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?
Monday, June 23, 2008
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.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Season 4: Episode 8
Hard Facts
1. Michael and Walt made it back to civilization over two months after the crash of Flight 815 which places their return towards the end of November 2004.
2. Walt, who is traumatized by his experiences, no longer wishes to speak to Michael.
3. Michael, who lives in New York City, is unable to commit suicide because the Island won’t let him. [NOTE: One wonders why Michael just didn’t jump off a bridge. There are so many of them in New York.]
4. Michael is haunted by Libby.
5. Tom (who is gay) makes it off the Island to recruit Michael.
6. Some (but not all) of the Others can come and go from the Island as they please.
7. Sayyid rats out Michael to the Barge’s captain.
8. People appearing to be mercenaries engage in shooting practice with semi-automatic weapons on the Barge.
9. Ben suggests that Alex seek refuge in the Temple.
10. Carl and Rosseau join Alex in going to the Temple.
11. Carl and Rosseau are shot on their way to the Temple.
The Observations of a Manhattan Resident
The Manhattan of LOST’s imagination bears no relationship to the Manhattan of today or 2004. There is no place in Manhattan with a private house of the sort in which Michael’s mother supposedly lives. There may be some brownstones but no houses of that sort. Maybe there are some houses like that in some of the outer boroughs but the premise of the episode is that it all takes place in Manhattan. Also, give Bloomberg some credit, even post-Guliani you just can’t walk into a pawn shop and get a gun especially in exchange for a Rolex with a Korean inscription. Otherwise, LOST is completely accurate as Manhattan is, in fact, an island too.
Analysis
1. The identity of the Oceanic Six. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayyid, Aaron and Sun. I guess Sawyer does not make the cut.
2. The Barge operatives killed Rosseau and Carl. One’s initial reaction might be that Ben sent Alex and her companions into a trap. However, the only possible motive for doing so is that Ben arranged for Rosseau and Carl to be killed so that he would be the only person Alex would love. I find that a hard motive to swallow even if one posits that Ben is amoral. Instead, the more logical conclusion is that the mercenaries from the Barge are the assassins. Coincidentally, this episode informed us that the Barge is controlled by a seemingly violent clique of mercenaries shooting semi-automatic weapons for sport. This is consistent with sniper fire in the jungle. Also, the fighting capabilities of the Others have been substantially degraded by their failed assault on the beach. The Barge mercenaries could easily have arrived on the Island by helicopter. I note that the helicopter was not seen on the Barge during this episode. Also, the timing of a landing is appropriate as the Barge likely held off a full landing on the Island until the poisoning ability of the Tempest was neutralized.
3. Benjamin Linus placed the phony Flight 815 at the bottom of the Ocean There are two conflicting stories presented: (a) the Barge captain claims that Ben did the plant; and (b) Tom claims that Widmore was the one who staged the crash. I believe the version that Ben is responsible for this subterfuge. All the papers which Tom shows Michael could just have easily been generated by Ben in accomplishing the same task. Also, the reason Tom gives -- that Widmore does not want anyone else to find the Island -- does not make much sense. It is the Others who have worked hard to prevent the Island from being detected. Indeed, the Others seem unconcerned that the survivors would be discovered further evidencing that they deliberately plated a decoy crashed Flight 815.
4. Neither the Others nor Widmore are completely good or evil. Each side has its own agenda and views itself as being in the right. Simlarly, each side is willing to do within reason what is necessary to accomplish their respective goals. Each side accuses the other of being evil and proclaims their own goodness. However, the likely reality is that these are just competing side in a struggle for control of the Island and whatever powers or unique attributes the Island possesses.
5. The Island’s powers appear to be such that those that leave cannot die an unnatural death upon leaving. Michael cannot kill himself. In an earlier flashback, Jack did not have much luck attempting suicide either. This would make the Island analogous to Planet Krypton for Superman. The alternative explanation is that the Island is a separate living entity which is actually preventing Michael from killing himself. To me, that is a more difficult theory to swallow though, then again, this is LOST.
1. Michael and Walt made it back to civilization over two months after the crash of Flight 815 which places their return towards the end of November 2004.
2. Walt, who is traumatized by his experiences, no longer wishes to speak to Michael.
3. Michael, who lives in New York City, is unable to commit suicide because the Island won’t let him. [NOTE: One wonders why Michael just didn’t jump off a bridge. There are so many of them in New York.]
4. Michael is haunted by Libby.
5. Tom (who is gay) makes it off the Island to recruit Michael.
6. Some (but not all) of the Others can come and go from the Island as they please.
7. Sayyid rats out Michael to the Barge’s captain.
8. People appearing to be mercenaries engage in shooting practice with semi-automatic weapons on the Barge.
9. Ben suggests that Alex seek refuge in the Temple.
10. Carl and Rosseau join Alex in going to the Temple.
11. Carl and Rosseau are shot on their way to the Temple.
The Observations of a Manhattan Resident
The Manhattan of LOST’s imagination bears no relationship to the Manhattan of today or 2004. There is no place in Manhattan with a private house of the sort in which Michael’s mother supposedly lives. There may be some brownstones but no houses of that sort. Maybe there are some houses like that in some of the outer boroughs but the premise of the episode is that it all takes place in Manhattan. Also, give Bloomberg some credit, even post-Guliani you just can’t walk into a pawn shop and get a gun especially in exchange for a Rolex with a Korean inscription. Otherwise, LOST is completely accurate as Manhattan is, in fact, an island too.
Analysis
1. The identity of the Oceanic Six. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayyid, Aaron and Sun. I guess Sawyer does not make the cut.
2. The Barge operatives killed Rosseau and Carl. One’s initial reaction might be that Ben sent Alex and her companions into a trap. However, the only possible motive for doing so is that Ben arranged for Rosseau and Carl to be killed so that he would be the only person Alex would love. I find that a hard motive to swallow even if one posits that Ben is amoral. Instead, the more logical conclusion is that the mercenaries from the Barge are the assassins. Coincidentally, this episode informed us that the Barge is controlled by a seemingly violent clique of mercenaries shooting semi-automatic weapons for sport. This is consistent with sniper fire in the jungle. Also, the fighting capabilities of the Others have been substantially degraded by their failed assault on the beach. The Barge mercenaries could easily have arrived on the Island by helicopter. I note that the helicopter was not seen on the Barge during this episode. Also, the timing of a landing is appropriate as the Barge likely held off a full landing on the Island until the poisoning ability of the Tempest was neutralized.
3. Benjamin Linus placed the phony Flight 815 at the bottom of the Ocean There are two conflicting stories presented: (a) the Barge captain claims that Ben did the plant; and (b) Tom claims that Widmore was the one who staged the crash. I believe the version that Ben is responsible for this subterfuge. All the papers which Tom shows Michael could just have easily been generated by Ben in accomplishing the same task. Also, the reason Tom gives -- that Widmore does not want anyone else to find the Island -- does not make much sense. It is the Others who have worked hard to prevent the Island from being detected. Indeed, the Others seem unconcerned that the survivors would be discovered further evidencing that they deliberately plated a decoy crashed Flight 815.
4. Neither the Others nor Widmore are completely good or evil. Each side has its own agenda and views itself as being in the right. Simlarly, each side is willing to do within reason what is necessary to accomplish their respective goals. Each side accuses the other of being evil and proclaims their own goodness. However, the likely reality is that these are just competing side in a struggle for control of the Island and whatever powers or unique attributes the Island possesses.
5. The Island’s powers appear to be such that those that leave cannot die an unnatural death upon leaving. Michael cannot kill himself. In an earlier flashback, Jack did not have much luck attempting suicide either. This would make the Island analogous to Planet Krypton for Superman. The alternative explanation is that the Island is a separate living entity which is actually preventing Michael from killing himself. To me, that is a more difficult theory to swallow though, then again, this is LOST.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Season 4: Episode 7
A most boring episode with a confusing twist at the end.
Hard Facts
1. Sun is one of the Oceanic Six.
2. Jin’s tombstone marks him as having died on September 22, 2004, the date of Flight 815.
3. There were 324 dead bodies found on board the phony wreckage of Flight 815.
4. Michael is on the Barge and is now going by the name of Kevin Johnson.
5. Charles Widmore is paying for the Barge.
6. Regina commits suicide.
7. Not only has the Barge’s communication room been sabotaged but so have its engines been tampered with.
Clearing up some confusion
The last portion of the episode is somewhat confusing because it combined a flash forward of Sun with a flash back for Jin. To clear things up, the flash forward reflects that Jin has made it off the Island, is one of the Oceanic Six and gives birth to a baby daughter, believed to be Jin’s, in a Korean hospital. The flashback relates to events pre-crash when Jin was buying a giant panda as a gesture of goodwill to the Chinese ambassador whose daughter had just given birth to a baby boy. The presentation is somewhat confusing with the scenes from the lash forward inter-spliced with scenes from the flash back.
Analysis
This episode, aside from the confusion about Jin, in my opinion, was almost too boring to analyze.
1. Michael is Ben’s "man on the boat." No more analysis is required. We have been shown the key fact: Michael is on the boat; and he is utilizing an alias.
2. The identity of the Oceanic Six. They include: (i) Kate, (ii) Jack, (iii) Hurley, (iv) Sun, (v) Sayyid and (vi) a player to be named later. I am going to guess that Aaron is not included among the six. If that is the case, the sixth person I believe is Sawyer. A "LOST" reason to pick him is that the unifying factor among the five Oceanic Six identified to date has been that they were not on the beach at the time of the Pearl Station electro-magnetic blowout. Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley had been led into a trap by Michael. Sayyid, Jin and Sun were on the boat exploring the other side of the Island. We now know that Jin will die. So, when you take him out of the equation, that leaves those six with a unifying fact of sorts between them. The importance of prior exposure to electro-magnetic radiation has been emphasized in Constants (Season 4: Episode 5) in which Farady attributed Desmond’s time consciousness traveling difficulties to potential exposure to electro-magnetic radiation.
3. Jin’s tombstone is consistent with Jack's testimony concerning the crash of Flight 815 entered into the record at Kate’s trial (Season 4: Episode 4). That testimony was that the Oceanic Six were among only eight people who initially survived the crash of Flight 815. It is uncertain whether Jin is counted among the eight. On the one hand, Jin’s tombstone seems to indicate that since he died on September 22, 2004 (i.e., the very date of Flight 815), he was not counted as an initial survivor. On the other hand, his having a grave site indicates that there were potentially some of his remains returned to Korea post-rescue.
4. The staging of Flight 815's remains. The Captain of the Barge attributes this to Benjamin Linus. However, in order to accomplish such a task Ben must have substantial cooperation with forces outside the Island. Oceanic Airlines’ complicity would seem to be needed in order to accomplish this task. After all 747's with Oceanic Airline markings do not grow on trees.
5. A current inconsistency in LOST relates to the purported need of Ben to have Jack operate on his spinal tumor. We now know that Ban can effectively travel at will around the World. One wonders, therefore, why he just didn’t check into the Mayo Clinic (or a similar institution) instead of placing his life exclusively in Jack’s hands. Is Ben a hunted man off the Island?
Hard Facts
1. Sun is one of the Oceanic Six.
2. Jin’s tombstone marks him as having died on September 22, 2004, the date of Flight 815.
3. There were 324 dead bodies found on board the phony wreckage of Flight 815.
4. Michael is on the Barge and is now going by the name of Kevin Johnson.
5. Charles Widmore is paying for the Barge.
6. Regina commits suicide.
7. Not only has the Barge’s communication room been sabotaged but so have its engines been tampered with.
Clearing up some confusion
The last portion of the episode is somewhat confusing because it combined a flash forward of Sun with a flash back for Jin. To clear things up, the flash forward reflects that Jin has made it off the Island, is one of the Oceanic Six and gives birth to a baby daughter, believed to be Jin’s, in a Korean hospital. The flashback relates to events pre-crash when Jin was buying a giant panda as a gesture of goodwill to the Chinese ambassador whose daughter had just given birth to a baby boy. The presentation is somewhat confusing with the scenes from the lash forward inter-spliced with scenes from the flash back.
Analysis
This episode, aside from the confusion about Jin, in my opinion, was almost too boring to analyze.
1. Michael is Ben’s "man on the boat." No more analysis is required. We have been shown the key fact: Michael is on the boat; and he is utilizing an alias.
2. The identity of the Oceanic Six. They include: (i) Kate, (ii) Jack, (iii) Hurley, (iv) Sun, (v) Sayyid and (vi) a player to be named later. I am going to guess that Aaron is not included among the six. If that is the case, the sixth person I believe is Sawyer. A "LOST" reason to pick him is that the unifying factor among the five Oceanic Six identified to date has been that they were not on the beach at the time of the Pearl Station electro-magnetic blowout. Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley had been led into a trap by Michael. Sayyid, Jin and Sun were on the boat exploring the other side of the Island. We now know that Jin will die. So, when you take him out of the equation, that leaves those six with a unifying fact of sorts between them. The importance of prior exposure to electro-magnetic radiation has been emphasized in Constants (Season 4: Episode 5) in which Farady attributed Desmond’s time consciousness traveling difficulties to potential exposure to electro-magnetic radiation.
