The Face of Evil

I had a theory awhile back that I thought that Jacob and the MIB were flip sides of the same coin. I couldn’t tie it to my Doctor Who – Key to Time series until now. I kept thinking how odd the Doctor would say – Janus thorns, no more janus thorns. He said this while a prisoner during the Pirate Planet of the Key to Time series. I then remembered the episode in question – The Face of Evil.

My theory was that both Jacob and the MIB were the same entity but somehow it wasn’t truly aware of this fact and was in fact insane. This to me would explain why both sides knew pretty much the same things say concerning the knife dialogue etc. It also explains in my opinion the sonic fence erected by the others. Desmond Hume in my theory would be the Doctor Who character. The computer has been playing out a game with the inhabitants of the island and through some sort of advance technology, that is the computer itself, it is able to bring people to the island to play out these games. Desmond must somehow fix the computer and correct the fault that is in the computer.

You can see the entire Face of Evil summary for youreselfe at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_of_Evil

Below is what I have taken from the Face of Evil episode (italicized) and wrote in how I believe it fits in with Lost in (parenthesis):

My Theory in a nutshell (Go ahead call me a nut) – I’m not saying this is the entire story of Lost just that it could have been used as inspiration

The Fourth Doctor, traveling alone in the TARDIS, arrives on a mysterious jungle planet which he cannot resist exploring. (Desmond arrives on the island). He soon encounters Leela, a savage from the local tribe, who denounces him as the Evil One of fable amongst her people. (Maybe when Desmond got there someone actually recognized him). She has been exiled from her tribe, the Sevateem, for profaning their god, the mysterious Xoanon, (Xoanan would be Jacob) which speaks to them through the tribe’s shaman, Neeva. (Neeva would be Richard). Now Leela is an outcast beyond the invisible barrier (Barrier around the island) around her tribal home. In the jungle beyond that she encounters the Doctor, who soon wins her over by defending her from invisible monsters (This would be Smokey) that rampage about, attracted by vibration of any kind. Exploring further, the Doctor finds a sophisticated sonic disruptor which creates the forcefield (The sonic fence that keeps Smokey at bay) that keeps the creatures from attacking the village itself.

Leela regales him with more folklore of her people: the god Xoanon is kept prisoner by the Evil One and his followers, the Tesh (Tesh would be DHRAMA), beyond a strange black wall. (The Temple) It speaks with the Doctor’s own voice, conveying exhilaration on hearing the Doctor that "At least we are here. At last I shall be free of us." (Reminds me of the “They are coming line Jacob uttered as he was dying) They then head off to inspect the dark Wall that stands at the entrance to the realm of the Evil One. The Doctor deduces it is a primitive time barrier, (The barrier that is around the island and distorts the islands inhabitants of the actual perceived time) and is convinced the Sevateem warriors will be massacred if they attack the fortress of their enemy, the Tesh.

Beyond this barrier is a rocket, which the Doctor recalls as belonging to the Mordee Expedition, his memory of events earlier in his regeneration now returning. (Point in finale where Desmond will remember who he is and what he is capable of) Xoanon has detected the Doctor nearby, and when he reaches the ship the god-creature is both ecstatic that "We are here” while also manically pledging that "We must destroy us." (Again reminiscent of the “They are coming line Jacob uttered as he was dying) The invisible creatures that attacked the Sevateem are also part of the same deranged scheme: Xoanon is a highly sophisticated computer, designed to think independently. (Hence why Jacob and the MIB appear as two separate beings) The Doctor had once repaired Xoanon but forgot to wipe his personality print from the data core, leaving the computer with a split personality.(Also left it with the ability to manipulate time itself since the Doctor is a Timelord) With Leela (Zoe or Sun, most likely Zoe) keeping guard and holding the Tesh at bay with a disruptor gun, the Doctor ventures into the computer room of the ship to confront Xoanon. He blames himself for creating the maddened split personality of the computer and now attempts to persuade it to shut down. When Xoanon refuses it channels a vicious mental assault at the Doctor, causing him to collapse. (Desmond battling the computer) As the Doctor writhes on the floor, Xoanon booms: "Who am I?" The Tesh and Sevateem (Sevateem would be the Others) soon converge on the computer room too and interrupt the Doctor as he tries to repair Xoanon, realising the computer has now triggered the countdown to an atomic explosion. (The atomic bomb that Juliet smashes with rock). Elsewhere in the ship Neeva is alone but crazed, his faith in Xoanon shattered. (Richard losing his faith in Jacob) The shaman uses the disruptor gun against one of the images of Xoanon/the Doctor projected through a wall. The ensuing blast kills Neeva but also interrupts Xoanon’s control of its subjects, allowing the Doctor to resume and complete his repairs. Xoanon’s circuits explode, knocking the Doctor out.

Two days later the Doctor wakes up to find himself aboard the spaceship in the care of Leela. She explains Xoanon has been quiet and he interprets this as success for his extraction experiment. They visit the computer room and find Xoanon’s identity and sanity restored. The computer confirms it was running a eugenics experiment (The Lost Creators play on the struggle between Jacob and the MiB) and thanks the Doctor for his repair work. The Doctor then contacts the survivors of the Tesh and Sevateem and tells them Xoanon is now cured and able to support their new society. He then heads off to the TARDIS followed by Leela.

Reply to me: Some other things that I noted in this episode after I re-watched it that made me think of Lost:

- The Doctor says: Take me to your leader after he’s captured by the Sevateem

- The spiritual leader of the Sevateem dancing around with alien weapon as a holy relic and the Doctor says: If you’re not careful were all going to end up a “smokey” hole in the ground.

- When Xoanon is confronted by the Doctor he doesn’t accept the truth of what the Doctor says: Leela asks one of the Tesh what’s happening and he responds with:

Tesh: The fail safe (all the corridor lights turn red)

Leela: What does it mean

Tesh: The end of the world

Leela: Why, why

Tesh: It means death and destruction. It happened before the time of land

Note: Added the exact conversation. Wondered if the lights in the Lost world could be indicative of the end of the world per Widmore’s comments.

- There are dinosaur type sounds when the Doctor and Leela are first approached by the phantoms.

- Sevateem used crossbows that shot arrows – Reminiscent of arrows that were fired at the losties when they had to evacuate their beach, minus the fire.