I think your Jacob=God theory might be a better fit. For one thing, it accounts for Jacob being able to leave the Island, which my Jacob=Prisoner theory does not. But the Jacob=Prisoner theory puts daddy issues at the center of everything, which I think is where they belong.

Maybe the actual resolution of the show will somehow use elements of BOTH theories. The main Bad Daddy of them all being named Christian Shephard suggests that both themes — bad daddies and Christ-like sacrifices — might come together at the end.

As for the smoke monster, I’ve been thinking that maybe the smoke monster is something that exists in some kind of time hole, where it exists in all different times at once. So, just as someone moving fast might look like a blur to someone standing still, the smoke monster, which might actually be something solid, looks like smoke to someone who is anchored in a specific time.

I have no opinion on whether the monster might be Nemesis/Esau. I’ve been thinking, though, that maybe Esau really isn’t a nemesis — maybe he’s really not Jacob’s enemy.

Thanks for the interesting discussion!

But I would say that arguably, at least, Jacob does have limits. He keeps on bringing different groups to the Island — and all they do is fight, destroy, and corrupt. Jacob says this will all work out in the end. But why does he have to keep on bringing in groups that fail? If he truly had no limits on his powers, why not just get it done (whatever “it” might turn out to be) right in the first place?

And then, as you bring up, there is the question of Jacob’s death. (That is, if he is *really* dead. I guess we’ll have to wait till next season to find that out. )

Here’s the thing that most intrigues me about the scene with Jacob and Esau. When Esau says (in an oddly gentle, apologetic tone, and calling Jacob “my friend”) that one day he will kill Jacob, Jacob doesn’t seem to mind. It’s such a strange interaction, and raises many questions.

It might suggest, as you say, that Jacob’s death was a Christ-like sacrifice, something Jacob knew was necessary and inevitable. That would explain why he didn’t seem to mind, in the scene with Esau on the beach.

My guess — and this is strictly a hunch — is that Jacob won’t turn out to be such an explicitly Christ-like figure. If he were, that would turn the whole LOST story into basically a Christian allegory, and I don’t think that’s going to happen. Not that it couldn’t, and not that it wouldn’t make sense, but there are so many different religions and philosophies swirling around in the show that I don’t think that the story is going to end up being primarily about any single one of them.

Thanks, Justin, for the thought-provoking comment!

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Meanwhile, it looks like my 15 minutes of blog fame are starting to wind down. Many thanks to Doc Jensen for the ride.