Last night's episode made me think about the smoke monster a bit, and here's what I came up with:
Smokey manifests in four separate ways, at my counting:
1. As smoke.
2. Taking the form of a person. See: "Walt" appearing to Shannon, "Yemi" appearing to Eko, "Alex" appearing to Ben. In these situations, Smokey makes little to no effort to mimic the individual; he takes on the form to evoke an emotional response in the person he's working with.
3. Altering people, ie. Rousseau's group. Also potentially with Ilana and the 316-ers following her.
4. A theory, but Smokey may be able to use dead bodies to engage in face-to-face conversation. Christian is the main reason for my theory... we have no idea what he is, and "puppet of Smokey" makes as much sense as anything else. This form differs from number 3 in that Smokey works harder at passing himself off as the person he's masquerading as. Either that, or the person retains a level of their own personality and control? This is getting creepy.
Now, assuming my last theory is correct, does Locke fit here? The writers are doing their darndest to make us think it's a possibility, anyway. Locke leaves Ben before Smokey arrives and then returns after Smokey is gone, Ben calls Smokey and Locke comes out of the jungle, etc. Locke also questions Ben about his choice to move the Others to the barracks, and knows as much about the temple as Ben does. In general he's not acting like your typical pre-death Locke.
Last night's episode also solidifies the Island's endorsement of Locke as Ben's replacement (insofar as Smokey speaks for Jacob). "I know you're already planning on trying to kill John again," Smokey says. "I recommend against it." In this case, why allow Ben to live? If he is no longer the leader of the Others, and he's a threat to the current leader, what purpose does he serve?
The scene also solidified Smokey's role as judge. He judged Eko for Eko's past sins, found him unrepentant, and killed him. He judged Ben for Alex's death, found Ben sincerely repentant, and spared him.
This ties nicely into the Anubis theories, but I'll save that for tomorrow.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
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I was thinking the exact same thing. 'Smokey' doesn't just have the smoke form, but can possess/reanimate the dead. Dead is dead, it/him/her isn't bringing them back from the dead, they're dead, it/him/her is just reanimating them.
ReplyDeleteI have to weigh my thoughts on this whole Smokey idea. I can see how it could be reanimation, but I wonder if Christian really is alive, a' la John Locke, in order to fulfill some sort of destiny or mission that the island needs done.
ReplyDeleteI think that John Locke is dead. At least the John Locke of old. That dead is dead. But from that death has obviously brought a new John Locke--a rebirth that befits his name.
In sum, I think Christian and Locke, both of whom are dead (as we once knew them) but are made alive by the island (which is presumably governed by Smokey).
My mind is spinning and more thoughts are on the way.