This week’s episode explains the big mystery at the core of LOST. The Island, as it turns out, occupies a unique place in the universe enabling time/space travel. We are now being told quite clearly that one of the goals of the Dharma Initiative was to manipulate time or time/space travel.
One rule of time/space travel are also imparted to us courtesy of Daniel Faraday and the Dharma Initiative scientist identified, at times, as Doctor Hollowax, is that the past can not be changed through time travel. Instead, one can move backwards and forward, but the key events as they actually happened can not be changed.
Desmond is apparently an exception to this rule for, as yet, unknown reasons: maybe its him or maybe its everyone with a Scottish accent who hooks up with a mega-wealthy and beautiful heiress. Th extent to which Desmond is exempt from the rules is unclear. Although Faraday states that events can’t be changed, he seems to believe that by telling Desmond certain things to do events will actually be changed: very confusing and potentially contradictory.
Another rule of time/space travel on the Island appears to be that the people you were with when you start time/space travel stay with you but the objects and other people around you change. This seems to be the case with the Survivors on the Island since they appear to time/space travel as a group with other people (like the Others and the Nigerian drug smuggling plane) and objects (though never apparently the Island’s vegetation or topography) change all around them. As one moves through time/space travel, they appear to retain their physical characteristics including newly developed wounds like the one resulting from Ethan Rom’s gunshot wound of Locke.
Thus, a person’s immunity from death like Michael exhibited when he was off the Island prior to the freighter’s explosion appears to be a function of an immutable “historical” truth. Until a character performs the key event in their life as it relates to the Island, they can not be terminated (i.e., die). In a prior posting, I referred to this as a mission (see Season 4: Season Finale: Analysis No. 1). Given the new information, it might be more appropriate to refer to it is the immutable facts of a person’s existence or their destiny. In this regard, it is not clear that Locke is actually dead and certainly not irretrievably so (this is LOST after all) since Benjamin Linus is seeking to return his dead body to the Island.
LOST also now overtly states that destiny lies at the heart of the Survivors’ fate. Each one of the Survivors has a destiny attached to the Island and, it is quite possible, if not highly likely, that the destiny is a joint or intertwined one which they share. This is suggested by, among other things, the need of all of them to return to the Island together and the remaining survivors on the Island time traveling together.
This episode also clarifies that the Island has long been a special place for such time/space travel or similar effects based upon the Island’s unique properties for a very long period of time. We now know that the Dharma wheel at the base of the Orchid Station pre-dated the Dharma Initiative and appears to be quite ancient.
Charlotte begins to bleed from under her nose. If my memory serves me correctly, this type of bleeding was, in past episodes associated with already dead people like Dr. Good speed’s appearance to Locke in the jungle and people on the freighter who were suffering from the effects of time/space travel. In other words, if things go on course, Charlotte will be dead at least in the conventional sense soon.
The Island itself appears to have been fought over many times in the past. The identity of the people shooting flaming arrows at the Survivors is not clear. They could have been part of the Keamy/Widmore expedition though Keamy is noticeably absent from their midst. Alternatively, they have could belonged to another military expedition to the Island or defending the Island in either the past or the future.
In the end, one of the key questions, as articulated by Locke as he was time traveling was “when am I ?” Each scene we observe has to be preceded by the question of when in the time line the events depicted are actually taking place.
New questions:
1. Who is the Asian woman in bed and who is the person feeding her baby when she wakes? The woman appears ro be the wife of Dr. Hollowax, the Dharama Initiative official and the woman appears to be his wife. Alternatively, the woman is Sun and she is with Jin or some other man. This is not impossible given that if past events (i.e., those in Season Four) are replayed and the Survivors are not on the Freighter when it blows up, Sun is alive and living on the Island with Jin. The choice of music played by Sun’s companion might also indicate that the person is Sawyer or simply that they like hokey music.
2. Why was the Dharma Wheel buried underneath many feet (or miles) of rock? The Dharma Wheel had been built long ago to harness the Island’s unique energy or time/space profile. It was likely part of the complex which included the oft referred to “Temple” as well as the huge foot of a statue (with four toes) previously sited in the Island. Some mishap caused a meltdown or earthquake of sorts with the result that the Dharma Wheel was buried and maybe the rest of the statue was toppled.
3. What is Faraday doing at the building of the Orchid? Time traveling (duh!); after all he is an expert on time traveling. The precise reason he time traveled is unknown especially since elsewhere in the episode he states with authority that time travel an not change key events. Faraday’s beard, however, appears to be a “constant.”
4. What is the true scope of Benjamin Linus’ authority? Back in civilization he reports to a woman previously identified as a sheriff of sorts in judging the case of Julia for sedition in connection with enabling the escape of Kate and Sawyer. She appears to be Linus’ superior and also appears to be a religious official of some sort.
5. Which group arranged for Sayyid to be shot with a dart and why ? The Freighter or Widmore group did this because he has been killing their members at Linus’ direction. If they wanted to kill Sayyid they would have shot him with a bullet as is generally done by assassins. The drat likely contains a tranquilizer meaning that Widmore has a reason for wanting to take Sayyid alive.
Interesting tidbits/facts
1. Faraday was present in the form of a workman at the time of the Orchid’s construction.
2. Locke sees a plane crash on the Island (which narrowly avoids hitting him) carrying Virgin Mary statuettes (containing drugs); he climbs to the plane in a scene reminiscent of Boone’s fatal ascent and is shot at apparently by Ethan Rom. As Ethan Rom is about to shoot Locke, the Island (or Locke) seem to time travel again with the scenery turning to night. (The same occurs to the remaining Survivors being led by Faraday).
3. Widmore had Sun diverted at the airport at which time he demands respect and begins discussing potential common interests which turn out to be to kill Benjamin Linus.
4. Hurley’s escape from mental asylum is widely reported with the assertion that he is a murderer.
5. It took Widmore 20 years to find the Island the first time.
6. Faraday mentions his mother when communicating a message through Desmond.
7. Light flashes moving time seem to change day to night and night to day
Key Enduring Mysteries
1. Who is Jacob?
2. What is the smoke monster?
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, June 23, 2008
Season 4 Finale
There was a lot of information to digest in the two hour season finale. Therefore, I have divided the hard facts into three separate categories: (A) current events on the Island; (B) current events off the Island; and (C) events set in the future by way of flash forwards. I imagine there might be other ways to categorize the events but this is the method I chose because it helped me get my arms around the finale.
HARD FACTS
A. Current Events on the Island
Keamy & Co. takes Ben to the chopper discovers that someone has been helping Frank trying to escape his handcuffs. Kate steps forward to claim responsibility. She is, in fact, being used as bait to distract Keamy, who does not immediately kill her. The Others take advantage of the confusion Kate caused and a fire fight ensues with the Others using firearms and poison darts to kill all of the mercenaries except for Keamy. Sayyid engages Keamy in hand-to-hand combat and en stabs him but is unable to subdue him. The coup de grace is administered by Richard who shoots Keamy in the chest.
Kate reveals to Ben that the reason she and Sayyid assisted with rescuing Ben was that the Others had promised to let them leave the Island in return for that assistance. Ben ratifies the deal and tells Kate and Sayyid that they are free to leave the Island. Jack after declining Locke’s inbitation to stay on the Island and fulfill his destiny also makes his way to the helicopter together with Hurley and Sawyer. Frank flies the following survivors off the Island: Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley and Sayyid.
Ben returns to the Orchid Station to assist Locke, who has not been able to get past even the most preliminary stages, in moving the Island. Ben takes Locke on an elevator ride into a chamber buried deep underground. Locke watches a snippet of a video narrated by Dr. Hollowax concerning the operation and purposes of the Orchid Station while Ben loads up metal object into a chamber he calls the Vault and observes that all DHARMA did was conduct silly experiments.
Keamy has tracked Ben down to the Orchid Station. Keamy, though clearly defeated, wants to know why Ben is so important to Widmore. Keamy also seemingly believes that he has insurance against being killed by virtue of the dead man trigger which will set off the C4 explosives on the Barge, a process he explains to Ben. Nonetheless, Ben fatally stabs Keamy over Locke’s objections.
After subduing Keamy, Ben returns to trigger an explosion/reaction in the Vault. After that explosion, Ben dons a parka and makes his way to another chamber which is behind and beneath the Vault. Ben declines to take Locke with him explaining to Locke that it is a favor because whoever moves the Island must forever leave the Island and also telling Locke that he is the new leader of the Others. In that chamber, which is cold enough to freeze water, Ben turns a wheel with the purpose and intent of moving the Island consistent with Jacob’s wishes.
Locke emerges from the Orchid Station and makes his way to the Others’ camp. Locke is greeted by Richard who welcome him home.
