POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 57-60 (Days 73-79)
Desmond’s mental flashes or visions continue; he saves Claire from drowning and foresees Charlie’s death. We learn about Desmond’s mind travel, and the show introduces the Widmore story arc and Eloise Hawking.
Jack bargains with Ben to keep Juliet alive. Isabel, the “sheriff” interrogates Jack. Kate, Sawyer and Karl return to the Island. The strange tale of Jack in Thailand with the exotic, mystery woman Achara is told. Jack makes her tattoo him, even though she claims there will be "consequences." The next day Jack exits his hut, but this time the Thai boy, who usually gives him soda, runs away from him. Chet and a group of Thai men approach Jack, uncover his tattoo, and mercilessly beat him.
Karl reveals that the Others live on the main island and only work on "projects" on the Hydra Island. As for the children that were kidnapped, they "give them a better life." Kate asks "better than what?" "Better than yours," Karl responds.
Hurley confesses his fears and troubles at Libby’s grave. Hurley finds Charlie and gets him to reveal Desmond’s flashes and Charlie’s eventual demise. Hurley says it might be his fault because of his curse, but Vincent emerges from the jungle with a skeleton arm holding a key. This distraction forces Hurley chases Vincent until the dog drops the arm. Hurley takes the key which has a lucky rabbit's foot key chain attached and follows Vincent to an overturned van once used by Dharma.
At the camp, Charlie demands that Desmond tell him when he will die but Desmond informs him it doesn't work like that.
Sayid is upset with Locke’s plan to follow the “305” inscription on Eko’s prayer stick to navigate to Jack. Locke argues that it is all they have to go on. On the mission, Sayid goes to find fruit and hears a cow bell and finds the cow. Sayid is amazed to hear someone whistle for the animal. Through the bushes he spies a a small building with a communication dish, a horse and the man on the TV monitor - - - Patchy.
After circling the area, Sayid confirms to the group that the building is isolated, and that a satellite dish like that could broadcast for thousands of miles. He asks Rousseau if it is the radio tower that she had talked about, but she says she has never seen this place before. Sayid says he will approach unarmed, with the other three as backup in hiding. Danielle says that she had survived on the Island for so long by avoiding such confrontations.
Sayid, Locke, Kate and Rousseau are introduced to the Flame station, a communication outpost to the rest of the world. They confront and subdue Mikhail (“Patchy” from the Pearl TV monitor) and Klugh, the woman who made the deal with Michael to get Walt back and leave the Island.
Patchy claims when the Cold War ended, and he later replied to a newspaper advertisement that read, "Would you like to save the world?" He joined the "very secretive, rich, and smart" DHARMA Initiative and came to the island eleven years ago. He was put in this station to communicate with the outside world. He says that everyone else in the DHARMA initiative died in a foolish attack they called “the purge” on a group they called “the Hostiles,” which we believe are the Others. Mikhail survived by not getting involved and agreeing to a truce where he could stay behind as long as he did not cross a designated line around the valley so he will be safe. He says the Others weren't interested in the satellite dish because it hadn't functioned in years (which is a lie). He doesn't know who the hostiles are, but they were on the Island for a very long time before the Initiative or anyone else came.
Sayid and Kate climb down the Hatch ladder while Locke watches Mikhail's unconscious body upstairs. Locke, however, hears the computer asking for the next chess move and he goes to it, leaving his prisoner unsupervised. He finishes another game of chess and achieves a mate in 2, which the computer erroneously claims is a checkmate. A video of Marvin Candle appears and says, "Manual override achieved. For pallet drop enter 2-4. For station up-link enter 3-2. For mainland communication enter 3-8."Locke enters 3-8. A new clip is called up saying "The satellite dish is inoperable. Communications are down. For sonar access enter 5-6." Locke enters 5-6. A new clip says, "Sonar is inoperable. Has there been an incursion on this station by the Hostiles? If so, enter 7-7." Locke's finger aims hovers over the 7 key when Mikhail puts a knife to his neck from behind, stopping him from typing the second 7.
Klugh appears in the Flame basement. Sayid and Kate see the place is rigged with explosives wired throughout the entire underground room. Sayid sees a shelf lined with binders, one of which is a food drop protocol and another is an operations manual. Kate investigates a closet area and is attacked from behind by Klugh. . Sayid arrives and tells Klugh to drop her gun. Kate hits her, saying she helped kidnap them and she knows where Jack is. Sayid asks Klugh if there are any Others there, but she acts unafraid, hardly intimidated by the rifle.
They take her upstairs and outside, where Mikhail has Locke at gunpoint. Mikhail offers a hostage exchange but John claims Mikhail wouldn't kill him. Klugh talks and argues with Mikhail in Russian while Kate, Locke and Sayid shout. Finally she orders him to "do it" and Mikhail shoots her in the heart. Mikhail is knocked over and Sayid points his gun at him. Mikhail tells him to finish it, but Sayid doesn't shoot.
Later, in the evening, Sayid takes Mikhail outside and calls Danielle. Mikhail says that he was never a member of DHARMA but that everything else he said was true, and that DHARMA did really attack the Hostiles. Sayid tells Danielle that Locke and Kate are gathering anything useful from the station and that now he has their ticket to the Others' location, where they will find Rousseau’s daughter, Alex, and Jack, and perhaps a way home. Mikhail refuses to lead them, but Sayid says he has a map of the cables, which leads to an area called the Barracks which he believes is where the Others are staying. Mikhail threatens to kill them the next time they let their guard down. Danielle says that since they don't need him, they should kill him.
However, Sayid says Mikhail is his prisoner and he will not kill him. Locke and Kate join them and Locke says he knows why Mikhail didn't want him playing with the computer. Suddenly the station explodes. Sayid demands to know what Locke has done, and Locke tells him that the computer said if there was an incursion to enter 7-7, so he did. Sayid yells at Locke that he may have destroyed their only chance of communication with the outside world.
Science:
Mainstream science has not put any credence in the human’s mind’s ability to foretell the future. However, some on the spirituality scale of research believe that premonitions can have a scientific basis.
In a laboratory at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in Northern California, psychologist Dean Radin approaches human experience with an open mind and experimental rigor. In a series of experiments that Radin describes as “presentiment,” participants are invited to see and feel into the future.
Sitting in a quiet, electromagnetically shielded room, Radin first measures the participants’ physiology. Using electrodes on their hands to study their autonomic nervous system, the scientist records how the experimental participants respond to emotional and calm pictures that are presented on a computer monitor in a random sequence. After each picture, the computer screen goes blank before the next picture is presented. As predicted, when participants see an emotional picture, their physiology shows more arousal than after the calm pictures. This is standard science. But more interesting to Radin and his colleagues is what happens to the physiology of the participants before they see the pictures. According to Radin, their physiology actually appears to anticipate the emotional stimuli up to five seconds before they see the emotional pictures. These researchers believe those subjective findings are the basis for their thesis on mental visions of the future.
However, critics believe that such conclusions lack objective and reliable controls to have any scientific merit. In an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Daryl Bem, a social psychologist from Cornell University, reported nine experiments involving more than 1,000 participants. The major goal of Bem’s research was to design precognition experiments to be as simple and transparent as possible, allowing others to easily replicate his results.
In these studies, Bem explores “time-reversing,” in which the cause-and-effect sequence in standard psychological experiments is reversed. In his recent paper, Bem reports evidence for precognition in eight of the nine experiments. In one study, for example, Bem used a conventional psychological paradigm referred to as “priming.” In these studies, participants are shown a picture so briefly that it is not perceived at the conscious level. Later, participants typically favor this picture over other control images because they had subconsciously seen the picture before actually “seeing” it. Then, he changed the usual order of events, and he observed that the participants actually preferred certain pictures before the participants were exposed to the subconscious priming.
