash-forward thirteen years and get re-acquainted with the boys and their slightly crazy “mother” who tells them that there is nowhere outside of the island. While hunting boar, the boys encounter a hunting party of men from another part of the island. They rush back to to tell their “mother”, and she tells them that the reason that they are on the island is to protect a magical cave filled with light from being discovered by other men.

Things get dicey when the “Kid in black” meets ghost-Claudia and discovers the truth about how he came to be on the island. Distraught about this betrayal, the “Kid in black” ditches his brother and his “mother” and heads to the other side of the island where the other shipwreck victims have build a village. Thirty years pass, and Jacob still frequently meets with his brother to play games and discuss the inherent nature of man. The “Man in black” tells Jacob that he is set on leaving the island, and he has found a way.

“Mother” confronts the “Son in black” and he tells her his plan to escape the island using the light energy channeled through a wooden wheel. “Mother” acts understanding at first but then she attacks him and kills all of the villagers. “Mother” makes Jacob protector of the magic light and “Man in black” kills “Mother” in retaliation for the village massacre. After seeing his mother dead, Jacob flips out and throws his still-living brother into the magic light, condemning him to a fate worse than death as the smoke monster. Jacob finds his brother's body and lays him next to his mother with a final goodbye. The remains of these two will later be the skeletons known as “Adam and Eve” from the first season.

While “Across the Sea” is a very informative episode, a lot of the answers it gives are cryptic and still veiled in mystery. While Richard's flashback-origin episode picked up the pace after an early season lull, the Island Brothers' flashback-origin slows down the pacing after the frenetic episode last week.

Even though several long term questions were answered, there are still even more questions that were only partly answered. With only three hours of Lost left, it is hard to see how everything is going to fit together perfectly. It's likely that there are going to be a few unanswered mysteries when the show ends, and that's fine with me. You didn't really expect the island to give up all its secrets, did you?