Faraday prepares to leave the Island on the Zodiac and implores Charlotte, Miles and Juliet to leave with him because of the severity of the situation. Charlotte declines to leave after Miles observes that she always wanted to get back to the Island and after telling Faraday that she is look for where she was born. Miles declines to leave without explanation. Juliet declines to leave in order to fulfill her promise to make sure that all the survivors manage to get off the Island. Some other survivors also do not make on to the Zodiac including Rose and Bernard.
Sawyer swims back to the Island and observes Juliet drinking from a bottle of rum. She was drinking because she was able to see the explosion on the Barge.
B. Current Events Off The Island
On the Barge, Michael, Desmond and Jin are trying to figure out a way to de-activate the C4 explosive booby trap left by Keamy & Co. The do not meet with success and the best they can come up with is freezing the battery with liquid nitrogen in order to delay any reaction. Desmond leaves Jin and Michael to further struggle with the booby trap.
In the Helicopter, Frank discovers that they are losing fuel rapidly because of a hole blown in the Helicopter’s fuel tank during the firefight between the Others and Keamy. They are told by Frank to throw all unattached things overboard in an effort to lighten the load and gain time. As the situation fails to improve, Sawyer whispers something in Kate’s ear, kisses her and jumps from the Helicopter into the Ocean.
Frank is able to bring the Helicopter towards the Barge, Desmond frantically tries to waive him away but given the lack of fuel, Frank has no alternative to landing and re-fueling. The Helicopter land and re-fuels. Sun wants to go fetch Jin but Kate tells her to keep looking after Aaron and that she will fetch Jin. However, before Kate can do so, Jack grabs her and takes Kate back to the Helicopter which immediately take off with the following people on board: Frank (of course, he’s the pilot), Jack, Desmond, Kate, Hurley, Aaron, Sayyid and Sun.
Jin emerges from the booby trap room and tries to make it to the Helicopter. He sees it departing without him and frantically tries to wave for it to return. Frank, backed up by Jack, refuses to do so, over Sun’s frantic screaming and objections.
The red light on the battery goes on. At that time, Christian Shepard appears to Michael and tells hin that the can go now. The booby trap then explodes.
Meanwhile on the Helicopter, the Oceanic Six have witnessed the explosion on the Barge. Frank, nonetheless, makes his way back to the Island. The Island, however, in a flash of light, disappears in its entirety. The Helicopter running out of fuel is forced to make a crash landing in the Ocean. The survivors all manage to climb (or in the case of Aaron, be lifted) unscathed on to an inflatable life raft which Sayyid tossed from the Helicopter moments before the crash landing.
Night descends and in the distance a boat appears which turns out to have been chartered by Pennie with the express purpose of looking for Desmond. Frank and Desmond stay on the boat while the Oceanic Six take a life raft on an 8-9 hour trip to an Indonesian island for the purpose of obscuring the true facts relating to their ordeal. Lying is thought to be necessary for their own protection.
C. The Future/Flash Forward
John Locke, using the name Jeremy Bentham, has returned to civilization and has spoken to the Oceanic Six as well as Walt urging them to return to the Island. Kate has a dream that Claire tells her not to take Aaron back to the Island.
Sun travels to London to confront Widmore who knows her father well. Sun discusses possible common interests with Widmore.
Walt visits Hurley in the mental asylum and discuses Bentham’s visit. Sayyid shoots a man outside Hurley’s mental asylum who Sayyid believe has been watching Hurley. Sayyid comes to remove Hurley who is playing chess seemingly against himself. Hurley mentions hsi paranoia and increasing ability to talk to dead people. Sayyid confirms that his paranoia might not be misplaced. Before leaving Hurley declare checkmate in his chess game against Ecko.
Locke dies and the newspaper obituary attributes the cause of death to suicide. Jack, after a confrontation with Kate over his belief that they need to return to the Island, breaks into the funeral home where Locke’s body is being held. There, Ben confronts him and tells Jack that all of the Oceanic Six and Locke (who is dead) must return to the Island.
DHARMA has once again started recruiting for unpaid positions again under the name Octagon Global Recruiting. See http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com/. This appeared as a commercial towards the end of the episode.
ANALYSIS
1. No one associated with the Island can die until their time/mission has been completed. I was mistaken in my prior thesis that the Island affords immunity from death outside its environs to its former residents. That turns out to be incorrect as Michael, after dodging a certain death at least twice in the past, dies on the Barge. The triggering point for his death is that he fulfilled his mission. Not much is left to the imagination in this regard based upon Christian Shepard’s explicitly telling Michael that “you can go now.”
2. Michael’s mission was to make certain that the Oceanic Six, or at least some of them, would not be blown up on the Barge. Christian Shepard’s statement that Michael could go came as the Helicopter was lifting off the Barge. This was the only significant act he performed after Keamy’s gun jammed in attempting kill Michael. Therefore, it stands to reason that this was the last part of Michael’s life mission (from the Island’s perspective).
3. Sawyer is not done with his mission. Diving from a helicopter and swimming miles to shore is not a miracle per se but its not something you do every day either. Add to that his dodging Keamy’s bullets during the attack on Othertown. Sawyer is also alive because if there was any dead person to come back and visit Hurley it would be his good buddy and roommate Sawyer.
4. Claire’s mission was done when she gave birth to Aaron. She’s dead. If she had anything left to do of any consequence, the Island would not have let her die.
5. The Island has an interest in having certain of the survivors return to civilization. Otherwise, Keamy’s threat to Ben that killing him would trigger an explosion on the Barge would be meaningless. The obvious survivors in this category are Aaron and Kate. It is
also possible that Sun falls into this category for upon her return to civilization she will be a single mother raising a child giving her child some similar characteristics as Ben, Locke and Aaron. The alternative, of course, is that Keamy for some reason thinks Ben would not kill any innocents. That, however, does not make much sense given what we have seen to date.
6. The dead people who appear to Hurley died in a state of grace. By a state of grace, I mean that they had done penance for their sins through doing good deeds to counteract their past bad ones and acted selflessly before their death. The dead people Hurley sees are Charlie and Ecko. Charlie acted selflessly in the Pearl Station prior to his death sacrificing himself for the benefit of the other Survivors, particularly Claire. Ecko also disowned his evil past as a drug runner and engaged in genuine pastoral duties with the Survivors. Hurley does not, for example, mention seeing Libby.
7. Locke’s changing his name has some significance. Locke, as almost every high school child student knows was one of the most prominent philosophers or political thinkers favoring natural rights. The American Revolution is said to have been based upon a Lockean consensus (named after John Locke) and, in particular, the Bill of Rights is a manifestation of that Lockean consensus. Bentham’s philosophy, in contrast, opposed the principle of natural rights and advocated, in its place, utilitarianism. Although it is hard to summarize, the core of that philosophy is that actions are moral if they maximize the net expectable utility for all parties affected by a decision or action. The rights of the individual must yield to that of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
NEW QUESTIONS
1. What has gone very badly on the Island since the Oceanic Six left? And why are things going badly?
2. What happened to Faraday and the other people on the Zodiac heading towards the Barge?
3. What happens to Rose, Bernard and the other survivors who remained on the Island?
4. What role, if any, do Charlotte and Miles play on the Island?
5. Where is Sayyid taking Hurley?
6. Who is responsible for having someone (that guy in the car Sayyid shot) monitor Hurley at the asylum?
7. Did Locke/Bentham really commit suicide or was he murdered by Ben or someone else?
8. Why is Sun seeking (or pretending to) work with Charles Widmore?
9. What did Sawyer tell Kate before he jumped frpm?
10. Why does Christian Shepard keep appearing on behalf of the Island?
11. Where is the Island now?
12. Is Jin really dead?
13. What does Charlotte hope to find on the Island?
14. Why did Miles choose to stay on the Island?
HARD FACTS
A. Current Events on the Island
Keamy & Co. takes Ben to the chopper discovers that someone has been helping Frank trying to escape his handcuffs. Kate steps forward to claim responsibility. She is, in fact, being used as bait to distract Keamy, who does not immediately kill her. The Others take advantage of the confusion Kate caused and a fire fight ensues with the Others using firearms and poison darts to kill all of the mercenaries except for Keamy. Sayyid engages Keamy in hand-to-hand combat and en stabs him but is unable to subdue him. The coup de grace is administered by Richard who shoots Keamy in the chest.
Kate reveals to Ben that the reason she and Sayyid assisted with rescuing Ben was that the Others had promised to let them leave the Island in return for that assistance. Ben ratifies the deal and tells Kate and Sayyid that they are free to leave the Island. Jack after declining Locke’s inbitation to stay on the Island and fulfill his destiny also makes his way to the helicopter together with Hurley and Sawyer. Frank flies the following survivors off the Island: Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley and Sayyid.
