This was the first of my ramblings on Lost, originally written September 25 of this year after finishing the first season and the beginning of the second.

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Ok, so here's some of what I've got so far: The progress through the first season seems a microcosm of human history: first people find themselves in paradise; the food is just provided for them, but then that runs out and they have to get their own. They start by foraging, then they learn to hunt game. Then they learn to domesticate plants. Then mysteries occur and religious or quasi-religious beliefs arise to make sense of the world. Then there's a conflict between science and religion, personified in Jack and Locke, respectively. The hatch sort of is the concrete object of life's mystery. Locke wants to open it, but Sayid thinks that's crazy so he enlists Jack (Reason/Science) to "talk him out of this madness." To Sayid's dismay, Jack wants to open the hatch, too, but for a different reason: Locke is looking for arcane knowledge and experience, while Jack is looking for safety for the people. Ironically, opening the hatch leads to some modern comfort and bounty, but no real answers or safety. Likewise the modern world that science and religion have both created out of conflicting motivations has not provided answers, only more questions and problems and enslaved us to meaningless tedium (the button). The button is like the status quo: the threat is that if the button is not pushed the status quo not maintained, all hell breaks loose. You know that may or may not happen, but are you willing to take that chance? So far, no one is.

As I move further through the second season, I get the distinct impression that the dichotomy between Jack and Locke is not so much "man of science" vs. "man of faith", but "man of responsibility" vs. "man of fate". Jack is willing to take responsibility for everything he does and everything that happens to him. Locke, on the other hand, does not take final responsibility for anything (he does say Boone's death was his fault at first, but he ultimately concludes that the island demanded his death). Locke's fatal weakness is his inability to take ownership of his life, while Jack's fatal weakness is that he takes responsibility not only for his own life, but for everyone else's as well.

I also get the purgatory thing. Very interesting. Apart from the obvious ("we're both already dead," "Are we saved yet?" "Not yet.") there are the cases of those who die: Boone dies shortly after he lets Shannon go, Shannon dies as soon as she finally feels validated and worthwhile. It's like as soon as you've worked through your issues you die and leave the island. If that's true Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Ana Lucia have a long life ahead of them on the island, cause man, I don't remember when I've seen so many messed up issues in so few people.