>"MIB: I don't have to ask.
>You brought them here. Still
>trying to prove me wrong,
>aren't you?
>
>Jacob: You are wrong.
>
>MIB: Am I? They come. They
>fight. They destroy. They corrupt.
>It always ends the same.
>
>
>Jacob: It only ends once. Anything
>that happens before that is
>just progress." //

I guess I interpret that differently. I see that as Jacob traps people on the island to prove his point that it can work, and MIB is saying that because they are humans, they are going to act the way humans do.

>I heard the contempt in MIB's
>words, the hope in Jacob's.

The only hope I see is Jacob's hope that he might be able to finally prove MIB wrong.

>The "flash-sideways-Locke" seems happier but haven't
>you noticed that he's still
>very troubled. He does nothing
>about it. Worse, he doesn't
>believe in miracles anymore. He's
>abandoned hope. (and getting married
>doesn't always solve problems.)

Sure he's troubled, he's in a wheelchair, and he just realized that he can't do everything that a person who can walk can do. Who wouldn't be troubled? And, I wasn't saying that getting married is going to solve his problems...but you can't deny that his relationship seems much healthier than it was with Jacob's influence.

>As for the "Lostie-Locke" that killed
>himself, remember that happened AFTER
>Jacob had lost control of
>the island, as shown by
>his cabin being used by
>someone else.

How did Locke know this? His last experience on the island was talking to Christian...and when Locke asked if he was Jacob, Christian said, "I can speak for him." Why would Locke think that Jacob has lost control of the island?

>It would explain why Walt,
>who may have been Jacob's
>best "candidate", turned out to
>be too much for MIB
>to handle so he told
>the Others to let him
>go.

I think that had more to do with the actor growing older, and not being able to play a young child well into his teenage years.

>As for the rest, yes I
>expect a twist but not
>because we are being told
>Jacob is good and MIB
>is evil. We are heading
>down a path showing that
>believing in God is what
>brought misery to mankind and
>I don't think American TV
>is ready to make that
>statement...at least, not ABC's sponsors.

So, then what possible twist could there be? We are heading down a path showing that believing in God is what brought misery to mankind, and finally, when God's followers win the war, everyone's life goes back to being ok....That's not much of a twist. Having the devil win, and everyone's life end up ok...well that doesn't seem like a rewarding message...