Ben returns to the Orchid Station to assist Locke, who has not been able to get past even the most preliminary stages, in moving the Island. Ben takes Locke on an elevator ride into a chamber buried deep underground. Locke watches a snippet of a video narrated by Dr. Hollowax concerning the operation and purposes of the Orchid Station while Ben loads up metal object into a chamber he calls the Vault and observes that all DHARMA did was conduct silly experiments.
Keamy has tracked Ben down to the Orchid Station. Keamy, though clearly defeated, wants to know why Ben is so important to Widmore. Keamy also seemingly believes that he has insurance against being killed by virtue of the dead man trigger which will set off the C4 explosives on the Barge, a process he explains to Ben. Nonetheless, Ben fatally stabs Keamy over Locke’s objections.
After subduing Keamy, Ben returns to trigger an explosion/reaction in the Vault. After that explosion, Ben dons a parka and makes his way to another chamber which is behind and beneath the Vault. Ben declines to take Locke with him explaining to Locke that it is a favor because whoever moves the Island must forever leave the Island and also telling Locke that he is the new leader of the Others. In that chamber, which is cold enough to freeze water, Ben turns a wheel with the purpose and intent of moving the Island consistent with Jacob’s wishes.
Locke emerges from the Orchid Station and makes his way to the Others’ camp. Locke is greeted by Richard who welcome him home.
Faraday prepares to leave the Island on the Zodiac and implores Charlotte, Miles and Juliet to leave with him because of the severity of the situation. Charlotte declines to leave after Miles observes that she always wanted to get back to the Island and after telling Faraday that she is look for where she was born. Miles declines to leave without explanation. Juliet declines to leave in order to fulfill her promise to make sure that all the survivors manage to get off the Island. Some other survivors also do not make on to the Zodiac including Rose and Bernard.
Sawyer swims back to the Island and observes Juliet drinking from a bottle of rum. She was drinking because she was able to see the explosion on the Barge.
B. Current Events Off The Island
On the Barge, Michael, Desmond and Jin are trying to figure out a way to de-activate the C4 explosive booby trap left by Keamy & Co. The do not meet with success and the best they can come up with is freezing the battery with liquid nitrogen in order to delay any reaction. Desmond leaves Jin and Michael to further struggle with the booby trap.
In the Helicopter, Frank discovers that they are losing fuel rapidly because of a hole blown in the Helicopter’s fuel tank during the firefight between the Others and Keamy. They are told by Frank to throw all unattached things overboard in an effort to lighten the load and gain time. As the situation fails to improve, Sawyer whispers something in Kate’s ear, kisses her and jumps from the Helicopter into the Ocean.
Frank is able to bring the Helicopter towards the Barge, Desmond frantically tries to waive him away but given the lack of fuel, Frank has no alternative to landing and re-fueling. The Helicopter land and re-fuels. Sun wants to go fetch Jin but Kate tells her to keep looking after Aaron and that she will fetch Jin. However, before Kate can do so, Jack grabs her and takes Kate back to the Helicopter which immediately take off with the following people on board: Frank (of course, he’s the pilot), Jack, Desmond, Kate, Hurley, Aaron, Sayyid and Sun.
Jin emerges from the booby trap room and tries to make it to the Helicopter. He sees it departing without him and frantically tries to wave for it to return. Frank, backed up by Jack, refuses to do so, over Sun’s frantic screaming and objections.
The red light on the battery goes on. At that time, Christian Shepard appears to Michael and tells hin that the can go now. The booby trap then explodes.
Meanwhile on the Helicopter, the Oceanic Six have witnessed the explosion on the Barge. Frank, nonetheless, makes his way back to the Island. The Island, however, in a flash of light, disappears in its entirety. The Helicopter running out of fuel is forced to make a crash landing in the Ocean. The survivors all manage to climb (or in the case of Aaron, be lifted) unscathed on to an inflatable life raft which Sayyid tossed from the Helicopter moments before the crash landing.
Night descends and in the distance a boat appears which turns out to have been chartered by Pennie with the express purpose of looking for Desmond. Frank and Desmond stay on the boat while the Oceanic Six take a life raft on an 8-9 hour trip to an Indonesian island for the purpose of obscuring the true facts relating to their ordeal. Lying is thought to be necessary for their own protection.
C. The Future/Flash Forward
John Locke, using the name Jeremy Bentham, has returned to civilization and has spoken to the Oceanic Six as well as Walt urging them to return to the Island. Kate has a dream that Claire tells her not to take Aaron back to the Island.
Sun travels to London to confront Widmore who knows her father well. Sun discusses possible common interests with Widmore.
Walt visits Hurley in the mental asylum and discuses Bentham’s visit. Sayyid shoots a man outside Hurley’s mental asylum who Sayyid believe has been watching Hurley. Sayyid comes to remove Hurley who is playing chess seemingly against himself. Hurley mentions hsi paranoia and increasing ability to talk to dead people. Sayyid confirms that his paranoia might not be misplaced. Before leaving Hurley declare checkmate in his chess game against Ecko.
Locke dies and the newspaper obituary attributes the cause of death to suicide. Jack, after a confrontation with Kate over his belief that they need to return to the Island, breaks into the funeral home where Locke’s body is being held. There, Ben confronts him and tells Jack that all of the Oceanic Six and Locke (who is dead) must return to the Island.
DHARMA has once again started recruiting for unpaid positions again under the name Octagon Global Recruiting. See http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com/. This appeared as a commercial towards the end of the episode.
ANALYSIS
1. No one associated with the Island can die until their time/mission has been completed. I was mistaken in my prior thesis that the Island affords immunity from death outside its environs to its former residents. That turns out to be incorrect as Michael, after dodging a certain death at least twice in the past, dies on the Barge. The triggering point for his death is that he fulfilled his mission. Not much is left to the imagination in this regard based upon Christian Shepard’s explicitly telling Michael that “you can go now.”
2. Michael’s mission was to make certain that the Oceanic Six, or at least some of them, would not be blown up on the Barge. Christian Shepard’s statement that Michael could go came as the Helicopter was lifting off the Barge. This was the only significant act he performed after Keamy’s gun jammed in attempting kill Michael. Therefore, it stands to reason that this was the last part of Michael’s life mission (from the Island’s perspective).
3. Sawyer is not done with his mission. Diving from a helicopter and swimming miles to shore is not a miracle per se but its not something you do every day either. Add to that his dodging Keamy’s bullets during the attack on Othertown. Sawyer is also alive because if there was any dead person to come back and visit Hurley it would be his good buddy and roommate Sawyer.
4. Claire’s mission was done when she gave birth to Aaron. She’s dead. If she had anything left to do of any consequence, the Island would not have let her die.
5. The Island has an interest in having certain of the survivors return to civilization. Otherwise, Keamy’s threat to Ben that killing him would trigger an explosion on the Barge would be meaningless. The obvious survivors in this category are Aaron and Kate. It is
also possible that Sun falls into this category for upon her return to civilization she will be a single mother raising a child giving her child some similar characteristics as Ben, Locke and Aaron. The alternative, of course, is that Keamy for some reason thinks Ben would not kill any innocents. That, however, does not make much sense given what we have seen to date.
6. The dead people who appear to Hurley died in a state of grace. By a state of grace, I mean that they had done penance for their sins through doing good deeds to counteract their past bad ones and acted selflessly before their death. The dead people Hurley sees are Charlie and Ecko. Charlie acted selflessly in the Pearl Station prior to his death sacrificing himself for the benefit of the other Survivors, particularly Claire. Ecko also disowned his evil past as a drug runner and engaged in genuine pastoral duties with the Survivors. Hurley does not, for example, mention seeing Libby.
