16 Days Of Lost – The Monster

Welcome to the first official post of my 16 Days Of Lost segment. In today’s entry, I will be focusing on one of the biggest mysteries that’s been on everyone’s minds since the first episode of season one all those years ago; that big cloud of black smoke that seems intent on killing everyone.

The “monster” made its first appearance on the survivor’s first night on the island, moving through the jungle cutting down trees whilst making its characteristic howls. The next day, it appears again as Jack, Kate and Charlie trek through the jungle to Oceanic 815′s cockpit where it pulls out pilot Seth Norris, mauls him, and leaves his bloodied body high up in a tree. It then proceeds to chase the survivors through the jungle, seemingly warded away from Kate by her hiding in a banyan tree, and disappears as the rainstorm stops.

Three days later, Locke encounters it in the jungle. To be honest, he really didn’t seem that bothered and was left completely unharmed. Locke later claims that he saw a bright white light and it was beautiful.

Monster activity is quiet until the first season finale, when we catch a glimpse of what it actually looks like; a small wisp of black smoke, seemingly getting larger as it grabs Locke by the leg and attempts to pull him through a hole in the ground. It only realises it’s grip when Kate throws a stick of dynamite at it, causing it to disperse.

So at the end of season one, we know fuck all really; it’s a cloud of black smoke, seemingly relative in size, and comes from the ground. Fair enough.

Smokey (as I’ll lovingly refer to it from now on) makes only one appearance in season two whilst Charlie and Eko are searching for the fallen beechcraft. Smokey appears as a small wisp of black smoke, then gradually increases in size. Charlie insists Eko run (from the safety of a tall tree) but he decides to stand his ground and stare it out. Several images of Eko’s past flash inside the smoke, and Smokey slowly retreats back into the ground.

So at the end of season two, the only new piece of information we have is that somehow Smokey “scans” people and can feed the images back to them.

Smokey’s next appearance came in season three, manifesting itself as Yemi, Eko’s deceased brother as well as several other characters from his past telling him he was being judged, before appearing as its usual black smoke form, disappearing when Locke appears. It later returns when Eko is alone, appearing as Yemi again. Yemi demands Eko confesses for his sins but Eko relents and says he is not sorry for the things he has done, as he did them to survive. Yemi responds, “You speak to me as if I were your brother” and walks off, returning as Smokey (noticeably now over 40 feet in height), before killing Eko.

Smokey appears a little while later as a manifestation of one of the island’s Medusa spiders, indirectly killing Nikki. The next day, Kate and Juliet encountered it in the middle of the jungle. Again, whilst hidden in the safety of a banyan tree, Smokey couldn’t harm them but instead hovered over them and flashed white several times before disappearing. It reappeared to the two women the next day as three small wisps of smoke, joining together to create one big cloud but was repelled by the sonic fence, splitting back into three separate wisps.

So, by the end of season three we know: Smokey is a series of, or one giant black cloud, can scan people’s memories and relay the images back to them, can manifest into different forms, and doesn’t like the sonic fence.

Smokey only makes one appearance in season four. After Keamy and his team of mercenaries attack the Barracks and kill Alex, Ben disappears into a secret room in his house and Smokey appears outside, attacking the mercenaries in a giant swirling black vortex. So apparently, Ben has the means to summon Smokey, but not necessarily control it, as he’s pretty intent on fleeing as soon as Smokey’s done with Keamy’s team.

Smokey makes frequent appearances in season five. The first is during the island’s jumps through time, attacking the French Science team in 1988, killing Nadine and then dragging Montand through the jungle into the hole at the base of the Temple wall, right after ripping off his arm. However, it doesn’t kill Montand. He seems fine to be honest, but panicking about not being able to get out. Robert, Lacombe and Brennan follow to retrieve him but only Robert survives, seemingly possessed by Smokey. He refers to Smokey not as a monster, but as a security system for the Temple. He tries to kill Danielle, but she gets the upper hand (albeit by removing the firing pin from his rifle) and kills him.

Cut to present time, 2007, when Frank and Sun arrive at the main island from the Hydra island after the Ajira 316 crash. Smokey is heard, but not seen. Until Frank and Sun meet Christian Shephard and a wisp of black smoke is seen around him. How curious…

Ben later journeys to the Temple wall in order to be judged by Smokey, after summoning it fails to work. In an ancient room full of hieroglyphics, an engraving of Smokey and the Egyptian god Anubis stood above a grate from which Smokey slowly emerges. It surrounds Ben and shows him images of his late daughter and when it appears Ben is truly sorry for letting Alex die, Smokey retreats, manifesting as Alex. “Alex” warns Ben to follow Locke’s every word, and if he doesn’t, he will be killed. When Ben agrees, the manifestation disappears.

So that’s all of Smokey’s appearances in chronological order. What do we know? Well, season five revealed Smokey is tied in to the island’s ancient past, and lives underneath the Temple wall. How about some theories?

This will tie in better when I’ve written a few more entries over the next few days, so bear with it for now. My main theory is that Smokey is linked directly to Jacob’s Adversary. Smokey can manifest into forms from people’s memories and/or from the deceased. Jacob’s Adversary can also do this. Smokey is apparently a security system for the Temple. Jacob’s Adversary certainly seems intent on protecting the island from intruders, as demonstrated when the Black Rock arrives in the 1800s.

When Ben summoned Smokey for the second time, Locke (or rather Jacob’s Adversary in his form) was “on an errand”. Very convenient, seeing as how as soon as Ben summons Smokey, Locke appears. When Smokey doesn’t appear to show up, Locke orders Ben to the Temple Wall, knowing Smokey resides there. Ben falls down a hole, Locke goes to find a rope to pull him out, Smokey appears. Smokey disappears, Locke comes back again. It’s all far too convenient, right? Maybe Smokey and Jacob’s Adversary are one and the same. Or perhaps they are very closely linked.

So what is it? A god? A spirit, or a collection of spirits? We know it pre-dates Dharma by a few thousand years, so that rules out it being an experiment by them. This is what season six really needs to clarify. We know its purpose; to protect and to judge. We know it’s ancient. We just need to know what exactly it is.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading, next entry on Jacob and his Adversary tomorrow!

Filed under: TV & Film by Tom Case
Tags: abc, lost, season6