Lost In Myth: “Follow the Leader”—Can Changing One Moment Change Everything? (2009-5-7)
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you could go back to a particular moment of your life and do something differently? What if you hadn’t taken a job you’d accepted, married someone you’d broken up with, said “no” when you’d previously said yes…or vice-versa? What if we were all allowed one do-over? Would your life be completely different than it is now, or would events have conspired to put you in pretty much the same place? By continuing to explore the concept of the variable, “Follow the Leader” brings up these very same questions, and if you’ve been paying attention, it’s already given us the answers.
At the end of my last column, I asked whether the “variable” would prove to be an event that could change everything. The one thing that could have a domino effect on the outcomes of every event that followed. I wondered if this changeable event is what Ben and Widmore have been fighting for control of. After watching “The Variable,” I have to say “yes,” this is what the term is referring to. However, I’m still not so sure whether the variable will actually vary anything according to the mythology of the show.
If you’ve read my writings about Lost, you probably know that I believe it’s more than just a show: Lost contains hidden messages about how the world really works. That’s right, I sincerely believe that a TV series is giving us clues that can help us understand the mysteries of life. Well, if that were true, shouldn’t Lost include this little tidbit within its own mythology? Shouldn’t it demonstrate how the media can provide answers to our own life challenges so that we’ll know to look there to find them? Yes, I believe it should, and to be honest, I’ve been wondering if it was ever going to do so. In “Some Like It Hoth,” I finally received my answer.
Perhaps the most ironic theme of “Dead Is Dead” is that it actually seems to imply anything but. The episode is more about the futility of death, rather than its finality, yet, I don’t think this is its ultimate message. The message in its fullest form is that dead is only dead if your services will no longer be needed.
Before I go to sleep at night, sometimes I ask the universe a question about my destiny. The answer, as bizarre as it may seem, usually comes in the form of a song that wakes me up on my clock radio the next morning. While I haven’t done this in awhile, last night I once again had the urge. I asked the universe (God, the light, soul guides, my future self, whatever you wanna call it) what is going to happen on December 22, 2012—the day after the Mayan calendar abruptly ends. The answer I received really surprised me.
The concept behind Lost’s “He’s Our You” is that different people or things in our lives often take on very similar roles. In other words, multiple actors often play the same character in the movie that is your life experience. This intriguing concept actually reminds me of an episode of Seinfeld I first saw years ago. In “The Bizarro Jerry,” Elaine breaks up with a boyfriend but they decide to remain friends—similar to her relationship with Jerry whom she’d also dated prior to becoming friends. Comically, it turns out that this “Bizarro Jerry” has…
As you’ve probably noticed, the title of a Lost episode often hints at more than just the episode’s story on a surface level. Many times, it provides a clue to its mythological messages as well. This was true of “316,” of “LaFleur,”* and now of “Namaste.” While Buddhist/Hindu principles pop up in Lost every so often, I was hoping that they might be a major theme of this episode due to its title, and I was not disappointed.
For a show that’s been such a cornucopia of mythological goodness, it’s pretty surprising that Lost hasn’t spent much time exploring the one theme that is the foundation of most classic myths—love. Oh sure, we’ve seen plenty of love triangles and quadrangles, and forbidden love has come up from time to time along with lost love, but the mysterious ways in which love works has not really been explored to any major extent. That is, until Lost’s 91st episode, “LaFleur.”
The concept of taking a leap of faith has been covered many times on Lost. Locke had told Jack that he was taking a leap of faith by pressing the button; Hurley took a leap of faith by risking his life with Charlie to get the DHARMA van started as it sped down a hill; and in the episode titled, “316,” the theme shows up throughout. In fact, the title itself should’ve been the first tip-off.