7. Locke’s changing his name has some significance. Locke, as almost every high school child student knows was one of the most prominent philosophers or political thinkers favoring natural rights. The American Revolution is said to have been based upon a Lockean consensus (named after John Locke) and, in particular, the Bill of Rights is a manifestation of that Lockean consensus. Bentham’s philosophy, in contrast, opposed the principle of natural rights and advocated, in its place, utilitarianism. Although it is hard to summarize, the core of that philosophy is that actions are moral if they maximize the net expectable utility for all parties affected by a decision or action. The rights of the individual must yield to that of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
NEW QUESTIONS
1. What has gone very badly on the Island since the Oceanic Six left? And why are things going badly?
2. What happened to Faraday and the other people on the Zodiac heading towards the Barge?
3. What happens to Rose, Bernard and the other survivors who remained on the Island?
4. What role, if any, do Charlotte and Miles play on the Island?
5. Where is Sayyid taking Hurley?
6. Who is responsible for having someone (that guy in the car Sayyid shot) monitor Hurley at the asylum?
7. Did Locke/Bentham really commit suicide or was he murdered by Ben or someone else?
8. Why is Sun seeking (or pretending to) work with Charles Widmore?
9. What did Sawyer tell Kate before he jumped frpm?
10. Why does Christian Shepard keep appearing on behalf of the Island?
11. Where is the Island now?
12. Is Jin really dead?
13. What does Charlotte hope to find on the Island?
14. Why did Miles choose to stay on the Island?
Saturday, May 17, 2008
LOST Season 4: Episode 12 -- There's no Place Like Home
HARD FACTS
The events in this week’s episode can be broken down in broad strokes into two general categories: (a) event’s post-rescue; and (b) events happening on the Island in the present (at least in the present from the show’s perspective). Therefore, I am dividing the description of the episode’s hard facts into those two categories.
A. The Oceanic Six Post-Rescue
1. A U.S. coast guard transport plane returns the survivors to civilization.
2. An Oceanic Airline representative provides the Oceanic Six with orientation prior to their disembarking.
3. No one greets Kate upon the transport’s landing.
4. The Oceanic Six participate in a press conference at which an elaborate tale of survival is told including drifting at sea for a day until they reached an uninhabited island, Kate giving birth to Aaron on the Island, a fishing boat from a typhoon washing up on the island on day 103, and its use as a means for returning to civilization which occurs on day 108.
5. The Oceanic Six story is met with some skepticism.
6. There is a funeral for Christian Shepard albeit without a body
7. At Christian Shepard’s funeral, Jack learns from Claire’s mother, who attended the funeral, that Claire is his sister and, ergo, that Aaron is his nephew.
8. Hurley’s parents throw him a surprise party attended by many other survivors.
9. Hurley’s father has restored Hurley’s car, the settings of which are 4815162342.
10. Sun confronts her father for hating Jin and informs dad that she has purchased a controlling interest in his company with her own money from the Oceanic settlement.
B. The Here and Now on the Island
1. Keamy & Co. are at the Orchid Station and have arrived before Ben.
2. Faraday knows of the Orchid Station’s role in the secondary protocol and its implications for the Island.
3. Above ground the Orchid is a greenhouse with its innards hidden kind of like the Bat Cave.
4. Ben communicates with someone at the Orchid Station way of reflecting the sun off of a mirror
5. Ben instructs Locke how to enter the Orchid and accomplish the moving of the Island.
6. Moving the Island is said to be dangerous and unpredictable (duh!); it’s a last resort.
7. Ben feigns surrender to Keamy in order to enable Locke an opportunity to make use of the Orchid station to move the Island.
8. Keamy pistol whips Ben after Ben’s surrender.
9. Kate and Sayyid are captured by a fairly large-sized and well-armed group led by Richard.
10. Sun, Aaron, Jin, Faraday and two (or three) other survivors (or extras we’ve never seen before) take the Zodiac back to the Barge.
11. There are a substantial amount of explosives on the Barge.
ANALYSIS
1. Reaching the Barge is not the end of the journey to safety for the survivors. This is almost too obvious since Jin has reached the Barge but we know that he will not make it back alive to civilization. The Barge is a dangerous place: it’s Keamy’s home away from home and, to boot, its loaded up with explosives.
2. The explosives on the Barge are part of a pre-arranged booby trap by Keamy. Keamy intends to blow up the Barge and the device worn on his shoulder is likely a remote control device of some sort. Keamy, however, is not on a suicide mission. The secondary protocol likely provides instructions to Keamy as to how he can make use of the Island’s facilities to transport himself off the Island.
3. Locke will actually physically move the Island. This will not be a time a space/time travel (at least not primaily so) but an actual physical moving of the Island. The future Widmore taunted by Ben in an earlier flash forward doesn’t know where the Island is anymore because its been moved.
4. Moving the Island causes a typhoon (or something even worse). The story line from the Oceanic representative at the press conference mentions that a typhoon caused a fishing boat to wash up on the island in day 103. I believe that the typhoon was caused by the moving of the Island. Coincidentally, on December 26, 2004, there was a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia which caused a tsunami resulting in deaths estimated at more than 225,000 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake. This tsunami is a sufficiently epic event that it would make sense to incorporate it into the LOST story. The only thing that has become unclear now is precisely what day it is on the Island. Desmond made his phone call to Pennie Widmore on December 24, 2004, which was 93 days from September 22, 2004. It is unclear, however, how many days have elapsed since the time of that phone call on the Island. If, in fact, the moving of the Island coincides with December 26th (i.e., Day 95) then it will still be another 8 days until the survivors purportedly obtained a fishing boat on day 103.
5. It is not yet clear that the survivors will return to civilization on the Barge. The Oceanic Airlines representative at the press conference said that the survivors washed up on a fishing boat. I guess the Barge could be that fishing trawler or it could be an entirely different boat. The story presented also made it sound as though the survivors were the only ones on the fishing boat. Yet, the Barge has a crew of its own.
6. Moving the Island removes the protections previously bestowed on off-Island LOSTies. Sun will die. He is not still alive on the Isalnd after the rescue as evidenced by Jin's angry outburst at her father. However, the past pattern has been that people who have been to the Island while off the Island can not die. Somehow moving the Island upsets this pattern. Either that or Jin goes back to the Island or its vicinity and is killed there. Also, hopefully, this will finally lead to the death of Michael which is a far better fate for everybody else than having to hear him whine and yell WALT!!!!! again.
7. Moving the Island was pre-destined. It is a pre-requisite to Aaron leaving the Island which is a necessary step in his fulfilling his destiny whatever that may be.
8. Kate was captured by the Others to insure that she will act as Aaron’s mother. Richard’s capture of Kate is a form of protective custody. Romping around the jungle on your spare time can be dangerous. Kate’s raising Aaron is important to his perceived destiny. Therefore, the Others can not afford to let her recklessly risk her life on some mission inspired by the moron Jack. Perhaps Sayyid’s destiny also involves having a hand in the raising of Aaron.
9. The Numbers continue as a persistent theme. The survivors are rescued on day 108 and the Numbers re-appear in Hurley’s car. In other words, even though the survivors have left the Island, the Island, in turn, has not left them.
NEW OPEN QUESTIONS WHICH I DO NOT YET HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO ANSWER
1. Why have the Others stood aside while Keamy & Co. invaded the Island? They are obviously still sufficiently numerous and well armed to launch a serious defense and counter-attack.
2. How will the Oceanic Six gather in one place given that they are now scattered around the Island: Sun and Aaron are on the Barge; Hurley is at Orchid; Kate and Sayyid have been captured by Richard and the Others; and Jack is with Sawyer and Shaggy Frank.
3. Who is the other person responsible for Jin’s death?
4. Who are the two survivors reported to have made it off Flight 815 but not back to final rescue?
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
1. Nice racial stereotyping by the LOST writers. First, Michael gets hired as a janitor. Now, Hurley’s dad, a Mexican, fixes up a car as a form of relaxation. Sun’s father demands respect. What’s next? A Jewish moneylender?
2. I have no idea why any cash settlement from Oceanic Airways for the Oceanic Six would be so large. They really don’t look any worse for the wear. Certainly any settlement wouldn’t be enough to buy control of Paik Industries unless Paik was near bankruptcy . Also, the entire concept that Sun could somehow sneak in and buy a controlling interest especially given the traditional nature of South Korean corporate governance is inane.
The events in this week’s episode can be broken down in broad strokes into two general categories: (a) event’s post-rescue; and (b) events happening on the Island in the present (at least in the present from the show’s perspective). Therefore, I am dividing the description of the episode’s hard facts into those two categories.
A. The Oceanic Six Post-Rescue
1. A U.S. coast guard transport plane returns the survivors to civilization.
2. An Oceanic Airline representative provides the Oceanic Six with orientation prior to their disembarking.
3. No one greets Kate upon the transport’s landing.
4. The Oceanic Six participate in a press conference at which an elaborate tale of survival is told including drifting at sea for a day until they reached an uninhabited island, Kate giving birth to Aaron on the Island, a fishing boat from a typhoon washing up on the island on day 103, and its use as a means for returning to civilization which occurs on day 108.
5. The Oceanic Six story is met with some skepticism.
6. There is a funeral for Christian Shepard albeit without a body
7. At Christian Shepard’s funeral, Jack learns from Claire’s mother, who attended the funeral, that Claire is his sister and, ergo, that Aaron is his nephew.
