Review: Lost 5.16: The Incident (Part One)

Rodger Linus. Bit of a dick.

One of the big changes for Season Six was the massive movement towards the spiritual. This was emodied by the characters of Jacob and the Man in Black, two semi-immortal brothers fighting for control of the Island (supposedly a fight of Good and Evil). We (unknowingly) first saw the Man In Black in the show's Pilot, but despite him being mentioned throughout the series this is the first appearance of the god-like Jacob (Mark Pellegrino). His presence is one of the only good things about this finalé's first half, which replaces tension with gunfights and hopes we don't know the difference.
       The mysterious Jacob visits our heroes in the past, making them his Candidates. He saves a very young Kate from the law, gives a pen to a Sawyer still mourning his parents, gives a blessing to Jin and Sun's marriage, asks for Ilana's help and then asks for Sayid's help just prior to Nadia's death. This is preceeded by a scene in which Jacob looks out upon the Black Rock, a ship approaching the Island in the 1800s. He is joined by the Man in Black in his original form, and they exposit for a while. Jacob doesn't do anything else until next week, so I'll discuss him more there.

Jacob hands Young Sawyer a pen
to write his vengeance letter with.

     In 1977, Jack and Sayid extracted the plutonium core from Jughead, Sayid placing it precariously in his backpack. Left on their own by Richard, they try to sneak through Dharma's high-security Barracks but are spotted by Roger Linus. In the ensueing gun-fight Sayid is shot, and the two are rescued by Jin, Hurley and Miles in a Dharma-van. On the Sub, Kate tells Sawyer and Juliet about Jack's plan. Sawyer, quite rightly, doesn't want to get involved - he's only likely to cause more deaths. But Juliet, blissfully ignorant of her death next week, sides with the stupid for what must be the fourth time in the past month. They surface the sub and send it on its way, rowing back to The Island, and managing to catch the Dharma van in time for a shitty cliffhanger.
      In 2007, the Man In Black continued his journey with the Others to kill Jacob. Aside from revealing to Ben that it was he who would be doing the killing, these characters really didn't do anything. That's for next week. Meanwhile, Lapidus was found by Ilana and Bram, who told him that they were the "Good Guys" - obviously working for Jacob against the Man in Black. They carry a crate taken from the plane's fuselage, which, as we'll see, is the real John Locke's corpse. Both of them seem very distressed to discover that the Man In Black may be out and about.

Getting on like a house on fire.

      In healthy comparison, There's No Place Like Home (Part One) tied up some of the themes of the season and left us on a cliffhanger that left us ready for the epic finale to come. The Incident (Part One) was so much of a simple set-up that there wasn't any real tension or excitement to back it up. So far, the finale has interested me purely in the Jacob segments, and everything else is just very, very slow buildup. There is the issue, again, that this was meant to be watched with Part Two, but if the hour isn't powerful enough on its own then it's a failure, regardless of context.
      The first half of The Incident rather ironically went by without much happening of any interest. There were a few flashback gimmicks that helped to catch my interest, but so far this finale only served to continue the stupidity from the past few episodes in really boring ways. Hopefully next week's final hour, heading into the disappointing Season Six, is enough to save it.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: The final hour of my Lost reviewing career.