3. Jin’s tombstone is consistent with Jack's testimony concerning the crash of Flight 815 entered into the record at Kate’s trial (Season 4: Episode 4). That testimony was that the Oceanic Six were among only eight people who initially survived the crash of Flight 815. It is uncertain whether Jin is counted among the eight. On the one hand, Jin’s tombstone seems to indicate that since he died on September 22, 2004 (i.e., the very date of Flight 815), he was not counted as an initial survivor. On the other hand, his having a grave site indicates that there were potentially some of his remains returned to Korea post-rescue.
4. The staging of Flight 815's remains. The Captain of the Barge attributes this to Benjamin Linus. However, in order to accomplish such a task Ben must have substantial cooperation with forces outside the Island. Oceanic Airlines’ complicity would seem to be needed in order to accomplish this task. After all 747's with Oceanic Airline markings do not grow on trees.
5. A current inconsistency in LOST relates to the purported need of Ben to have Jack operate on his spinal tumor. We now know that Ban can effectively travel at will around the World. One wonders, therefore, why he just didn’t check into the Mayo Clinic (or a similar institution) instead of placing his life exclusively in Jack’s hands. Is Ben a hunted man off the Island?
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Season 4: Episode 6 – The Other Woman
Hard Facts
1. After Juliet came to the Island she underwent "therapy" with Harper Stanhope.
2. Therapist Harper appears to the sound of whispers in the jungle. Jack is able to see Harper and then she once again disappears into whispers.
3. Harper was married to Goodwin.
4. Goodwin and Juliet had an affair notwithstanding his being married to Harper.
5. Ben has a crush on Juliet and considers her to be his babe.
6. There is a power station on the Island known as the Tempest.
7. There are sufficient chemicals at Tempest to kill everyone on the Island.
8. Ben used the gas in the Tempest had previously been used to kill everyone on the Island presumably at the time of the Purge.
9. Charlotte knows of Ben having killed the members of the DHARMA initiative using gas and that the Tempest was the source of that gas poisoning.
10. The Others attempt to prevent Faraday and Charlotte from disabling the gas at the Tempest.
11. Faraday succeeds at disabling the chemicals contained in the Tempest.
12. The Barge is financed by Charles Widmore.
13. According to Ben, Widmore wants to exploit the Island.
14. Locke allows Ben a measure of freedom.
Analysis
1. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Barge (and Widmore) are associated with DHARMA. After all Faraday/Charlotte know about the Purge and Ben’s machinations. They even have a map of the Island. This still does not fully explain why DHARMA made a food drop on the Island after the crash of Flight 815. It could have been done as a supply drop for the future Barge mission or, as many things with LOST appear to go, it may remain unexplained forever.
2. Hearing whispering prior to Harper’s appearance in the jungle suggests that she is a Hostile. There are basically three categories of Others: (1) Hostiles; (2) Ben; and (3) subsequent recruits. I believe that Harper falls in to the category of being a Hostile since the power to appear with whispers has been previously associated with Hostiles such as Richard. Another point is that whispers only appear to happen in the jungle.
3. The meaning of the whispers. I previously speculated that the whispers demonstrate that the Hostiles are not alive in the conventional meaning of the term (see Episode 4:1, Thesis 2). A possible problem with this thesis is the marriage of Harper (an apparent Hostile) to Goodwin (an apparent recruit rather than a Hostile). But, on the other hand, Charlie once dead can still muster a physical presence which would mean that a person who is dead in the conventional sense of the word could still have a marital relationship with a live human being. Given recent revelations on LOST, it is also possible that the whispers are associated with some as yet unexplained space/time travel that the Hostiles can engage in on the Island and, more specifically, in the jungle.
4. Ben being locked up does not mean that he is isolated from contact with the Others. If the Others/Hostiles can jump around the Island and the World, it would certainly seem as though they could jump around the Island and talk to Ben no matter where he might be.
5. Jack continues to exhibit horrible judgment. (See Thesis 6). Yes Jack follow Faraday/Charlotte into the jungle at night to try to pick up their trail -- give me a freaking break.
6. The Smoke Monster is conspicuously absent this season. This absence is unexplained and, at this juncture, unexplainable unless the smoke monster is "dead" or being operated out of a control station that has been disabled.
7. The identity of Ben’s man on the Barge. It was so shocking that Locke had to sit down to hear the information. There are two categories of people who would be shocking: (1) someone Locke knows already (i.e., Walt or Michael); or (2) someone who is a high officer on the Barge (i.e., the Captain).
8. The reason the Hostiles do not take it upon themselves to stop Faraday/Charlotte is unexplained. However, it may be that they are unable to do so which would dovetail with my previously expressed theory that they are not alive in a conventional sense and that somehow restricts their ability to act in certain circumstances.
1. After Juliet came to the Island she underwent "therapy" with Harper Stanhope.
2. Therapist Harper appears to the sound of whispers in the jungle. Jack is able to see Harper and then she once again disappears into whispers.
3. Harper was married to Goodwin.
4. Goodwin and Juliet had an affair notwithstanding his being married to Harper.
5. Ben has a crush on Juliet and considers her to be his babe.
6. There is a power station on the Island known as the Tempest.
7. There are sufficient chemicals at Tempest to kill everyone on the Island.
8. Ben used the gas in the Tempest had previously been used to kill everyone on the Island presumably at the time of the Purge.
9. Charlotte knows of Ben having killed the members of the DHARMA initiative using gas and that the Tempest was the source of that gas poisoning.
10. The Others attempt to prevent Faraday and Charlotte from disabling the gas at the Tempest.
11. Faraday succeeds at disabling the chemicals contained in the Tempest.
12. The Barge is financed by Charles Widmore.
13. According to Ben, Widmore wants to exploit the Island.
14. Locke allows Ben a measure of freedom.
Analysis
1. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Barge (and Widmore) are associated with DHARMA. After all Faraday/Charlotte know about the Purge and Ben’s machinations. They even have a map of the Island. This still does not fully explain why DHARMA made a food drop on the Island after the crash of Flight 815. It could have been done as a supply drop for the future Barge mission or, as many things with LOST appear to go, it may remain unexplained forever.
2. Hearing whispering prior to Harper’s appearance in the jungle suggests that she is a Hostile. There are basically three categories of Others: (1) Hostiles; (2) Ben; and (3) subsequent recruits. I believe that Harper falls in to the category of being a Hostile since the power to appear with whispers has been previously associated with Hostiles such as Richard. Another point is that whispers only appear to happen in the jungle.
3. The meaning of the whispers. I previously speculated that the whispers demonstrate that the Hostiles are not alive in the conventional meaning of the term (see Episode 4:1, Thesis 2). A possible problem with this thesis is the marriage of Harper (an apparent Hostile) to Goodwin (an apparent recruit rather than a Hostile). But, on the other hand, Charlie once dead can still muster a physical presence which would mean that a person who is dead in the conventional sense of the word could still have a marital relationship with a live human being. Given recent revelations on LOST, it is also possible that the whispers are associated with some as yet unexplained space/time travel that the Hostiles can engage in on the Island and, more specifically, in the jungle.
4. Ben being locked up does not mean that he is isolated from contact with the Others. If the Others/Hostiles can jump around the Island and the World, it would certainly seem as though they could jump around the Island and talk to Ben no matter where he might be.
5. Jack continues to exhibit horrible judgment. (See Thesis 6). Yes Jack follow Faraday/Charlotte into the jungle at night to try to pick up their trail -- give me a freaking break.
6. The Smoke Monster is conspicuously absent this season. This absence is unexplained and, at this juncture, unexplainable unless the smoke monster is "dead" or being operated out of a control station that has been disabled.
7. The identity of Ben’s man on the Barge. It was so shocking that Locke had to sit down to hear the information. There are two categories of people who would be shocking: (1) someone Locke knows already (i.e., Walt or Michael); or (2) someone who is a high officer on the Barge (i.e., the Captain).
8. The reason the Hostiles do not take it upon themselves to stop Faraday/Charlotte is unexplained. However, it may be that they are unable to do so which would dovetail with my previously expressed theory that they are not alive in a conventional sense and that somehow restricts their ability to act in certain circumstances.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Episode 4: Season 5 -- Constants
This week’s episode finally started to bring into focus certain key underlying science fiction that lays at the heart of LOST. I am going to start once again with the hard facts and move on to explain how those new facts help explain previous open issues and mysteries.
Hard Facts
1. Daniel Faraday has previously extensively experimented with electro-magnetic settings which can allow animal consciousness to travel through time.
2. Time consciousness traveling is extremely dangerous and without a "constant" can result in death.
3. Time consciousness traveling is not the same thing as time travel as it is understood in classic science fiction literature. The body does not travel; only the mind.
4. Contact with portions of the Island’s electro-magnetic field, particularly the buffer around the Island, can result in this time consciousness traveling.
5. Desmond experiences time consciousness traveling.
6. The present Desmond (circa 2004) leaps into the past to make contact with Daniel Faraday in the past (1996) and influences experiments concerning time consciousness traveling.
7. Penny Widmore is Desmond’s constant.
8. Desmond fulfills his 1996 statement to call Penny Widmore on Christmas Eve 2004.
9. Desmond is Daniel Faraday’s constant.
10. Daniel Faraday, at some point in the past (and certainly in 1996) was a Professor at Oxford.
11. Notwithstanding his position on Oxford’s faculty, Faraday does nothing to protect his cranium (i.e., head) from radiation exposure.
12. The Barge’s communication equipment has been sabatoged.
13. Penny Widmore routinely attempted to contact the Barge.
14. George Minkowski encounters the electro-magnetic force of the Island and become mentally disabled by time travel and eventually succumbs by dying.
15. The perception of time is different on the Island.
16. The Island is buffered in places by an electro-magnetic field.
17. In 1996, Charles Widmore paid a high price for a copy of the diary kept by an officer on Black Rock.
18. Black Rock disappeared in 1845.
19. The Black Rock diary is said to have turned up 7 years later (i.e., 1852) in Madagascar which is basically half way around the world from the Island.
20. The setting Desmond relays to Faraday is 2342 at 11 megahertz for the test on Elouise to cause time consciousness travel for a rat.
Special Facts Available on the Internet
A video is available on YouTube concerning a secret DHARMA station on the Island known as the Orchid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bTvAUVPyLI&eurl=http://blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/2008/02/lost-doing-the.html
The video reflects experiments on different numbered white rabbits. The unique properties of the Island are said to have created a Casimir effect. The field being studied is "highly volatile and extremely dangerous." [NOTE: I believe that Since LOST is science fiction, the precise qualities of what constitutes a Casimir effect and what its real world implications are, quite frankly, not that relevant here.]
Of particular interest in the video is that a Dr. Halowax, who claims to be a scientist, holds a white rabbit conspicuously marked as 15. In the middle of his presentation another rabbit marked as 15 suddenly appears on a shelf behind Halowax. A technician rushes in and an effort is made to prevent the two number 15 rabbits from seeing each other.
Also of interest is that during the video there are short cutouts which are out of place. One shows a bearded man in a suit walking in a location off the Island. Another shows an office building in a location of the Island. Another frame states "God loves you as he loved Jacob." Another frame seems to show a shot from the Barracks but it could be a shot from anywhere.
Attempting to Synthesize the New LOST Facts
1. The Island’s electro-magnetic characteristics allows for time consciousness travel. This is now quite obvious given what we have now been shown about Desmond. In fact, his prior "visions" may have been nothing other than relatively minor or moderate experiences of time consciousness travel.
2. The Island’s electro-magnetic characteristics can be utilized to physically transport physical objects including people to different places in the world. We have been shown that people can travel off the Island without the benefit of the submarine which Locke destroyed. Given that the Others do not appear to have any airplanes or other boats suitable to long distance travel, the fair inference is that something about the Island allows the Others (i.e., people in the know) to be transported to other places on Earth. A further supporting fact can be found in the Black Rock diary making it to Madagascar. No pirate could have carried it there because Black Rock is stranded in the middle of the Island and was not lost at sea either in a pirate battle or otherwise as seems to be the general belief based on the auction house statements concerning its voyage. No one on Black Rock made it off th Island in a normal fashion.
3. DHARMA worked to somehow unite these aspects of time consciousness travel with physical travel. The Orchid station video hints at this with the double Rabbit 15. The DHARMA polar bear found in a Tunisian excavation by Charlotte also reflects an animal physically transported back in time. Charlotte knew it was there because she was sent to check and see whether the experiment had been successful.
4. The numbers now appear to be some wavelength setting. The numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) are likely settings to be employed much like the 11 megahertz 2342 setting Faraday used in his Oxford lab. If this is correct, it would undercut my previously expressed theory on the numbers being elements of Flight 815. However, the numbers could still have multiple meanings.
