Totally thought I'd commented back on this one >.>

Hurley and Sawyer would make a really great team, you're right about that xD But somehow I don't see it happening with Sawyer. Too much baggage floating around on that island :-/

Richard should be a 'Jacob candidate' in my book. The guy's been there for ages, knows the island, and it'd give him a great sense of purpose. Though he might be content just being a messenger/mediator to the Next Gen Jacob?

Can't really tell if the job will continue to entail nabbing people to the island for the Man in Black to toy with or not. (He was called UnLocke somewhere on the internet xD) Maybe it was just Jacob's way of doing things and not actually a requirement for the new recruit.

It's interesting how Jacob was looking for a replacement... I can't quite word my thoughts but maybe you'll be able to decipher my ramblings.

Jacob chose to risk getting killed -- to the point of collecting candidates -- despite having the option not to give Evil!Locke the chance to off him. Jacob was killed. But Evil!Locke doesn't seem like he's impervious to be given the boot.

If you think about these two as a manifestation of the impossibility of having light without dark/good without evil, then why is darkness/evil allowed to kill light/good? (Assuming that's really their respective role...) How come Jacob can be replaced but not Evil!Locke? Does that mean Jacob was an enhanced human/alien and Evil!Locke is the very essence/foundation of --- but he talked to Kate about having a mother who went batty....

Ok, I'll just stop here because my thoughts are way too muddled to type out xD;;; Sorry about that :3

This was my mom's favorite episode of the entire series to date, probably because she picked up the Biblical/mythological references (Tantalus!) much more adroitly than me. That said, I was very impressed as well; pop culture shout-outs to Christianity rarely go much deeper than tossing around the idea of a savior figure, and this episode actually went to the philosophical issues at the heart of the religion. It was simply inspired to incorporate that (and explore/discard the fan theory about the island being the afterlife or purgatory) in an episode centered around a character whose worldview has been very much informed by Christianity.

@Mimmi:

You bring up a good point. I do wonder if Jacob's plan will just keep the status quo in place -- the battle between good and evil is an eternal one, of course, but can whoever Jacob chooses be dispassionate enough to draw people to the island for whatever purpose is needed? Will the successor even need to do this? We know that the chosen person will need to succeed Jacob, but what exactly this job entails is obviously a total mystery.

Of the candidates, who do you think will be best for the job? And do you think he or she will work alone? I think a team of Sawyer and Hurley would be best. Sawyer taking over the job would ensure that everyone gets off the island -- which he wants -- and Hurley could be a sort of spiritual liaison, and the vast amount of connections afforded to him via his wealth would be helpful, island-wise.

This episode made me weep a little bit ;_;

I kinda wonder if it'll be enough with just the one person to replace Jacob to keep up the status quo. After all, the Temple had the-guy-whose-name-I-can't-recall, and Ben looked after the people in Dharmaville, but they're making it sound like all it takes is someone to fill in for Jacob? I'd hate to be the one taking on that job, knowing that the people you bring to the island stand a high chance of dying at the hands you're protecting the rest of the world from :-/