8. Hurley’s parents throw him a surprise party attended by many other survivors.
9. Hurley’s father has restored Hurley’s car, the settings of which are 4815162342.
10. Sun confronts her father for hating Jin and informs dad that she has purchased a controlling interest in his company with her own money from the Oceanic settlement.
B. The Here and Now on the Island
1. Keamy & Co. are at the Orchid Station and have arrived before Ben.
2. Faraday knows of the Orchid Station’s role in the secondary protocol and its implications for the Island.
3. Above ground the Orchid is a greenhouse with its innards hidden kind of like the Bat Cave.
4. Ben communicates with someone at the Orchid Station way of reflecting the sun off of a mirror
5. Ben instructs Locke how to enter the Orchid and accomplish the moving of the Island.
6. Moving the Island is said to be dangerous and unpredictable (duh!); it’s a last resort.
7. Ben feigns surrender to Keamy in order to enable Locke an opportunity to make use of the Orchid station to move the Island.
8. Keamy pistol whips Ben after Ben’s surrender.
9. Kate and Sayyid are captured by a fairly large-sized and well-armed group led by Richard.
10. Sun, Aaron, Jin, Faraday and two (or three) other survivors (or extras we’ve never seen before) take the Zodiac back to the Barge.
11. There are a substantial amount of explosives on the Barge.
ANALYSIS
1. Reaching the Barge is not the end of the journey to safety for the survivors. This is almost too obvious since Jin has reached the Barge but we know that he will not make it back alive to civilization. The Barge is a dangerous place: it’s Keamy’s home away from home and, to boot, its loaded up with explosives.
2. The explosives on the Barge are part of a pre-arranged booby trap by Keamy. Keamy intends to blow up the Barge and the device worn on his shoulder is likely a remote control device of some sort. Keamy, however, is not on a suicide mission. The secondary protocol likely provides instructions to Keamy as to how he can make use of the Island’s facilities to transport himself off the Island.
3. Locke will actually physically move the Island. This will not be a time a space/time travel (at least not primaily so) but an actual physical moving of the Island. The future Widmore taunted by Ben in an earlier flash forward doesn’t know where the Island is anymore because its been moved.
4. Moving the Island causes a typhoon (or something even worse). The story line from the Oceanic representative at the press conference mentions that a typhoon caused a fishing boat to wash up on the island in day 103. I believe that the typhoon was caused by the moving of the Island. Coincidentally, on December 26, 2004, there was a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia which caused a tsunami resulting in deaths estimated at more than 225,000 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake. This tsunami is a sufficiently epic event that it would make sense to incorporate it into the LOST story. The only thing that has become unclear now is precisely what day it is on the Island. Desmond made his phone call to Pennie Widmore on December 24, 2004, which was 93 days from September 22, 2004. It is unclear, however, how many days have elapsed since the time of that phone call on the Island. If, in fact, the moving of the Island coincides with December 26th (i.e., Day 95) then it will still be another 8 days until the survivors purportedly obtained a fishing boat on day 103.
5. It is not yet clear that the survivors will return to civilization on the Barge. The Oceanic Airlines representative at the press conference said that the survivors washed up on a fishing boat. I guess the Barge could be that fishing trawler or it could be an entirely different boat. The story presented also made it sound as though the survivors were the only ones on the fishing boat. Yet, the Barge has a crew of its own.
6. Moving the Island removes the protections previously bestowed on off-Island LOSTies. Sun will die. He is not still alive on the Isalnd after the rescue as evidenced by Jin's angry outburst at her father. However, the past pattern has been that people who have been to the Island while off the Island can not die. Somehow moving the Island upsets this pattern. Either that or Jin goes back to the Island or its vicinity and is killed there. Also, hopefully, this will finally lead to the death of Michael which is a far better fate for everybody else than having to hear him whine and yell WALT!!!!! again.
7. Moving the Island was pre-destined. It is a pre-requisite to Aaron leaving the Island which is a necessary step in his fulfilling his destiny whatever that may be.
8. Kate was captured by the Others to insure that she will act as Aaron’s mother. Richard’s capture of Kate is a form of protective custody. Romping around the jungle on your spare time can be dangerous. Kate’s raising Aaron is important to his perceived destiny. Therefore, the Others can not afford to let her recklessly risk her life on some mission inspired by the moron Jack. Perhaps Sayyid’s destiny also involves having a hand in the raising of Aaron.
9. The Numbers continue as a persistent theme. The survivors are rescued on day 108 and the Numbers re-appear in Hurley’s car. In other words, even though the survivors have left the Island, the Island, in turn, has not left them.
NEW OPEN QUESTIONS WHICH I DO NOT YET HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO ANSWER
1. Why have the Others stood aside while Keamy & Co. invaded the Island? They are obviously still sufficiently numerous and well armed to launch a serious defense and counter-attack.
2. How will the Oceanic Six gather in one place given that they are now scattered around the Island: Sun and Aaron are on the Barge; Hurley is at Orchid; Kate and Sayyid have been captured by Richard and the Others; and Jack is with Sawyer and Shaggy Frank.
3. Who is the other person responsible for Jin’s death?
4. Who are the two survivors reported to have made it off Flight 815 but not back to final rescue?
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
1. Nice racial stereotyping by the LOST writers. First, Michael gets hired as a janitor. Now, Hurley’s dad, a Mexican, fixes up a car as a form of relaxation. Sun’s father demands respect. What’s next? A Jewish moneylender?
2. I have no idea why any cash settlement from Oceanic Airways for the Oceanic Six would be so large. They really don’t look any worse for the wear. Certainly any settlement wouldn’t be enough to buy control of Paik Industries unless Paik was near bankruptcy . Also, the entire concept that Sun could somehow sneak in and buy a controlling interest especially given the traditional nature of South Korean corporate governance is inane.
Monday, May 12, 2008
ADDENDUM
1. The preview for next week's episode shows Sayyid reaching the Island in his motorized raft. That he would reach the Island after the Barge doctor's body did by simply being carried by the currents poses a problem and potentially represents an oversight or inconsistency in LOST's science fiction.
2. On reflection, the Others/Hostiles wanted Locke to come there when he was a man of science as reflected in his having won a science fair. The Others did not want him when he was a younger child and chose the knife reflecting that he was somesort of man of war that was incompatible with their goals or desires for Locke's destiny. Abaddon (and by extension Widmore) does not seem to be similarly burdened by Locke as a man of war.
3. Locke/Ben will succeed in moving the Island. That is the source of Ben's future taunting Widmore that he (Widmore) does not know the location of the Island.
2. On reflection, the Others/Hostiles wanted Locke to come there when he was a man of science as reflected in his having won a science fair. The Others did not want him when he was a younger child and chose the knife reflecting that he was somesort of man of war that was incompatible with their goals or desires for Locke's destiny. Abaddon (and by extension Widmore) does not seem to be similarly burdened by Locke as a man of war.
3. Locke/Ben will succeed in moving the Island. That is the source of Ben's future taunting Widmore that he (Widmore) does not know the location of the Island.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Season 4: Episode 11
This was pretty much a Locke-centric episode.
FACTS
1. The doctor is still alive on the Barge at the beginning of the episode.
2. Keemy’s gun jams when he tries to shoot Michael.
3. Locke was a premature baby born six months into his pregnancy.
4. Horace was one of the murdered members of the Dharma Initiative, has been dead for 12 years, and appears to Locke in a dream instructing (or at least providing him with clues) as to how he can reach Jacob’s cabin.
5. Richard Alpert is present shortly after the birth of Locke.
6. Richard Aleprt visits Locke when he is a young child who is playing backgammon. On the wall there is a drawing by young Locke appearing to resemble someone being attacked by the black smoke monster.
7. Richard administers a test to young Locke asking him to select which item belongs to him with the choices being a baseball glove, a well-worn book of laws, a vial of sand, a compass, comic book concerning a mystery, and a knife. Young Locke selects the knife, after fiddling around with the sand and the compass, a result Richard finds disappointing.
8. The leaders of the Dharma Initiative decided to wipe them out, according to Ben.
9. Keemy consults the backup plan from the safe which has a Dharma cover and then states that he plans on torching the Island.
10. Keemy has a bomb or some type of explosive device strapped to his arm by his assistant.
11. Abaddon wheels Locke through he hospital and tells Locke to go on a walkabout on Australia
12. Keemy slits the doctor’s throat and his assistant shoots the Barge’s captain.
13. Sayyid takes a motorboat to go back to the Island in an effort to help save the remaining survivors.
14. A package from the helicopter drops on the survivor’s camp containing a telephone tracking device.
15. Christian Shepard claims to speak on behalf of Jacob.
16. Claire is in the cabin with Christian Shepard.
17. Locke reports to Ben that while in the cabin he was told to move the Island.
ANALYSIS
A. Locke
Since this episode is largely about Locke, it seems to make sense to separately analyze the issues relating to Locke. He is obviously one of the key characters in LOST even though he is not one of the Oceanic Six.