5. Penny Widmore actually is affiliated with the Barge. Otherwise, there is no plausible explanation why she is constantly calling the Barge. How would she know where the Barge is or how to reach the Barge if it was not affiliated with Widmore. This would make her comment to Charlie wrong or the result of confusion.
6. The Barge operatives are holding photos of Desmond because he is their constant. We have already been told that Faraday is using Desmond as his constant and we saw Faraday carrying a photo of Desmond. Since the Barge is affiliated with Widmore it was not hard for him to get a photo of Desmond with Penny. Ditto for Naomi.
7. Rousseau’s party probably did not come to the Island by accident. It was quite possible that Rousseau’s party of French scientists were agents of DHARMA or some other organization seeking to get to the Island for a specific purpose. Rousseau may not have known this or she may have known and is not telling. The Barge is keeping it’s distance from the Island because of it knows of the electro-magnetic field and its deleterious consequences.
8. The electro-magnetic buffer is limited in scope. The electro-magnetic effects are limited or do not exist at certain higher altitudes or under the sea. Otherwise, it would seem that DHARMA would be unable to make their food drops by air as we have previously witnessed and the submarine would be of no use in approaching the Island.
9. Jacob arrived on the Island in Black Rock. This would provide a ready explanation for his disdain of technology. I also suspect that he reason Jacob is a "great man" is because he unlocked the secrets of the Island as it relates to consciousness travel and location travel. Jacob needs help as he told Locke. The logical assumption is that he needs such help because of the approaching Barge but it could also be that he is somehow a victim of or trapped in a certain undesirable state on the Island.
10. DHARMA. DHARMA is the result of the collaboration of entities with different interests. They may not always work together. It is possible that elements of DHARMA were comfortable with, or at least reconciled to, the purge. It is also possible that some of its elements or corporate backers are involved with the Barge while others are not involved.
11. It is not yet clear how the Oceanic Six make it back to civilization. As I have said before, it appears that the Barge is that vehicle. However, anything can happen on LOST and Sayyid is already off to a rocky relationship with the Barge. That there is an Oceanic Six does not mean that other people from the plane including possibly Christian Shepard making it back to civilization some other way through the Island’s powers.
Hard Facts
1. Daniel Faraday has previously extensively experimented with electro-magnetic settings which can allow animal consciousness to travel through time.
2. Time consciousness traveling is extremely dangerous and without a "constant" can result in death.
3. Time consciousness traveling is not the same thing as time travel as it is understood in classic science fiction literature. The body does not travel; only the mind.
4. Contact with portions of the Island’s electro-magnetic field, particularly the buffer around the Island, can result in this time consciousness traveling.
5. Desmond experiences time consciousness traveling.
6. The present Desmond (circa 2004) leaps into the past to make contact with Daniel Faraday in the past (1996) and influences experiments concerning time consciousness traveling.
7. Penny Widmore is Desmond’s constant.
8. Desmond fulfills his 1996 statement to call Penny Widmore on Christmas Eve 2004.
9. Desmond is Daniel Faraday’s constant.
10. Daniel Faraday, at some point in the past (and certainly in 1996) was a Professor at Oxford.
11. Notwithstanding his position on Oxford’s faculty, Faraday does nothing to protect his cranium (i.e., head) from radiation exposure.
12. The Barge’s communication equipment has been sabatoged.
13. Penny Widmore routinely attempted to contact the Barge.
14. George Minkowski encounters the electro-magnetic force of the Island and become mentally disabled by time travel and eventually succumbs by dying.
15. The perception of time is different on the Island.
16. The Island is buffered in places by an electro-magnetic field.
17. In 1996, Charles Widmore paid a high price for a copy of the diary kept by an officer on Black Rock.
18. Black Rock disappeared in 1845.
19. The Black Rock diary is said to have turned up 7 years later (i.e., 1852) in Madagascar which is basically half way around the world from the Island.
20. The setting Desmond relays to Faraday is 2342 at 11 megahertz for the test on Elouise to cause time consciousness travel for a rat.
Special Facts Available on the Internet
A video is available on YouTube concerning a secret DHARMA station on the Island known as the Orchid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bTvAUVPyLI&eurl=http://blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/2008/02/lost-doing-the.html
The video reflects experiments on different numbered white rabbits. The unique properties of the Island are said to have created a Casimir effect. The field being studied is "highly volatile and extremely dangerous." [NOTE: I believe that Since LOST is science fiction, the precise qualities of what constitutes a Casimir effect and what its real world implications are, quite frankly, not that relevant here.]
Of particular interest in the video is that a Dr. Halowax, who claims to be a scientist, holds a white rabbit conspicuously marked as 15. In the middle of his presentation another rabbit marked as 15 suddenly appears on a shelf behind Halowax. A technician rushes in and an effort is made to prevent the two number 15 rabbits from seeing each other.
Also of interest is that during the video there are short cutouts which are out of place. One shows a bearded man in a suit walking in a location off the Island. Another shows an office building in a location of the Island. Another frame states "God loves you as he loved Jacob." Another frame seems to show a shot from the Barracks but it could be a shot from anywhere.
Attempting to Synthesize the New LOST Facts
1. The Island’s electro-magnetic characteristics allows for time consciousness travel. This is now quite obvious given what we have now been shown about Desmond. In fact, his prior "visions" may have been nothing other than relatively minor or moderate experiences of time consciousness travel.
2. The Island’s electro-magnetic characteristics can be utilized to physically transport physical objects including people to different places in the world. We have been shown that people can travel off the Island without the benefit of the submarine which Locke destroyed. Given that the Others do not appear to have any airplanes or other boats suitable to long distance travel, the fair inference is that something about the Island allows the Others (i.e., people in the know) to be transported to other places on Earth. A further supporting fact can be found in the Black Rock diary making it to Madagascar. No pirate could have carried it there because Black Rock is stranded in the middle of the Island and was not lost at sea either in a pirate battle or otherwise as seems to be the general belief based on the auction house statements concerning its voyage. No one on Black Rock made it off th Island in a normal fashion.
3. DHARMA worked to somehow unite these aspects of time consciousness travel with physical travel. The Orchid station video hints at this with the double Rabbit 15. The DHARMA polar bear found in a Tunisian excavation by Charlotte also reflects an animal physically transported back in time. Charlotte knew it was there because she was sent to check and see whether the experiment had been successful.
4. The numbers now appear to be some wavelength setting. The numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) are likely settings to be employed much like the 11 megahertz 2342 setting Faraday used in his Oxford lab. If this is correct, it would undercut my previously expressed theory on the numbers being elements of Flight 815. However, the numbers could still have multiple meanings.
5. Penny Widmore actually is affiliated with the Barge. Otherwise, there is no plausible explanation why she is constantly calling the Barge. How would she know where the Barge is or how to reach the Barge if it was not affiliated with Widmore. This would make her comment to Charlie wrong or the result of confusion.
6. The Barge operatives are holding photos of Desmond because he is their constant. We have already been told that Faraday is using Desmond as his constant and we saw Faraday carrying a photo of Desmond. Since the Barge is affiliated with Widmore it was not hard for him to get a photo of Desmond with Penny. Ditto for Naomi.
7. Rousseau’s party probably did not come to the Island by accident. It was quite possible that Rousseau’s party of French scientists were agents of DHARMA or some other organization seeking to get to the Island for a specific purpose. Rousseau may not have known this or she may have known and is not telling. The Barge is keeping it’s distance from the Island because of it knows of the electro-magnetic field and its deleterious consequences.
8. The electro-magnetic buffer is limited in scope. The electro-magnetic effects are limited or do not exist at certain higher altitudes or under the sea. Otherwise, it would seem that DHARMA would be unable to make their food drops by air as we have previously witnessed and the submarine would be of no use in approaching the Island.
9. Jacob arrived on the Island in Black Rock. This would provide a ready explanation for his disdain of technology. I also suspect that he reason Jacob is a "great man" is because he unlocked the secrets of the Island as it relates to consciousness travel and location travel. Jacob needs help as he told Locke. The logical assumption is that he needs such help because of the approaching Barge but it could also be that he is somehow a victim of or trapped in a certain undesirable state on the Island.
10. DHARMA. DHARMA is the result of the collaboration of entities with different interests. They may not always work together. It is possible that elements of DHARMA were comfortable with, or at least reconciled to, the purge. It is also possible that some of its elements or corporate backers are involved with the Barge while others are not involved.
11. It is not yet clear how the Oceanic Six make it back to civilization. As I have said before, it appears that the Barge is that vehicle. However, anything can happen on LOST and Sayyid is already off to a rocky relationship with the Barge. That there is an Oceanic Six does not mean that other people from the plane including possibly Christian Shepard making it back to civilization some other way through the Island’s powers.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Season 4: Episode 4 (Eggtown)
Thankfully this week's episode moved in the direction of providing clarity to some of the mysteries and questions raised. This is a sharp contrast with last week's episode which seemed to raise a muliude of new mysteries and questions. That being said, my analysis of this week's episode follows.
Hard Facts
1. Kate is one of the Oceanic Six (not a surprise given previous flash forwards we've seen already).
2. Kate has a son named Aaron.
3. Ben has access to extensive financial resources.
4. Miles’ boss wants Ben dead.
5. Miles knows the identity of his own boss notwithstanding his prior protestations of ignorance to Jack.
6. Ben knows the identity of Miles’ boss.
7. Miles state that we is willing to accept a $3.2 million bribe for making a false report of Ben’s death.
8. The District Attorney takes a personal interest in prosecuting Kate for the past crimes that she committed.
9. Part of the plea deal requires Kate not to leave the State in which she is currently living.
10. There is an "official" version of the crash story which involves there having been only eight survivors of the crash and the plane having gone down in the ocean with those few survivors swimming ashore. Most of the people who survived the crash are dead or reported as such to the outside world.
A Litigator’s Observation
The trial scenes make no sense. This is a litigator’s blog so indulge me on these points.
First, the way trials work in this country has the prosecution put in its case-in-chief, i.e., its witnesses who are cross-examined by the defense. After the prosecution rests, the defense puts in its defense through calling its own witnesses. However, in LOST, apparently the defense puts in its witnesses before the prosecution is ever put to the task of proving its case.
Second, Kate’s character and qualities as a human being (or lack thereof) is not relevant to her guilt or innocence. Character witnesses are generally reserved for the sentencing portion of a case. The only possible exception would be if Kate testified on her own behalf and in cross-examining her the prosecution called her character into question. Of course, none of these things happened here making Jack’s testimony so plainly inadmissible that not even Judge Ito would have allowed it to proceed.
Third, it boggles to mind to believe that the prosecuor's case was so weak that she would have withdrawn the case after a single "star" witness -- the accused's mother -- who was terminally ill refused to teatify.
Fourth, the case is said to take place in federal court and we are told the District Attorney herself is trying the case. However, in federal court the prosecutors are known as U.S. Attorneys. Ask Alberto Gonzales, Jr., he’s from Texas and as Attorney General, fired a whole bunch of them.
I can only hope that LOST has done a better job with the science and other issues which underpin parts of the plot.
Other Observations
1. Locke is, and knows, that he is more LOST than ever. He’s LOST because
notwithstanding his repeatedly being cured of major ailments (i.e., partial paralysis and gunshot wounds) he still has no idea how the Island works or what he should do next of he continues to live on the Island.
2. The helicopter has gone missing but fear not we already know courtesy of the flash
forwards that Sayyid and at least five other crash victims reach civilization. The real question is how a helicopter with a limited fuel supply could go missing and where it went. The preview for the next episode suggests that we will soon (i.e., next episode) learnthese answers.
3. The trial scene happens before Jack’s future emotional breakdown we witnessed in
his first flash forward at the end of Season 3. Jack is still relatively well adjusted after his initial re-introduction to society.
4. Kate has sufficient financial resources to live in a well-appointed house and have a
nanny. Those resources could either have come from her share of the Oceanic Six settlement previously mentioned by Sayyid or from her spouse.
5. There is something special about Kate’s "son." Her lawyer wants to use Aaron at
trial and Kate’s previously estranged mother is desperate to see her "grandson." Jack, on the other hand, wants to go nowhere near Aaron. Let’s not forget that Christian Shepard is the child’s true grandfather since he was Claire’s father.
6. Kate’s having Claire’s baby indicates that Claire did not make it off the Island
alive. Desmond’s previous vision of her boarding a helicopter with Aaron might still be correct. Boarding a helicopter does not mean that one disembarks alive.
7. The District Attorney may have an affiliation with the Barge or Ben. The
requirement that Kate not leave the State for ten years as part of a plea agreement seemed odd to me. Then again, as noted above, the legal proceedings on LOST were plain bizarre and unconnected to the administration of law in 21st century America.
8. My previous speculation about the importance of Anna Lucia may have been
wrong. It is now more likely that Hurley had to avoid saying that he met her on the Island because doing so would have compromised the official version of events as testified to by Jack at Kate’s trial.
9. Eight survivors of the crash are referenced in Jack's testimony. Two people who are acknowledged to have survived the crash are likely, therefore, not to have made it back to civilization alive. Who those two people are and what happened to them wil undoubtedly be filled by coming episodes.
