The Promise of Lost (About Season 2)

Abstract

This essay deals with the themes of the leap of faith, the ritual and the sacrifice in the television show Lost, concentrating mainly on season 2. It questions Lost’s promise to spectator as far as narration is concerned. This promise seems to be paradoxical: the story requires the viewer to be suspicious and even to distrust what s/he sees. Our work examines the Swan Station apparatus and the opposition between belief and knowledge which is reflected in the antagonism between Jack Sheppard and John Locke and finds a solution in the sacrifice of Desmond Hume. The essay analyses the episodes “Man of science, Man of faith” (S02E01), “?” (S02E21) and “Live together, Die alone” (S02E23-24). The first episode is interpreted in relation to Kierkegaard’s works to show that belief and knowledge are two phases before a character’s leap of faith, which consists in being open to others. However, the repetition of this leap is problematic; the second episode is understood as a focalisation on the despair of one character, Locke, who gives us a reflexion on the way to look at the TV show as an undecidable oscillation between distrust and trust, i.e. between the Pearl and the Swan. The third one, compared with David Hume’s writings and to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, allows to reveal the solution offered by the show, which would be self-sacrifice, mainly the sacrifice of one’s own pride, evident in Desmond and Penelope’s relationship.

Keywords

• Lost
• suspension of disbelief
• skepticism
• leap of faith
• sacrifice
• repetition