A four hour G4-TV block of LOST viewing is more daunting than first realized; plot information overload happens as bits and pieces of the character’s backstories are jumbled together with island mysteries in the context of knowledge of the series conclusion. However, it has led to some new observations, new clues and a new theoretical understanding of the show which makes a new dynamic storyline for the series.
Reboot: Episodes 1-4: Days 1-6 on the Island
Recap: Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney to LA is 1,000 miles off course when it breaks a part in a mid-air disaster, crashing to earth on a mysterious deserted Pacific Island. The 48 survivors gather around the destruction on the beach, in shock, and many are horrified by the dying and death around them.
The survivors of a plane crash have to get over the accident and collaborate to stay alive in a dangerous, mysterious island in South Pacific. They quickly encounter an unseen but destructive creature in the jungle (Smoke Monster). On a hike to try to transmit a distress call, Kate, Charlie, Sawyer, Sayid, Boone and Shannon agree to keep the French transmission that jams all other frequencies secret from the other castaways. Locke organizes a hunting party with Kate and Michael. Locke’s background story reveal he came to Australia for a spiritual retreat.
Science: Can a human free fall from 40,000 feet and survive? A human being reaches terminal velocity of 122 mph in 1880 feet. The 815 passengers and crew would be plummeting to the island at a great rate of speed. In 1972, a stewardess survived a 33,000 plane explosion because she was wedged between a seat, trolley and another person, and she landed on a snowy Czech hillside and slid into a stop, effectively diminishing the impact forces of the free fall. It is the impact that counts. Popular Mechanics stated the only way to remotely survive a free fall from high altitude is “debris riding,” meaning that if you are in or on plane debris, it will decelerate your fall and take some of the impact. It is the de-acceleration that kills; water is the worst substance to land on because it has the density of concrete. The statistics show survival from falls to be extremely remote. Fifty percent of children die from 5 story falls or less. In recent history, plane accidents over the open ocean have left zero survivors. In later episodes, we get the plane crash from The Others perspective, which shows a “different” plane crash scenario than in the first episode; the plane seems much closer to the ground upon mid-plane separation and at a level flight path than original in-cabin viewpoint, and the separation appears in the middle and not in three pieces. (Whether this new shot was somehow made to lessen the first criticisms of the that all the passengers would not have survived a plane crash at 40,000 is unknown.) In all recent mid-air break ups of airplanes, there have been no survivors.
In other plane flashbacks, we can observe that the turbulence rocks the plane down at near 45 degree angle. Approximately 50 seconds later, the plane. A descent at 340 feet/second for a plane at 500 mph would mean the plane could have dropped 17,000 feet. As a result, the break up would have happened at approximately 23,000. However, this still means the passengers would be falling to the ground at speeds of more than 120 mph. Survival of even one passenger is remote - - - but 48 is not realistic.
Improbabilities: On the beach, a jet engine separated from the plane wing continues to run at full throttle. This is impossible as the fuel and power supply was already been severed from the engine. The impact on the actual engine should have exploded the engine and fan blades into shards. The idea of the running engine was purely a fiction to support the horror of a ‘survivor” being sucked through the turbines to a create a dramatic, gruesome death. It is one thing to suspend “disbelief” and accept the survivors of a plane crash, it is another to defy basic mechanical engineering to create a explosive action scene.
This leads to the early conclusion that the series is science fiction based drama. The early mysteries and show themes set the stage for future episodes:
Mysteries:
- The Island
- The Smoke Monster
- The Signal
- Dead Father in the Jungle
Themes:
- Personal egos; people think they know more than they really do.
- Overcoming Fear
- Games people Play; Black and White sides
- Manipulation of People, Souls
- “Miracles”
- Lies, Secrets and Trust Issues
- Main characters really have no true friendships; loners
Clues:
When Jack tells Kate that it does not matter what they did before the plane crash (“I don't want to know. It doesn't matter, Kate, who we were - what we did before this, before the crash. It doesn't really... 3 days ago we all died. We should all be able to start over.”) was this the series’ Big Tell: that the characters are dead in reality but somehow alive on the island? As we know, only people Jacob wants come to the Island (usually by some horrible accident like the Black Rock’s monumental ship wreck, Rousseau’s party’s ship wreck or Desmond being lost at sea).
Discussion:
Since Jacob is the gatekeeper for anyone who arrives at the Island (to the dismay of his brother, The Man in Black), why the 815 souls were brought to the Island is the core question that needs to be rationally answered. It is not really if or why they survived the crash, because in certain respects it is irrelevant (Christian’s circular explanation to Jack in Eloise’s church in The End that their dead-sideways world and the Island time were “both real” is humanly impossible). As with numerous future references to Time, our understanding of Life itself is a linear construct: one is conceived, one is born, one lives and then one dies. The circle of life. But in some ancient cultures (including the Egyptians who would later come to dominate religious symbolism in the series) believed that Life did not end on Earth, but each person’s soul began a long journey through the afterlife (including possibility several layers of the underworld; to be worked, tested and then judged before passing on to the next level of existence).