10. We still don't know what happens to the remaining crash survivors. They may be still alive in hiding on the Island or they have been killed by whatever conflict the Barge occassions. Ben's comment to Sayyidd at the end of last week's episode suggest that many, if not all, met an unfortunate end.
Hard Facts
1. Kate is one of the Oceanic Six (not a surprise given previous flash forwards we've seen already).
2. Kate has a son named Aaron.
3. Ben has access to extensive financial resources.
4. Miles’ boss wants Ben dead.
5. Miles knows the identity of his own boss notwithstanding his prior protestations of ignorance to Jack.
6. Ben knows the identity of Miles’ boss.
7. Miles state that we is willing to accept a $3.2 million bribe for making a false report of Ben’s death.
8. The District Attorney takes a personal interest in prosecuting Kate for the past crimes that she committed.
9. Part of the plea deal requires Kate not to leave the State in which she is currently living.
10. There is an "official" version of the crash story which involves there having been only eight survivors of the crash and the plane having gone down in the ocean with those few survivors swimming ashore. Most of the people who survived the crash are dead or reported as such to the outside world.
A Litigator’s Observation
The trial scenes make no sense. This is a litigator’s blog so indulge me on these points.
First, the way trials work in this country has the prosecution put in its case-in-chief, i.e., its witnesses who are cross-examined by the defense. After the prosecution rests, the defense puts in its defense through calling its own witnesses. However, in LOST, apparently the defense puts in its witnesses before the prosecution is ever put to the task of proving its case.
Second, Kate’s character and qualities as a human being (or lack thereof) is not relevant to her guilt or innocence. Character witnesses are generally reserved for the sentencing portion of a case. The only possible exception would be if Kate testified on her own behalf and in cross-examining her the prosecution called her character into question. Of course, none of these things happened here making Jack’s testimony so plainly inadmissible that not even Judge Ito would have allowed it to proceed.
Third, it boggles to mind to believe that the prosecuor's case was so weak that she would have withdrawn the case after a single "star" witness -- the accused's mother -- who was terminally ill refused to teatify.
Fourth, the case is said to take place in federal court and we are told the District Attorney herself is trying the case. However, in federal court the prosecutors are known as U.S. Attorneys. Ask Alberto Gonzales, Jr., he’s from Texas and as Attorney General, fired a whole bunch of them.
I can only hope that LOST has done a better job with the science and other issues which underpin parts of the plot.
Other Observations
1. Locke is, and knows, that he is more LOST than ever. He’s LOST because
notwithstanding his repeatedly being cured of major ailments (i.e., partial paralysis and gunshot wounds) he still has no idea how the Island works or what he should do next of he continues to live on the Island.
2. The helicopter has gone missing but fear not we already know courtesy of the flash
forwards that Sayyid and at least five other crash victims reach civilization. The real question is how a helicopter with a limited fuel supply could go missing and where it went. The preview for the next episode suggests that we will soon (i.e., next episode) learnthese answers.
3. The trial scene happens before Jack’s future emotional breakdown we witnessed in
his first flash forward at the end of Season 3. Jack is still relatively well adjusted after his initial re-introduction to society.
4. Kate has sufficient financial resources to live in a well-appointed house and have a
nanny. Those resources could either have come from her share of the Oceanic Six settlement previously mentioned by Sayyid or from her spouse.
5. There is something special about Kate’s "son." Her lawyer wants to use Aaron at
trial and Kate’s previously estranged mother is desperate to see her "grandson." Jack, on the other hand, wants to go nowhere near Aaron. Let’s not forget that Christian Shepard is the child’s true grandfather since he was Claire’s father.
6. Kate’s having Claire’s baby indicates that Claire did not make it off the Island
alive. Desmond’s previous vision of her boarding a helicopter with Aaron might still be correct. Boarding a helicopter does not mean that one disembarks alive.
7. The District Attorney may have an affiliation with the Barge or Ben. The
requirement that Kate not leave the State for ten years as part of a plea agreement seemed odd to me. Then again, as noted above, the legal proceedings on LOST were plain bizarre and unconnected to the administration of law in 21st century America.
8. My previous speculation about the importance of Anna Lucia may have been
wrong. It is now more likely that Hurley had to avoid saying that he met her on the Island because doing so would have compromised the official version of events as testified to by Jack at Kate’s trial.
9. Eight survivors of the crash are referenced in Jack's testimony. Two people who are acknowledged to have survived the crash are likely, therefore, not to have made it back to civilization alive. Who those two people are and what happened to them wil undoubtedly be filled by coming episodes.
10. We still don't know what happens to the remaining crash survivors. They may be still alive in hiding on the Island or they have been killed by whatever conflict the Barge occassions. Ben's comment to Sayyidd at the end of last week's episode suggest that many, if not all, met an unfortunate end.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Season 4: Episode 3 --- The Economist
This weeks episode proceeds on two tracks: (1) events taking place in the "present" (i.e., at the time of the Barge helicopter has landed on the Island; and (2) in the future courtesy of a series of flash forwards devoted to Sayyid. Both the present events and the flash forward help answer certain previously unresolved questions raised on LOST but, frustratingly, the flash forward events in particular raise more questions than they answer.
New Hard Facts
1. Ben has many passports, foreign currency and quite a large wardrobe suitable for off Island purposes.
2. Sayyid is one of the "Oceanic Six."
3. Sayyid after leaving the Island works as an assassin for Benjamin Linus (or some organization in which Linus is a senior official) targeting people off a list provided by Linus.
4. Sayyid kills a man on a golf course who reacts nervously to being told that Sayyid is one of the Oceanic Six.
5. The payback experiment by Dan demonstrates that the outside world’s perception of the timing of events on the Island is inconsistent with when those events actually occur on the Island.
6. A senior official of the Barge lives in Berlin.
7. When Sayyid followed his heart his friends died.
8. Kate becomes something of a celebrity upon her return to civilization.
Observations/theories from watching this episode
1. There is a strong suggestion but no conclusive evidence that time moves
differently on the Island and, even if it does, that is a recent phenomenon. The payload experiment conducted by Dan and Regina strongly suggests that time moves differently on the Island than in the outside world. However, Alexandra Rosseau appears to be the relatively correct chronological age based upon other facts we have been told about her. This could mean that the time discrepancy developed after the Swan hatch explosion or that there is no such material discrepancy.
2. Evidence mounts that the Barge is likely affiliated with DHARMA. DHARMA knows the location of the Island from its prior experience there and its food drops even after the time the survivors landed. To the extent one would argue that DHARMA would not have to perform the payback experiment to gain an understanding of the Island’s properties, an easy response is that the Island’s properties may have changed since DHARMA was purged from the Island and particularly since the explosion at the Swan station.
Also, I note that the DHARMA food drops are consistent with this hypothesis and my earlier theory that Flight 815 was intended to land/crash on the Island,. There were not 16 years of food drop – at least not that we saw. Instead, the drops started after the crash. This evidences that DHARMA knew the location of the Island and started the drops after the crash. Those drops also unexplainedly stop which could coincide with the reports of Flight 815 being found on the ocean floor which would mean failure in its mission of reaching the Island. Nor is it like the Others were depending on these drops because they made no effort to retrieve their contents.
This would also explain, in part Naomi’s conversation with Abaddon in which he stated that there were no survivors of Flight 815. The Barge (which I am assuming for these purposes is DHARMA) set sail precisely because the believed there were no survivors with its mission of planting agents on the Island failing with the seeming crash of Flight 815 into the ocean.
3. The survivors following Locke are more worried about returning to
civilization than they are about the intentions of the Barge. The initial suggestion, as articulated by Hurley, is that they feared the people on the Barge. Howevet, all the know so far is that the Others have attempted to subjegate them and that the Others fear the Barge. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend then the barge is obviously a favorable development for the surviors. Therefore, the more cogent explanation is explicitly revealed by Sawyer’s confession to Kate that he has no reason to return to civilization. They are scared about encountering the outside world as it exists off the Island. They have grown comfortable with their existence on the Island especially without the threat from the Others, of whom ten were killed off at the end of season 3. At some level, this seems odd given the efforts the survivors have previously invested in attempting to be rescued. However, it is often he case that there is disappointment when reality (actually being rescued) confronts theory ( the hope of being rescued).
4. The struggle for the Island is part of a larger struggle between the Barge and
the Others/Hostiles. The off-Island activities of both DHARMA/Barge and the Hostiles appear rather extensive. It appears that the Barge is better financed with the Hostiles relying on Sayyid as their henchman in chief.
New Questions
1. Where are all the Others?
There is a suggestion that many are at the Temple (whatever and wherever that happens to be). However, ten have been killed in their unsuccessful raid on the survivors; Juliet is wandering with Jack; Carl, Alexandra and Ben are with Locke or in his custody; Bea Klugh was shot by Mikhail (which means nothing on LOST) and Mikhail took a harpoon through his chest (which I’ve already observed means nothing). However, there just aren’t that many Others and they’ve undergone pretty heavy attrition since the survivors landed (think also of Goodwin and Ethan). They also may not that much ammo left after the failed assault on the beach. Therefore, however many Others are left are effectively in hiding.
2. Why is the Barge interested in Ben?
It is likely that they know about the Purge and are after him because of that. It is also possible that they know of him from off-Island activities.
3. Who was Ben referring to that Sayyid had followed his heart for?
When LOST left us Sayyid was on the way to the Barge via the helicopter. I will, therefore, assume that the helicopter does, in fact, make it back to the Barge. It is likely, though not entirely certain, that Sayyid does not return to the Island except at the Barge’s discretion and that he either forms or has a relationship with someone on or associated with the Barge. The key candidates right now are the woman Regina who has recently surfaced in LOST and is on the Barge and Charlotte. That woman could also be a person on the Barge we have yet to meet.
There is also an outside shot that it is Nadia, his childhood sweetheart, with respect to whom we’ve previously been informed is living in the LA area, a base of operations for the Barge. A lot of time has been devoted to Nadia so far and it is the nature of LOST to unexpectedly tie in events and people in unexpected ways.
4. Who are the friends of Sayyid that suffered from his following his heart?
It appears likely some of the other survivors. One would assume that such suffering took place on the Island in connection with the rescue. After his experience of following his heart turned out badly Sayyid became co-opted by Linus.
5. Does Frank make it back to the Barge on this flight ?
Almost certainly. Sayyid is quite a capable fellow but swimming miles to safety after a helicopter crash in the ocean seems even beyond the realm of his Republican Guard training.
6. Why is the Barge not getting in closer to the Island ?
Either: (1) the water is too shallow, (2) the Barge is afraid of getting too close because of dangers it associates with being too close to the Island, or (3) there has not yet been enough time to do so. In this regard, it may very well be that the expedition Rosseau arrived on was affiliated with the Barge and was sent to reinforce or assist DHARMA.
7. Did Jacob’s shack really move?
Yes, the cabin moved from where Locke believed it had been. The logical inference is that it actually did move. However, the cabin may be some sort of apparition making the concept of moving not relevant. To the extent the shack moved, we do not know how it performed that act. However, items can be moved and its not like the shack was connected to a deep foundation. After all, its just a shack.
Nor would this be the first time the shack moved. We saw it move before when Hurley spotted it during his lone walk in the jungle. Any such movement may have something to do with the electro-magnetic properties if the Island or with the nature of the xhack.
Nor do we know why the shack moved. One explanation is that Jacob doesn’t want to be visited by Locke though, on the other hand, Jacob has many other ways of getting rid of people with whom he does not wish to speak.
8. Who is the Economist and why does Ben want him dead?
He -- and Ilse said it was a man -- has an agenda in opposition to that of the Island. Ilse’s wearing a bracelet similar to that worn by Naomi suggests strongly that he is a high up official within or affiliated with the Barge.
One issue is why LOST chose Berlin as the Economist’s location. Cities like Paris and England are more cosmopolitan. The Economist, therefore, is likely German. I am not sure whether to attach any significance to this fact. However, I do note that the old inmate in the mental asylum that Hurley visited and from whom he received the winning numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) said that he heard them in a radio transmission during WWII. And, as we know Germany was a combatant on the wrong and particularly evil side of WWII.
I also note that the name Mittlewerk, which is the name of a person associated with the Hanso Foundation according to Lostpedia, is also the name of a slave labor facility/concentration camp used by the Nazi’s during WWII to manufacture the V-2 rockets. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/vonbraun.html
In the event the use of the name Mittlewerk is intended to invoke that hideous piece of history, this whole LOST thing is being tied into the Nazis though it would seem odd for Nazis to hire a black man like Abaddon. And, if that is where this is really going it would really a bit over the top in my opinion.
9. What’s the deal with Desmond ?
The Barge not only has a stand alone picture of Desmond, it also has a picture of him with
Penny Widmore. Desmond is on his way back to the Barge to find answers and I don’t think those answers are going to make him happy.
