Lost Recap - What They Died For

Warning: the following should not be viewed by those who don't want to be spoiled on tonight's Lost.

Last week we kinda took a break from the main story to get the back story for Jacob and MIB. This week we went back to the island and the remaining survivors of the awful submarine explosion that took half of our group away.

We start in Sideways land with Jack getting a call from Desmond claiming to be from Oceanic Airlines and saying they found his father's coffin. Sideways world is mostly going to be Desmond coming in contact with everyone else from the flight and trying to get them to remember their Island lives. He even goes as far as to turn himself in for running over Locke so he can get near Sayid and Kate. His story ends with him, Kate, and Sayid escaping their imprisonment with the help of Hurley. Sayid goes with Hurley to we-don't-know-where while Kate seems to be going to the concert Desmond set up with Charlie, but we aren't 100% sure. All we know is they are going to a concert and this made the most sense to me.

Over in Island World, we see Ben for the first time in I-can't-remember-how-long. When someone asked me "what ever happened to him?" I honestly had some false memory in my head of him dying. Oops? Turns out he really had been wandering the island with Miles and Richard (another person whom I had wondered what had happened to). They have a run-in with Witmore, who tells them that he was sent to the island by Jacob to stop Smoke Monster. Speaking of Smokey, he enlists Ben's help in making a few people dead. First order of business: confront Charles Witmore. Whitmore whispers something to Smokey just before Ben shoots him dead. Apparently the killing isn't going to stop there, but we will have to wait till next week to see what Smokey's next move is.

On the other side of the scale, Jacob is back for what looks like could be the final time. He gathers the remains of the group together to share some things with them before he is gone for good. This speech wouldn't have had as much meaning if it wasn't for the back story we got last week (nor would the scene where Jacob has Jack drink from the cup before showing him the Light). He mentions how this is his fault due to his mistake (and we now know he means that he created the Smoke Monster). He also shared with the group why he chose them all. He said they needed the island just as much as the island needed them. Whoever replaces Jacob is going to have to protect the Light and kill Smokey. He is not going to choose which one it is though. He wants them to have the choice that he didn't, so he is going to let them make the decision for themselves. Jack volunteers immediately, saying this is what he's "supposed to do". So Jacob takes Jack to show him what he will be guarding for the rest of his life, or as Jacob puts it, "for as long as you can".

We end with Smokey explaining that Witmore told him Desmond is a fail safe created by Jacob in case the candidates all die, and he is going to use Desmond to destroy the Island. This brings us to the final episode, which airs this Sunday. If you want to watch the pilot and remember how it all started, that will air just before the finale. It looks like a lot of big things are going to happen, so make sure you tune in for our final hours on the island of Lost.

Edit: As was pointed out, I got my signals crossed a bit. There is a special airing just before the finale. The pilot airs Saturday at 8pm. Thanks for keeping me honest, friend.