Of course, the results of these experiments are not without criticism. Some debunkers question whether a paper on precognition should be published in a major scientific journal at all. Others argue that the results simply can’t be true because they imply that the established model of causality is not accurate or complete.
History is repeat with oracles and seers who claimed to have knowledge of future events. They were prized in some cultures by kings or priests, especially in predictions of matters of upcoming military battles. It may be as simple as a person being adept and extrapolating “new” information from a series of facts and observations to lead to a logical “conclusion” to a future event.
Improbabilities:
Time travel. Desmond’s physics professor tells Desmond that there is no such thing. That Desmond “dreamed” a future of saving the world. That he is making up grand illusions to avoid the commitment of marriage to Penny. It is all in his head.
Jack spending more than one month in Thailand, “recovering from his divorce.” It makes no sense that an alleged dedicated doctor would give up his practice and fly to Thailand, to be marked by a woman whose name and ability is linked to “life.”
Mysteries:
Why the Others who purged the Dharma science teams are paranoid about maintaining the science stations and certain experimental projects?
Themes:
Life and multiple lives. Karl tells Kate that the kidnapped children have “better lives.” Is this an objective or subjective purgative? There is a level of reworking or replaying one’s life (memories) in new, but similar situations (like upgrading in various game modes).
Hope. Hurley tries to start the van. He does so because he believes his fellow survivors “need a little hope.”
Clues:
When Jack ends an episode by saying, “That's what they say. It's not what they mean,” it is a reference to Isabel’s translation of his tattoo. But it is a clue to the audience that the LOST dialogue does not sync with what the characters are plotting; misstatements and misdirection is standard operating procedure.
Achara claims to have the gift of sight to see someone's inner identity. She is able to "see who people are" and "mark them". According to Achara, Jack is "a leader, a great man" but this makes him lonely, frightened, and angry. He forces her to give him a tattoo, despite her protests that he is an outsider and she will get in trouble if she does. Her brother’s gang of Thai locals later batter Jack over the tattoo and demand he leave the country.
Isabel’s translates his Thai tattoo as "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." Jack replies, "That's what they say. That's not what they mean." Although the translation given by Isabel matches the impact of the tattoo during the episode's flashback, Isabel's translation is far too long for any combination of four characters and is inaccurate. The characters actually represent an eagle (hawk), strike beat or attack, long and sky. A correct interpretation according to lostpedia is "Eagles strike the wide sky" or, more simply, "The eagles fly upon the sky." A eagle is a symbol of freedom, and the sky could be representative of heaven.
A young girl unknown to Jack, Emma from the tail section, approaches the cage and has Cindy ask Jack how Ana Lucia is doing, Jack get angry and yells at Cindy to go. She and the Others leave, including a young boy, Zach, who hands his teddy bear to his sister Emma. This teddy bear reference is mirrored by Karl in his memories of staring up to the sky to name “stars” with Alex. Emma and Zach appear to “replace” young Karl and Alex in the Island story engine.
In Hinduism, “Achara” and “Dharma” are synonymous and mean "the regulation of daily life." Indeed Achara is often referred to as the Supreme Dharma.
Discussion:
“ Hope never tells us tomorrow will be better. ”
— Tibullus
LOST entered Season 3 with high hopes. Viewers were looking for answers, but instead we got more questions. The 815ers have all but given up hope of rescue since the Others have begun to terrorize them (for no apparent reason except for the unarticulated reason that “it’s their island.”) If the Others want no one on “their” island, then why don’t they let the 815ers leave? Unless, of course, the Others can’t make anyone leave the Island.
Hope is “ a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” In some ways, hope is a dream state. It also can mean “a person or thing that may help or save someone.” Ben hoped to find a surgery for his back tumor. Jack was that hope for recovery. Hope is also “grounds for believing something good may happen.” Hope is like faith which is like religion or future circumstances. Hope is also “a feeling of trust.” Characters are now constantly asking each other if “they trust them.”
There was one hope that was never answered on the series. One of the real issues that plagued the series was its treatment of children. During the initial run, commentators and blog posters continually asked “where are the children?” And why there were no children in the barracks (the empty play ground)? But there was a small hint in the “Other 48 Days,” that a band of children (recall the teddy bear) roamed the jungle which scared the tail section survivors. It is not that children were not allowed or could not be born on the Island. Jacob and MIB’s mother gave birth to them after the Roman shipwreck; and Crazy Mother raised the boys to adulthood so there appears to be some linear aging on the Island. But at some moment, it stops; Jacob and MIB are immortal. How does that change take place, or is it merely a matter of knowledge that Crazy Mother kept from them? The latter is probably more true than false.
When Karl tells Kate that the children have “a better life” than hers (on the Island), what does that mean? Walt was scolded by Klugh when he tried to get Michael to help him. Klugh threatened to take Walt “back to the room,” which infers Room 23, the brain wash room where Karl was hooked up to an IV, and watching video flashes to loud audio. Karl is a teen. Is he being treated well by the Others? Alex was kidnapped from Rousseau. Is she being treated well by her adopted father Ben? It is like children are being robbed of their childhood.
What is life? It is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. But there is another definition: either of the two states of a person's existence separated by death (as in Christianity and some other religious traditions). It can also mean any of a number of successive existences in which a soul is held to be reincarnated (as in Hinduism and some other religious traditions).
The idea of successive existences is strong in the episode repeats: the reality of the flashbacks, Island existence and sideways world are lumped together by Christian as equal parts, but that would be impossible unless there is another life after death. The flashback world is test number one of a soul (possibly a dead child’s who never had a chance to live a full life), to test number two, a soul on the Island trying to find true meaning of life by trials between right and wrong, good and evil, confession and repentance, and finally test three, a soul leaving the church to the next life.
We will also find children as mere set pieces in the sideways world, where Jack allegedly has a “son” but it must be pure fiction since the sideways world is a purgatory wait station. Who or why would have a clone Jack have a child in the afterlife waiting room, only to be disregarded at the church?
Finally, the mountain of lies continues in the stories. Patchy gives nothing but lies to Sayid at the Flame station; he really works for Ben. We will see a flashback where Ben ordered him to get information on the plane’s manifest list. Patchy was part of the Hostiles or recruited by Ben after the purge to protect the Island. He would be a man who we will see literally die several times on the Island, only to come back to life and attack the 815ers. The tables begin to slowly turn when Sayid realizes that he must not rely upon the words he hears, but on what his eyes see in front of him as the Truth.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Eloise’s ability to “see” future events, especially the death of people like the man in the red shoes.
Desmond’s “mind flashes” to see future events.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 57:
DESMOND: When I saw the lightning hit the roof you were electrocuted. And when you heard Claire was in the water you -- you drowned trying to save her. I dove in myself so you never went in. I've tried, brother. I've tried twice to save you, but the universe has a way of course correcting and -- and I can't stop it forever. I'm sorry. I'm sorry because no matter what I try to do you're going to die, Charlie.
EP 58:
JACK: That's what they say. It's not what they mean.
EP 59:
KATE: Because they had me, and they would have never let me go -- probably would have killed me if I hadn't escaped. And the girl who helped me escape -- she was about 16 years old and her name was Alex. I'm pretty sure that she's your daughter.