New Hard Facts
1. Ben has many passports, foreign currency and quite a large wardrobe suitable for off Island purposes.
2. Sayyid is one of the "Oceanic Six."
3. Sayyid after leaving the Island works as an assassin for Benjamin Linus (or some organization in which Linus is a senior official) targeting people off a list provided by Linus.
4. Sayyid kills a man on a golf course who reacts nervously to being told that Sayyid is one of the Oceanic Six.
5. The payback experiment by Dan demonstrates that the outside world’s perception of the timing of events on the Island is inconsistent with when those events actually occur on the Island.
6. A senior official of the Barge lives in Berlin.
7. When Sayyid followed his heart his friends died.
8. Kate becomes something of a celebrity upon her return to civilization.
Observations/theories from watching this episode
1. There is a strong suggestion but no conclusive evidence that time moves
differently on the Island and, even if it does, that is a recent phenomenon. The payload experiment conducted by Dan and Regina strongly suggests that time moves differently on the Island than in the outside world. However, Alexandra Rosseau appears to be the relatively correct chronological age based upon other facts we have been told about her. This could mean that the time discrepancy developed after the Swan hatch explosion or that there is no such material discrepancy.
2. Evidence mounts that the Barge is likely affiliated with DHARMA. DHARMA knows the location of the Island from its prior experience there and its food drops even after the time the survivors landed. To the extent one would argue that DHARMA would not have to perform the payback experiment to gain an understanding of the Island’s properties, an easy response is that the Island’s properties may have changed since DHARMA was purged from the Island and particularly since the explosion at the Swan station.
Also, I note that the DHARMA food drops are consistent with this hypothesis and my earlier theory that Flight 815 was intended to land/crash on the Island,. There were not 16 years of food drop – at least not that we saw. Instead, the drops started after the crash. This evidences that DHARMA knew the location of the Island and started the drops after the crash. Those drops also unexplainedly stop which could coincide with the reports of Flight 815 being found on the ocean floor which would mean failure in its mission of reaching the Island. Nor is it like the Others were depending on these drops because they made no effort to retrieve their contents.
This would also explain, in part Naomi’s conversation with Abaddon in which he stated that there were no survivors of Flight 815. The Barge (which I am assuming for these purposes is DHARMA) set sail precisely because the believed there were no survivors with its mission of planting agents on the Island failing with the seeming crash of Flight 815 into the ocean.
3. The survivors following Locke are more worried about returning to
civilization than they are about the intentions of the Barge. The initial suggestion, as articulated by Hurley, is that they feared the people on the Barge. Howevet, all the know so far is that the Others have attempted to subjegate them and that the Others fear the Barge. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend then the barge is obviously a favorable development for the surviors. Therefore, the more cogent explanation is explicitly revealed by Sawyer’s confession to Kate that he has no reason to return to civilization. They are scared about encountering the outside world as it exists off the Island. They have grown comfortable with their existence on the Island especially without the threat from the Others, of whom ten were killed off at the end of season 3. At some level, this seems odd given the efforts the survivors have previously invested in attempting to be rescued. However, it is often he case that there is disappointment when reality (actually being rescued) confronts theory ( the hope of being rescued).
4. The struggle for the Island is part of a larger struggle between the Barge and
the Others/Hostiles. The off-Island activities of both DHARMA/Barge and the Hostiles appear rather extensive. It appears that the Barge is better financed with the Hostiles relying on Sayyid as their henchman in chief.
New Questions
1. Where are all the Others?
There is a suggestion that many are at the Temple (whatever and wherever that happens to be). However, ten have been killed in their unsuccessful raid on the survivors; Juliet is wandering with Jack; Carl, Alexandra and Ben are with Locke or in his custody; Bea Klugh was shot by Mikhail (which means nothing on LOST) and Mikhail took a harpoon through his chest (which I’ve already observed means nothing). However, there just aren’t that many Others and they’ve undergone pretty heavy attrition since the survivors landed (think also of Goodwin and Ethan). They also may not that much ammo left after the failed assault on the beach. Therefore, however many Others are left are effectively in hiding.
2. Why is the Barge interested in Ben?
It is likely that they know about the Purge and are after him because of that. It is also possible that they know of him from off-Island activities.
3. Who was Ben referring to that Sayyid had followed his heart for?
When LOST left us Sayyid was on the way to the Barge via the helicopter. I will, therefore, assume that the helicopter does, in fact, make it back to the Barge. It is likely, though not entirely certain, that Sayyid does not return to the Island except at the Barge’s discretion and that he either forms or has a relationship with someone on or associated with the Barge. The key candidates right now are the woman Regina who has recently surfaced in LOST and is on the Barge and Charlotte. That woman could also be a person on the Barge we have yet to meet.
There is also an outside shot that it is Nadia, his childhood sweetheart, with respect to whom we’ve previously been informed is living in the LA area, a base of operations for the Barge. A lot of time has been devoted to Nadia so far and it is the nature of LOST to unexpectedly tie in events and people in unexpected ways.
4. Who are the friends of Sayyid that suffered from his following his heart?
It appears likely some of the other survivors. One would assume that such suffering took place on the Island in connection with the rescue. After his experience of following his heart turned out badly Sayyid became co-opted by Linus.
5. Does Frank make it back to the Barge on this flight ?
Almost certainly. Sayyid is quite a capable fellow but swimming miles to safety after a helicopter crash in the ocean seems even beyond the realm of his Republican Guard training.
6. Why is the Barge not getting in closer to the Island ?
Either: (1) the water is too shallow, (2) the Barge is afraid of getting too close because of dangers it associates with being too close to the Island, or (3) there has not yet been enough time to do so. In this regard, it may very well be that the expedition Rosseau arrived on was affiliated with the Barge and was sent to reinforce or assist DHARMA.
7. Did Jacob’s shack really move?
Yes, the cabin moved from where Locke believed it had been. The logical inference is that it actually did move. However, the cabin may be some sort of apparition making the concept of moving not relevant. To the extent the shack moved, we do not know how it performed that act. However, items can be moved and its not like the shack was connected to a deep foundation. After all, its just a shack.
Nor would this be the first time the shack moved. We saw it move before when Hurley spotted it during his lone walk in the jungle. Any such movement may have something to do with the electro-magnetic properties if the Island or with the nature of the xhack.
Nor do we know why the shack moved. One explanation is that Jacob doesn’t want to be visited by Locke though, on the other hand, Jacob has many other ways of getting rid of people with whom he does not wish to speak.
8. Who is the Economist and why does Ben want him dead?
He -- and Ilse said it was a man -- has an agenda in opposition to that of the Island. Ilse’s wearing a bracelet similar to that worn by Naomi suggests strongly that he is a high up official within or affiliated with the Barge.
One issue is why LOST chose Berlin as the Economist’s location. Cities like Paris and England are more cosmopolitan. The Economist, therefore, is likely German. I am not sure whether to attach any significance to this fact. However, I do note that the old inmate in the mental asylum that Hurley visited and from whom he received the winning numbers (4-8-15-16-23-42) said that he heard them in a radio transmission during WWII. And, as we know Germany was a combatant on the wrong and particularly evil side of WWII.
I also note that the name Mittlewerk, which is the name of a person associated with the Hanso Foundation according to Lostpedia, is also the name of a slave labor facility/concentration camp used by the Nazi’s during WWII to manufacture the V-2 rockets. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/vonbraun.html
In the event the use of the name Mittlewerk is intended to invoke that hideous piece of history, this whole LOST thing is being tied into the Nazis though it would seem odd for Nazis to hire a black man like Abaddon. And, if that is where this is really going it would really a bit over the top in my opinion.
9. What’s the deal with Desmond ?
The Barge not only has a stand alone picture of Desmond, it also has a picture of him with
Penny Widmore. Desmond is on his way back to the Barge to find answers and I don’t think those answers are going to make him happy.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Season 4: Episode 2 -- CONFIRMED DEAD
Some New Hard Facts
1. A decoy Flight 815 is discovered in an oceanic trough off the Indonesian coast;
2. Flight 815 is an obsession of Charlotte;
3. Charlotte is an anthropologist and has no military training;
4. The purported discovery of the remains of Flight 815 on the ocean floor causes Dan to cry;
5. Dan is a physicist and has no military training
6. Miles while he is in ordinary civilization can communicate with the dead with the aid of some machine;
7. Miles, on the Island, can communicate with the dead without the need for any machine;
8. Abaddon initially believes that there were no Flight 815 survivors;
9. The discovery of crashed Flight 815 on the ocean floor is the precipitating factor in the Barge setting sail for the Island; and
Previous Questions Answered
1. Abaddon is affiliated with the Barge. He is an opponent of the Others on the Island. Also, his mission in the flash forward is directly opposed to that of dead Charlie.
2. Oceanic Airlines is not a mere bystander in this whole affair. It is most likely that Oceanic is under the control of the Island since the staging of the crashed Flight 815 on the ocean floor seems to have been for the benefit of the Island and the level of detail implies Oceanic’s active cooperation.
New Observations/Theories
1. The Barge Had Agents on Flight 815. Flight 815 was supposed to (i.e.,
pre-destined or otherwise planned) to have crashed or landed on the Island. The Pilot was not so much lost as he was looking for the Island with a specific mission from Abaddon. This would explain the switching of pilots, the otherwise mysterious failure of communication with Flight 815 and the Black Smoke Monster claiming the Pilot as its first victim.
The Pilot’s attempted use of the transceiver was the first effort to communicate the location of the Island. The Pilot was the one person who best knew the flight course and the approximate location of the Island. The Black Smoke Monster acted quickly to protect the Island by immediately killing the Pilot. The transceiver in someone else’s hands is likely not as dangerous. It is also quite possible that there are features of the device that Sayyid simply does not know how to use and, in any event, no one could be quite as knowledgeable as the Pilot as to the general location of the Island.
I believe that the Pilot was not the sole representative of the Barge on Flight 815. I believe that Nathan may have been another such agent. His venturing into the jungle was mysterious and he was ultimately killed by Goodwin, one of the Others. I believe that Goodwin did not need to kill Nathan to protect himself but, instead, committed that act to protect the Island. The sole flashback concerning Nathan was one in which he was a bit player in Sawyer’s arrest in Australia. Otherwise we know nothing about Nathan.
Libby is another good candidate to have been an agent of the Barge. There have been no flashbacks specifically devoted to her and even her last name is not yet even known. Libby gave Desmond the boat that wound up being marooned on the Island and seems to have stalked Hurley both in the mental hospital and on the Island.
I attribute Dan crying to his personal relationship with a person he knew to be on Flight 815 which based upon the wreckage footage he now believed to be dead. I would not be surprised if he was crying for Libby. I know at the time he said he did not why he was crying. However,my sense is that he just didn't want to say the reason.
Similarly, Charlotte’s excessive interest in the survivors also lends credence to this theory. Rather than seeking a head count so as to eliminate the survivors, Charlotte is equally likely interested in knowing whether her fellow agents among the survivors.
The presence of Barge agents among the Tailies could also suggest why the Tailies came under almost immediate assault from the Others. No such initial raids were launched against the survivors on the beach and this is one possible explanation for the disparity in the treatment of he two separate groups of survivors was a recognition on the part of the Others that the Barge agents among the Tailies posed a more serious threat to them.
2. The Island’s Electro-Magnetic Features Allow for Communication With Those we Perceive to be Dead. I believe that the device used by Miles is eliminating the poltergeist from the grandmother’s house was one employing some sort of electro-magnetic field. On the Island, Miles can communicate with dead Naomi without the aid of that device because the Island self generates the same type of electro-magnetic field.
3. The Barge Knows That Desmond is on the Island. Naomi is carrying Desmond’s picture and he arrived on the Island courtesy of the boat Libby gave him. The boat may very well have been rigged to wash up on the Island. Desmond may be an unwitting agent of the Barge on the Island who is expected to be called into service by Penny or Widmore or other entities working in association with Widmore. After all, even though Naomi is carrying Desmond’s photo, he is still not the object of the mission.
New Questions Raised or old Questions Which Remain Unanswered
What are the remains of a dead polar bear doing with a DHARMA buckle from the Hydra Station in the middle of the Tunisian desert? I find this the most perplexing piece of information I have been confronted with by LOST. Some might say that it is indicative of time travel experiments having been performed on or in connection with the Island or by DHARMA. In that scenario, the Island's properties probably give it some unique abilities to engage in such time travel akin to its abilities to project people around the world. I am not fond of this theory because time travel would so complicate the LOST story as to make it incomprehensible. Then again........
A second alternative, and one which I personally find more reasonable than time travel, is that the Island has the ability to project people and things around the world sans time travel. There has been some evidence of that in Others showing up unexplained in weird places.
Finally, it may suggest that DHARMA has been around for a very long time and playing with polar bears in the vicinity of other electro-magnetic anomalies on Earth is just one of the things they do as part of their cultic practices or scientific analysis. Charlotte being an anthropologist as the one who “discovers” these remains lends some credence to the cultic theory.