1. Locke shares many similarities with Ben. His premature birth parallels that of Ben. Their mothers have the same name: Emily. Both grew up without their mother present (Locke’s grandmother appears to be raising him.) A figure from the Island (Horace) is present at Ben’s birth just as another figure from the Island (Richard) is present at the time of Locke’s birth. Locke, like Ben, is recruited to the Island based upon promises of educational opportunities with the offer accepted in the case of Ben and rejected in the case of Locke (summer chemistry camp).
2. Locke is a reincarnation of some figure important to the Island. At the time Richard visits the young Locke there is a drawing on the wall made by Locke basically of the smoke monster. The test Richard administers to young Locke is similar to the type of test one hears in certain cultures are used to determine whether a child is a reincarnation of some important figure.
3. The Others and Widmore have been searching for an opportune time to bring Locke to the Island for many years. Richard’s test when Locke was six for a special “school” was aimed at determining whether the time was ripe. Milos Laboratories, which offers Locke a place in its summer camp while Locke is in high school, is another obvious front for the Others/Richard. Abaddon suggests the Australian outback trip in an obvious attempt to cause Locke to wind up on the Island.
4. Locke's destiny is to assume an important role and position of control with respect to the Island. Richard has stalked Locke from the very time of his birth. Abaddon (who works for Widmore) also stalks Locke and urges to go on the trip to the Australian Outback that eventually causes him to wind up on the Island. Each side is trying to curry favor with Locke. This seems to be a recognition of the fact that his destiny is to exercise some meaningful control the Island.
5. The Island has been protecting Locke from death. He was pushed out an eighth floor window and he really ought to be dead. He was shot by Ben and he is still walking around as healthy as he can be. In all other cases, the Island has acted as a shield from death only for those who are away from the Island after having spent considerable time on the Island.
6. Locke in many ways is supplanting Ben. Ben was an intermediate figure awaiting Locke’s arrival. Ben’s power to have visions through dreams vanished when Locke arrived on the Island as did his ability to communicate directly with Jacob. It is possible, therefore, that Ben was just a bridge figure awaiting Locke’s arrival. It is also possible that the two are meant to compliment each other. Locke is more of the straight shooter and Ben more conniving.
B. Other Analysis
1. There is a disparity in the time line on the Island. Keemy slits the doctor’s throat on the boat at least a day after he washed up dead on the beach.
2. Claire is dead according to the conventional definition of life and death. She was dead last week too. That’s why she is in the cabin with Christian Shepard who, so far as we know, is also dead. She is one of the people, who by virtue of some as yet unknown characteristic, lives on despite being dead. Her death is also likely the reason why Miles was so fascinated with Claire last episode because Miles as a medium was able to recognize that she was, in fact, dead.
3. The package was dropped on the survivor camp so that Keemy could return and select people to be killed. That is why there is a telephone tracking device in the package. Jack, who has about the world’s worst judgement (see Season 4: Episode 1, Thesis __) incorrectly concludes that they want the survivors to follow them into the jungle. Alternatively, it was dropped by Lapidus to aid the survivors. However, dropping a package unnoticed while flying seems somewhat impractical.
4. The rescue and removal of Aaron and Kate from the Island is pre-destined and desired by Jacob. Christian Shepard makes that clear with respect to Aaron and we have already seen that Kate is one of the people who is supposed to raise Aaron.
5. After spending a period of time on the Island, one acquires an immunity from death off the Island. Once again Michael can not be shot dead, this time by crazy Keemy. See also, Season 4: Episode 9; Analysis 7.
6. Keemy is one bad ass. No analysis necessary.
7. Sayyid may not reach the Island in the Zodiac motorboat. The doctor’s body has already washed up on shore. One would expect that traveling by motorboat would allow Sayyid to reach the Island before the effects of the current which washed the doctor onshore. Therefore, Sayyid should already have been on the Island. That he did not arrive before the doc evidences that he may not have made it by boat. Either that or the time travel thing really does not make any sense at all.
FACTS
1. The doctor is still alive on the Barge at the beginning of the episode.
2. Keemy’s gun jams when he tries to shoot Michael.
3. Locke was a premature baby born six months into his pregnancy.
4. Horace was one of the murdered members of the Dharma Initiative, has been dead for 12 years, and appears to Locke in a dream instructing (or at least providing him with clues) as to how he can reach Jacob’s cabin.
5. Richard Alpert is present shortly after the birth of Locke.
6. Richard Aleprt visits Locke when he is a young child who is playing backgammon. On the wall there is a drawing by young Locke appearing to resemble someone being attacked by the black smoke monster.
7. Richard administers a test to young Locke asking him to select which item belongs to him with the choices being a baseball glove, a well-worn book of laws, a vial of sand, a compass, comic book concerning a mystery, and a knife. Young Locke selects the knife, after fiddling around with the sand and the compass, a result Richard finds disappointing.
8. The leaders of the Dharma Initiative decided to wipe them out, according to Ben.
9. Keemy consults the backup plan from the safe which has a Dharma cover and then states that he plans on torching the Island.
10. Keemy has a bomb or some type of explosive device strapped to his arm by his assistant.
11. Abaddon wheels Locke through he hospital and tells Locke to go on a walkabout on Australia
12. Keemy slits the doctor’s throat and his assistant shoots the Barge’s captain.
13. Sayyid takes a motorboat to go back to the Island in an effort to help save the remaining survivors.
14. A package from the helicopter drops on the survivor’s camp containing a telephone tracking device.
15. Christian Shepard claims to speak on behalf of Jacob.
16. Claire is in the cabin with Christian Shepard.
17. Locke reports to Ben that while in the cabin he was told to move the Island.
ANALYSIS
A. Locke
Since this episode is largely about Locke, it seems to make sense to separately analyze the issues relating to Locke. He is obviously one of the key characters in LOST even though he is not one of the Oceanic Six.
1. Locke shares many similarities with Ben. His premature birth parallels that of Ben. Their mothers have the same name: Emily. Both grew up without their mother present (Locke’s grandmother appears to be raising him.) A figure from the Island (Horace) is present at Ben’s birth just as another figure from the Island (Richard) is present at the time of Locke’s birth. Locke, like Ben, is recruited to the Island based upon promises of educational opportunities with the offer accepted in the case of Ben and rejected in the case of Locke (summer chemistry camp).
2. Locke is a reincarnation of some figure important to the Island. At the time Richard visits the young Locke there is a drawing on the wall made by Locke basically of the smoke monster. The test Richard administers to young Locke is similar to the type of test one hears in certain cultures are used to determine whether a child is a reincarnation of some important figure.
3. The Others and Widmore have been searching for an opportune time to bring Locke to the Island for many years. Richard’s test when Locke was six for a special “school” was aimed at determining whether the time was ripe. Milos Laboratories, which offers Locke a place in its summer camp while Locke is in high school, is another obvious front for the Others/Richard. Abaddon suggests the Australian outback trip in an obvious attempt to cause Locke to wind up on the Island.
4. Locke's destiny is to assume an important role and position of control with respect to the Island. Richard has stalked Locke from the very time of his birth. Abaddon (who works for Widmore) also stalks Locke and urges to go on the trip to the Australian Outback that eventually causes him to wind up on the Island. Each side is trying to curry favor with Locke. This seems to be a recognition of the fact that his destiny is to exercise some meaningful control the Island.
5. The Island has been protecting Locke from death. He was pushed out an eighth floor window and he really ought to be dead. He was shot by Ben and he is still walking around as healthy as he can be. In all other cases, the Island has acted as a shield from death only for those who are away from the Island after having spent considerable time on the Island.
6. Locke in many ways is supplanting Ben. Ben was an intermediate figure awaiting Locke’s arrival. Ben’s power to have visions through dreams vanished when Locke arrived on the Island as did his ability to communicate directly with Jacob. It is possible, therefore, that Ben was just a bridge figure awaiting Locke’s arrival. It is also possible that the two are meant to compliment each other. Locke is more of the straight shooter and Ben more conniving.
B. Other Analysis
1. There is a disparity in the time line on the Island. Keemy slits the doctor’s throat on the boat at least a day after he washed up dead on the beach.
2. Claire is dead according to the conventional definition of life and death. She was dead last week too. That’s why she is in the cabin with Christian Shepard who, so far as we know, is also dead. She is one of the people, who by virtue of some as yet unknown characteristic, lives on despite being dead. Her death is also likely the reason why Miles was so fascinated with Claire last episode because Miles as a medium was able to recognize that she was, in fact, dead.