EP 60:
SAYID: We should go. If anyone is around this explosion's going to attract their attention.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
Locke is lured into playing the Chess game at the Flame station. It is part of his personality that “games” are diversions, even as an adult at the box company, to escape his measly life. Instead of doing his job, watching prisoner Patchy, he sits down for a second game of chess with the computer. A computer station that is monitored by a small camera (so he is being watched). When Locke wins the game, a Candle video pops up with codes to enter to communicate (all are disabled). The final one states that if the station is being overrun by Hostiles, “enter 7-7.” There is no reason on earth why Locke would need or want to enter 7-7. What would happen? The Others would swarm the facility with weapons and kill him? After the conflict standoff with Patchy ends with Klugh being killed, Locke’s “non-foraging” the station led to a third game of chess - - - and entering 7-7, which blows up the station to Sayid’s ire: “one hope of communicating with the outside world” was destroyed by Locke’s incompetence.
Locke’s continued stupidity has to shed some light on the story premise. He went from outback hunter, to default leader, to horrible decision maker. His “ideas” with the Hatch and the Flame station led to their destruction. And with the destruction, potential loss of rescue.
So it leads to the question: why? A) Locke did it on purpose - - - he does not want to leave the Island so he is sabotaging everyone’s chance. Except, he was quite surprised and stunned when the Flame station blew up. B) Locke’s macho facade has eroded over time in the jungle and he is being to crawl back into his introverted shell. As such his character flaws of bad decision making have returned with dire consequences. C) Locke and the castaways are truly lab rats in a large island maze. The vast amount of monitoring stations watching their movements, behavior, conversations, plans are all recorded by someone. The purpose could be to elicit reaction, poke people’s mind’s with a stick, or put them through torturous circumstances (the strongest fears from personal memories) to see how a human can emotionally break down.
Sayid’s flashback story after Desmond’s gives more clues as the premise. Why is Nadia’s gray cat in the restaurant flashback and at the Flame station? That element had to be harvested and re-planted into Sayid’s consciousness as a trigger for an emotional experiment. If he was a torturer in Iraq, what grief could be imposed on him by one of his victim’s? Revenge is a generational way of life in the Middle East. Perhaps, someone seeks to observe all the manifestations of human life. The restaurant torture seems out of place since during the Saddam’s brutal regime, enemies of the state were never let go - - - they were killed. So, this leads to the possibility that Sayid is “haunted” by ghosts of his past.
Desmond’s flashback with Eloise is the strongest point of mental manipulation or alternative lives. In this one, Desmond does not join the military as done previously; he buys the ring which he was not supposed to do; he “remembers” future events such as soccer game results and incidents on the Island. So Desmond’s mind is racing through flashback one, island pre Hatch explosion, island post explosion, and flashback two with different events. But is it Desmond’s mind, or it is his soul? Many religions believe that a person lives many lives; their soul travels through various stages of human afterlife through forms of reincarnation and judgment tests for past sins. Desmond’s various time lines appear to be fragments of multiple, separate existences - - - which tests his mental facilities, and could drive him crazy. In essence, Desmond is mirroring the film It’s a Wonderful Life, the Frank Capra classic about a man’s wish that he was never born has great consequences to those around him. But Desmond’s story is It’s a Horrible Death, consumed by darkness and personal torment. It could be concluded that the changed flashback is in the future, as Desmond’s third afterlife.
There is also a huge clue in the Eloise character’s appearance and conversation with Desmond. She tells him that things must go as she commands or there will be great consequences. He must not marry Penny, he must get on the boat race in a few years, he must push the Island button for 3 years, because if he does not do those things, she states “every single one of US is dead!”
Us?! It sounds like Eloise are “different beings.” There were a few old theories in the blogsphere during the show that the premise was alien beings were sent to earth to observe and test humanity, and the Island was their master space ship. But “US” could also mean a level of existence in the afterlife - - - where “awakening to one’s own death” destroys the fictional reality of a secondary existence of a sideways realm. Recall, Eloise is hellbent in The End that Desmond NOT awaken her son because she would lose him (possibly to the white light).
But one of the problems with Desmond’s supernatural abilities is that in the end, his visions are false. We do no “see” what he says happened: Charlie drowning saving Claire or the lightning strike killing Charlie in Claire’s tent. He just says that. He may actually “wish” the events as a way of belonging to the beach camp. But the one vision we actually see later in the series, Claire with Aaron being rescued aboard a helicopter, never happens. Were those future flashes “programmed” into Desmond to see how he will react? How long he could continue to try to “save” Charlie? If so, he is the ultimate mental lab rat experiment.
The realization of this fantasy-horror situation may be a key to unlocking one’s own mind for the captivity of “the Island” (whatever it is). Sayid is more aware of the lies and treachery of the Others. He begins to see clues (such as the horse saddle) to determine quickly and correctly that Klugh was hidden in the station. Sayid also knew Patchy was lying to him about his backstory - - - that he was an Other and not Dharma. It may be a turning point in Sayid’s Island existence, because once you see the Island for what it really is - - - then the darkness of the human spirit can engulf you (as it will in the final season).
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
REBOOT EPISODES 53-56
POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 53-56 (Days 70-73)
When Colleen, who was shot by Sun, is brought back to the barracks, Jack cannot save her life. As a result, many of the Others want revenge because Colleen was not saved by the doctor. Ben cons the con man, Sawyer. Desmond sees a vision, and builds a lightning rod to protect Claire and Aaron, which leads to friction with Charlie.
Locke assumes a leadership role. He takes a group to the Pearl Station. Eko sees a vision of his brother and goes off but is killed by the Smoke Monster when Eko refuses to repent for his life’s sins.
Jack finally volunteers to operate on Ben’s back to help his friends. Kate and Sawyer go from flirtation to animal lust. Jack stops the Others, Danny whose wife Colleen died and Jason, from killing Sawyer out of revenge.
Jack and Tom complete Ben’s surgery; Juliet is not convinced that Ben will keep his word so she helps Alex, Karl, Kate and Sawyer to escape the Hydra Island.
Science:
States of Matter
There are five main states of matter. Solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are all different states of matter. Each of these states is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to another when specific physical conditions are present. One example is temperature. When the temperature of a system goes up, the matter in the system becomes more excited and active. Scientists say that it moves to a higher energy state
A "phase" describes a physical state of matter. The key word to notice is physical. Things only move from one phase to another by physical means. If energy is added (like increasing the temperature) or if energy is taken away (like freezing something), you have created a physical change.
A compound or element can move from one phase to another, but still be the same substance. You can see water vapor, in the form of steam, over a boiling pot of water. That vapor (or gas) can condense and become a drop of water. If you put that drop in the freezer, it would become a solid piece of ice. No matter what phase it was in, it was always water. It always had the same chemical properties. On the other hand, a chemical change would change the way the water acted, eventually making it not water, but something completely different. If you added a carbon (C) atom to a water molecule, you would have formaldehyde (H2CO), and that is nothing like water.
All matter can move from one state to another. It may require extreme temperatures or extreme pressures, but it can be done. Sometimes a substance doesn't want to change states. You have to use all of your tricks when that happens. To create a solid, you might have to decrease the temperature by a huge amount and then add pressure. Some of you know about liquid nitrogen (N2). It is nitrogen from the atmosphere in a liquid form and it has to be super cold to stay a liquid. What if you wanted to turn it into a solid but couldn't make it cold enough? You could increase the pressure to push those molecules together. The opposite works too. If you have a liquid at room temperature and you wanted a gas you could use a combination of high temperatures and low pressures to solve your problem.