Where did the Barge get Ben’s picture from? Since we are told that Ben has not been off the Island since his arrival (which may of course be a lie), this suggest that the Barge has had agents on the Island who identified Ben as a person of significance and somehow communicated that picture back to the Barge. The exact identity of that person and the method of communication still remain a mystery. Perhaps there is a traitor in the midst of the Others. Also, the picture appears to have been taken many years ago, a fact which may have some significance.
Who is Ben’s mole on the Barge? Some may believe that it is Michael. However, that is unrealistic since Michael has no known way of communicating with the Island nor does he have any reason to assist Ben after leaving the Island that we have been told about yet. It is more likely that Walt is that man and is using his telekinetic powers to communicate with the Island. LOST has already indicated that Walt feels the need to protect the Island as in the time he urged Locke, after he had been shot by Ben, to come to the Island's aid. Another possibility is that it is one of the Others (who are apparently able to project themselves all over the World). The Island knows that the Barge's organization (whoever that may be) is out to harm its interest and it plants people throughout that organization in order to monitor thwart its plans much like countries do when they are at war or in a state of hostilities.
Who is Behind the Barge? Someone with alot of money. Naomi's use of the word "covert" in referring to the operation could indicate that it is a governmental or quasi-governmental organization. However, I think that is unlikely in the context of LOST. However, the operation being covert could refer to the operation being secret from interests otherwise aligned with the Barge. For example, Widmore or whichever other entity is behind the Barge may be partners or joint venturers with similar large and well-funded organizations having an interest in the Island and wish to keep the action secret from those joint venturers. Naomi holding Desmond's picture indicates an affiliation with Widmore though alternatively a joint venturer of Widmore might also be aware of his presence on the Island. That Penny has indicated to Charlie that she does not know about the Barge is not conclusive of Widmore's involvement because it is possible given the covert nature of the operation that she was not informed of its being undertaken.
Is there any significance to Dan's observation that light on the Island does not seem to scatter naturally? Maybe. The unequal scattering of light may stem from the electro-magnetic oddities of the Island and maybe its related to the reason why the Island is not ordinarily visible. I'm not a physicist so this one is especially hard for me.
Why did the Barge bring gas masks ? It could be as a defensive precaution. Or, it could be to insulate themselves against an attack involving the use of gas. Either way, Dan was not in charge of packing which, by the way, is quite a lame excuse.
1. A decoy Flight 815 is discovered in an oceanic trough off the Indonesian coast;
2. Flight 815 is an obsession of Charlotte;
3. Charlotte is an anthropologist and has no military training;
4. The purported discovery of the remains of Flight 815 on the ocean floor causes Dan to cry;
5. Dan is a physicist and has no military training
6. Miles while he is in ordinary civilization can communicate with the dead with the aid of some machine;
7. Miles, on the Island, can communicate with the dead without the need for any machine;
8. Abaddon initially believes that there were no Flight 815 survivors;
9. The discovery of crashed Flight 815 on the ocean floor is the precipitating factor in the Barge setting sail for the Island; and
Previous Questions Answered
1. Abaddon is affiliated with the Barge. He is an opponent of the Others on the Island. Also, his mission in the flash forward is directly opposed to that of dead Charlie.
2. Oceanic Airlines is not a mere bystander in this whole affair. It is most likely that Oceanic is under the control of the Island since the staging of the crashed Flight 815 on the ocean floor seems to have been for the benefit of the Island and the level of detail implies Oceanic’s active cooperation.
New Observations/Theories
1. The Barge Had Agents on Flight 815. Flight 815 was supposed to (i.e.,
pre-destined or otherwise planned) to have crashed or landed on the Island. The Pilot was not so much lost as he was looking for the Island with a specific mission from Abaddon. This would explain the switching of pilots, the otherwise mysterious failure of communication with Flight 815 and the Black Smoke Monster claiming the Pilot as its first victim.
The Pilot’s attempted use of the transceiver was the first effort to communicate the location of the Island. The Pilot was the one person who best knew the flight course and the approximate location of the Island. The Black Smoke Monster acted quickly to protect the Island by immediately killing the Pilot. The transceiver in someone else’s hands is likely not as dangerous. It is also quite possible that there are features of the device that Sayyid simply does not know how to use and, in any event, no one could be quite as knowledgeable as the Pilot as to the general location of the Island.
I believe that the Pilot was not the sole representative of the Barge on Flight 815. I believe that Nathan may have been another such agent. His venturing into the jungle was mysterious and he was ultimately killed by Goodwin, one of the Others. I believe that Goodwin did not need to kill Nathan to protect himself but, instead, committed that act to protect the Island. The sole flashback concerning Nathan was one in which he was a bit player in Sawyer’s arrest in Australia. Otherwise we know nothing about Nathan.
Libby is another good candidate to have been an agent of the Barge. There have been no flashbacks specifically devoted to her and even her last name is not yet even known. Libby gave Desmond the boat that wound up being marooned on the Island and seems to have stalked Hurley both in the mental hospital and on the Island.
I attribute Dan crying to his personal relationship with a person he knew to be on Flight 815 which based upon the wreckage footage he now believed to be dead. I would not be surprised if he was crying for Libby. I know at the time he said he did not why he was crying. However,my sense is that he just didn't want to say the reason.
Similarly, Charlotte’s excessive interest in the survivors also lends credence to this theory. Rather than seeking a head count so as to eliminate the survivors, Charlotte is equally likely interested in knowing whether her fellow agents among the survivors.
The presence of Barge agents among the Tailies could also suggest why the Tailies came under almost immediate assault from the Others. No such initial raids were launched against the survivors on the beach and this is one possible explanation for the disparity in the treatment of he two separate groups of survivors was a recognition on the part of the Others that the Barge agents among the Tailies posed a more serious threat to them.
2. The Island’s Electro-Magnetic Features Allow for Communication With Those we Perceive to be Dead. I believe that the device used by Miles is eliminating the poltergeist from the grandmother’s house was one employing some sort of electro-magnetic field. On the Island, Miles can communicate with dead Naomi without the aid of that device because the Island self generates the same type of electro-magnetic field.
3. The Barge Knows That Desmond is on the Island. Naomi is carrying Desmond’s picture and he arrived on the Island courtesy of the boat Libby gave him. The boat may very well have been rigged to wash up on the Island. Desmond may be an unwitting agent of the Barge on the Island who is expected to be called into service by Penny or Widmore or other entities working in association with Widmore. After all, even though Naomi is carrying Desmond’s photo, he is still not the object of the mission.
New Questions Raised or old Questions Which Remain Unanswered
What are the remains of a dead polar bear doing with a DHARMA buckle from the Hydra Station in the middle of the Tunisian desert? I find this the most perplexing piece of information I have been confronted with by LOST. Some might say that it is indicative of time travel experiments having been performed on or in connection with the Island or by DHARMA. In that scenario, the Island's properties probably give it some unique abilities to engage in such time travel akin to its abilities to project people around the world. I am not fond of this theory because time travel would so complicate the LOST story as to make it incomprehensible. Then again........
A second alternative, and one which I personally find more reasonable than time travel, is that the Island has the ability to project people and things around the world sans time travel. There has been some evidence of that in Others showing up unexplained in weird places.
Finally, it may suggest that DHARMA has been around for a very long time and playing with polar bears in the vicinity of other electro-magnetic anomalies on Earth is just one of the things they do as part of their cultic practices or scientific analysis. Charlotte being an anthropologist as the one who “discovers” these remains lends some credence to the cultic theory.
Where did the Barge get Ben’s picture from? Since we are told that Ben has not been off the Island since his arrival (which may of course be a lie), this suggest that the Barge has had agents on the Island who identified Ben as a person of significance and somehow communicated that picture back to the Barge. The exact identity of that person and the method of communication still remain a mystery. Perhaps there is a traitor in the midst of the Others. Also, the picture appears to have been taken many years ago, a fact which may have some significance.
Who is Ben’s mole on the Barge? Some may believe that it is Michael. However, that is unrealistic since Michael has no known way of communicating with the Island nor does he have any reason to assist Ben after leaving the Island that we have been told about yet. It is more likely that Walt is that man and is using his telekinetic powers to communicate with the Island. LOST has already indicated that Walt feels the need to protect the Island as in the time he urged Locke, after he had been shot by Ben, to come to the Island's aid. Another possibility is that it is one of the Others (who are apparently able to project themselves all over the World). The Island knows that the Barge's organization (whoever that may be) is out to harm its interest and it plants people throughout that organization in order to monitor thwart its plans much like countries do when they are at war or in a state of hostilities.
Who is Behind the Barge? Someone with alot of money. Naomi's use of the word "covert" in referring to the operation could indicate that it is a governmental or quasi-governmental organization. However, I think that is unlikely in the context of LOST. However, the operation being covert could refer to the operation being secret from interests otherwise aligned with the Barge. For example, Widmore or whichever other entity is behind the Barge may be partners or joint venturers with similar large and well-funded organizations having an interest in the Island and wish to keep the action secret from those joint venturers. Naomi holding Desmond's picture indicates an affiliation with Widmore though alternatively a joint venturer of Widmore might also be aware of his presence on the Island. That Penny has indicated to Charlie that she does not know about the Barge is not conclusive of Widmore's involvement because it is possible given the covert nature of the operation that she was not informed of its being undertaken.
Is there any significance to Dan's observation that light on the Island does not seem to scatter naturally? Maybe. The unequal scattering of light may stem from the electro-magnetic oddities of the Island and maybe its related to the reason why the Island is not ordinarily visible. I'm not a physicist so this one is especially hard for me.
Why did the Barge bring gas masks ? It could be as a defensive precaution. Or, it could be to insulate themselves against an attack involving the use of gas. Either way, Dan was not in charge of packing which, by the way, is quite a lame excuse.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
ANALYZING LOST
LOST is an entertaining TV series because, aside from its beautiful cinematography and top flight acting, it presents certain mysteries to the viewers which we are told have answers which are hinted to in the various shows. LOST is also tricky because, much like a magician’s sleight of hand, it leads the viewer to believe certain matters as facts when, instead, they are mere suggestions of what has happened. The first step in analyzing the mysteries of LOST, therefore, I believe, is to separate out the hard facts from the suggested facts.
I invite all comments, criticisms and discussion relating to the substance of this Blog and the theories and thoughts expressed. It would be a lie to say that I have absolutely no ego about this but it would be accurate to say that I have very little of my ego invested in this Blog.
Hard Facts
These are the hard facts I was able to glean from Season 4, Episode 1:
(1) the “rescue” barge locates the Island and one of its helicopters successfully reaches the Island;
(2) at the time the first helicopter from the Barge reaches the Island, the Oceanic survivors are divided into at least two separate groups;
(3) the primary mission of the Barge is not to rescue the Oceanic survivors;
(4) a group of the returning crash victims are eventually known as the Oceanic Six;
(5) three of those survivors returning to civilization are Jack, Hurley and Kate;
(6) someone, or some group of people, represented by a person named Michael Abaddon (apparently also the name of a demon) is interested in knowing whether “they are still alive”;
(7) Charlie was not one of the people rescued or taken off the Island by the Barge (or whatever means the survivors used to get off the Island);
(8) Charlie appears to Hurley back in LA notwithstanding Hurley not being aware of Charlie having been physically rescued from the island; and
(9) The Barge is not affiliated with Penny.
Suggested Facts Which Have Not Yet Been Conclusively Established
LOST strongly suggests that the survivors are returned to civilization by the Barge. However, all we know now is that the Barge has arrived and that some survivors make it back to civilization. It is highly likely, and LOST strongly infers, that the Barge is the means by which they are rescued. However, that has not yet shown to be the case.
Also, the term Oceanic Six appears to refer to the six survivors from the Oceanic flight returned to civilization. However, although that is the logical inference, with a show like LOST that still may prove not be the case. The term could just as well refer to some as yet unknown unique characteristic attributable to those six people.
Yet another suggestion of LOST is that the Barge is evil or has some sort of nefarious agenda. However, there is no evidence of that yet. The only thing we do know is that the Barge has an agenda in opposition to that of the Others. There is still no way of telling which side is good and which side is evil or whether they are both evil (and good) in their own way.
Finally, we do not know for certain that Charlie is dead. He appears to have drowned but on the Island and its environs that does not really mean very much. I will assume he is dead because in addition to having drowned he also appears to Hurley and confirms that he is indeed dead.
Thesis 1: The Island Has Regenerative Powers for Certain Individuals and the Relationship is Symbiotic in Nature
Notwithstanding the lack of hard facts at this time, I am assuming the Barge does, in fact, carry certain crash survivors to civilization. I am also going to assume that the Barge does so out of self-interest. Given these assumptions and the cumulation of hints and facts in prior episodes lead me to a hypothesis is that: the Island has regenerative powers for certain people and that its relationship with those people is symbiotic, i.e., the Island also derives certain benefits from their presence. The show is very forward in portraying these powers in the case of Locke who arrived in the Island with a seemingly irreparable spinal injury and who survived, apparently unscathed, the otherwise fatal gunshot administered to him by Ben.
