Episode Recap – "Across the Sea"

After talking with some of my coworkers this morning, it seems this episode has people divided. Some loved it.. some thought it was a distraction from the real story. I thought it was one of the most important episodes yet because it went a long way in explaining the "mythology" behind the series. It helped us get closer to answering the question, "What IS the island?" We know the origin of the wheel. And of course, we now know the identities of the skeletons dubbed Adam and Eve.

Here's probably the most important scene from the episode:

Mother explains she is taking them to someplace that only she can show them. The Boy in Black asks if she knew about the men, and Mother says yes. She didn't tell the boys because the men are dangerous and she didn't want to frighten them. Jacob asks what makes the men dangerous, and Mother says the same thing that makes all men dangerous. They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. And it always ends the same. The Boy in Black picks up on something and asks where they "come" from. Mother quickly says another part of the island. And she warns the boys to never go looking for them because the men will hurt them. Jacob asks why, and Mother says because they're people and that's what people do. The Boy in Black says they're people, so does that mean they can hurt each other? Mother stops, and we can see the pain in her face. She gently pulls their blindfolds off and says no, she's made it so they can never hurt each other.

The boys look past her and see something amazing. They ask what this place is, and Mother says it's the reason they're here. They are standing at a pristine part of the island, a stream shrouded in darkness from the trees surrounding it. The stream flows into a small opening underground and cascades over a waterfall into a crevice. And from inside the crevice rises a pure white light. The light creates a sense that something exceptional and special lies beneath the waterfall deep in the earth.

Mother holds the boys back from stepping into the water. Jacob seems a little confused, maybe even scared, but his brother is fascinated. Almost hypnotized. He asks what's down there, and Mother tells him, with quiet reverence, light. The warmest, brightest light they have ever seen or felt. And they must make sure no one ever finds it. The Boy in Black says it's beautiful, and Mother says yes, it is. That's why they want it. A little bit of the light is in every man, and they always want more. Jacob is afraid and asks if the men can take it. Mother says no, but they will try. And if they try, they could put it out. If the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere. So Mother has protected this place but she can't protect it forever. The Boy in Black asks then who will, and Mother says it will have to be one of them.

Do we all agree that the light represents life, or the source of life? If so, why did MIB turn into the black smoke when he went into the light?

Here's the official recap from ABC:

• Claudia washes up on the island, shipwrecked and very pregnant
• Mother helps her give birth to twin boys
• Mother kills Claudia and raises the boys as her own
• Mother tells Jacob and the Boy in Black the island is the only place in the world
• A 13-year-old Boy in Black finds a senet game and teaches a 13-year-old Jacob how to play it
• Hunting boar, Jacob and his brother discover other people living on the island
• Claudia appears to the Boy in Black and tells him she is his mother and the other people on the island are his people who shipwrecked there
• The Boy in Black leaves to go live with his people and find a way off the island
• 30 years later, Jacob discovers the Man in Black and his people are digging wells trying to find a way to leave
• Mother knocks the Man in Black unconscious and kills all the people in his village
• Mother performs a ceremony and Jacob becomes the protector of the island
• The Man in Black regains consciousness, sees what Mother did, and kills her
• Jacob throws the Man in Black into the heart of the island and creates the smoke monster
• Jacob leaves the bodies of his mother and his brother in the caves