Terms of Indenture: Culture and Corruption in LOST 6.06 by Pearson Moore
Recaps/Reviews, Season 6 View Comments
It is held together with 108 stitches.
“The one constant through all the years… has been baseball…. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.” On the Island, there can be only memories of all that once was good, and dreams of what might be good again. As Kate could tell us, the Island is not Iowa, and it most definitely is not Heaven. Charlotte Lewis knew the truth: “This place is death.”
Death comes suddenly, from the Smoke Monster. Death by blunt force trauma. Death by suffocation.
Death comes slowly, from Jacob. Death through strangulation of a father’s spirit, of never again watching a son play the game he loved, of never again giving him a father’s embrace.
Corruption, slavery, and death are the terms of indenture on the Island. They are the Smoke Monster’s legacy. They are Jacob’s desire. They are the Candidates’ destiny.
Canada
Sayid tells Nadia’s children he has to leave them, “to go to Toronto to work.” It is a lie, but a lie imbued with hope. The reality–that he had a choice between killing his brother’s tormentors and allowing his brother to suffer eternal slavery–was something he didn’t even wish to acknowledge himself, let alone tell the children. So he told them a fairy tale. “I’m going to Canada,” he said. A place without reproach. A place full of hope. A place the children, and Sayid, could believe in.
It has been a while since we heard a character on LOST lie about origin or destination. In Seasons One and Two, whenever the writers wished for us to know a character was lying, they would have the character say, “I’m from Canada” or “I’m going to Canada.” The most memorable instance of this, for me, was in Lost 1.03, “Tabula Rasa”, when Ray Mullen asked Kate where she was from. “Canada,” she said. I laughed. Kate Austen is from Iowa, so the character was lying. Evangeline Lilly is from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, so her lips spoke the truth. I wonder how many takes were required for the actress to get through that scene with a straight face.
This time, from Sayid’s lips, the lie has greater meaning.
“Arbeit macht frei” was the greeting over the gate to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was a lie. The only way to freedom at Auschwitz–the only release from starvation, cruelty, and torture–was death. The Nazis had spent fifteen years dehumanising Jews, gypsies, homosexuals–anyone not considered part of the Master Race. Their deeply-held belief that Auschwitz inmates were not human, at least not as human as pure-blooded Aryans, allowed them to watch passively, or in sadistic pleasure, as those they enslaved dropped mid-stride and died of starvation, or screamed and pounded the walls as they were gassed to death. The inmates existed to serve their masters.
The inmates had a code word for Freedom. The word expressed not only physical freedom, but freedom from the horrible spiritual torments of Auschwitz. They expressed Freedom as a place–a place where people were free in mind, body, and spirit. When the inmates wished to console each other, when the torments became unbearable, they told each other this: “We will go to Canada.”
Sayid had the intention of going to a better place. A place where choices are not between death and slavery, but between love and compassion, or hope and faith. A place where dreams come true. This was the hope he expressed to Nadia’s children. It was the hope Nadia begged him to make real in the choices he made. In the end, Sayid forgot that a third route was available to him. He forgot Canada existed. Both on the Island and with Nadia and his brother he saw only a choice between death and slavery, and he succumbed to Faust’s Bargain. He shot Martin Keamy. He agreed to the Smoke Monster’s terms of indenture. The terms are eternal. He can no longer go to Canada.
Mephistopheles
What if you could have anything you wanted? Anything in the entire world?
This is a question parents need never ask, for children have a endless, ready-made list of things they feel compelled to possess. Humans are wired for desire. I tell my children they can never obtain everything they wish for. Even if they composed a list containing five thousand items and somehow managed to acquire every one of them, they would, in a matter of minutes, compile yet another list of gadgets and toys and games without which, their acquisitive souls tell them, their lives could never be complete.
Omer Jarrah wished only to go into business for himself, but bankers would not lend him start-up money. Desperate, willing to do anything, he found one man who listened and helped: Martin Keamy. Keamy was happy to loan Omer seed money–for a price. Never mind that the interest was several times higher than the most exorbitant credit card rate. Keamy allowed Omer to fulfill his dream.
Martin is a Latin word meaning servant of war (servant of Mars, the god of war). Keamy is a Mayan word meaning death. In the sideways reality he apparently found usury a lucrative sideline to his global mercenary activities. On Island, Sayid managed only to stab the paramilitary thug. I would imagine many fans tonight found satisfaction in seeing Sayid finish the job he started at the end of Season Four.
Keamy is an easy man to despise. But on what basis do we surrender our easiest hatreds to men of his ilk? If he is a hired thug, should we not reserve our deepest contempt for those who hire him? If he is Mephistopheles offering Faust a bargain, there must be a Faust and both parties must agree to the arrangement, or Mephistopheles has no power over Faust. No evil obtains if Faust merely walks away. The Devil is always near us, among us, inside us. As long as we do not respond to Lucifer’s beckoning call, no evil obtains. But if on polished ballroom floor we open our arms to the Devil, accept the easy fulfillment of deepest desire, does Devil or dance partner deserve greater scorn?
Keamy is the least of the three devils we saw tonight. The more abominable is the nameless one: Doc Jensen’s Lockeness Monster, the Dharma Initiative’s Cerberus, the Smoke Monster. The character with least regard for our humanity did not even make an appearance tonight, but we learned much about him, much about his behaviour. We learned he is evil.
Dogen’s Bargain
That Dogen’s son nearly died in hospital is the man’s fault. But that did not stop the doctors from using every bit of medical knowledge and every piece of state-of-the-art equipment in a determined, desperate effort to save his life. It was not enough.
What if a doctor told him a rare truth? I can save your son, he says, but it will cost you more than you can ever pay. You will have to pay me everything you own, everything you might otherwise have owned ever in the future, and I will restore your son to perfect health.
What parent would refuse such an offer? Dogen would have accepted on the spot. Perhaps we would think the doctor unethical, but at least he was willing to save the boy’s life.
But what if the doctor said, wait, there’s more. I will restore your son, make him whole, but when I’ve completed my work you must agree never to see him again. In fact, you must serve me for the rest of your life, in a place I can be sure your son will never be able to visit.