In previous episodes, there have been other hints to the Island’s potential to even revive the dead. Mikhail was killed twice once by being electrocuted when tossed against the fence and the second time in the Looking Glass Station at the end of season 3. After his first death he almost magically re-appears and after his second death he still manages to pop off a grenade Charlie’s way. Richard, another one of the Others also seems ageless and immortal.
The same is likely even true of Jack so long as he is on the Island. In the first episode he is lying hundreds of yards from the burning wreckage. He should have been dead, as Locke notes in a subsequent episode, and perhaps he was dead at some point. Yet, he has relatively minor injuries. Also, figuring prominently in the first season is the empty casket of Christian Shepard, Jack’s father, and his appearing to Jack in a manner suggesting that it is an apparition. There was also a suggestion at the end of Season 3 in one of Jack’s flash forwards that Christian Shepard is indeed alive.
I will also go out on a further speculative limb here that the connection to the Island may even run in families. Remember that Jack is not the only child of Christian Shepard as Claire is also his daughter. Also, we have been told that Claire is the first woman to successfully give birth on the Island in a very long time.
Desmond is another potential example. A blast occurs literally under his feet and he loses all his clothing. Yet, we are asked to believe that he emerged completely unscathed from this major explosion.
Ben’s requiring surgery for a spinal tumor seemingly stands in contradiction to this thesis. However, part of the point of LOST is that many of the Oceanic survivors have a superior connection to the Island than that enjoyed by Ben.
Thesis 2: Some of the Others Are Actually Dead According to the Conventional Understanding of Death
Richard initially appears to be ageless since he appears to be about the same age when appearing to an adolescent Ben, when dealing with Juliet in Oregon and later when the survivors are on the Island. Charlie tells Hurley that he (Charlie) is dead yet he is still able to appear in LA, be seen by Hurley’s fellow patient and actually make physical contact by hitting Hurley. The corollary (or subsidiary) point to this is that many people appearing both on the Island and in civilization and related to the Island would be dead according to our conventional understanding of the concept. Query where along this continuum of life and death Jacob falls.
This would account for the whispering sound on many occasions, i.e., there are people who we would think of as being dead milling about. Whispering is heard by Rosseau continually and, among other times, when Ben first encounters Richard, when Sayyid is in the jungle, and when Shannon goes chasing after Walt in the jungle.
This thesis may mean that Walt is dead (which would deserve Michael right in a sense). That he subsequently appears to Shannon and later to Locke when we know he is really not there and accompanied by whispering supports the possibility that he is dead. However, it is entirely possible in the case of Walt that he is alive and is somehow able to tap into the Island based on his unique powers which are hinted at in the flash back and other portions of LOST which relate to his character.
Some of the Others on the Island are clearly very much alive like Ben, Juliet, Tom, Goodwin and Ethan. However, they appear to have been bought to or recruited to the Island and seem to be in service, knowingly or unknowingly, to some greater cause as Bonnie indicated in the Looking Glass episode.
Thesis 3: The Barge Removes at Least Those People Having the Regenerative/Symbiotic Relationship With the Island
I believe that the Barge removes at least those people from the Island enjoying that special connection to the Island. This is not a charitable act by the Barge. I believe that left on the Island these people cannot be killed. Instead, the Island regenerates them and there is likely some form of benefit the Island enjoys from their presence as well making the relationship a symbiotic one.
One easy question is how and whether this is different from the un-dead like Richard. My feeling is that it is and those un-dead have a lesser or different connection to the Island than the regenerative/symbiotic individuals.
The one hole in this thesis is if that were the case why the Barge just did not shoot these people once they were off the Island. It may be that the Barge has a public relations agenda which is also furthered by returning survivors to civilization.
Thesis 4: Pre-Destination/Fate Plays a Major Role in the LOST Story
A recurring theme is that certain characters have a destiny related to the Island and certain events are pre-destined or fated to occur. The flash backs on Desmond’s life portrays this underlying theme most clearly. However, other comments directed to Jack by, among others, Locke refer to his assumed destiny and the way things are supposed to happen as they relate to Jack.
Thesis 5: The Experiments of DHARMA Were Threatening to the Hostiles
Hey! Just because you’re dead on the Island doesn’t mean that you don’t have anything to worry about. The existence, albeit different from the conventional meaning of being alive, is somehow dependent upon the very same purportedly unique electro-magnetic characteristics of the Island that DHARMA was studying or trying to harness. However, this does not mean that DHARMA actually intended harm to the Hostiles.
Thesis 6: When Confronted With a Choice Jack Invariably Makes the Wrong One
Jack, notwithstanding Sayid’s warning, led himself, Sawyer and Kate into a trap. Jack introduces Juliet into the survivors camp based on his personal trust for her and she turns out to have been a plant by Ben (though this decision may ultimately proven to be vindicated). He pursues a cold trail for Naomi. He can’t even land any shots while Hurly is hitting them time after time on Jack’s visit.
Remaining Questions and Open Issues
I am listing below what I believe to be the remaining open issues and questions which LOST raises. This list is in no particular order and may expand.
The Identity of the People Who Successfully Leave the Island is Still Unknown
Notwithstanding the use of the term “Oceanic Six” I believe more than six people wind up leaving the Island. There may be six just in LA or in the United States or there may be some other explanation for that term. In addition to Jack, Hurley and Kate, it is fairly certain that one of the people airlifted off the Island is Claire. We already know that Desmond has had a vision of that happening. I cannot say or speculate, however, if she is one of the “Oceanic Six” because, as I mentioned above, I do not know precisely what that term means. Also, even if Desmond and certain other people were to leave the Island they would not be part of the Oceanic Six because they did not arrive on the Island in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
Is the Island Good or Evil?
An open issue -- and one of the primary ones in LOST -- has been whether the Island is good or evil. Ben calls the Others “good people” when verbally accosting Anna Lucia for having killed Goodwin. Ben also repeatedly states that he is with the “good guys.”
Yet, the Island exhibits certain questionable characteristics in terms of killing people or demanding sacrifices. The black smoke monster kills Ecko, Nikki and Paolo are killed on the island too bit, as with Ecko, they may have been allowed to die or have been killed because of their past sin of unjustified murder.
Sawyer too is a murderer though his murder has a theoretical justification that could allow the Island to consider it not to be a crime. If that were the case, however, the Island would have to consider being a con man a crime which does not merit a death sentence.
On the other hand, Locke declares Boone to have been a sacrifice to the Island, and Ben tells Locke to kill his father as a sacrifice to the Island. Also, Ben and the Others massacred the Dharma group and Ben repeatedly orders executions, hardly the making of upstanding good citizens. The rebuttal could be that the people killed were, in fact, evil or so obstructive to the goal of good that they deserved to die. Also, Ben could have a good faith belief that the interests he is serving on the Island are good and be mistaken in that belief.
Is Abaddon affiliated with the Barge or the Others ?
I am unable to answer this question given the limited information provided to date. In fact, I’m not even sure whether he is alive in the conventional sense of the word.
Who is Abaddon Referring to When he Asks if They are Still Alive?
It could be other survivors on the Island, it could be Others or it could be yet another group of people. Its hard to tell at this time. Its even hard to tell what it means to be alive in the context of LOST.
What is the Significance of the Policeman’s Mentioning Anna Lucia to Hurley ?
It’s possible the line is a throwaway. However, I doubt that just because of the nature of LOST. Nor do I believe that Hurley’s denying ever having met Anna Lucia is evidence of his shyness or a desire on his part to avoid conversation. There must be some reason he does not want to talk about her at all.
On the Island people we think of as dead may actually be alive or still able to interact with the living in some way because of the Island’s attributes. My belief that Ana Lucia still has some significance is buttressed by my feeling that her seat being in aisle 42 (one of the numbers in the sequence) is not a random event in the scheme of LOST. Then again I could be running down a blind path with this baby.
What Message is Charlie Delivering to Hurley?
Beats me but it seems important. After all its not every day of the week that dead man visits you to give you a message.
Who was in the Casket at the Funeral Home?
Hard to tell but I’m going to go with Christian Shepard. I know that Jack said the person in the casket was “neither friend nor family” (or something to that effect) but that means very little in the context of LOST. A child estranged from a parent, such as Jack might be from Christian Shepard based upon on as yet unknown developments in LOST, might say something like that even if not entirely true.
Is Oceanic Airlines a Completely Innocent Bystander in This Whole Affair?
Hard to say but, quite frankly, I doubt it. And, there could be something significant about the airline’s logo (or not).
Is There Any Significance to Certain Survivors Having Been Tailies?
I’m not sure but its certainly possible. The only surviving Tailie according to what I can tell is Bernard who was sitting in Row 23. The Tailies were also immediately attacked by the Others with several of them, especially the children, taken or kidnaped. This may have been done because of the identity of some of the Tailies and perhaps because of Ana Lucia.
What is the Black Smoke Monster?
It is either part of the Island’s defense system as Rosseau previously stated or it is some manifestation of the Island itself or maybe even the force of various spirits on the Island acting in unison.
Who is Jacob?
He’s Jacob. He’s a separate and distinct character from all the others on the show. Jack is a nickname for Jacob in some cultures but I just can’t see that as being important or critical in this context. Likewise for the fact that one of Biblical Jacob’s son’s name is Benjamin and in the Bible Benjamin’s mother Rachel dies in childbirth. These are all interesting parallels but they look like they were thrown in by a writer having fun rather than being key to the LOST storyline.
What is the Nature of Jacob?
We don’t know yet. He appears not be alive in the conventional sense of the word though he appears equally to have a consciousness and existence. It has been strongly suggested that his essence and well being are tightly tied to that of the Island.
Who is in the Shack With Jacob?
Probably Christian Shepard who, as discussed above, was likely resurrected by the Island. Then again maybe its just a vision Hurley is having because, as I mentioned above, he is one of the people having a symbiotic relationship with the Island.
What is the Significance of the Numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42?
I’m not sure. It occurs that two of the numbers -- 8 and 15 -- are in the flight number identification. The number 4 could easily refer to the year 2004 when Flight 815 went missing. All the numbers are aisles on Flight 815. Also, I have a sense that some of the numbers, particularly 16, 23 1nd 42 could refer to the aisles in which certain passengers sat on Flight 815. The records that Jack sat in seat 23B (or maybe 23A), Rose and Bernard also had seats in row 23, Sayid had seat 16A and Ana Lucia, who appears to be dead and buried, had seat 42F. Other survivors, however, sat in different rows with Locke for example in Row 24. That the numbers pre-date the crash is not that important in the context of a show like LOST because elsewhere on the show there are subtle references to pre-destiny (see Thesis 4 above) and to the muddling of the time line.
The numbers also add up to 108 which have an independent significance in LOST including the space of time between the times the button needed to be pressed. Indeed, there may be multiple points of significance for the number sequence.
What’s up With Peggy and Widmore Enterprises?
If the Barge is not from Peggy or Widmore, it is still odd that the first transmission Charlie receives in the Looking Glass Station comes from Peggy. LOST suggests that Peggy is still obsessively searching for the missing Desmond out of love. That’s possible but, I believe, farfetched as Peggy is rich and beautiful and at least 3 years have passed since Desmond first went missing. An alternative explanation is that Desmond is an unknowing representative of Widmore on the Island and that Widmore has a particular interest in the Island. That interest may be aligned with or parallel to that of the Others or perhaps opposed to their interests. This would help explain -- though not fully -- why Naomi was holding a picture of Desmond even if the Barge was not from Widmore. Desmond may also have a significance all his own beyond his relationship with Peggy.
I invite all comments, criticisms and discussion relating to the substance of this Blog and the theories and thoughts expressed. It would be a lie to say that I have absolutely no ego about this but it would be accurate to say that I have very little of my ego invested in this Blog.
Hard Facts
These are the hard facts I was able to glean from Season 4, Episode 1:
(1) the “rescue” barge locates the Island and one of its helicopters successfully reaches the Island;
(2) at the time the first helicopter from the Barge reaches the Island, the Oceanic survivors are divided into at least two separate groups;
(3) the primary mission of the Barge is not to rescue the Oceanic survivors;
(4) a group of the returning crash victims are eventually known as the Oceanic Six;
(5) three of those survivors returning to civilization are Jack, Hurley and Kate;
(6) someone, or some group of people, represented by a person named Michael Abaddon (apparently also the name of a demon) is interested in knowing whether “they are still alive”;
(7) Charlie was not one of the people rescued or taken off the Island by the Barge (or whatever means the survivors used to get off the Island);
(8) Charlie appears to Hurley back in LA notwithstanding Hurley not being aware of Charlie having been physically rescued from the island; and
(9) The Barge is not affiliated with Penny.
Suggested Facts Which Have Not Yet Been Conclusively Established
LOST strongly suggests that the survivors are returned to civilization by the Barge. However, all we know now is that the Barge has arrived and that some survivors make it back to civilization. It is highly likely, and LOST strongly infers, that the Barge is the means by which they are rescued. However, that has not yet shown to be the case.
