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.