Bible Imagery! Let the ‘LOST’ Countdown/Takeover of Every Waking Moment of Our Lives Begin!

Ohmigod, I’m going to need freak out control.

Well, folks, less than a month until the final season of LOST premieres.  I’ll be honest, because the hiatus is now so lengthy between seasons, I hadn’t been thinking about the show too much lately.  And, to be franker still, the show so completely dominates my brainwaves when it’s on – between the actual episodes, the podcasts, countless blog posts, expert analysis, and chats with friends and co-workers – that I rather welcome the respite its extended break provides.  When the show is back I’m totally and utterly invested.  When it’s in the interim I rest up and allow my mind of focus on other (no less trivial) concerns; which probably explains why I’ve never really been immersed in the between season interactive games like the “LOST Experience.”

However, my excitement for the conclusion began to reemerge when I spoke to a friend over the weekend who, over the last few months, had just watched all five seasons for the first time.  After an exhausting task like that her head, I imagine, must feel like Desmond’s when he ping-ponged through time (which, perhaps, makes me her constant.  An honor and a responsibility, no doubt).  As she just consumed the whole series at once, she was unable to have consistent conversations about the series, in-depth discussions about possible theories and explanations, the time to spend a week reading reactions and frustrations.  Thus, as we talked about the island, about Christian Shephard, about Ben, Jacob and the Man in Black, about the clues planted in season one, about Juliet and the H-bomb, and about the probable locations of the characters when the show returns (on the plane?  LAX?  Exactly where we left them?), her novice enthusiasm, her LOST innocence rubbed off on me, and for the first time since early summer I was really excited about the show’s impending return.  I began to remember how much I enjoy discourse around the show, and, even more, just how much I enjoy the show.

And then I saw this and the show was officially back to blowing my mind.

Now, to continue being completely honest, my initial reaction was a bit of disappointment.  Not that this “Last Supper” allusion is not awesome.  It is.  But it’s that my first thought is that they ripped off Battlestar Galactica, another beloved sci-fi masterpiece with a terrific ensemble cast, and a dense, thorny, mind-bending mythology (basically substituting a spaceship for the island), as BSG presented a very similar tableau prior to their own highly anticipated final season last year.

But then I thought, “Battlestar Galactica doesn’t own the bible.”  And neither do I (I have the first five books somewhere, but I think they’re in Hebrew).  Maybe the BSG version is better.  I’ll allow that argument (in retrospect, it clearly alludes to the identity of the final Cylon).  But the creative minds behind LOST are permitted to do their own take (and perhaps it was even just the idea of the photographer), and damn it if it doesn’t get me all psyched up (especially the inclusion of Frank Lapidus.  I’m assuming/hoping that means we’ll see plenty of him in season 6.  And that’s a good thing).

I don’t know what the last season of LOST will bring.  I told my friend that I really don’t do much theorizing because a) I know I’ll be wrong, and b) I trust the show and don’t mind just waiting to see what happens (I should add, however, that the one thing I have always said, and I still believe it, is that Jack is our hero, a flawed hero sure, but our hero nonetheless, and the final season will bear this out).  Maybe this photo tells us everything we need to know about season 6, the key to unlocking the ultimate mystery.  Maybe it tells us nothing.  In the end, it doesn’t matter.  It captivates us.  It does its job.

That being said, while I’m not going to begin to speculate about any meaning to be found in “LOST Supper,” I have no problem consulting EW‘s Doc Jensen for his analysis.  Let’s say we all read it and reconvene tomorrow to discuss.  Only 28 days left.

(What the fuck are we going to do when the show ends???).