The Big Premise Revisited:
The original premise of LOST was 48 plane crash survivors trapped on a mysterious and dangerous Pacific Island. How the characters were survive this Robinson Caruso-Survivor reality show meets Jurassic Park sci-fi setting would be the main story engine for the show. But if we downplay the survivor elements, we are left with fantasy elements as the foundation for the show.
If we put LOST in the context of a maze, things may be more plausible in the end. A maze is a puzzle with dead ends. It tests a person’s mind, logic and spirit. Corn mazes are still popular in rural areas. Ancient people have used natural deception to fool their enemies. Pagan Britons build Maiden Castle with a series of ramparts and mounds to create a maze to guard their hill fort. Their enemies would be confused by the winding paths and unable to find the main gates of the fort. If we apply the context of a maze to Jacob’s motivations for the Island characters, do we find clearer meaning of the action in the first four hours of LOST?
Magic/Supernatural/Elements:
The wheelchair bound Locke now has regained full use of his legs as a result of the crash while being rebuffed on his Australian spiritual retreat. We will learn later that Rose believes her cancer has been cured by the Island. How can that happen? Some postulate that the unique electromagnetic field could act upon human tissues to regenerate nerves or destroy cancer cells. Others postulate that “carbon copies” of the survivors were created by the magic of the Island for the amusement of its guardians, Jacob and his brother, The Man in Black. Purgatory theorists believed that combined with Egyptian themes, the characters died in the plane crash, but their bodies and souls were separated into different forms (or realms including the sideways) in order to travel in the afterlife paths of redemption). Themes emerge in regard to life and death; personal miracles, second chances; and trust issues.
Last Lines from each episode:
EP 1: CHARLIE: [pointing up to the pilot in the tree] Guys? How does something like that happen?
EP 2: CHARLIE: Guys. Where are we?
EP 3: JACK: Okay.
[Hurley listening to his headphones. Jin looking at a sleeping Sun, touching her hair. Boone gives sunglasses to Shannon. Sayid tosses Sawyer an apple. Charlie writing "late" on his finger tapes. Claire sitting on the beach. Michael bringing Vincent to Walt with Locke looking on—nice song fades to creepy music.]
EP 4: CLAIRE: Millicent Louise D'Agostino. Teaneck, New Jersey.
[Shot of fuselage on fire. Locke looks over at the wheelchair and smiles.]
The endings of each episode tell us something important about the current path of the series: what is the monster?; what is the Island?; even bad human relationships can show kindness; and evil can hide in plain sight.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
When watching the first four hours of LOST, I was struck by several small points that could easily be glossed over as trivial but may have real substance in trying to find a universal theory to explain Everything. When the series first started, we are led to believe that the Island is merely a deserted Pacific Island. Later in the series, we are told that the Island is a “snow globe,” that is is moving, that it is hard to find, with strange light properties, and that Time itself can be altered by turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel.
We also were told that the Island contains a Life Force that is a part of everyone and everything. We learn that the Life Force was being guarded first by the Crazy Mother (who was not the first guardian), and then by Jacob. But what is the Island itself? Clearly, is the Land of the Smoke Monsters. Monster(s) because the idea of immortality and ability to shape shift matter (MIB turning into Evil Locke) is the key component to how the Island operates.
And it appears that the Smoke Monster(s) can inhabit, possess, or reincarnate a human body (Evil Locke) and also change appearance (from smoke to humanoid form). A new theory emerges from the first four hours: the Island is the home of a small group of Smoke Monsters. As with any species, they need to feed and breed. They bring doomed souls to the Island, to manipulate events in order to feed off their emotions and fears. They possibly take over the souls by a slow “infection” until a soul surrenders and is transformed into a new smoke being (like Crazy Mother taking Jacob and MIB from their real mother and transforming them into smoke beings). From this context, we suddenly have a new perspective on the series: a new LOST, from the perspective of the supernatural beings.
There appears to be four main smoke beings on the Island. The first is spying on the survivors from the jungle. It is either Jacob or Crazy Mother (who did the same when the Romans arrived) as Vincent. How else can one find out information about the captives but to infiltrate the camp in a way as not to draw suspicion. Information contained from the collective memories of all the souls who have been brought to the Island creates the Island elements. For thousands of years the smoke beings have learned about human emotion, intelligence, egos and manipulation. The guardians own character could be that of tricksters, immortal child like super-beings in a setting of The Lord of the Flies. They see their life as a series of games between themselves with the lost souls as their game pieces.
The other smoke being is Jacob’s brother, MIB, who I now believe inhabited Locke’s body when he awoke on the beach. This is a major revelation while re-watching the first four episodes of the series.
