Leap of Faith

Finally, an episode that didn't make my head ache from the flashing lights & high pitched sounds. This was one of my favorite episodes ever. I noticed quite a few religious references once again. The title of this weeks episode was 316, which immediately made me think of bible verse John 3:16:"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

This week we saw the survivors head back to the Island because Ben and Eloise told them that they should. As Ben mentioned, they took a big "leap of faith" that doing this would somehow 'save' them. The 'suicide' letter John left for Jack read "I wish you had believed me." Jack never believed in anything, since he is a 'man of science.' Since Jack took a "leap of faith" and headed back to the island, does this mean he's starting to believe and will have eternal life?

We learned that John sacrificed his life in order to save the island and from next weeks previews we learn that he will be 'resurrected'. Sounds a little bit like the story from the bible to me, not only that but Ben also referenced Jesus' resurrection, as well as the apostle Thomas. Thomas doubted that Jesus could/would be reborn unless he touched the wounds of a reborn Jesus. John's body was 'stored' at Simon's Butcher shop. Simon was also one of Jesus' apostles. Also known as Peter, Simon was the first one to declare that Jesus was the messiah. He was also the one who later on denied Jesus.

When we first saw Desmond back in season two, entering the numbers out of fear that the island would explode or everyone would get sick if he didn't, it looked like some sort of religious ritual to me. Desmond had no scientific proof that anything would happen if he didn't enter the numbers, but he did it for years. He didn't do it because he enjoyed it or even believed in it, he did it out of fear. Not only that, but he was able to convince others to do the same. Now Desmond has turned his back on the Island. He told Eloise (who was perhaps a pastor of some sort?) that he was done with the Island and that she lied to him and told him that the Island was his purpose. He was upset for giving up so many years of his life to it.

Joe and I also had a theory that Ben hurt/beat himself up to 'test' the island and/or himself, to see if returning to the island would heal him and therefore he would be declared "the one." A few seasons back, Ben developed a tumor on the island, which coincided with him losing faith in the island. The verse clearly states his one and only son and there has clearly been some 'rivalry' going on between Locke & Ben.

Eloise told the Jack, Kate & Sun to get back on the plane and to recreate the original flight as closely as they could. Sayid & Hurley also ended up on the flight. Not only that, but Sayid took on Kate's original role, being handcuffed to an officer. Hurley had a guitar this time, as Charlie did the first time. Did they get the same message or was it just a coincidence? I think this points to the fact that the Island (like Eden) is basically a test of/between fate and freewill. When Jack asks Kate how she thinks it (Sayid & Hurley being on the plane) happened, she simply says: "They bought a ticket." (freewill).

Episode Recap - "The Little Prince"

The Little Prince

Seems fairly obvious that they want us to think the title refers to Aaron.. So either it's a hint and Aaron is special... like we've thought all along, or it's meant to distract us from the real story. I think it's a hint. Let's think about this... I have a theory.

Locke dies to bring the O.8. back to the island. We know this from the season 4 finale... What if Aaron is Locke. Or a reincarnation of him... I keep thinking back to the episode last season where Richard visited Locke as a boy. If you remember, he showed little Locke an assortment of objects. These were presented to Locke as a test to see if he was who Richard thought he might be. It reminds me of the way they choose the Dalai Lama or other religious leaders in Tibetan Buddhism.. The Lama dies and the monks go throughout the country looking for his reincarnation. They present certain children with a group of the Lama's posessions to see how he (it's always a male, apparently) reacts.. If he chooses the correct object, he is deemed the reincarnation of the Lama....This is my understanding of it anyway... It's the same as Richard did with Locke.

Locke failed the test, but this could be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.. what is significant is that throughout the entire series, we've been made to feel as if Aaron is special in some way. It's becoming more and more clear that Locke is special, too. So I'm posing this theory and I want to get your thoughts on it:

Aaron is Locke is Jacob.

By the way, they showed the birth of Aaron this episode.. coincidence?.. Dont be distracted by Jin coming back... that doesn't matter in the big picture.

Forgive me but...

"Forgive me but the day I start trusting him is the day I would have sold my soul."

That is what Sayid said to Locke about Ben when they were in the Barracks after Locke took Sayid prisoner. Now that we know that Sayid does eventually trust Ben... enough to kill for him; Does that mean that Sayid "sells his soul" eventually? And who is it that you sell your soul to? Usually, the devil. Does that mean that Ben is the devil? Since his main strength is that he can manipulate people with his words, like the devil does in the Bible, it would make a lot of sense...

Why does the bad guy have to have such a great name?