3. The package was dropped on the survivor camp so that Keemy could return and select people to be killed. That is why there is a telephone tracking device in the package. Jack, who has about the world’s worst judgement (see Season 4: Episode 1, Thesis __) incorrectly concludes that they want the survivors to follow them into the jungle. Alternatively, it was dropped by Lapidus to aid the survivors. However, dropping a package unnoticed while flying seems somewhat impractical.
4. The rescue and removal of Aaron and Kate from the Island is pre-destined and desired by Jacob. Christian Shepard makes that clear with respect to Aaron and we have already seen that Kate is one of the people who is supposed to raise Aaron.
5. After spending a period of time on the Island, one acquires an immunity from death off the Island. Once again Michael can not be shot dead, this time by crazy Keemy. See also, Season 4: Episode 9; Analysis 7.
6. Keemy is one bad ass. No analysis necessary.
7. Sayyid may not reach the Island in the Zodiac motorboat. The doctor’s body has already washed up on shore. One would expect that traveling by motorboat would allow Sayyid to reach the Island before the effects of the current which washed the doctor onshore. Therefore, Sayyid should already have been on the Island. That he did not arrive before the doc evidences that he may not have made it by boat. Either that or the time travel thing really does not make any sense at all.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Season 4: Episode 10
Season 4: Episode 10
I was bored to tears by this episode.
Hard Facts
1. Juliet performs an emergency appendectomy on Jack. [NOTE: Yes, of course, every fertility doctor can do an emergency appendectomy in a pinch.]
2. In the future, Jack moves in with Kate, proposes marriage but then their relationship collapses.
3. Miles can sense the burial place of Carl and Rosseau which is accompanied by whispering sounds.
4. Claire goes off into the jungle in the middle of the night with someone she refers to as “dad” leaving Aaron behind.
5. Charlotte is fluent in Korean.
6. Christian Shepard appears to Jack in the hospital after the smoke alarm starts beeping.
7. Hurley delivers a message to Jack from Charlie that he (Jack)is not supposed to be involved in raising Aaron.
Analysis
1. The flash forward with Jack and Kate is set in 2006 at the earliest. Jack sees a newspaper story that the Yankees have creamed the Red Sox. However, in 2005, the Red Sox beat the Yanks in post-season play. This means that Jack has over a year of relatively normal living upon returning from the Island.
2. Jack will learn that Claire is his half-sister. He comments in anger to Kate that “you’re not even related to him.” This suggests, though not conclusively, that Jack is aware that he is, in fact, related to Aaron because Claire is his half sister.
3. Either Desmond’s visions were inaccurate or the future can be changed. Desmond’s original vision was that Claire would climb to safety on the helicopter with Aaron. However, it now appears that will not happen.
4. Claire likely works for Sun’s father. Knowing Korean is not like speaking French or even Chinese. It is simply too much of a coincidence for Charlotte to speak fluent Korean. This may mean that Widmore is allied with Paik.
5. Kate's destiny is to be one of the people who raises Aaron. The message that Hurley is directed at Jack and not Kate. Therefore, in addition to it being inappropriate for Jack to raise Aaron, Jack is also not pre-destined for marital bliss with Kate.
6. The use of the Island’s powers creates or involves smoke. That’s why Christian Shepard sets off the smoke detector.
7. Whispers evidence the presence of people who are dead according to our conventional definition of life and death. This is confirmed by Miles encounter with the bodies of Rosseau and Carl and is consistent with the previously stated analysis on this blog. See Episode 4:1, Thesis 2.
8. The rescue and removal of Aaron from the Island is pre-destined. Claire was told by the Australian psychic to get on Flight 815 so that another loving couple could raise Aaron. Claire is led off to the jungle but Aaron is left behind safely which is odd given that the Others have always been interested in young children and in the earlier seasons Ethan Rom had sought to convince Claire to give up her soon to be born baby.
9. Jack’s destiny is connected to the Island. Christian Shepard is not just coming to say hello. There have also been allusions to this earlier on including in the episode when Locke kills Naomi, when Hurley tells Jack that they belong on the Island and in the initial flash forward at the end of season 3 when Jack tells Kate he needs to return to the Island. Also, Jack's life in civilization is ultimately not a happy one with failed personal relationships and a deep abiding sense of paranoia.
I was bored to tears by this episode.
Hard Facts
1. Juliet performs an emergency appendectomy on Jack. [NOTE: Yes, of course, every fertility doctor can do an emergency appendectomy in a pinch.]
2. In the future, Jack moves in with Kate, proposes marriage but then their relationship collapses.
3. Miles can sense the burial place of Carl and Rosseau which is accompanied by whispering sounds.
4. Claire goes off into the jungle in the middle of the night with someone she refers to as “dad” leaving Aaron behind.
5. Charlotte is fluent in Korean.
6. Christian Shepard appears to Jack in the hospital after the smoke alarm starts beeping.
7. Hurley delivers a message to Jack from Charlie that he (Jack)is not supposed to be involved in raising Aaron.
Analysis
1. The flash forward with Jack and Kate is set in 2006 at the earliest. Jack sees a newspaper story that the Yankees have creamed the Red Sox. However, in 2005, the Red Sox beat the Yanks in post-season play. This means that Jack has over a year of relatively normal living upon returning from the Island.
2. Jack will learn that Claire is his half-sister. He comments in anger to Kate that “you’re not even related to him.” This suggests, though not conclusively, that Jack is aware that he is, in fact, related to Aaron because Claire is his half sister.
3. Either Desmond’s visions were inaccurate or the future can be changed. Desmond’s original vision was that Claire would climb to safety on the helicopter with Aaron. However, it now appears that will not happen.
4. Claire likely works for Sun’s father. Knowing Korean is not like speaking French or even Chinese. It is simply too much of a coincidence for Charlotte to speak fluent Korean. This may mean that Widmore is allied with Paik.
5. Kate's destiny is to be one of the people who raises Aaron. The message that Hurley is directed at Jack and not Kate. Therefore, in addition to it being inappropriate for Jack to raise Aaron, Jack is also not pre-destined for marital bliss with Kate.
6. The use of the Island’s powers creates or involves smoke. That’s why Christian Shepard sets off the smoke detector.
7. Whispers evidence the presence of people who are dead according to our conventional definition of life and death. This is confirmed by Miles encounter with the bodies of Rosseau and Carl and is consistent with the previously stated analysis on this blog. See Episode 4:1, Thesis 2.
8. The rescue and removal of Aaron from the Island is pre-destined. Claire was told by the Australian psychic to get on Flight 815 so that another loving couple could raise Aaron. Claire is led off to the jungle but Aaron is left behind safely which is odd given that the Others have always been interested in young children and in the earlier seasons Ethan Rom had sought to convince Claire to give up her soon to be born baby.
9. Jack’s destiny is connected to the Island. Christian Shepard is not just coming to say hello. There have also been allusions to this earlier on including in the episode when Locke kills Naomi, when Hurley tells Jack that they belong on the Island and in the initial flash forward at the end of season 3 when Jack tells Kate he needs to return to the Island. Also, Jack's life in civilization is ultimately not a happy one with failed personal relationships and a deep abiding sense of paranoia.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Season 4: Episode 9
Hard Facts
1. The Doctor from the Barge washes up dead on the Island; his throat has been slit.
2. The mercenaries enter the Others’ compound with guns blazing and an otherwise impressive show of force.
3. Alex is executed by the Barge mercenaries after Ben refuses their ransom demands.
4. The mercenaries seek the capture, rather than the death, of Ben.
5. Ben declares that Alex’s execution has “changed the rules.”
6. Ben retreats into a safe room, after which the black smoke monster attacks the Barge mercenaries.
7. Faraday admits that the Barge does not intend to rescue the survivors from the Island.
8. Ben wearing a DAHRMA parka appearing in the Tunisian portion of the Sahara desert on or about October 21, 2005.
9. Ben is a preferred guest at a Tunisian hotel under the alias of Dean Moriarty.
10. Nadia, who at the time is married to Sayyid, is murdered in Los Angeles.
11. Nadia’s funeral takes place in Tikrit, Iraq.
12. Ben informs Sayyid of the identity of Nadia’s murderer, Ishmael Bakhiar, and that Bahiar was working for Charles Widmore.
13. Sayyid shoots Bakhiar dead.
14. Ben and Widmore know each other well and Widmore pointedly states “"I know who you are and what you are boy.” (Emphasis added).
Analysis
1. The conflict between Ben and Widmore is a longstanding one. It has to have been going on for a long time because, at least in Ben’s mind, there are rules which govern the conflict. Also, Ben’s flash forward meeting with Widmore demonstrates that the two protagonists are very familiar with each other.