By taking over Locke’s body, MIB had access to all Locke’s memories and his dreams/fantasies of being an Outback Hunter. MIB had not been in a human body for so long, he is amazed by its function, including the ability to walk. We think it is just Locke sensing his "miracle," but it can be also MIB finally being able to get back into a human form. In human form, MIB gets to experience the human frailties of the physical human condition (like adrenaline) but also wrestle with the mental aspects of decedent’s personality and free will. When we see Locke’s face, it contains the scar over the eye; in ancient Egyptian culture, The Eye of Ra was part of the ancient rituals of the afterlife. We see the mood of Locke centric episodes turn to a evil pallor as he stands off to the side “watching” the survivors in camp. He has the same expression will we see later on in the series as Evil Locke in Season 6. And how better to feed off their survivors panic like from the boar attack than experiencing it with them by being right in the middle of their camp. We also see a tell on MIB’s shape shifting ability, as he creates a vision of Jack’s dead father at the tree line. As Jack comes to investigate, he runs into Locke dragging a dead boar back to camp. Too coincidental not to be an MIB manipulation.
Remember, Kate returned with an injured Michael believing Locke was dead because the monster was heading straight for him. We saw that Locke merely stood his ground and looked up at it. Later in the show, Locke says he looked at the monster and “saw the Island.” What we could theorize is that Locke looked up and saw one of his own kind; as Crazy Mother had ruled thousands of years earlier, the brothers could not kill each other. It may be true than no smoke being can destroy another. It also brings into consideration that the smoke beings may be able to divide into several different forms at the same Island time frame (one human being, one smoke being). For if they can manipulate matter at will, in reality or by illusion, then they could literally be in two places at once.
On another hike, Kate and her group are chased by a monster. A familiar theme of a survivor running desperately through the underbrush away from the monster clearly creates an emotionally charged situation. When Kate hides inside the banyan tree roots, she breaks down and cries out for Jack. But Jack had gone back to save Charlie. In some ancient cultures, the banyan tree and its roots were a sanctuary that could ward off evil spirits. By running into the tree roots, Kate was safe. (This repeated itself later when Juliet and Kate hid from the monster in tree roots). It may also explain why the smoke monster destroys trees. The "rules" of the Island may have clear boundaries or safe zones.
After Kate returned to camp, there was one line that really rang out as odd but telling: Kate said in explaining the encounter with the Smoke Monster, “he” got Locke. How would Kate know the Smoke Monster was a “he?” Shouldn’t she have said “it” got Locke? Then with the fact that Kate returned the broken antenna to Sayid, really in the form of sabotage, we learn that Kate really does not want to leave the Island. Yes, we know that Kate is a fugitive, but she was a born "runner." However, could it be possible that Kate in this form “cannot” leave the Island (as MIB would state later in the show). The Island may be a preserve or a prison for the smoke creatures. They may be able to create vast complex sets (like Star Trek episode “The Cage.”) After this mission, Kate no longer seems emotional; but more cunning and even manipulative as she gets Sawyer to attempt to kill the Marshal. So the question becomes, was Kate “infected” or is she really another smoke being - - - perhaps Crazy Mother? It fits one personality flaw that both characters had: mother issues and the repulsion on how to be a mother. I am not certain, but it would be a plot twist of sinister complexity since Kate is on all the missions and secrets of the castaways, and later pits Jack against Sawyer in order to experience their emotional roller coaster.
Then, there is one more possible Smoke Monster inhabiting the body of a survivor. Who else could immediately stop the rain when Michael said that when the rain stopped, he’d go out and look for his dog? Walt, who throughout the show were are told is “special,” clearly had the ability to manipulate the environment in order to get Michael into the jungle. And once in the jungle, a creature chased him into small clearing where Sun was partially naked. This chase scene will create personal danger and tension between Michael and Sun’s husband, Jin, who is a over-bearing and jealous man. Did Walt set up Michael in order to kill him off? We also saw Walt reading a comic that contained a menacing polar bear. Later, we see a polar bear attack a group on a mission hike. Walt clearly wants to stay on the Island (or again, cannot leave it) so he will later sabotage the escape raft. The evidence is strong that Walt is possessed or is a smoke being. Who has the power to create such “magic?” Jacob.
The symmetry of Locke (MIB) and Walt (Jacob) playing backgammon on the beach is a mirror image of later seasons of the two playing Senet on the beach thousands of years earlier. Senet is one of the oldest board games known to man. In ancient Egypt, Senet had become a kind of talisman for the journey of the dead. Because of the element of luck in the game and the Egyptian belief in determinism, it was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the major gods of the national pantheon: Ra, Thoth and Osiris. Consequently, Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the afterlife. And this symmetry and afterlife gamesmanship sets the tone for the real, underlying premise of LOST.
Viewing the show from the theory perspective that Jacob, MIB and their Crazy Mother are existing characters inhabiting major roles from the beginning of series is something I never thought of until yesterday. It makes sense. Why else would you bring human souls to the Island unless you planned on interacting with them. A child plays with his toys when the package is opened, just as Jacob and his fellow beings are playing with the 815 survivors.