CHEMISTRY TERM PHASE CHANGE
Fusion (melting) Solid to Liquid
Freezing Liquid to Solid
Vaporization (boiling) Liquid to Gas
Condensation Gas to Liquid
Sublimation Solid to Gas
Deposition Gas to Solid
Phase changes happen when certain points are reached. Sometimes a liquid wants to become a solid. Scientists use something called a freezing point to measure the temperature at which a liquid turns into a solid. There are physical effects that can change the freezing point. Pressure is one of those effects. When the pressure surrounding a substance goes up, the freezing point and other special points also go up. That means it's easier to keep things solid at higher pressures. Just remember that there are some exceptions. Water (H2O) is special on many levels. It has more space between its molecules when it is frozen. There's a whole expanding effect when the molecules organize into a solid state. Generally, when temperatures get colder, solids shrink in size. They become more dense.
Improbabilities:
The meatball spinal surgery on Ben. A complex, delicate operation which needs sophisticated technology, machinery and staff to accomplish would be impossible to accomplish in an abandoned Hydra animal experiment station. In addition, Ben waking up in the middle of surgery would have been an alarming, if not fatal, event.
Mysteries:
How can the Smoke Monster be seen in various states of matter? In the smoke or gaseous form it appears as a instinct-only monster. In a human or solid form, it appears to be an exact duplicate of an intelligent human being, an aware animal or moving object.
Themes:
Religion: Judgment of Sins. Eko is defiant in his refusal to confess any sins; he believes he did what he did to save his brother; the ends justified the means. But his judgment by the Smoke Monster (Yemi) was a violent death, and in his last breath, tells Locke “you’re next.” The Island afterlife as a test of a person’s soul, heart and sorrow are recurring elements.
Cons. Ben believes he is the master of con, besting Sawyer in the pacemaker illusion to keep him in line. One could also think that Ben was behind the complex double and triple cross betrayals of his own surgery, just so Jack would actually do the surgery in order to save someone (Kate, Sawyer or Juliet).
The Magic Box. If you wish it, it will come true. Ben will tell this to Locke on the Island, that it can make anything happen. When Juliet is recruited in Miami, she wishes her ex-husband would be hit by a bus. Alpert, Jacob’s right hand man, makes it happen in the most direct manner. It may be part of a con, since Ethan is seen leaving Juliet’s sister’s room just before she claims to be pregnant. Did Ethan plant the evidence or change the test results in order for Juliet to leave her sister and research to join the Others? Probably, since we see how devious the Others can be in getting what they want (and ironically, Juliet, after 3 years of captivity, has learned those same devious skills).
Clues:
Jack asks Ben if he is having symptoms of numbness and tingling to his fingers and toes, yet the tumor on his X-ray is assessed to be over the L4 vertebra and is clearly lumbar (would only have paraesthesis in upper extremities if it was a cervical tumor). Some believe this is a continuity error and not a clue that this is “all make believe.”
Juliet is shown scans of a woman’s womb. She looks at it and believes it to be a 70 year old woman. She is told by Alpert that it is a 26 year old female. How could that be? That is the hook Alpert has to lure Juliet to the Island. Is it true? It could be a con. Or it could be a “real” issue for the Others, whose women could not come to term with their pregnancies. In the concept of an ‘other” dimension as the setting for the Island, such as the afterlife or dementia, a 70 year old woman could have the “illusion” of being her 26 year old self - - - and thus unable to have children.
When Desmond has a vision, he builds a lightning rod in camp. Was it truly a vision, or was it something he believed would happen - - - and if he believed hard enough it would become real. A person could manipulate events to make them real, like the sudden storm and lightning hit as Demond did. Desmond realizes that the Island is not tied to Earth’s natural laws. Mental manipulation of events is possible on the Island, which is a great source of ultimate power.
“She was dead before you put her on the table,” Jack said to Juliet after Colleen died of a gunshot wound. This may be another reference to reincarnated souls trapped on the Island hell waiting for judgment.
Ben asks if Jack believes in God. Ben believes the “proof” is that two days after his spinal tumor diagnosis, a spinal surgeon falls into his lap by the plane crash. But Locke tells Desmond do not confuse coincidence with fate. Are events caused by guardian forces at work or mere coincidence? This also may be a clue to the video game premise, in which Ben is playing a different level trying to “save” himself and the new game element of the 815 crash gives him tools to solve his personal mission of survival.
Discussion:
“ Thoughts are but dreams till their effect be tried. ”
— William Shakespeare
Wonder the purpose of the black smoke monster as it begins its killing spree . . .
black, a color associated with evil; smoke, an element associated with destruction;
monster, an inhumanly cruel or wicked person.
No one can tell what was the smoke monster. Was it really smoke? Doubtful, since it is well believed that the smoke monster could change forms, into physical human form (like Flocke). Was it super-technology, like a swarm of nano-robots? If one thinks that the Dharma experiment stations dealt with polar bears in tropical climates, why not with sci-fi robotics? A machine collective that escapes in the wild amuses some fans. Is it “evil incarnate?” As in the Devil, his minion, its hellhound or metaphor for grim reaper spirit - - - but at times with total rage but at other times total cunning and mental manipulation.
The introduction of the smoke monster at the end of the pilot episode turned a normal survivor-castaway drama into a major mystery, sci-fi dangerous thriller. The island was not safe. It would dominate the human emotion for rescue. But it is a contradiction that is never answered properly: for those characters who allegedly leave the Island (and be saved from danger), all have an unnatural desire to “go back” to the Island. The smoke monster is like a symbolic addiction of a person’s worst personality traits. There are many people who are only happy or content if they are miserable or despondent. The smoke monster is the catalyst for those broken personalities to reinforce their negative brainwaves.
The smoke monster could be the Boogie Man of a child’s nightmare. Instead of being under the bed or hiding in the closet, the Boogie Man is anywhere and everywhere. It is the irrational thought pattern drawn out to an extreme level of fear.
If the smoke monster was the judgment mechanism for the Island to weigh the heart of a person’s soul against their sins, the great inconsistent demise of characters makes the whole concept hypocritical. Example, Eko refuses to acknowledge his sinful life - - - he refuses to accept a redemptive change - - - and is slaughtered by the smoke monster. Then, Ben who killed dozens of Dharma people in the Purge, including killing his own father, is never judged by the Island monster. Two evil characters who did awful deeds get two different fates for no apparent reason.
So at the molecular level, does the smoke monster actually know what is doing or is it purely a responsive wild animal? If it is a living being, then what does it “feed” on? Does it harvest only “evil” souls that cannot accept redemption? Does it feed on the pure emotions of fear in human beings - - - and Eko refused to submit to the fear, he was killed because the smoke monster had no use of Eko if it could not suck out the evil energy of fear from him.
The great mystery is how the smoke monster could change, move about the Island, and how it actually “killed” someone. Was it a wave of electromagnetic energy generated by a swarm of evil gnats? Or was it a shape shifting spirit beast? Or was it an illusion? The monster had the stage presence of a great actor. It has some intelligence to interact in its “solid” state human form, but pure emotional anger in its “gaseous” smoke state. If we use chemistry to analyze the change in appearance, from solid to gas is “sublimation” which means (especially in psychoanalytic theory) “to divert or modify instinctual impulse into a more acceptable activity.” Clearly, Smokey is under much more emotional control in a solid state, as in his appearances as Yemi to Eko. “Disposition” means “the inherit qualities of the human mind or character,” which infers that in a gas state, Smokey’s true character is displayed (as a violent killer). But it would appear that the character traits of Smokey’s physical traits are opposite on the Island - - - but it makes perfect sense if one is looking into a mirror - - - a theme in the series.
It also brings the concepts of the mind again to the forefront of the story foundation. The balancing of instinct, emotion, intelligence is how one’s character is formed. If a person is delusional or has mental problems (characters again mention “do you think I’m crazy?” in response to questions), the inner conflict could be symbolically represented by the Smoke Monster in the mind of a troubled person, such as Eko.