What should we think of this doctor now?
Omer’s Bargain was the least of the three bargains this evening. The contract stipulated only that Omer had to pay Keamy for as long as he owned his dry cleaning business. He could have burned his business to the ground, or sold it, or given it to Keamy, and the contract would have been satisfied. He would no longer owe Keamy anything.
The MIB asked only that people follow him. While he did kill those who refused his offer, he promised those who followed him the satisfaction of their deepest desire. For Claire, this meant the return of her son. For Sayid, it meant having his Nadia. The Smoke Monster did not deprive them of the person they most loved, rather, he promised to unite them with their beloved.
I do not argue here that the MIB’s actions were salutary or ethical. The Monster truly lived up to his name in tonight’s episode. The Temple dwellers believed the MIB was evil personified, and he certainly knew of their sentiments. If he was not evil, why did he not take the time to persuade those in the Temple of the misguided nature of their opinion? Why would he expect people to follow a person they know in their hearts, and have been told by their leaders, is evil incarnate? It seems more clear than ever that the MIB acts in ways that are consistent with evil intent. The possibility that the Smoke Monster is benign seems now remote and most unlikely. That he is morally neutral seems possible, but dubious. Most likely, it seems to me, is the possibility that in the Smoke Monster we are witnessing a novel version of uncivilised man. Perhaps without the balance provided by Jacob, the Monster is free to fulfill his mandate, which says nothing about preservation of humanity or the manner in which he achieves the mandate’s objectives.
But the MIB is not a pre-programmed robot. He has volition, and he is attempting to exercise it. He has a desire: he wants to go home. It seems unlikely this was ever part of the game he played with Jacob, or the mandate he may have received relating to activities on the Island. If he has free will, he is willing to sacrifice many to achieve his personal goals. If this is not evil, how could the definition of the word be reworked in such a way as to exclude the Smoke Monster’s actions, motives, or objectives from our judgment?
And then there’s Jacob.
At the very least, Jacob’s bargain with Dogen was devoid of compassion. And it was unnecessary. Jacob had brought hundreds to the Island, all but a small handful of them failing whatever tasks he put before them. Was Dogen’s assignment of such import that isolation from family, banishment from any life he had ever known, was justified?
Let us stipulate that Dogen’s work on the Island was essential to some critical feature of the Island. Let us go further and say that the Island is integral to the very core of our humanity, and that by serving Jacob’s interests Dogen was serving the needs of every woman and man who has ever lived, and anyone who will ever draw breath anywhere in the world. Let us grant all of that, and on top of it all, stipulate that Dogen’s task was unique, the most important assignment on the Island, and that in the history of the human race he was the only person who would ever have the capability of performing the task.
We grant here everything that Jacob might have said in his defence, and much more. We grant anything he might have grasped at in the witness box in his hopeless attempt to coat his actions with some veneer of empathy.
We know important things about the Island. We know it is accessible–perhaps not easily, but accessible none the less–by helicopter, boat, and submarine. We know that the leaders of the Island can move freely onto and off Mittelos. We know people can be transported on and off the Island, even in relatively large groups. For a period of at least fifteen years submarines followed a regular biweekly departure schedule. If Dogen’s work was of such value that he could never leave the Island, Jacob could have brought the man’s son to visit, or to stay. He could have brought Dogen’s entire family.
Jacob’s contract with Dogen was harsh, cruel, and outside the boundaries of anything one might consider humane. He had the ability to heal. Healers are bound by a strict oath to provide services even if no payment is possible. Jacob violated that oath, showing himself to be less ethical than even the most criminally motivated charlatan. Jacob demanded everlasting payment, eternal suffering, and perpetual obedience–all in return for an act of healing he could have offered without conditions.
Jacob has free will, and he is exercising it. He is willing to inflict suffering on many to achieve his personal goals. If this is not evil, how will we define the word? How will we twist our interpretation of reality to find benevolence and virtue in the actions, motives, and objectives of the Man in White?
Jacob is evil.
Justice and Humanity
The game went on for ages, perhaps for millennia, and throughout the centuries the two players kept each other in balance.
But something important lacks. The Man in Black made judgments and destroyed those who violated the laws of the Island. Jacob dreamed of an ascent to greater things, the progress of humanity toward a better place. But something is missing. Something fundamental.
Mittelos is a magical place of healing, of second chances and redemption. But it is a place of suffering, cruelty, and death. It is a place of infinite potential, but a place where hundreds of lives have no more significance than forgotten and discarded names scribbled on a peeping tom’s lighthouse turntable.
The Island has balance. It has justice. It is not enough.
Everyone on the Island, all their ideas, everything they ever hope to accomplish, is forced through the opposing and irresistible strictures of Black and White. Everything is re-ordered, driven into conformity with the overbearing will of the two players. Everything is strained.
This cannot be, is not right, for
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore…
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.
–Portia, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
In the course of justice, none of us should see salvation. No statute devised by man, no law enforced by the Smoke Monster, no court or government on earth is sufficient to render that which all of us most need. Justice without mercy does not express our humanity.
Mittelos is devoid of the most sought-after of human virtues: The Island lacks love.
Neither Jacob nor the nameless MIB can fill the terrible emptiness that has been the Island’s greatest wound. That task falls to Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin and Sun, and maybe one or two people not yet on the Island. They will throw the blind scales of justice into the ocean. They will replace them with the toothy smile of a three-year-old son of an Australian woman. Or perhaps with the healing smile of a man of science who has learned faith, hope and love. Or perhaps with the orange-rind smile of a 58-year-old man in a wheelchair who embodies trust, empathy, and compassion.
Rubrics and Limits
The Island has what appear to be rather complicated rules concerning the murder or execution of individuals. We learned in 4.09 (“The Shape of Things to Come”) that Ben Linus cannot kill Charles Widmore and vice versa. Similarly, “The Incident” (Episode 5.16) revealed that the Man in Black could not execute Jacob with his own hands. The “loophole” that allowed Cerberus to kill Jacob apparently consisted of nothing more than finding a person willing to perform the execution on Cerberus’ behalf. Dogen could not kill Sayid, or presumably any of the other Candidates, but as with the “loophole”, he could use a surrogate to perform the deed. Unfortunately for him, Jack was unwilling to administer the poison pill, and Sayid lived. In Season Four, Michael could not kill himself, because as Tom Friendly said, “The Island won’t let you.” In the case of Michael’s attempted suicide, death was physically impossible. We do not yet know whether the other prohibitions on murder indicate physical impossibility or merely a “gentlemen’s agreement” in the centuries-old backgammon game.
