Lighthouse

"Lighthouse" redirects here. For other uses of "Lighthouse", see Lighthouse (disambiguation).

Lighthouse
Season	6
Episode number	05
Airdate(s)	February 23, 2010
Centric	Jack
Writer	Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Director	Jack Bender
Guests	Veronica Hamel - Margo Shephard Dylan Minnette - David Mark Pellegrino - Jacob Hiroyuki Sanada - Dogen & Dogen
Co-stars	Dayo Ade - Justin Sean Kinerney - Japanese boy

"Lighthouse" is the 5th episode of Season 6 of Lost and the 108th produced hour of the series as a whole. It was first broadcast on February 23, 2010.

Synopsis

Flash-sideways timeline (2004)

Jack is at his apartment in Los Angeles. He is getting changed and calls his mother to update her on the status of his father's coffin. While changing his shirt he notices an appendectomy scar and when she rings asking whether his father's coffin has been found he asks his mother about it. She says that he had it removed when he was seven or eight, but Jack doesn't seem to recall it, saying that he "guesses" he remembers collapsing at school with appendicitis.. He also agrees to go over to her home to help look for his Father's will which she cannot find because there are "papers everywhere". On noticing the time, Jack excuses himself and hangs up.

He drives to a school (St Mary's Academy) where he picks up a boy, David, his son. Jack apologises several times for being late but David seems dissatisfied. At Jack's apartment an awkward conversation between Jack and David takes place. Jack asks whether David is reading The Annotated Alice. But when Jack reminisces about reading the boy the book when he was little David walks out. In the kitchen David asks why Jack wants to have a conversation with him as they see each other once a month and wants to "get through it". Just then Jack's mobile rings. It's Jack's mother asking where he is.

Jack drives to his Mother's large house where they search for the will. His mother offers Jack a drink which he refuses. She says "Good for you". She explains David was really upset at the "funeral". Jack says he didn't know that the boy was upset and that "Communication is not one of his strong suits". His Mother says it "runs in the family". Jack explains that he didn't communicate well with his Father as a child because he was terrified of his Father. His mother suggests that David may be terrified of Jack and that he should ask his son. His mother finds the Last Will and Testament and on perusing it asks Jack whether his Father ever mentioned a "Claire Littleton"?

Jack arrives home with a Pizza and drinks and calls for David. He is not at home. Later Jack rings David and leaves a message that he is sorry if he did something to upset David. He explains that he is going to drive over to his mother's house and asks David to wait there if he is there. At David's Mother's house Jack finds the key under a flower pot and goes in. Jack then goes to David's room and calls for David but he is not here.

Original timeline (2007)

Jack and Hurley

Hurley is playing tic tac toe with Miles when he suggests that they get something to eat. Venturing into the temple he spots a man crouched by the pool, pouring something into it and asks him where the kitchen is. The man reveals himself as Jacob and tells Hurley that someone is coming to the Island and that Hurley has to go on a mission to help him. Later, Hurley, with a series of instructions written on his arm, is discovered by Dogan searching a hallway in the temple. Dogen orders Hurley to return to the temple's square, but with prompting from Jacob, Hurley asserts his status as a candidate and his right to do as he pleases. Dogen says something in Japanese to Hurley. After Dogen leaves, Jacob informs Hurley that he needs to enlist Jack in his mission.

Hurley approaches Jack and tells him of the mission from Jacob. After Jack declines to go on the mission, Hurley tells him that Jacob said that Jack "has what it takes." Jack demands to see Jacob and Hurley leads him through a secret passage and out of the temple. While walking through the Jungle, Jack and Hurley discover Kate by a stream. Kate indicates that she won't be returning to the Temple, but intends to find Claire. Hurley and Jack continue on their way, eventually stumbling across the caves. While there, Hurley speculates that Adam and Eve might be the remains of some of the 815 survivors who have been sent back in time. Jack tells Hurley of how he discovered the caves while chasing after his dead father. The two continue on their way.

Finally, Hurley and Jack arrive at The Lighthouse. On climbing to the top they discover a wheel and a series of mirrors. Hurley says that they have to turn the wheel to heading 108. He begins to turn the wheel and asks Jack to tell him when it reaches the appropriate number. As Jack is observing the wheel he notes that their names, among others, are written along the edge, at the various numerical positions. As he watches the mirror, Jack sees a strange reflection and tells Hurley to stop, but the image vanishes. He then asks Hurley to turn the wheel to his number. When the mirror reaches the appropriate position, the two of them see a reflection of Jack's childhood home. Jack speculates that Jacob has been using the mirrors to watch them their entire lives. Getting angry, Jack smashes the mirrors.