If it was an illusion - - - the mind of a person takes over and forces the weak person to commit mental suicide. One’s mind can create the most dangerous creature. One’s mind can harm you deeper than any mystery monster.
We see Room 23 - - - where Karl is strapped in with an IV, light glasses, blaring audio and flashing images. We have previously discussed the concepts of brain washing, and this is a vivid example of it. As Karl is being rescued, Sawyer begins to fall into a trance at the images and the words - - - change, God loves you like Jacob. He snaps out of it to carry Karl to the boat. This is also the first subliminal reference to Jacob, who will also hear his name from angry Danny who claims “Shepard was not on Jacob’s list.” In retrospect, that is a damning statement, a real inconsistency. Jack’s name was on the lighthouse with the other castaways, including Kate. But Kate did not make the final list of candidates (which was known early in Season 3?) That begs the question - - - why the story shift? Did Jack replace Eko (for real world contract issues) or Walt (who literally outgrew his role)? It is a bit of circumstantial evidence that the writers were winging it as the season’s went by, not careful to keep a storyline with real continuity points.
Another truly bothersome story line is how in The End Kate winds up with Jack as her soul mate. One would have thought after the cage love session, Kate would have wound up with Sawyer in the church. Or, if the flashback is true, Kate would have wound up with her true love, her husband, Kevin the Florida police officer. There is no rational basis for Kate to re-connect so strongly with Jack. So in the end, whose fantasy is fulfilled?
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
The Smoke Monster returns to confront Eko, which dire consequences. Is this the Island balancing the “loss” of Colleen’s life with Mr. Eko’s?
Last lines in episodes:
EP 53:
BEN: It's from Of Mice and Men. Don't you read? Come on, let's get you back to your cage.
EP 54:
LOCKE: He said, 'We're next.'
EP 55:
JACK: Kate, dammit, RUN!
EP 56:
JULIET: I've been on this island for 3 years, Jack. 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days. He said that if I let him live and I helped you -- that he would finally let me go home.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
Deal with the Devil. Juliet wants to go “home,” which may be metaphor to leave purgatory and into the next level of existence - - - since in the End she winds up with Sawyer and not her flashback family (including her ex-husband who she still pined for in her own way).
When Ben is told he has a cancerous tumor on his back, he cannot believe it because no one of the island ever got cancer. The question becomes whether the electromagnetic energy (which later would be termed “Life Source” contained in every living thing) “cures” cancer or “causes” it.
The fake healer told Rose in Australia that the Earth has different energy pockets - - - the one in the outback could not cure her, but another pocket could. The question is whether the Island’s EM is one of those “pockets” and if so, is it really electromagnetic energy or spiritual energy. The latter is a new concept here because after the crash, Rose was at peace even though her husband was missing and presumed dead. She always thought Bernard was okay. Rose also knew that her cancer was “gone.” But gone in what way? If this “pocket” was a spiritual place, there would be no place for diseases because they live in the human world. If this place was the afterlife, again, diseases would have no place in an “energy” not carbon based existence.
If the Life Force of the Island is a healing power, Desmond’s fail safe implosion would have stopped all healing on the Island, including Ben’s back tumor. That would mean Rose’s terminal cancer would have stricken her, caused her pain and suffering because of its advanced stage. But none of that happens. But if people on the Island “believe it to be true” then it may be true in a dream world where reality is what the individual’s mind.
Are the forces in the Island split into the light (Life Force from the cave) and dark (the smoke monster) as the balance between good and evil? And when the Hatch was taken out, did that create the Island realm imbalance - - - with more darkness and evil that needs to be contained by those characters led by Jack?
It occurs to me that when Tom says since the purple sky, the Island has lost communication with the mainland. This must mean that the Island has “moved” itself as part of the fail safe release of EM. Is this the real reason Ben could not leave the island for medical help, or merely an excuse to get Jack to do something voluntarily but against his free will?
Since the Hatch was the “cap” on the Island’s massive energy force, it also occurs to me that this is the Third Attempt to control it. The first was in the Light Cave, where a large rock with Egyptian hieroglyphs, contained the energy. The second was the Frozen Donkey Wheel from the Roman era. On those glyphs, there is mention to “side gates” to Earth which infers Island movement in time, space or dimensions. The third was the Hatch, a modern American science station. What do all three things have in common? Each place was created by the great civilizations of Earth by its greatest engineers of their time: Egyptians (pyramid builders), Romans (military conquerors) and Americans (moon landing).
The Island is clearly “testing” the characters’ own character. The push to get people to admit their mistakes, to be truly “sorry” for their actions, is a purgatory of the soul. On the other hand, the supernatural elements and manipulative mind control show that there is a hard attempts to modify behavior by external sources (such as the unseen physicians - - - whose form may take on Smokey - - - at a mental hospital treating our character patients).
It also seems that the entire story focus now changes to the Others against the 815ers in a life and death chess match. In reality, there was no reason for the Others and the 815ers to begin as mortal enemies. The Others and Ben’s paranoia and freakish desire for control of the Island creates an unnatural conflict. Are both the Others and the 815ers merely pawns in the Jacob and MIB game of human Senet?
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 53-56 (Days 70-73)
When Colleen, who was shot by Sun, is brought back to the barracks, Jack cannot save her life. As a result, many of the Others want revenge because Colleen was not saved by the doctor. Ben cons the con man, Sawyer. Desmond sees a vision, and builds a lightning rod to protect Claire and Aaron, which leads to friction with Charlie.
Locke assumes a leadership role. He takes a group to the Pearl Station. Eko sees a vision of his brother and goes off but is killed by the Smoke Monster when Eko refuses to repent for his life’s sins.
Jack finally volunteers to operate on Ben’s back to help his friends. Kate and Sawyer go from flirtation to animal lust. Jack stops the Others, Danny whose wife Colleen died and Jason, from killing Sawyer out of revenge.
Jack and Tom complete Ben’s surgery; Juliet is not convinced that Ben will keep his word so she helps Alex, Karl, Kate and Sawyer to escape the Hydra Island.
Science:
States of Matter
There are five main states of matter. Solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are all different states of matter. Each of these states is also known as a phase. Elements and compounds can move from one phase to another when specific physical conditions are present. One example is temperature. When the temperature of a system goes up, the matter in the system becomes more excited and active. Scientists say that it moves to a higher energy state
A "phase" describes a physical state of matter. The key word to notice is physical. Things only move from one phase to another by physical means. If energy is added (like increasing the temperature) or if energy is taken away (like freezing something), you have created a physical change.
A compound or element can move from one phase to another, but still be the same substance. You can see water vapor, in the form of steam, over a boiling pot of water. That vapor (or gas) can condense and become a drop of water. If you put that drop in the freezer, it would become a solid piece of ice. No matter what phase it was in, it was always water. It always had the same chemical properties. On the other hand, a chemical change would change the way the water acted, eventually making it not water, but something completely different. If you added a carbon (C) atom to a water molecule, you would have formaldehyde (H2CO), and that is nothing like water.
All matter can move from one state to another. It may require extreme temperatures or extreme pressures, but it can be done. Sometimes a substance doesn't want to change states. You have to use all of your tricks when that happens. To create a solid, you might have to decrease the temperature by a huge amount and then add pressure. Some of you know about liquid nitrogen (N2). It is nitrogen from the atmosphere in a liquid form and it has to be super cold to stay a liquid. What if you wanted to turn it into a solid but couldn't make it cold enough? You could increase the pressure to push those molecules together. The opposite works too. If you have a liquid at room temperature and you wanted a gas you could use a combination of high temperatures and low pressures to solve your problem.