I wonder about the force of a “gentlemen’s agreement” in the context of the very physical fight between Dogen and Sayid. During the struggle, Dogen came to have the upper hand, but just before he appeared ready to plunge the dagger into Sayid’s throat, he looked over at the baseball. The implication is that the baseball–his connection with his son–reminded him of his obligation to protect the Candidates. Might he have been physically able to kill Sayid? I believe the question is more than academic.
Knowing the conditions under which execution is permitted may be important to the end game. We may never know whether Dogen’s special dagger would have finished off the Smoke Monster if he had not said, “Hello, Sayid.” Dogen seemed to believe his instructions to Sayid, even if the MIB later said Dogen knew the attack would not succeed. But why would he go to the trouble of hiding a dagger in a beautifully decorated wooden case if the dagger did not have some special purpose or capability?
I briefly considered the possibility that in the specific invocation of Sayid’s name (“Hello, Sayid”) the Smoke Monster had prevented the knife from harming him. Many cultures have strict prohibitions on the face-to-face invocation of a listener’s personal name, not merely as a matter of respect, but to prevent the speaker from exercising control over the listener. I thought perhaps by invoking Sayid’s name, the MIB had gained control over their meeting. But this does not seem to be the mechanism that saved Cerberus. In Episode 6.01, the Smoke Monster did not address Bram or his people by name, and they did not volunteer their names, but their bullets were useless and the MIB killed them all.
It seems likely that the MIB and Jacob’s replacement may be subject to execution under certain conditions of time, relationship, or place. The appropriateness of place may have particular significance, for reasons I will try to explain.
The 51 Pithas of Goddess Shakti
Kate bears number fifty-one on Jacob’s lighthouse wheel. The number on first glance does not appear to have any deeper significance. But it is paired with the very significant 108. The number 108 is sacred in the Hindu religion because it represents perfection. It is said each of the Hindu gods has 108 names. The Hindu rosary, called a japa mala, has 108 beads. Shiva takes 108 poses during his cosmic dance. If number 51 has any deeper meaning, we are likely find it by way of a consideration of Hindu tradition.
Shiva had a bride, a goddess he loved above all other women. Her name was Shakti, the consort-wife of Shiva. Early in their marriage she was insulted by one of the gods and took her own life. To end Shiva’s grief, Vishnu cut Shakti’s corpse into 51 pieces and they fell all across India. For centuries, Hindu women have visited the 51 shrines (pithas) in hopes of being healed.
Kate’s number is the perfect complement to 108, and it brings a consideration of place and purpose to the fore. The Island transported Kate from Ajira Flight 316 to the same waterfall-fed pool she and Sawyer discovered in Season One, for example. Does the Island recognise Kate’s connection to that place?
We know of her affinity for trees. At the age of twelve, she and her sweetheart, Tommy, buried their “time capsule” under a big tree. When she woke from the blast at the Swan Station, she was high in the branches of a tree. Twice she has sought shelter from the Smoke Monster in the strange circular centre of banyan trees. Was protection afforded her because of some natural or acquired power of the banyan tree, or because she is Number 51, a reincarnation of the most beloved goddess in the cosmos who by her very presence brings sanctity and purpose to a place?
Kate’s role in the end game remains a mystery to me, yet her significance seems to grow in every episode this season. As she left the Temple on the periphery of the MIB’s reluctant posse, her bewilderment and inner turmoil were clear. She has not surrendered to the Smoke Monster. She is her own woman, given to no man, subservient to no agenda. She frowns. She wonders. But she does not fear. She is strength and beauty, honour and grace, a bright light in places dark. A seeker. A leader. A hero.
Darkness Falls
Tonight’s episode was the most profound, most unsettling hour in the last six years. The Temple is in flames. Dogen, maybe the last truly good man among the Others, is dead. A man bent on fulfilling his selfish ends strides effortlessly through forest and field, killing everyone daring to oppose him. The Island is dark now, enveloped in corruption, slavery, and death.
We look to the East, across the dark waters, hoping for the rays of dawn, but light does not come. But there is hope. A light shines in Kate, in Jack, in Hurley. A light shines on the Island, and the darkness has not overcome it. The dawn comes, and we will know when it has arrived, for those who now die alone will converge, not only to live together, but to pledge themselves body and soul to each other, and to the cause for which some of them will give their lives: the establishment of humanity on the Island, for the greater good of all.
PM
Related posts:
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Risk: A Cultural Thesis for LOST 6.03 “What Kate Does” by Pearson Moore - Mirror, Mirror (Part II): Cultural Reflections on LOST 6.05 “Lighthouse” by Pearson Moore
- Mirror, Mirror: Cultural Themes in LOST 6.05 by Pearson Moore
Tags: Episode 6.06, Pearson Moore, recaps&reviews, Season 6
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March 6th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Beautiful as always, Pearson. But I have to ask: What do you truly think is in store for Kate? Many of my fellow viewers are in agreement that Kate is beginning to drive us crazy this season. She always decides to complicate things at the most inopportune moments, and every action she takes is extremely self-serving. The writers give us Claire as Kate's MO, but it is clear that she definitely is looking out for herself and not the group. (Though one could argue “WHAT group?” at this point.)
I guess I'm curious as to where you think she plays into everything in the end. A replacement for Richard? Some sort of sacrifice?
March 6th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
“Jacob's bargain was without compassion, and it was unnecessary.”
Who are you to say that? What evidence do you have of that? What can you give me, even of the sheerest, most circumstantial, even of the most insubstantial of evidence? You can't give any. There is no way to know what Jacob's true purposes are. There is no way to know Jacob did not have compassion in this transaction. There is no way to know that Jacob's stipulation to Dogen was not of the utmost and most paramount importance. Five seasons of Lost should have told you that, if nothing else: that we very seldom on the Island, or in any aspect of our lives, know what is really going on or what the real reason for anything is.
