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Howdy - I noticed a discussion about the mirror smashing has begun on the review post; figured I'd relaunch it over here. I find the question of what Jack's current mental state is to be pretty key to the show at this point; here's what I had to say about it in response to Dave & Robin's exchange:

Strictly on the question of Jack's "sudden" rage, as contrasted to the slow-boiling version that was its forebear in White Rabbit, I think Dave from MA has a point here. Your (Robin's) last sentence there says it all -- can anyone know what's in Jack's mind at this point? My view is that he's been through so much (they all have); who's to say differences we see arent indicitave of changes undergone rather than mere characterological inconsistency?

As I said below (in the review thread), I see Jack's sudden rage in a very particular context, but however one chooses to see it, I tend not to believe the writers don't mean us to take something from it. That doesn't mean they can do no wrong, though -- I agree Hurley's lack of interest in the source of the numbers is completely insupportable. But I do believe Jack's action there shows a development of some kind.

Hi again,

Happy to do it, Robin. That all clarifies your view a great deal; I entirely understand what you are saying about how the moment worked now. And I can see what you mean about a general lack of curiosity in Jack over the seasons, and this moment fitting into that.

In all honesty, I'm not sure I can expand much on what I've written about Jack's purpose on the island yet. He seems at this point still to be getting the lay of the land to some extent, which is a bit odd given his familiarity with the island. I can't say much more at this point, other than to me the impetuous mirror-smashing doesn't suggest he's much interested in settling into a comfortable existence as the island's next protector. On the other hand, it could simply have been frustration that will lead to acceptance of that role; who knows. Also, it's entirely possible that whatever the island stroyline holds from here on, Jack doesn't turn out to be the primary agent of its action (maybe he'll become a cliff-side sea-gazing guru of some kind. Kind of doubt it.).

What it might come down to for me is a sense simply that the conclusions we're seeing sketched out now are too simple and neat to be final. In my mind, if the lives we're seeing in the flash-sideways already in the first few episodes really will be the final conclusions, that would drain the season of much dramatic tension. It would seem remarkably anticlimactic pacing for this show to be providing final conclusions at this point in the season. Similarly, if the island narrative is simply that Jack or some other character is going to settle into the Jacob or MIB role, to me that is remarkably overdetermined at this point. Simply from a dramatic standpoint, I have to expect there to be fundamental conflicts and reversals in the arc of the season (if not in the overall path of the series) still to come, or I will feel this season will have to be judged a remarkably flat end to a dynamic series.

That's about the best I can do now -- I don't have the content-specific material to flesh that out in terms of the plot elements at this point, it's more driven by a meta/critical sense of what the dramatic narrative requires to be satisfying. But we'll be getting the specifics on it one way or another soon enough...

Cheers,
Mike