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Third, it boggles to mind to believe that the prosecuor's case was so weak that she would have withdrawn the case after a single "star" witness -- the accused's mother -- who was terminally ill refused to teatify.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.

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.

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.

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.