Afterward, Hurley is sitting outside the Lighthouse. Jack is sitting some distance away, staring out to sea. Jacob appears and Hurley apologizes for failing in his mission. Jacob explains that he sent Hurley on this mission in order to convince Jack to do something. He also explains that he sent them to the Lighthouse to get them away from the Temple, because someone bad is about to arrive there. Hurley wants to warn the people at the temple but Jacob explains that it is already too late to do so.

At Claire's camp

Claire checks to make sure that Aldo and Justin are dead and then frees Jin from the bear trap. She indicates that she has been living in the jungle since the other survivors left the Island three years ago. She helps Jin back to a makeshift camp which she has made. In a shelter which Claire uses, Jin discovers a cradle with a makeshift doll which more closely resembles some kind of animal carcass inside it. Claire soon returns with Justin in tow. She indicates that she intends to torture Justin in order to find out where Aaron is. When Claire leaves the two men alone, Justin insists that Claire intends to kill them both and demands that Jin free him so that he can kill Claire. Claire returns and treats Jin's wound. She explains that she hasn't been alone in the jungle but has a friend who has told her that The Others have Aaron. She threatens Justin with an axe, demanding to know where Aaron is. Jin stops her from killing Justin, saying that Kate took Aaron off the Island. Claire then kills Justin. Afterwards, Jin tells Claire that he lied, hoping to spare Justin's life, and that he had seen Aaron at the temple with the Others. Claire says that this is good, because if Kate had really taken Aaron she would have to kill her. As Jin reacts in shock to this statement, Locke, ie.the Smoke Monster, walks in, and Claire identifies him as her friend.

Trivia

General

• The lighthouse wheel reveals Austen as number 51. Austen is not crossed out and didn't appear in the cave in "The Substitute."
• The lighthouse wheel also reveals Wallace as number 108. Wallace is crossed out.
• The Lighthouse wheel reveals Linus crossed out at number 117.
• Jack reminds David he used to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to him when he was younger. In a flash-forward in Season 4, Jack reads the same story to Aaron. ("Something Nice Back Home") Two of Jack's centric episodes are named after Alice stories. ("White Rabbit")  ("Through the Looking Glass")
• The sign for David's recital reads "Welcome all Candidates."
• Jacob instructs Hurley to turn the lighthouse dial to 108 degrees. 4+8+15+16+23+42=108.

Production Notes

• Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jeff Fahey (Frank), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Yunjin Kim (Sun), and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana) do not appear in this episode.
• This is the 108th produced hour of Lost. The number 108 plays an important role in this episode's plot.
• This episode continues the season 6 pattern of copying season 1's centricities for episodes. The pilot and "LA X, Parts 1 & 2" are multi-centric, "Tabula Rasa" and "What Kate Does" are Kate-centric, "Walkabout" and "The Substitute" are Locke-centric, and "White Rabbit" and this episode are Jack-centric.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• Several of the names on the lighthouse wheel (eg Faraday, Rutherford) don't match up with the ones seen in the cave. However this may be due to Jacob taking names that he was no longer watching off the wheel and replacing them with other candidates.
• During the conversation where Jacob tells Hurley that he has ink on his forehead, the ink can be seen to shift throughout the scene.

Recurring themes

• Jin and Justin are taken inside Claire's camp. (Imprisonment)
• Jack and his son, David, do not get along. (Parent Issues)
• Justin is killed by Claire. (Life and Death)
• Hurley was instructed by Jacob to turn the mirror of the lighthouse 108 degrees. (Numbers)
• The lighthouse has 4 mirrors. (Numbers)
• Jack instructs Hurley to turn the compass to 23 degrees. (Numbers)
• Jin tells Claire that the Others have Aaron. (Deceptions and Cons)
• Jacob tells Hugo that Jack will have to find "it" himself. (fate versus free will)
• Claire is friends with the Man in Black. (Relationships)
• Claire states that if Kate was responsible for taking Aaron, she would have killed her. (Revenge)
• Hurley calls Dogen "a samurai." (Nicknames)
• In the alternate timeline, Jack is told by Dogen that his son is "gifted" similar to when Juliet told Michael that Walt was "special". (Parent Issues)
• In Miles and Hurley's game of tic tac toe, the X's are black, and the O's are white. (Black and white)
• The numbers in Jack's truck's license plate (2SAQ321) add up to 8. (Numbers)
• In the flash sideways timeline, Jack speaks with Dogen after David's piano performance. Dogen tells Jack how talented he thinks David is. (Character connections)
• In the caves, Jack tells Hurley he first found the caves not because he was looking for water, as he originally claimed in Season 1, but because he was looking for his father's ghost. Jack says he smashed the coffin because his father's body wasn't in it. (Secrets) (Missing body parts)
• In the flash sideways timeline, after reading Christian's will, Jack's mom asks Jack if he's ever heard of Claire Littleton. (Character connections)