CHEMISTRY TERM PHASE CHANGE
Fusion (melting) Solid to Liquid
Freezing Liquid to Solid
Vaporization (boiling) Liquid to Gas
Condensation Gas to Liquid
Sublimation Solid to Gas
Deposition Gas to Solid
Phase changes happen when certain points are reached. Sometimes a liquid wants to become a solid. Scientists use something called a freezing point to measure the temperature at which a liquid turns into a solid. There are physical effects that can change the freezing point. Pressure is one of those effects. When the pressure surrounding a substance goes up, the freezing point and other special points also go up. That means it's easier to keep things solid at higher pressures. Just remember that there are some exceptions. Water (H2O) is special on many levels. It has more space between its molecules when it is frozen. There's a whole expanding effect when the molecules organize into a solid state. Generally, when temperatures get colder, solids shrink in size. They become more dense.
Improbabilities:
The meatball spinal surgery on Ben. A complex, delicate operation which needs sophisticated technology, machinery and staff to accomplish would be impossible to accomplish in an abandoned Hydra animal experiment station. In addition, Ben waking up in the middle of surgery would have been an alarming, if not fatal, event.
Mysteries:
How can the Smoke Monster be seen in various states of matter? In the smoke or gaseous form it appears as a instinct-only monster. In a human or solid form, it appears to be an exact duplicate of an intelligent human being, an aware animal or moving object.
Themes:
Religion: Judgment of Sins. Eko is defiant in his refusal to confess any sins; he believes he did what he did to save his brother; the ends justified the means. But his judgment by the Smoke Monster (Yemi) was a violent death, and in his last breath, tells Locke “you’re next.” The Island afterlife as a test of a person’s soul, heart and sorrow are recurring elements.
Cons. Ben believes he is the master of con, besting Sawyer in the pacemaker illusion to keep him in line. One could also think that Ben was behind the complex double and triple cross betrayals of his own surgery, just so Jack would actually do the surgery in order to save someone (Kate, Sawyer or Juliet).
The Magic Box. If you wish it, it will come true. Ben will tell this to Locke on the Island, that it can make anything happen. When Juliet is recruited in Miami, she wishes her ex-husband would be hit by a bus. Alpert, Jacob’s right hand man, makes it happen in the most direct manner. It may be part of a con, since Ethan is seen leaving Juliet’s sister’s room just before she claims to be pregnant. Did Ethan plant the evidence or change the test results in order for Juliet to leave her sister and research to join the Others? Probably, since we see how devious the Others can be in getting what they want (and ironically, Juliet, after 3 years of captivity, has learned those same devious skills).
Clues:
Jack asks Ben if he is having symptoms of numbness and tingling to his fingers and toes, yet the tumor on his X-ray is assessed to be over the L4 vertebra and is clearly lumbar (would only have paraesthesis in upper extremities if it was a cervical tumor). Some believe this is a continuity error and not a clue that this is “all make believe.”
Juliet is shown scans of a woman’s womb. She looks at it and believes it to be a 70 year old woman. She is told by Alpert that it is a 26 year old female. How could that be? That is the hook Alpert has to lure Juliet to the Island. Is it true? It could be a con. Or it could be a “real” issue for the Others, whose women could not come to term with their pregnancies. In the concept of an ‘other” dimension as the setting for the Island, such as the afterlife or dementia, a 70 year old woman could have the “illusion” of being her 26 year old self - - - and thus unable to have children.
When Desmond has a vision, he builds a lightning rod in camp. Was it truly a vision, or was it something he believed would happen - - - and if he believed hard enough it would become real. A person could manipulate events to make them real, like the sudden storm and lightning hit as Demond did. Desmond realizes that the Island is not tied to Earth’s natural laws. Mental manipulation of events is possible on the Island, which is a great source of ultimate power.
“She was dead before you put her on the table,” Jack said to Juliet after Colleen died of a gunshot wound. This may be another reference to reincarnated souls trapped on the Island hell waiting for judgment.
Ben asks if Jack believes in God. Ben believes the “proof” is that two days after his spinal tumor diagnosis, a spinal surgeon falls into his lap by the plane crash. But Locke tells Desmond do not confuse coincidence with fate. Are events caused by guardian forces at work or mere coincidence? This also may be a clue to the video game premise, in which Ben is playing a different level trying to “save” himself and the new game element of the 815 crash gives him tools to solve his personal mission of survival.
Discussion:
“ Thoughts are but dreams till their effect be tried. ”
— William Shakespeare
Wonder the purpose of the black smoke monster as it begins its killing spree . . .
black, a color associated with evil; smoke, an element associated with destruction;
monster, an inhumanly cruel or wicked person.
No one can tell what was the smoke monster. Was it really smoke? Doubtful, since it is well believed that the smoke monster could change forms, into physical human form (like Flocke). Was it super-technology, like a swarm of nano-robots? If one thinks that the Dharma experiment stations dealt with polar bears in tropical climates, why not with sci-fi robotics? A machine collective that escapes in the wild amuses some fans. Is it “evil incarnate?” As in the Devil, his minion, its hellhound or metaphor for grim reaper spirit - - - but at times with total rage but at other times total cunning and mental manipulation.
The introduction of the smoke monster at the end of the pilot episode turned a normal survivor-castaway drama into a major mystery, sci-fi dangerous thriller. The island was not safe. It would dominate the human emotion for rescue. But it is a contradiction that is never answered properly: for those characters who allegedly leave the Island (and be saved from danger), all have an unnatural desire to “go back” to the Island. The smoke monster is like a symbolic addiction of a person’s worst personality traits. There are many people who are only happy or content if they are miserable or despondent. The smoke monster is the catalyst for those broken personalities to reinforce their negative brainwaves.
The smoke monster could be the Boogie Man of a child’s nightmare. Instead of being under the bed or hiding in the closet, the Boogie Man is anywhere and everywhere. It is the irrational thought pattern drawn out to an extreme level of fear.
If the smoke monster was the judgment mechanism for the Island to weigh the heart of a person’s soul against their sins, the great inconsistent demise of characters makes the whole concept hypocritical. Example, Eko refuses to acknowledge his sinful life - - - he refuses to accept a redemptive change - - - and is slaughtered by the smoke monster. Then, Ben who killed dozens of Dharma people in the Purge, including killing his own father, is never judged by the Island monster. Two evil characters who did awful deeds get two different fates for no apparent reason.
So at the molecular level, does the smoke monster actually know what is doing or is it purely a responsive wild animal? If it is a living being, then what does it “feed” on? Does it harvest only “evil” souls that cannot accept redemption? Does it feed on the pure emotions of fear in human beings - - - and Eko refused to submit to the fear, he was killed because the smoke monster had no use of Eko if it could not suck out the evil energy of fear from him.
The great mystery is how the smoke monster could change, move about the Island, and how it actually “killed” someone. Was it a wave of electromagnetic energy generated by a swarm of evil gnats? Or was it a shape shifting spirit beast? Or was it an illusion? The monster had the stage presence of a great actor. It has some intelligence to interact in its “solid” state human form, but pure emotional anger in its “gaseous” smoke state. If we use chemistry to analyze the change in appearance, from solid to gas is “sublimation” which means (especially in psychoanalytic theory) “to divert or modify instinctual impulse into a more acceptable activity.” Clearly, Smokey is under much more emotional control in a solid state, as in his appearances as Yemi to Eko. “Disposition” means “the inherit qualities of the human mind or character,” which infers that in a gas state, Smokey’s true character is displayed (as a violent killer). But it would appear that the character traits of Smokey’s physical traits are opposite on the Island - - - but it makes perfect sense if one is looking into a mirror - - - a theme in the series.