Also, the term Oceanic Six appears to refer to the six survivors from the Oceanic flight returned to civilization. However, although that is the logical inference, with a show like LOST that still may prove not be the case. The term could just as well refer to some as yet unknown unique characteristic attributable to those six people.
Yet another suggestion of LOST is that the Barge is evil or has some sort of nefarious agenda. However, there is no evidence of that yet. The only thing we do know is that the Barge has an agenda in opposition to that of the Others. There is still no way of telling which side is good and which side is evil or whether they are both evil (and good) in their own way.
Finally, we do not know for certain that Charlie is dead. He appears to have drowned but on the Island and its environs that does not really mean very much. I will assume he is dead because in addition to having drowned he also appears to Hurley and confirms that he is indeed dead.
Thesis 1: The Island Has Regenerative Powers for Certain Individuals and the Relationship is Symbiotic in Nature
Notwithstanding the lack of hard facts at this time, I am assuming the Barge does, in fact, carry certain crash survivors to civilization. I am also going to assume that the Barge does so out of self-interest. Given these assumptions and the cumulation of hints and facts in prior episodes lead me to a hypothesis is that: the Island has regenerative powers for certain people and that its relationship with those people is symbiotic, i.e., the Island also derives certain benefits from their presence. The show is very forward in portraying these powers in the case of Locke who arrived in the Island with a seemingly irreparable spinal injury and who survived, apparently unscathed, the otherwise fatal gunshot administered to him by Ben.
In previous episodes, there have been other hints to the Island’s potential to even revive the dead. Mikhail was killed twice once by being electrocuted when tossed against the fence and the second time in the Looking Glass Station at the end of season 3. After his first death he almost magically re-appears and after his second death he still manages to pop off a grenade Charlie’s way. Richard, another one of the Others also seems ageless and immortal.
The same is likely even true of Jack so long as he is on the Island. In the first episode he is lying hundreds of yards from the burning wreckage. He should have been dead, as Locke notes in a subsequent episode, and perhaps he was dead at some point. Yet, he has relatively minor injuries. Also, figuring prominently in the first season is the empty casket of Christian Shepard, Jack’s father, and his appearing to Jack in a manner suggesting that it is an apparition. There was also a suggestion at the end of Season 3 in one of Jack’s flash forwards that Christian Shepard is indeed alive.
I will also go out on a further speculative limb here that the connection to the Island may even run in families. Remember that Jack is not the only child of Christian Shepard as Claire is also his daughter. Also, we have been told that Claire is the first woman to successfully give birth on the Island in a very long time.
Desmond is another potential example. A blast occurs literally under his feet and he loses all his clothing. Yet, we are asked to believe that he emerged completely unscathed from this major explosion.
Ben’s requiring surgery for a spinal tumor seemingly stands in contradiction to this thesis. However, part of the point of LOST is that many of the Oceanic survivors have a superior connection to the Island than that enjoyed by Ben.
Thesis 2: Some of the Others Are Actually Dead According to the Conventional Understanding of Death
Richard initially appears to be ageless since he appears to be about the same age when appearing to an adolescent Ben, when dealing with Juliet in Oregon and later when the survivors are on the Island. Charlie tells Hurley that he (Charlie) is dead yet he is still able to appear in LA, be seen by Hurley’s fellow patient and actually make physical contact by hitting Hurley. The corollary (or subsidiary) point to this is that many people appearing both on the Island and in civilization and related to the Island would be dead according to our conventional understanding of the concept. Query where along this continuum of life and death Jacob falls.
This would account for the whispering sound on many occasions, i.e., there are people who we would think of as being dead milling about. Whispering is heard by Rosseau continually and, among other times, when Ben first encounters Richard, when Sayyid is in the jungle, and when Shannon goes chasing after Walt in the jungle.
This thesis may mean that Walt is dead (which would deserve Michael right in a sense). That he subsequently appears to Shannon and later to Locke when we know he is really not there and accompanied by whispering supports the possibility that he is dead. However, it is entirely possible in the case of Walt that he is alive and is somehow able to tap into the Island based on his unique powers which are hinted at in the flash back and other portions of LOST which relate to his character.
Some of the Others on the Island are clearly very much alive like Ben, Juliet, Tom, Goodwin and Ethan. However, they appear to have been bought to or recruited to the Island and seem to be in service, knowingly or unknowingly, to some greater cause as Bonnie indicated in the Looking Glass episode.
Thesis 3: The Barge Removes at Least Those People Having the Regenerative/Symbiotic Relationship With the Island
I believe that the Barge removes at least those people from the Island enjoying that special connection to the Island. This is not a charitable act by the Barge. I believe that left on the Island these people cannot be killed. Instead, the Island regenerates them and there is likely some form of benefit the Island enjoys from their presence as well making the relationship a symbiotic one.
One easy question is how and whether this is different from the un-dead like Richard. My feeling is that it is and those un-dead have a lesser or different connection to the Island than the regenerative/symbiotic individuals.
The one hole in this thesis is if that were the case why the Barge just did not shoot these people once they were off the Island. It may be that the Barge has a public relations agenda which is also furthered by returning survivors to civilization.
Thesis 4: Pre-Destination/Fate Plays a Major Role in the LOST Story
A recurring theme is that certain characters have a destiny related to the Island and certain events are pre-destined or fated to occur. The flash backs on Desmond’s life portrays this underlying theme most clearly. However, other comments directed to Jack by, among others, Locke refer to his assumed destiny and the way things are supposed to happen as they relate to Jack.
Thesis 5: The Experiments of DHARMA Were Threatening to the Hostiles
Hey! Just because you’re dead on the Island doesn’t mean that you don’t have anything to worry about. The existence, albeit different from the conventional meaning of being alive, is somehow dependent upon the very same purportedly unique electro-magnetic characteristics of the Island that DHARMA was studying or trying to harness. However, this does not mean that DHARMA actually intended harm to the Hostiles.
Thesis 6: When Confronted With a Choice Jack Invariably Makes the Wrong One
Jack, notwithstanding Sayid’s warning, led himself, Sawyer and Kate into a trap. Jack introduces Juliet into the survivors camp based on his personal trust for her and she turns out to have been a plant by Ben (though this decision may ultimately proven to be vindicated). He pursues a cold trail for Naomi. He can’t even land any shots while Hurly is hitting them time after time on Jack’s visit.
Remaining Questions and Open Issues
I am listing below what I believe to be the remaining open issues and questions which LOST raises. This list is in no particular order and may expand.
The Identity of the People Who Successfully Leave the Island is Still Unknown
Notwithstanding the use of the term “Oceanic Six” I believe more than six people wind up leaving the Island. There may be six just in LA or in the United States or there may be some other explanation for that term. In addition to Jack, Hurley and Kate, it is fairly certain that one of the people airlifted off the Island is Claire. We already know that Desmond has had a vision of that happening. I cannot say or speculate, however, if she is one of the “Oceanic Six” because, as I mentioned above, I do not know precisely what that term means. Also, even if Desmond and certain other people were to leave the Island they would not be part of the Oceanic Six because they did not arrive on the Island in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
Is the Island Good or Evil?
An open issue -- and one of the primary ones in LOST -- has been whether the Island is good or evil. Ben calls the Others “good people” when verbally accosting Anna Lucia for having killed Goodwin. Ben also repeatedly states that he is with the “good guys.”
Yet, the Island exhibits certain questionable characteristics in terms of killing people or demanding sacrifices. The black smoke monster kills Ecko, Nikki and Paolo are killed on the island too bit, as with Ecko, they may have been allowed to die or have been killed because of their past sin of unjustified murder.
Sawyer too is a murderer though his murder has a theoretical justification that could allow the Island to consider it not to be a crime. If that were the case, however, the Island would have to consider being a con man a crime which does not merit a death sentence.
On the other hand, Locke declares Boone to have been a sacrifice to the Island, and Ben tells Locke to kill his father as a sacrifice to the Island. Also, Ben and the Others massacred the Dharma group and Ben repeatedly orders executions, hardly the making of upstanding good citizens. The rebuttal could be that the people killed were, in fact, evil or so obstructive to the goal of good that they deserved to die. Also, Ben could have a good faith belief that the interests he is serving on the Island are good and be mistaken in that belief.
Is Abaddon affiliated with the Barge or the Others ?
I am unable to answer this question given the limited information provided to date. In fact, I’m not even sure whether he is alive in the conventional sense of the word.
Who is Abaddon Referring to When he Asks if They are Still Alive?
It could be other survivors on the Island, it could be Others or it could be yet another group of people. Its hard to tell at this time. Its even hard to tell what it means to be alive in the context of LOST.
What is the Significance of the Policeman’s Mentioning Anna Lucia to Hurley ?
It’s possible the line is a throwaway. However, I doubt that just because of the nature of LOST. Nor do I believe that Hurley’s denying ever having met Anna Lucia is evidence of his shyness or a desire on his part to avoid conversation. There must be some reason he does not want to talk about her at all.
On the Island people we think of as dead may actually be alive or still able to interact with the living in some way because of the Island’s attributes. My belief that Ana Lucia still has some significance is buttressed by my feeling that her seat being in aisle 42 (one of the numbers in the sequence) is not a random event in the scheme of LOST. Then again I could be running down a blind path with this baby.
What Message is Charlie Delivering to Hurley?
Beats me but it seems important. After all its not every day of the week that dead man visits you to give you a message.
Who was in the Casket at the Funeral Home?
Hard to tell but I’m going to go with Christian Shepard. I know that Jack said the person in the casket was “neither friend nor family” (or something to that effect) but that means very little in the context of LOST. A child estranged from a parent, such as Jack might be from Christian Shepard based upon on as yet unknown developments in LOST, might say something like that even if not entirely true.
Is Oceanic Airlines a Completely Innocent Bystander in This Whole Affair?
Hard to say but, quite frankly, I doubt it. And, there could be something significant about the airline’s logo (or not).
Is There Any Significance to Certain Survivors Having Been Tailies?
I’m not sure but its certainly possible. The only surviving Tailie according to what I can tell is Bernard who was sitting in Row 23. The Tailies were also immediately attacked by the Others with several of them, especially the children, taken or kidnaped. This may have been done because of the identity of some of the Tailies and perhaps because of Ana Lucia.
What is the Black Smoke Monster?
It is either part of the Island’s defense system as Rosseau previously stated or it is some manifestation of the Island itself or maybe even the force of various spirits on the Island acting in unison.
Who is Jacob?
He’s Jacob. He’s a separate and distinct character from all the others on the show. Jack is a nickname for Jacob in some cultures but I just can’t see that as being important or critical in this context. Likewise for the fact that one of Biblical Jacob’s son’s name is Benjamin and in the Bible Benjamin’s mother Rachel dies in childbirth. These are all interesting parallels but they look like they were thrown in by a writer having fun rather than being key to the LOST storyline.
What is the Nature of Jacob?
We don’t know yet. He appears not be alive in the conventional sense of the word though he appears equally to have a consciousness and existence. It has been strongly suggested that his essence and well being are tightly tied to that of the Island.
Who is in the Shack With Jacob?
Probably Christian Shepard who, as discussed above, was likely resurrected by the Island. Then again maybe its just a vision Hurley is having because, as I mentioned above, he is one of the people having a symbiotic relationship with the Island.
What is the Significance of the Numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42?
I’m not sure. It occurs that two of the numbers -- 8 and 15 -- are in the flight number identification. The number 4 could easily refer to the year 2004 when Flight 815 went missing. All the numbers are aisles on Flight 815. Also, I have a sense that some of the numbers, particularly 16, 23 1nd 42 could refer to the aisles in which certain passengers sat on Flight 815. The records that Jack sat in seat 23B (or maybe 23A), Rose and Bernard also had seats in row 23, Sayid had seat 16A and Ana Lucia, who appears to be dead and buried, had seat 42F. Other survivors, however, sat in different rows with Locke for example in Row 24. That the numbers pre-date the crash is not that important in the context of a show like LOST because elsewhere on the show there are subtle references to pre-destiny (see Thesis 4 above) and to the muddling of the time line.
The numbers also add up to 108 which have an independent significance in LOST including the space of time between the times the button needed to be pressed. Indeed, there may be multiple points of significance for the number sequence.
What’s up With Peggy and Widmore Enterprises?
If the Barge is not from Peggy or Widmore, it is still odd that the first transmission Charlie receives in the Looking Glass Station comes from Peggy. LOST suggests that Peggy is still obsessively searching for the missing Desmond out of love. That’s possible but, I believe, farfetched as Peggy is rich and beautiful and at least 3 years have passed since Desmond first went missing. An alternative explanation is that Desmond is an unknowing representative of Widmore on the Island and that Widmore has a particular interest in the Island. That interest may be aligned with or parallel to that of the Others or perhaps opposed to their interests. This would help explain -- though not fully -- why Naomi was holding a picture of Desmond even if the Barge was not from Widmore. Desmond may also have a significance all his own beyond his relationship with Peggy.
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