• In the flash sideways timeline, Jack talks about the cats "Kitty," a black cat and "Snowdrop," a white cat, from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. (Black and White)

Cultural references

• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Hurley compares Jacob to Obi Wan Kenobi in regards to how, although dead, he appears when he chooses to do so. (Movies)
• Indiana Jones: Hurley tells Dogen (as a cover) that he likes temples and all that Indiana Jones stuff. (Movies)
• Alice in Wonderland: Jack's son, David, is reading an annotated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Jack also finds a key to his ex-wife's house hidden under a rabbit statue. (Books)
• Looking Glass Self: Charles Horton Cooley developed a social psychological concept in which one sees themselves as how others would see them, much like looking into a mirror and only caring about the reflection. At the Lighthouse, Jack sees an image of his childhood house, an image he associates with how his father saw him.
• Samurai: Hurley refers to Dogen as a samurai. The actor, Hiroyuki Sanada, played that role in the movie "The Last Samurai".
• Tic Tac Toe: Miles and Hurley are seen playing tic tac toe in the Temple grounds before Hurley tries to find some food inside the Temple. (Games)
• Chopin: Jack finds sheet music by the composer Chopin on David's desk. The song is Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu and is the same piece David performs at his recital/audition. (Music)
• To the Lighthouse: Hurley and Jack's journey to the lighthouse could be a possible allusion to Virginia Woolf's book To the Lighthouse. (Books)

Literary techniques

• Jack comments on how he would make a horrible father when, in the flashsideways timeline, he is trying to be a great father. (Justaposition)

Episode references

• This episode, the fifth episode of the final season, contains several references to "White Rabbit", the fifth episode of the first season:
  • In order to motivate Jack, Jacob tells Hurley to tell Jack he "has what it takes." This motivates Jack because Christian once told Jack as a child he didn't have what it takes. ("White Rabbit")
  • Jack explains to Hurley that he discovered the caves by following a vision of his dead father. ("White Rabbit")
  • David is reading an annotated edition of Alice in Wonderland. ("White Rabbit")
  • Jack finds the key to David's mother's house under a ceramic white rabbit. ("White Rabbit")
• Hurley looks at and comments on the bodies of Adam and Eve. ("House of the Rising Sun")
• Jack finds one of Shannon's inhalers on the ground in front of the caves. ("Confidence Man")
• The exercise bike Desmond used in his daily routine is seen in Jack's bedroom in the flash-sideways timeline. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
• Jack's appendectomy scar in the flash-sideways timeline parallels the scar he received from the same surgery Juliet performed on him on the Island. ("Something Nice Back Home")
• Claire explains that she knows that the Others have her baby because both her father and her "friend" told her that they took Aaron. Before meeting Jin, Claire was last seen with Christian Shephard. ("Cabin Fever")
• Jin tells Claire that Kate took Aaron off of the Island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")
• Both Hurley and Jacob reference their meeting in the cab in Los Angeles. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• The church where Sawyer attended his parents' funeral is one of the buildings seen briefly in the mirrors of the lighthouse. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• The location where Jin and Sun got married and touched by Jacob can be seen in the mirror in the lighthouse. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• Claire talks about how the Others tortured her at the Temple by sticking her with needles and branding her. ("What Kate Does")

Unanswered Questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Lighthouse/Theories

Original Timeline

General

• Who is coming to the island, per Jacob?

Claire

• Why does she believe the Others took Aaron?
  • Does she remember leaving him in the jungle?
• What happened to Claire when the Others took her to the Temple? How did she escape?
• Why does Jin take back the truth about Aaron and begin lying to Claire?
• How does she instantly realise the Man in Black is not John Locke?
  • Why does she consider the Man in Black her friend?
• How did the Man in Black and Christian Shepherd help her survive in the jungle for three years?

Jacob

• Why does he not allow Hurley to reveal his prescence to Dogen and the Others?
• What action must Jack perform, that Jacob alludes to?
• What is going to happen in the Temple that Jacob does not want Jack and Hurley to be there?
  • Why is Jacob not concerned for the fate of the Others residing in the Temple?

The Lighthouse

• Who built the lighthouse? What is its purpose?
• How was the mirror able to depict Jack's childhood house?
  • What else can it depict?
  • What repercussion, if any, results from Jack's smashing of the mirror?
• Who is the person named "Wallace" when the lighthouse is rotated to 108 degrees?
  • Is "Wallace" who Jacob wanted to come to the island?

Flashsideaways Timeline

• What did Christian Shepherd leave in his will to Claire?
• Who is David's mother?
  • Why are she and Jack separated?
  • What is her occupation that she would be "away on business"?
• How does Dogen come to reside in Los Angeles?

External links

• ABC Medianet schedule
• ABC Medianet press release