March 6th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Amazingly well-written, as always. I find your arguements very sound, with one exception: Jacob. I'm sorry, but I still can't picture him as an evil character. I could see him and his nemesis as philosophical opposites, both nuetral and embodying different idealogies, but his actions towards Hurley, Locke, and Ilana in Season 5 really struck me as those of a compassionate man. Time will tell I guess, but you're stance definitely has a lot of evidence for it. Also, it's possible, though unlikely, that the man who brought Dogen to the island was in fact the Man in Black, pretending to be Jacob as he has before. Everything else I totally agree with: your discussion of man choosing evil is fascinating, a theme I've always thought about during Sayid's episodes. Thanks for the review!
March 6th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Amazing analysis Pearson,
you covered every great aspect of the episode, but I'd like to add some theories;
as of this episode I think there's no such thing as a 'physical' infection or a mental hypnosis resulting in the sunject being claimed by MIB, I think the infection is the illusion of Free will created by MIB in his seemingly non acheivable offers. Sayid is not a zombie, as he himself declared, but he's blinded by MIB's promise, so after all he's been through he finds nothing more promising than reuniting with his dead wife. I think Jacob's offer might seem cruel at first, but it demands one attribute of the subject, not many people have, which is pure self-sacrifice; Jacob offers Dogen a new life for his son in exchange of not being able to be with him ever & forever guarding the island. Dogen accepts the offer, knowing he will never see his son, or never 'know' if he would.
I think throughout the season we will constatnly be challenged by the writers of the show as to which one of Jacob & MIB are evil or good or none.
I see the Sideways universe as the fulfillment of either Jacob's or MIB's promise;
1-Jacob's promise: the sideways reality could be “the ending” Jacob was referring to in his famous scene with MIB by the beach; “it only ends once, anything before that is just progress.” – in that case, as we've seen some of the characters such as Jack or Locke have redeemed themselves in flashsideways. So Jacob's cruel 'designed destiny' might not be that bad, in fact the destiny was for the characters to 'create' their own destiny.
2-MIB's promise: the sideways world could be a promising illusion created by MIB for the characters order to fool them into joining him & help him accomplish his goal. In this case, I think some people like Jack, will start remembering things in their subconscious mind & finally try to escape from it.
In both cases, I think good vs evil themes in the series are mere reflections of free-will vs destiny. And none of the characters will know of their island experiences (if we consider these 2 separate timelines), perhaps seeing Dogen & his son in the episode Lighthouse, was exactly the bargain Jacob made with Dogen: his son will live in another timeline, while Dogen in the original timeline not knowing of it.
I also found shots of Dogen's baseball quite symbolic, as in the Sayid/Dogen fight scene, the ball falls down & reminds Dogen of his bargain, & his restrictions (-> gravity & the ball). Yet when Sayid drowns him in the pool, the ball is released from 'gravity' & floats upon water, as if Dogen has fulfilled his task in Jacob-MIB game & he's no longer restricted by 'the rules'.
Another thing I found interesting is MIB's seemingly invincinble nature; knives & bullets don't affect him.
I think MIB's power (symbolically) is defined by the number of followers he has, like the devil; if we consider Dogen's claim to be true, & MIB is evil incarnate. The more recruits he has, the larger his smoke form will be (as in this episode) !
Anyway, thx for the great recap.
March 6th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Great work man. Love the bits about Cerberus being the lesser of two evils. Makes a lot of sense, should be interesting to see how it all plays out.
March 6th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Jesus, these just keep getting more melodramatic by the episode.
March 7th, 2010 at 1:21 am
Hi PeterJayllten,
Thank you for your kind words.
Kate will have to have an enormous role in the end game, and I believe her motivation in coming to the Island is an indication of the direction the storytelling is headed. All the major players are driven by agendas preventing them from seeking strength in numbers at least, and true collaborative, concerted action more ideally. In the end, I believe at least some of them will truly love each other, and some of those will sacrifice their lives for the others.
Kate came to the Island not for herself, but with the purpose of UNITING Claire and Aaron. She has been the Good Shepherd this season, leaving the Temple to attempt to bring the lost sheep back to the flock. She is the principle of unification, the driver toward collaboration. I will not say her decision to find Claire was selfless, but I see her as being possibly the first of at least two major heroic deaths.
I see Kate becoming progressively more other-centred this season, and in the end giving up her life for the group opposing both the MIB and Jacob. Her sacrifice will rally the others, and at least one in this group will likewise give the final sacrifice for the group.
We shall soon see!
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 1:28 am
Dear Mr. Moore,
you don't know me and I don't know you… but when I read this wonderful letter I started to cry.
This is just GENIUS! From the beginning till the end, just as LOST, right?!
So finally we have to accept that we're back at the old backgammon sense. So cuatro, was right?! It's just Jacob vs. MIB? I think your amazing analysis teaches us, they're both bad. But obviously MIB plays in another level of evil and so we're back at Jacob vs. MIB.
Don't know if I'm just nostalgic but I still trust that “the orange-rind smile of a 58-year-old man in a wheelchair who embodies trust, empathy, and compassion” HAS!!! to appear again. I mean… wasn't it he who lied in the shadow of the statue? Now he's just next to Nikki & Paolo etc.?
NO!!! It can't be like that. WHAT ABOUT HIM WHO WILL SAVE US ALL?
My tears get dry.
Thanks and LOVE from LaFleur who INCORPORATES THE LOVE WHICH IS MISSING ON THE ISLAND spreading it all over Costa Rica
March 7th, 2010 at 1:29 am
A few thoughts…
Maybe MIB made a deal (with Jacob) too — maybe the first one — but he wants out.
Jacob does have a goal, and these are the necessary steps — but you have to have faith in it and him. “God works in mysterious ways” — and so does Jacob, but you still have to have Faith. Jacob has created a stable of Jobs.
Jacob's actions are on behalf of some other entity (the Island?) — not himself. He's a ward. Jacob isn't evil. He's just fulfilling his own obligation. “Everyone answers to somebody.” — even Jacob. He's serving his own term.
