This is one of those totally divisive episodes of LOST that I loved.  “Across the Sea” was a great origin story of the Smoke Monster and it lent us a look at Jacob and his brother, along with the crazy Mother.

Allison Janney starred in this episode as Mother.  A woman who was already on the Island as the Protector when a ship crash landed on the shore and a pregnant woman came stumbling into the jungle. Mother helped the woman give birth to twins- she only had one name, Jacob- and then Mother killed her.

We saw how the Man in Black and Jacob developed over the years.  The Boy in Black discovered that he was from another land after conferring with the ghost of his birth mother.  He was already curious about what was out across the sea.

Jacob and the Boy in Black discovered the others from the ship and went to Mother.  Mother took them to the heart of the Island, the glowing light.  She said it must be protected above all else and that one of the boys were destined to take her place as protector of the Island.  On the way, she told them that they could never hurt each other.

The Boy in Black decided to leave and he wanted his brother Jacob t go with him, but Jacob refused and they started to fight.  The Boy in Black left to go with the other people.  Jacob stayed with Mother.

Mother eventually took Jacob and made him protector, despite Jacob not really wanting the job.  After drinking some wine, Mother said “Now you and I are the same.” Mother stopped the Man in Black from building the donkey wheel.  Then she went and killed the other people.  The Man in Black, angry from the betrayal, stabbed Mother with a knife (without letting her speak) and she died, thanking him.

Jacob arrived and was angry at his brother.  Jacob took the Man in Black to the light and knocked him out.  Mother had once warned him never to go down in the hole because that would be much worse than dying.  Jacob threw him into the water and it took him into the hole.  A few seconds later, the Smoke Monster roared from the hole.

Jacob found the body of his brother nearby and he took him and Mother to the caves and set them inside.  That made Mother and the Man in Black the skeletons that were found in the first season, Adam and Eve.

A major question in this episode… how did Mother kill all of those other people?  I believe that she was able to do that because she was already a Smoke Monster. She spoke about that hole being worse than death because she knows first hand.

Plus, if the Man in Black was the Adam skeleton, that means the Man in Black that we have been seeing since is actually not Jacob’s brother.  This means though that apparently the rules still apply as the Man in Black was unable to kill Jacob on his own.  However, Smokie retained the memories of the Man in Black which makes one wonder if he has all of Locke’s memories as well.  How about Christian or Yemi?  There is evidence that might support that as a fact.

Sure there are plenty of questions raised by this episode, but they’re the type that do not require an answer.  I actually like the uncertainty better.

Why is there so much hatred over this episode?  I think some probably hated the placement of the episode, the third to last episode of the series.  That is important though with how much the heart of the Island will play in the finale.  Some people hate when episodes raise questions and do not answer them.  I already said that does not bother me.  I can come up with solutions for everything.  I think some of the answers that were presented were just not the ones people wanted or that they disagreed with.

Any way, I really enjoyed “Across the Sea” and look forward to the final three hours of LOST.