It also brings the concepts of the mind again to the forefront of the story foundation. The balancing of instinct, emotion, intelligence is how one’s character is formed. If a person is delusional or has mental problems (characters again mention “do you think I’m crazy?” in response to questions), the inner conflict could be symbolically represented by the Smoke Monster in the mind of a troubled person, such as Eko.
If it was an illusion - - - the mind of a person takes over and forces the weak person to commit mental suicide. One’s mind can create the most dangerous creature. One’s mind can harm you deeper than any mystery monster.
We see Room 23 - - - where Karl is strapped in with an IV, light glasses, blaring audio and flashing images. We have previously discussed the concepts of brain washing, and this is a vivid example of it. As Karl is being rescued, Sawyer begins to fall into a trance at the images and the words - - - change, God loves you like Jacob. He snaps out of it to carry Karl to the boat. This is also the first subliminal reference to Jacob, who will also hear his name from angry Danny who claims “Shepard was not on Jacob’s list.” In retrospect, that is a damning statement, a real inconsistency. Jack’s name was on the lighthouse with the other castaways, including Kate. But Kate did not make the final list of candidates (which was known early in Season 3?) That begs the question - - - why the story shift? Did Jack replace Eko (for real world contract issues) or Walt (who literally outgrew his role)? It is a bit of circumstantial evidence that the writers were winging it as the season’s went by, not careful to keep a storyline with real continuity points.
Another truly bothersome story line is how in The End Kate winds up with Jack as her soul mate. One would have thought after the cage love session, Kate would have wound up with Sawyer in the church. Or, if the flashback is true, Kate would have wound up with her true love, her husband, Kevin the Florida police officer. There is no rational basis for Kate to re-connect so strongly with Jack. So in the end, whose fantasy is fulfilled?
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
The Smoke Monster returns to confront Eko, which dire consequences. Is this the Island balancing the “loss” of Colleen’s life with Mr. Eko’s?
Last lines in episodes:
EP 53:
BEN: It's from Of Mice and Men. Don't you read? Come on, let's get you back to your cage.
EP 54:
LOCKE: He said, 'We're next.'
EP 55:
JACK: Kate, dammit, RUN!
EP 56:
JULIET: I've been on this island for 3 years, Jack. 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days. He said that if I let him live and I helped you -- that he would finally let me go home.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
Deal with the Devil. Juliet wants to go “home,” which may be metaphor to leave purgatory and into the next level of existence - - - since in the End she winds up with Sawyer and not her flashback family (including her ex-husband who she still pined for in her own way).
When Ben is told he has a cancerous tumor on his back, he cannot believe it because no one of the island ever got cancer. The question becomes whether the electromagnetic energy (which later would be termed “Life Source” contained in every living thing) “cures” cancer or “causes” it.
The fake healer told Rose in Australia that the Earth has different energy pockets - - - the one in the outback could not cure her, but another pocket could. The question is whether the Island’s EM is one of those “pockets” and if so, is it really electromagnetic energy or spiritual energy. The latter is a new concept here because after the crash, Rose was at peace even though her husband was missing and presumed dead. She always thought Bernard was okay. Rose also knew that her cancer was “gone.” But gone in what way? If this “pocket” was a spiritual place, there would be no place for diseases because they live in the human world. If this place was the afterlife, again, diseases would have no place in an “energy” not carbon based existence.
If the Life Force of the Island is a healing power, Desmond’s fail safe implosion would have stopped all healing on the Island, including Ben’s back tumor. That would mean Rose’s terminal cancer would have stricken her, caused her pain and suffering because of its advanced stage. But none of that happens. But if people on the Island “believe it to be true” then it may be true in a dream world where reality is what the individual’s mind.
Are the forces in the Island split into the light (Life Force from the cave) and dark (the smoke monster) as the balance between good and evil? And when the Hatch was taken out, did that create the Island realm imbalance - - - with more darkness and evil that needs to be contained by those characters led by Jack?
It occurs to me that when Tom says since the purple sky, the Island has lost communication with the mainland. This must mean that the Island has “moved” itself as part of the fail safe release of EM. Is this the real reason Ben could not leave the island for medical help, or merely an excuse to get Jack to do something voluntarily but against his free will?
Since the Hatch was the “cap” on the Island’s massive energy force, it also occurs to me that this is the Third Attempt to control it. The first was in the Light Cave, where a large rock with Egyptian hieroglyphs, contained the energy. The second was the Frozen Donkey Wheel from the Roman era. On those glyphs, there is mention to “side gates” to Earth which infers Island movement in time, space or dimensions. The third was the Hatch, a modern American science station. What do all three things have in common? Each place was created by the great civilizations of Earth by its greatest engineers of their time: Egyptians (pyramid builders), Romans (military conquerors) and Americans (moon landing).
The Island is clearly “testing” the characters’ own character. The push to get people to admit their mistakes, to be truly “sorry” for their actions, is a purgatory of the soul. On the other hand, the supernatural elements and manipulative mind control show that there is a hard attempts to modify behavior by external sources (such as the unseen physicians - - - whose form may take on Smokey - - - at a mental hospital treating our character patients).
It also seems that the entire story focus now changes to the Others against the 815ers in a life and death chess match. In reality, there was no reason for the Others and the 815ers to begin as mortal enemies. The Others and Ben’s paranoia and freakish desire for control of the Island creates an unnatural conflict. Are both the Others and the 815ers merely pawns in the Jacob and MIB game of human Senet?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
REBOOT EPISODES 49-52
POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 49-52 (Days 67-69)
The second season begins to wind down with the build up of the confrontation with the Others.
Michael reveals secrets about the Others' camp to the survivors; Hurley and Libby plan their first date. When Ana is attacked by Ben, she begins to contemplate taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Michael is reunited with his friends and tells them he wants to go back for Walt, which Ben said the Others would never give up. Michael takes matters into his own hands, and as a result he shoots Ana and Libby.
After Eko experiences unusual dreams, he asks Locke to take him to the “?” from the blast door map. They go out and find the Pearl Station. Michael must maintain his cool as he watches Libby die slowly. In the Hatch, the rest of the survivors must come to terms with what just transpired and try to ease the suffering of a mortally wounded Libby.
As the survivors mourn the losses Ana and Libby, Michael continues to badger the 815ers to launch a rescue mission for Walt, an assault against the Others who are to blame for their current situation. Michael convinces Hurley, Jack, Kate and Sawyer to ambush the Others.
Events come to a head as Michael leads his friends across the Island to confront the Others. Meanwhile, Desmond returns to the Island on his sailboat, and he and Locke make a decision to see what happens if the Hatch countdown timer goes beyond zero.
Michael’s ambush party is captured by the Others; Sayid, Jin and Sun use Desmond’s boat to counterattack and to meet up Jack's crew. Locke and Desmond confront Eko, who wants to continue to press the Hatch button.
Season 3 begins with Jack in a holding cell, an aquarium at the Dharma Hydra station. The interrogation of Sawyer and Kate take different tacks: Sawyer is caged and treated harshly by Tom (Mr. Friendly) while Kate is given beach breakfast with Ben, who then tells her the rest of her stay would be harsh. All three prisoners have had blood drawn and/or something injected into their arms.
We also see the “crash” of Flight 815 from the vantage point of the center of the Island barracks where the Others have a bucolic campus. Once the crash occurs, Ben orders Goodwin to run an hour away to the tail section; and Ethan to become a survivor in the front section of the plane. He wants “lists” in 3 days.