Dogen's baseball revelation gives new meaning to his early interactions with Jack. Dogen knows why Jack is there. Jack's there for the same reason he is; but Jack has yet to come to terms with this idea.
“Unfortunately for him, Jack was unwilling to administer the poison pill, and Sayid lived.”
I think there's more to this. Dogen needed someone like Jack to present the option — a person that Sayid has faith in. Sayid wouldn't take a pill given to him by someone else. He'll choose to take a pill given to him by Jack. No one can force Sayid to take the pill. There's alway a choice. Like Dogen refraining from finishing off Sayid during their fight. Like Ben choosing to stab Jacob. The scene can be set, but volition (free will) is always there. (This is an important aspect of the show, and it reminds of the ending of The Devil's Advocate. A key figure (Jack?) will be in position to make a critical choice on the final outcome. Free will vs Destiny.)
“Might he have been physically able to kill Sayid?”
As mentioned above, I think so. He chose not to. If he kills Sayid, there are repercussions for his son in the Sideways world for breaking the rules. Like the boy in the jungle with the sullen eyes (little Jacob?) who reminded Smocke,”You know the rules. You can't kill him.”
I'm still unsure of the stab-him-before-he-speaks idea. I think Dogen took a risk in sending Sayid — and lost the gamble. I also think Jacob made sure that Jack and Hurley were away from the temple — and therefore unavailable for the task. He took no such measures for Kate, however. The dagger needs a
valid user in the right state of mind/soul. The light sabre may not work properly in Sayid's “murky temple water” hand. Dogen knew this but took the chance. Also, I find the Sayid smile interesting. I cannot believe that he would act just based on a suspicious promise. Remember, Sayid is the human lie detector. Perhaps Smocke showed him some kind of proof of outcome in another dimension (Sideways world). Sayid seems more serene than conflicted now. Did he merely give in to the dark side? Or is some part of him already with Nadia now?
“We know of her affinity for trees. At the age of twelve, she and her sweetheart, Tommy, buried their “time capsule” under a big tree. When she woke from the blast at the Swan Station, she was high in the branches of a tree. Twice she has sought shelter from the Smoke Monster in the strange circular centre of banyan trees.”
Yes, the tree thing. Walt also escaped from the bear in the those trees. And there's a telling wide shot of Hurley on the lawn of his mental facility after being visited by Charlie. The frame stresses the huge old tree next to him. Not an accident.
I don't know what's in store for Kate either. But as I mentioned in the past, there's been something missing from her arc from the start. She's more than the standard romantic interest and the girl who is forever “on the run”. I suspect a critical 3rd dimension will emerge. I know many on these boards have grown tired of her puzzling role in all of this, but I think “Freckles” has a big secret. She's invested in something yet to be revealed.
March 7th, 2010 at 1:37 am
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your comments. I believe many share your thoughts, and I respect not only the factual basis for your stance, but the emotional foundation as well.
Dogen's position on evil is that all of us contain some measure of evil. I am evil. You are evil. There's no getting around it. I imagine both of us would like to believe that our intentions and actions are overall good, not evil, and that this means we are essentially good people. But we are evil, and we do, from time to time, commit acts that end up hurting others or denying their humanity in order that we might pursue our selfish agendas.
I can say that at least some of Jacob's actions have hurt people. He knew Nadia was going to die; why not save her? Yes, I understand all about Edith Keeler. He knew Dogen was closer to his son than to anyone else in the world? You may argue with great vigour that the separation from his son was the only way to effect a greater good. I do not argue with you. Also, I do not dispute your position that Jacob will be found to have had pure or almost pure intentions. I say only that he has hurt people, that he had a choice in doing so, and therefore he committed evil (because the effects of his actions were hurtful) and the acts were unnecessary (because he had a choice not to commit the acts).
Jacob is one of the players I believe most likely to become the unifying force to restore civility to the Island. Now, it happens that I have some ideas along these lines, and I believe others will supplant Jacob and establish a kind of civility never before seen on the Island. Nevertheless, I could be very wrong. Also, I see his struggle with MIB as being not a struggle of good v. evil, but again, we will see.
Thanks again for your contribution! We need more thoughts like yours to balance the discussion and bring out more facets of the show.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Hi Man in White,
Thank you for your very kind words.
As far as my thoughts on Jacob, I wrote a response to Michael's comment that you may find interesting in understanding the rationale for some of my statements in the article. The writers have led us to believe that Jacob represents all that is good. Whether they intend for him to actually represent good or they have constructed only a facade to hide his true agenda remains to be seen. I am among those who see high potential for evil inside the facade, but I am open to the idea that Jacob is truly good, inside and out. I don't think we have enough information yet. However, my theory of the end game is based on factors other than good v. evil, and I believe these other factors to have more weight. For a better understanding of this, you might check out “Magnificence: The Cultural Mythology of Lost”, “Risk: A Cultural Thesis for Lost”, and “Impartial Risk: Cultural Musings on the Resurrection of John Locke”.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 1:47 am
Hi John,
Thank you for contributing to the discussion.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Hi Retrofeezy,
Thank you for your kind words. I think they lack a leader. I think Kate knows this. In her reaction to Cerberus' twisting of everyone's destiny I saw the beginning of something new for the Island. It's an exciting development, and all the more so, since Kate is my favourite after John Locke, and Evangeline is my favourite actor after Paul Gross. There's something about those actors from Alberta somehow. And there's really something about a woman who knows how to climb trees.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 1:57 am
Hi Hygoniz,
You have fascinating ideas. Thank you for posting!
I loved your analysis of the baseball imagery. Excellent. It makes sense, and demonstrates again the multi-layered nature of the artistry we see every week on this show.
March 7th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Hi Mr. LaFleur,
Thank you for your kindness. It's good to hear from you again. And good to hear you're a supporter of Ille qui nos omnes servabit: John Locke. I see a certain inevitability in his return. And I imagine we will not know until we're close to the very end whether our guess is correct. Regardless of whether Locke comes, I think you're right: Love is coming to the Island. I saw it in Kate's eyes. The game is going to change.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 5:11 am
Hi Dave,
I loved reading your analysis. Jacob is an angel, like MIB, and they both serve whatever entity gave them their marching orders. But apparently they have been granted some measure of discretion. Your argument holds up well against any evidence I might be able to cite.
