SPOILER ALERT: If you watch LOST, but haven’t seen this week’s season premiere, you should stop reading. Also, if you don’t watch LOST at all, feel free to keep reading but you’ll probably be bored. Also, if you’re still reading this spoiler alert, you’re already bored. My apologies.
It’s funny how you don’t realize how much you miss things until they are back. If you asked me back in December if I was excited about the February premiere of LOST’s final season, I would have said yes, but not that enthusiastically. But now that it’s back? Oh man! Don’t say the word “lost” near me unless you want to hear me rant for two hours (The same goes for the word “situation”).
Now I don’t want to bore you with my theories about where the show is headed (think Superbad meets Sophie’s Choice). It’s too early for that. We just don’t know enough. But I would like to talk about Jack role as the show’s Moses.
In this week’s Torah portion, Yitro advises Moses to delegate some of his powers to trustworthy people:
“You will tire yourself and the people out. Now heed my voice, I shall advise you. You be a representative to God and teach the people of the path God seeks of them. Then find capable men who fear God and trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain.
If you remember last season, Jack started letting others lead. When he arrived in 1977, he was fine with Sawyer being the head of security. He was fine being just another guy in the crowd. However, when it came to the big decisions, namely getting out of 1977, Jack wanted to be in charge. Something that Yitro would have approved of.
But when you make big decisions, you also get blamed for the consequences. When Moses struck the rock, he was not allowed to enter Canaan. When Jack advocated detonating a nuclear bomb, Juliet struck it with a rock, an act that killed her (we think).
Was Yitro right? On the one hand, he was worried that Moses would tire himself out. But sometimes, when you don’t make the every day, small decisions, you get sloppy. Perhaps Moses got sloppy. And while it’s too early to tell, as far as we know, Jack was somewhat sloppy with his decision making.
If he wasn’t, Juliet would still be alive.
I’m curious how the show’s writer’s are going to handle Jack’s leadership qualities this season. He obviously is a natural born leader. But does he want to be? Can he lead his friends to the “promised land” or will he give up? And if so, is there anyone qualified to replace him?