2. The portal mechanism from the Island is inexact. Ben emerges in the Tunisian desert wearing a parka more suitable for winter weather. He also needs to clarify with the hotel’s clerk that it is, in fact, 2005. This indicates that sometimes the portal can malfunction both as to location and time. (After all, even Bill and Ted’s magic telephone booth was not perfect in dialing up years.) Alternatively, though not necessarily inconsistent, there could be something about the portal mechanism that requires wearing warm gear which would also help explain the use of polar bears as animals for experiments in transporting.
3. The survivors do not utilize the portal mechanism to return to civilization. Ben tells Sayyid that Ben used a boat to get off he Island. If the portal mechanism was an item familiar to the survivors through their having used it to get off the Island, Ben would not have felt the need to lie to Sayyid. Therefore, by process of elimination at this point, the Barge is likely the means by which the survivors return to civilization.
4. The smoke monster is an Island security system over which Ben knows how to exercise at least some control. The smoke monster appears to have killed at least one of the mercenaries. That’s what a security system does: defend the property from intruders. However, that also begs the question as to why the smoke monster has been absent recently especially when the Island is under fear of attack from the Barge. The answer may be that the smoke monster has always been there but that its attention was directed more skywards towards assistance in preventing the Barge from successfully landing on the Island. For example, on the flight back to the Barge, the helicopter encounters a dark cloud. That dark cloud may very well be a diffuse version of the black smoke monster. Similarly, we have been shown scenes of extreme turbulence the helicopter encountered when it first attempted to land on the Island.
5. The mercenaries were not eradicated by the smoke monster. The mercenaries have a large base of knowledge concerning all aspects of th Island. We have already have been shown maps of the Island and know that the Tempest contains chemicals which could be used to poison the Island. Given that level of intimate knowledge of the Island, it is likely that they are aware of the existence of the smoke monster and have some way of coping with it appropriately. Therefore, I do not believe the mercenaries were eradicated by the smoke monster but, instead, they were only pushed back from their attack position.
6. The Barge fails to complete its mission successfully. Otherwise Ben would not chide Widmore for not knowing the location of the Island. Also, Ben clearly has not been taken captive and the mercenaries appear to have been repelled by the black smoke monster.
7. Ben and Sayyid, like Michael and Jack, cannot be killed upon leaving the Island. Ben enters Tikrit, Iraq in October 2005 fearlessly. As we know from unfortunate events occurring around that time, the odds of a non-Arab surviving in Tikrit without being the target of an assassination attempt were not high. Similarly, this would explain Ben’s desire to recruit Sayyid as an assassin; he cannot be killed. Earlier in the season in the Economist episode, we saw Sayyid take a bullet to the chest and walk away with just a flesh wound. It may also explain why Ben tells Widmore that he is not in his bedroom to kill him as Widmore may previously been to the Island and obtained its powers of immunization against death.
8. There may be more than two competing groups seeking control of, or who are involved with, the Island. Hurley, Sawyer and Ben playing Risk may be symbolic of the struggle taking place over the Island. Sawyer mentions that Ben is trying to play Hurley and Sawyer off each other. Risk, like the fight for control of the Island, has rules. Also, DHARMA continues to make food drops on the Island yet Widmore does not know the Island’s location.
9. Sawyer is a moron. He pounds on a stone wall as though that will bring it down. Then, after Ben has push backed the mercenaries by conjuring up the smoke monster on the mercenaries, Sawyer threatens him at gunpoint to release Hurley to go to the beach. This walk to the beach, by the way, is taking place at night while the smoke monster is still active and there are likely still some mercenaries active.
1. The Doctor from the Barge washes up dead on the Island; his throat has been slit.
2. The mercenaries enter the Others’ compound with guns blazing and an otherwise impressive show of force.
3. Alex is executed by the Barge mercenaries after Ben refuses their ransom demands.
4. The mercenaries seek the capture, rather than the death, of Ben.
5. Ben declares that Alex’s execution has “changed the rules.”
6. Ben retreats into a safe room, after which the black smoke monster attacks the Barge mercenaries.
7. Faraday admits that the Barge does not intend to rescue the survivors from the Island.
8. Ben wearing a DAHRMA parka appearing in the Tunisian portion of the Sahara desert on or about October 21, 2005.
9. Ben is a preferred guest at a Tunisian hotel under the alias of Dean Moriarty.
10. Nadia, who at the time is married to Sayyid, is murdered in Los Angeles.
11. Nadia’s funeral takes place in Tikrit, Iraq.
12. Ben informs Sayyid of the identity of Nadia’s murderer, Ishmael Bakhiar, and that Bahiar was working for Charles Widmore.
13. Sayyid shoots Bakhiar dead.
14. Ben and Widmore know each other well and Widmore pointedly states “"I know who you are and what you are boy.” (Emphasis added).
Analysis
1. The conflict between Ben and Widmore is a longstanding one. It has to have been going on for a long time because, at least in Ben’s mind, there are rules which govern the conflict. Also, Ben’s flash forward meeting with Widmore demonstrates that the two protagonists are very familiar with each other.
2. The portal mechanism from the Island is inexact. Ben emerges in the Tunisian desert wearing a parka more suitable for winter weather. He also needs to clarify with the hotel’s clerk that it is, in fact, 2005. This indicates that sometimes the portal can malfunction both as to location and time. (After all, even Bill and Ted’s magic telephone booth was not perfect in dialing up years.) Alternatively, though not necessarily inconsistent, there could be something about the portal mechanism that requires wearing warm gear which would also help explain the use of polar bears as animals for experiments in transporting.
3. The survivors do not utilize the portal mechanism to return to civilization. Ben tells Sayyid that Ben used a boat to get off he Island. If the portal mechanism was an item familiar to the survivors through their having used it to get off the Island, Ben would not have felt the need to lie to Sayyid. Therefore, by process of elimination at this point, the Barge is likely the means by which the survivors return to civilization.
4. The smoke monster is an Island security system over which Ben knows how to exercise at least some control. The smoke monster appears to have killed at least one of the mercenaries. That’s what a security system does: defend the property from intruders. However, that also begs the question as to why the smoke monster has been absent recently especially when the Island is under fear of attack from the Barge. The answer may be that the smoke monster has always been there but that its attention was directed more skywards towards assistance in preventing the Barge from successfully landing on the Island. For example, on the flight back to the Barge, the helicopter encounters a dark cloud. That dark cloud may very well be a diffuse version of the black smoke monster. Similarly, we have been shown scenes of extreme turbulence the helicopter encountered when it first attempted to land on the Island.
5. The mercenaries were not eradicated by the smoke monster. The mercenaries have a large base of knowledge concerning all aspects of th Island. We have already have been shown maps of the Island and know that the Tempest contains chemicals which could be used to poison the Island. Given that level of intimate knowledge of the Island, it is likely that they are aware of the existence of the smoke monster and have some way of coping with it appropriately. Therefore, I do not believe the mercenaries were eradicated by the smoke monster but, instead, they were only pushed back from their attack position.
6. The Barge fails to complete its mission successfully. Otherwise Ben would not chide Widmore for not knowing the location of the Island. Also, Ben clearly has not been taken captive and the mercenaries appear to have been repelled by the black smoke monster.
7. Ben and Sayyid, like Michael and Jack, cannot be killed upon leaving the Island. Ben enters Tikrit, Iraq in October 2005 fearlessly. As we know from unfortunate events occurring around that time, the odds of a non-Arab surviving in Tikrit without being the target of an assassination attempt were not high. Similarly, this would explain Ben’s desire to recruit Sayyid as an assassin; he cannot be killed. Earlier in the season in the Economist episode, we saw Sayyid take a bullet to the chest and walk away with just a flesh wound. It may also explain why Ben tells Widmore that he is not in his bedroom to kill him as Widmore may previously been to the Island and obtained its powers of immunization against death.
8. There may be more than two competing groups seeking control of, or who are involved with, the Island. Hurley, Sawyer and Ben playing Risk may be symbolic of the struggle taking place over the Island. Sawyer mentions that Ben is trying to play Hurley and Sawyer off each other. Risk, like the fight for control of the Island, has rules. Also, DHARMA continues to make food drops on the Island yet Widmore does not know the Island’s location.
9. Sawyer is a moron. He pounds on a stone wall as though that will bring it down. Then, after Ben has push backed the mercenaries by conjuring up the smoke monster on the mercenaries, Sawyer threatens him at gunpoint to release Hurley to go to the beach. This walk to the beach, by the way, is taking place at night while the smoke monster is still active and there are likely still some mercenaries active.
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