I think the end game will go beyond Cerberus and the Man in White. I've had the idea for some time now–since last summer–that Locke will bring a new dimension to the Island as leader. After I read your comments, I had the idea that maybe the as-yet-unrevealed head of the Island (maybe the boy that the Smoke Monster seemed afraid of?) seeks his own replacement, and that a Candidate will not replace Jacob, but the true leader of the Island. I don't find this quite as satisfying. I think the whole point must be the subsuming of good-evil, destiny-autonomy to the greater idea of humanity-disunity. If the show comes down to making a statement about good v. evil alone, it will have lost an unusual opportunity, and I have difficulty understanding how the producers would allow that to happen, since they have complete control over the end game, and have all the time they need to get there by whatever mechanism suits their storytelling preference.
Fascinating thoughts, Dave. Thanks for sharing them with us.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Haha though I do agree about the tree climbing, Kate's easily my least favourite out of all the main characters. She serves no purpose on the show anymore other than to be motivation for Jack. There's been so little focus on her it would seem almost silly to me to conclude the story with her being the leader of the island. I guess we'll see though!
March 7th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Your articles continue to be really thought-through and intense. Still a big fan of yours
There's only one thing in which I do not fully agree. Jacob is, according to your ideas, also to be seen as dark in that he uses people for his reasons, he makes their lives miserable, more miserable than they would have been without him (flash-sideways).
However, and here lies the reason for which I still think Jacob is clearly good, we actually have no idea where everything is leading, at the moment. What is the misery of our Losties' lives compared to the misery that the whole humanity might suffer from in the near future of this show? If the numbers are actually to do with the end of humanity or with a great danger, then isn't it justified that Jacob uses those characters in order to fight the man in black, the ultimate darkness, evil incarnate? Didn't God test man again and again? Didn't he, according to the bible, let him pass tests, used him in order to see how he behaves and what he will do? Isn't that what Jacob is doing? Letting Jack find out that there is something he has to do? To pass “Jacob's Test”?
Also, and this seems to be more important than ever, since we all saw 'Sundown' this week: Did Jacob ever kill? On the contrary, he even touched John Locke (who was obviously dead) and brought him back to life. Did Jacob ever slaughter someone as Smoky did in the last couple of minutes of “Sundown”? Did we see Jacob as killer before? Did he ever do anything that the audience could have interpreted as evil? I honestly can't remember and I don't think there was ever anything. I admit that altering all these people's lives was not a very nice thing, but before we judge Jacob we should wait and see until we understand the whole of LOST, until we see the full picture here.
In season 6 there were a couple of scenes that simply made obvious the writers wanted the audience to like Jacob. Remember that scene where Hurley got kind of angry in the temple and asked Jacob if he knows how to convince stubborn-Jack? Jacob's almost-smile was just so moving. At the lighthouse when he told Hurley he couldn't risk their staying at the temple, that sounded rather like a father, worried about his child. Did we ever see the Smoky in such an emotional moment? To me it's quite clear that Jacob is the absolute contrary of Smoky, he is good incarnate and he is fighting evil with everything that he has got, even though this means destroying some happy lives, but in the end he will prove the audience that it all made a lot of sense, I'm convinced. (Jacob rocks…)
March 7th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Hi Retrofeezy,
I appreciate your position on Kate. If I'm reading fans correctly, your opinion of Kate is probably shared by many, possibly most fans of the show. I have to confess to a certain kind of blindness regarding Kate. She looks older this season, but in earlier seasons she was the very image of Rachel Hughes, the protagonist in my first novel, Trinity.
But some fans are starting to come around to seeing Kate's importance to the end game. Even the man himself, Vozzek69 (my favourite commentator on Lost) over at Dark UFO, emphasised the importance of Kate in his most recent article on Sundown. If we're right, we will begin to see more of Kate, and her decisions will be portrayed as key to the building of a coalition.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Hi Adrian81,
Thank you for your kind words, and for contributing once again.
Jacob and the MIB remain conundrums for me. Until this episode I interpreted their actions as being most consistent with those of angels, or messengers. I think understanding them in this way remains possible, but I have to magnify the importance of balance to accept the angels hypothesis anymore. Jacob and Cerberus were in balance as long as both of them lived. Jacob began upsetting that balance long ago when he sought out certain individuals and brought them to the Island. The MIB complained that Jacob was breaking the rules, he didn't listen, and Smokey went about the business of fashioning a plan to kill Jacob. Now that Jacob is gone Cerberus' methods have not changed, but he has greater freedom than ever to pursue his mandate, and the mandate says nothing about respecting human life.
Could be. But if so, from whom did they receive their commissions? The boy we saw in “The Substitute”? An entity as yet unportrayed or mentioned? The Deity of the Bible?
I doubt Jacob is the Deity Herself. She is Wisdom and all things warm and cuddly and Jesus surrounded by children and meek little lambs, but she is also the stern Deity of the Tanakh, destroying entire armies and leading Moses and Aaron to victory over their enemies. In this light, Jacob and the Nameless One reflect only partial images of the One True Deity.
Here's a question I think might have relevance to discussions along this line: Why does the MIB remain nameless? Do people need to take off their sandals before addressing him? Recall Moses at the burning bush, and the Name Moses was given there. It is, of course, the Name which may not be spoken, and you may have noticed I take great pains to avoid certain words in my articles and in my responses to comments. Is the MIB something more than we now believe?
Recall Locke's first description of the Smoke Monster: “a brilliant light”. Anyone else would have said it was black, like death. I had visions of a pillar of smoke guiding the Hebrews out of the slavery of Egypt across the dry ocean bed of the Red Sea and into the Promised Land. Maybe, I thought, the series finale will have the Smoke Monster whipping up such a storm that the sea between the Island and Hydra Island will part, forming a wall to their right, and a wall to their left, and Moses–I mean Jack, the one who has most often been called Moses–will lead his people to the Promised Land, which is Hydra Island.
I appreciate your feelings about Jacob, and also the depth of support for the conclusion that Jacob is not the least bit evil. We can only guess who he is, what his real role is, and what his true objectives may be. I am most of all happy, though, that you have decided to join the discussion. Only by helping each other can we come to a fuller understanding of this most complicated programme.
PM
March 7th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Yes, you do touch the core problem between Jacob and the MIB. While the former respects human life, he searches for speciufic human beings, there seems to be an ongoing plan to achieve a something really specific in the future, to get the people he needs to the island, while the latter does not respect human beings. He kills them as it pleases him, there are no limits. He probably is too aware of being superior to humans and plays out his might, wheras Jacob does not do so. In fact ins the season 2 concept of belief versus science. Jacob simply is a man of faith, seeing human beings as his friends, he cares a lot about them, observes them for years and even decades, whereas MIB does not give the slightest thoughts about human beings. That is as long as he doesn't need them for his evil plans, I don't think he really cares about Claire like Jacob cares about Hurley, Jack and his candidates. He uses them as long as he needs them and when the day has come when he no longer needs them we will probably see that he does not really care about them any longer, that's his nature.
That's an interesting thought, are Jacob and MIB only messengers, are they to be seen as employed by a much more powerful deity? Is that where the island was coming coming from? I was anyway thinking about that in season 5. Where does that blue time-travel-crystal come from? Was the whole island one day part of another world? Or was the blue crystal a meteorite that fell down on earth? Also, Your mentioning that MIB is actually nameless: I somehow felt already in “Incident” that that's going to be one of the core answers of the show. It was a highly conscious decision by the writers not to name teh MIB. I'm sure this is going to be a major revelation in the series finale.
One question I had for a very long time: Did you also see that the shape of the smoke monster somehow changed? I remember Smoky back in season 3 as a very black pillar of smoke. There was a scene where Mr. Eko looked at the smoke monster and didn't move. AS I recollect Smoky looked like black paint, not like grey smoke. Is this only due to technical reasons or is this a conscious decision by the writers? Is Jacob maybe the other “Smokemoster” (the black one) whereas Smoky is the grey pillar of smoke? That would mean when John Locke saw the monster he was talking about Jacob, not necessarily about MIB? But that's just a speculation.
One general thing is for sure: There has never been a TV series where there was so much speculation / thinking or so many fascinating ideas. The only literary works I remember from my studies (English and German) are actually Faust (by Goethe) or also Paradise Lost (Milton). These works can actually be compared to LOST in that they are so complex, there are uncountable human emotions, a fight between good and evil. To me LOST is something that will probably not happen again during my lifetime. I just watched “Flashforward” a couple of days ago and I also know Fringe, both are great TV series I have to admit, but honestly they don't even come close to the depth and complexity of LOST!
March 7th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Hmmm… I think MIB has a much different context than Jacob. As revealed in the show, MIB is an angry person. Why? Did he get bamboozled by Jacob or someone else? Is he just a sore loser? I don't think he's fulfilling any duty nor taking any orders. He's been ensnared — and he's been trying to escape ever since.
We agree on the end game being something wider. The writers would never have reduced this story to simply good vs evil — in the 5th of 6 seasons — via the introduction of two new characters that suddenly take over the crux of the show. It's still about our original cast. Before long they'll move into the foreground as something we recognize. But we still have to go through another layer past Jacob/MIB to see it — perhaps with the help of our Sideways crew.
March 7th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Pearson,
Yet another interesting discussion. I have to admit that, while I tend to stay away from commentary on LOST, I find your readings thoughtful, insightful, and engaging. And, you do not shirk taking risks, which is refreshing.
Anyway, I have one question, one comment, and one absolutely unfounded speculation to share, both of which are prompted by your take on Kate, her importance as a character, and how “love” (a slippery word, but I take your gist I think) may function in the overall narrative.
Question: In the main island timeline, how much linear time (i.e., in terms of the experiential present of the characters) has elapsed since the 316 flight?
I'm specifically interested in Kate, Jack, Hurley, and Sayid, all of whom were “transported” by the flash. They were in Dharmaville for, say, less than a week?
Now, after the incident, how much linear time has elapsed? Has six episodes taken only one day, effectively ending at “Sundown”?
I don't know about you, but, if so, I think these characters are experiencing one hell of a week, so to speak. And hell, writes Christopher Marlowe, is where you are.
Hell, in other words, is the very real feeling of the scales tipping, to follow Dogen's metaphor.
I also follow Jack's insistence on the reality of feeling when he explains his understanding of fear to Kate in the Pilot. There are many other examples. Suffice it to say that the manifestation of hell is not a place, but Sayid's smile after he's killed both Dogen and Lennon. The feeling is empirically real.
Anyway, on to my totally unfounded speculation, which is really more of another question than anything else:
Could Kate be pregnant?
In the overall narrative of LOST, what other than the creation of life is love? Precisely what the island has been lacking for quite some time, at least before the flight 815 crash.
On the one hand, such a speculation is unfounded, especially at this point in Season 6. Rather than suggest her pregnancy, on the other hand, there are indeed narrative elements that allow for the possibility.
I won't launch into a full blown attempt at justification, but I will say that a still significantly “broken” Jack and an emotionally distraught Kate slept together–seemingly–before they got on the 316 flight. Kate is notorious for physical encounters, especially with Sawyer, when under emotional duress.
The mirror, of course, is Juliet. There was some speculation that, in her very odd interaction with Bernard at the end of Season 5, she was pregnant.
In any event, there are a number of other narrative features I could point out that would suggest the possibility of Kate's pregnancy, rather than the narrative reality of it, but you're the writer on LOST, not me! What do you think?
In closing, I don't mean to suggest that any of this furthers the ostensible “love-quadrangle” or whatever. The possibility I'm talking about here transcends the question of legitimate candidacy in any game of sexual politics.
Thanks for writing, Pearson. Looking forward to reading you in the future.
March 7th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
I think Kate is pregnant as well. For some of the reasons you've mentioned — and a few that you haven't.
March 7th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Hi Adrian81,
Thanks for your comments.
I agree about the MIB's name. The writers are clearly going out of their way not only to avoid telling us his name, but also to make it clear that the name is important.
I don't know if the change in colour of the Smoke Monster is significant–could be just a CG issue over time.
Pm
March 7th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Hi Jongleurdeux,
Thanks for joining the discussion.
Interesting speculation on Kate. For Flight 316 to fly through Island spacetime the passengers had to emulate as closely as possible the Oceanic flight of three years before, or so Eloise Hawking said. So we had one person arrive late (815 Hurley, 316 Ben), one in handcuffs (815 Kate, 316 Sayid), and so on. There was also a pregnant woman on the original flight, and presumably one of the women on 316 was also pregnant. The most likely candidate is Kate, of course. As you indicate, it's only been a week or so since that flight, and a lot has happened. It's surprising none of them has gone crazy!
The love I speak of in the article is not romantic love, but self-sacrificing love, service of something other than oneself–agape, if you will.
PM
March 8th, 2010 at 12:19 am
Yeah despite my distaste about a number of cheap purposes Kate's character has come to serve over the years, it is becoming increasingly hard to deny her importance to the end game. I'm also a fan of Vozzek and the two of you are beginning to make more and more sense on the matter. He's always emphasised the importance of Hurley which I've always agreed with, so I suppose he could be right about Kate too.
thanks for the responses! Looking forward to your next article.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Just had an amazzing idea which I believe could be finale stuff: The Producers once said that Harry Potter was a big influence on LOST since through Rowling admitting Harry Potter would meet a literary end the producers decided to do the same thing. Now we know Jacob touched some of the Losties. What if there would be the harry Potter idea in in? What if he would have “inserted” himself into those Losties? And now every single one of them is carrying “Jacob's sould” within them. That would explain why it was so tremendously important that all of them had to return to the island and why Jacob can't “risk” to have them at the tample and to die. Because the only way Jacob can be brought back to life is by filling the pieces and putting them all together into one new body (the body of the candidate, for example Jack). That would mean they would have to meet somewhere on this island, be very close to each other in order to reunite Jacob's sould.
The young boy might really be Jacob. If he's able to time travel he might even have seen his own death, he might have known all the time that he was going to die, therefore he could search for some people into which he would plant his soul so that he would be prepared for his own death. That again would explain why Jacob said: “What about you” to Ben, even though that one was holding a knife. He knew all along that he was going to die, he could not prevent it.
What do you think Pearson? Is that finale stuff?
March 9th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Dear Pearson Moore,
Thank you for writing your analyses. I'm a big fan of LOST and reading your analyses really improved my enjoyment of the show. Let me explain what I like best about your writings. Up 'till now, a key concern form me in watching LOST was to get answers, to speculate where the story will go: 'What will happen next?'. That was already a very enjoyable way of watching the show and watching the story unwind (and, more oftenly, wind and rewind). But since I started reading your analyses, my watching of the show changed. I am now enjoying and engaging with each episode. I'm still interested in next episodes, of course, but I also have sort of enough with each episode; enough to ponder upon, enough to analyse, explore, etc. You have probably heard of 'slow food'; a way of preparing and enjoying food in a relatively slow manner (as opposed to fast food). What you enable me to do is something similar: 'slow watching' of LOST. Thanks
March 10th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Hi Adrian81,
You have some interesting ideas here. Spock transferred his soul to Leonard McCoy in Star Trek II; perhaps Jacob has done something similar. Interesting!
PM
March 10th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Hi Marc,
I'm glad to hear the analyses are helping you gain a deeper appreciation of the show. There's certainly much to ponder in every episode, and any single commentary is only going to scratch the surface of the great depths of material. I find regardless of the time I spend in analysis I learn much from Doc Jensen and Vozzek69 and many other analysts who pick up on the significance of things I didn't even notice. There's always more to think about!
PM
March 11th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Hi Mr. Moore,
Thanks for sharing your knowledge/ideas with us, it makes it better to read all the possible theories.
I'm glad you mention Jacob as having some level of evel influence in this show. I also feel this way, I mean afterall, the way I see it, it's been some sort of game between the 2 of them, they're only using them as Desmond said on season 4. 2 Players, having the same sort of game for centuries, now with this game there's a lot of things going on around humanity (faith, death, forgiveness, betrayal, destiny, etc.) so waht stops either one from doing whatever it takes to reach their goal, inclunding evil moves.
I also fell and hope to see the return of our one and only John Locke to restore the “love” as you mention before to the island, but how do you think this will happen? Do you have any new theories on the latest episode? Dr. Linus?
March 19th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Hi Ethosanima,
Thank you for your kind words. I regret my tardy response. I have been forgetting to review old submissions to see if there are new comments. I'll try to improve going forward..
What Locke brings that no one else offers is TRUST. He is more trusting than anyone else in the series. Trust forms the foundation for commitment, collaboration, the building of alliances that transcend the normal boundaries of reason. I believe what the Island requires is the building up of a culture of humanity that goes beyond any constraints of logic and science, something strong enough to weather any of the storms of selfishness from people like Widmore–because surely more like him will come. After all, not a single one of us is born free of the tendency toward self-fulfillment at any expense. Any one of us can become Charles Widmore, and it will take a radical commitment–like John Locke's unwavering trust–to counteract the pure evil of selfishness. In a nutshell, I think that's why Locke is coming back–why he has to come back.
PM
May 3rd, 2011 at 7:30 pm
["In Season Four, Michael could not kill himself, because as Tom Friendly said, “The Island won’t let you.” In the case of Michael’s attempted suicide, death was physically impossible. We do not yet know whether the other prohibitions on murder indicate physical impossibility or merely a “gentlemen’s agreement” in the centuries-old backgammon game."]
Considering Jacob’s comments in “What They Die For”, it’s quite apparent that he couldn’t care less about anyone committing murder. He’s guilty of it, himself. And he had considered at least three murderers as potential caretakers for the island – Sayid, Sawyer and Kate. Not one of them has ever expressed remorse for their actions. Neither has Jacob.
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Hello, thanks for all the visitors, I will upload many more video clips in future days, admin
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|When I want to place gallery or LightBox or yet a slider on my website I every time try to use jQuery script in support of that.
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