Sawyer and Kate are put to work by boss Danny Pickett in clearing the jungle of rocks, which we will later learn is for a runway. Sawyer “tests” his guards by kissing Kate to gather information on who is strong and who is weak. At the same time, the Others are testing Sawyer and Kate, first with the polar bear biscuit food cage puzzle, and their escape plans (as Ben is sitting in a monitoring station observing them).
Sayid’s rescue/ambush plan fails, as the Others board the sailboat while Jin and Sayid wait in the shadows of the beach fire. The boarding party finds Sun with a gun; Colleen tells Sun that she won’t shoot, because she is not a killer. But we know from a flashback that Sun is a killer, cleaning up her own mess with her tutor, when Jin could not follow her father’s instructions. Sun shoots Colleen in the stomach; more gun fire erupts and the sailboat leaves the dock. Jin rushes out into the water to find Sun in the darkness.
Locke also has to “clean up his own mess” when he is physically jolted by ghost Boone in the sweat lodge, built inside of Eko’s church frame. Boone tells him that he needs to save someone. It turns out to be Eko from a polar bear that has dragged him into a deep cave. Locke continues to see and hear visions.
Desmond, after the implosion, begins to see mental “flash forwards” including Locke’s rescue speech to the other camp members after returning with injured Eko. Other campers are upset that Hurley did not tell them
Science:
Entropy.
1. thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system. (Symbol: S )
2. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder: a marketplace where entropy reigns supreme.
3. (in information theory) a logarithmic measure of the rate of transfer of information in a particular message or language.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent., Greek roots for “transformation.”
Improbabilities:
Kelvin Inman, the American soldier in Iraq with Sayid, is now pushing button in Hatch with Desmond.
Charlie and Eko surviving without burns the dynamite fireball in the Hatch hallway. Also, Charlie, Eko, Locke and Desmond surviving a massive explosion-implosion of the Hatch which threw a large solid steel hatch cover (which took two men to open) more than a mile in the air to the beach camp.
Mysteries:
What did the fail safe key really do? Did it lock or imprison an evil spirit? Did it move the island out of its protective snow globe shell? Or did it do nothing of importance (mental nightmare)?
How did Penelope’s Russian men in the Arctic “find” Desmond after the Hatch explosion/implosion?
How can Ben and the Others leave the Island, and Desmond in his boat could not?
And if Ben can leave the island (by boat or submarine), why is he building a runway?
How did Ben not know about Desmond’s sailboat? Does it also mean that Ben did not know about Desmond being on the Island?
Themes:
Life and Death. There is a fine line between life and death. To what ends will a father do to save the life of his son? Is it rational for Michael to murder two people under the anger that his group is not helping him enough to find his son? At this point in the story, it is the plane survivors who act more like savages - - - killing three others and a few of their own people by gross negligence. But later on, we will be told that pales in comparison with Ben’s purge of Dharma.
Being “Sorry.” The characters are continually telling people they are sorry for some action, but in most cases the ask of forgiveness is hollow. At times, lies continue to cover up repentance for their past actions.
Mirrors. Events continue to mirror other events in different character story lines. The repetitive nature of the tests of the Island invokes a series of game play levels.
Clues:
When Desmond returns on his sailboat, which floated back to the Island, he states "we are stuck in a bloody snow globe! There's no outside world, there's no escape." Desmond finally asks Jack if they are "still pushing" to which Jack replies with a smile, "Yeah, we're still pushing it."
Again, Desmond tells Locke this time, “see you in another life” just before he turns the failsafe key.
Eko makes the sign of the cross before lighting off the dynamite to get back into the Hatch; Desmond makes the sign of the cross before turning the fail safe key.
Ben tells Michael to say at a 325 compass bearing to get “home.” That is the only way to get through the “snow globe” of the Island realm.
Discussion:
The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret --- that man is back at heart: mark and avoid him. - - - Cicero
A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing . . . It takes something from the world, and has something to give in return. - - - Sarah Orne Jewett
As the second season winds down, there was a huge event that should have answered several burning questions about the Island and the Hatch. When Desmond returns, he makes the decision to “save them all,” and explodes the Hatch. In doing so, his “reality” does not change, again. When he says to Locke before inserting the failsafe key, we hear for the third time in the series “see you in another life.” This infers that the characters are never going back to their old life; that there is no escape from the Island; and that the Island is another realm.
The failure to explain, even in a science fiction way, begins the slow decline of the of the story line continuity and mysteries. A formula will emerge in the next seasons of adding characters as red shirts, to be killed off in an unexplained conflict with the Others, who are in an unexplained conflict with Widmore, over control of the Island which no one knows what it is or its purpose.
The vague explanation of the Hatch and its purpose is that there is a “unique” electromagnetic property under the Island that was uncovered during the drilling of the Hatch “the Incident,” and as a result the Hatch was constructed over the anomaly in order to discharge the EM build up to avoid another incident, which is earthquake shaking magnetic pulls toward the underground station walls.
From lostpedia, the pivotal event of season 2:
[Back in the Hatch Desmond opens his Dickens book and finds the failsafe key. We see the timer at 29 seconds. Desmond rushes to open the grate and get to the failsafe.]
DESMOND: 3 days before you came down here, before we met, I heard a banging on the Hatch door, shouting. But it was you, John, wasn't it? You said there isn't any purpose—there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.
LOCKE: No, no, no, none of this is real! Nothing is going to happen. We're going to be okay.
[We see 5 seconds left on the timer.]
DESMOND: I've got to go. And you've got to get as far away from here as possible.
LOCKE: Go where?! Stop!
DESMOND: I'm going to blow the dam, John. [the timer starts flipping to the hieroglyphs] I'm sorry for whatever happened that made you stop believing. But it's all real. Now I've got to go and make it all go away.
LOCKE: Wait, Desmond.
DESMOND: I'll see you in another life, brother.
[We see the last hieroglyph lock in place. The loudspeaker starts announcing System Failure over and over. Everything starts shaking. We see Charlie trying to help Eko.]
CHARLIE: Eko! Eko! Wake up! Can you move? Okay, come on.
[Knives and forks start flying toward the magnet wall, with Charlie and Eko in their path. Everything metal in the place starts flying toward the magnet wall. Charlie helps Eko walk. Desmond makes it to the failsafe mechanism.]
CHARLIE: Eko, on your feet.
EKO: Charlie.
CHARLIE: No.
[Eko pushes Charlie away and knocks him to the ground. Eko heads back toward the computer room. The washing machine comes barreling toward Charlie as he rolls out of the way.]
EKO: John!
LOCKE: I was wrong.
[We see Desmond cross himself and insert the key. We hear Penelope as a VO, reading again.]
PENELOPE: All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her. I will wait for you. Always. I love you.
DESMOND: [turning the key] I love you, Penny.
[The screen fades to white.]
This event transforms the series. Desmond now becomes a center piece character, the wild card in a suddenly wild place. The Island survives a massive release of energy which apparently destroys matter but leaves the humans unharmed. How is that possible? Clearly, it is not. It is direct evidence that the characters are not human beings in the sense of being of blood and breathing carbon.
There may be an ode to the science of Entropy, but in a literary sense. The Hatch’s EM properties is a “magic wand” to represent supernatural change in the characters, a conversion from their past problems, motives and fears toward new “work” to rehabilitate their souls. The Hatch explosion also marks the lack of peace on the Island, and the slow decline of disorder in the bitter struggle between the survivors and the Others. The transformation, including the accelerating use of personal information against people, is new dynamic at play.
This massive white light experience will come back two more times in the series. The next is the Juliet time travel “falling down the well” moment of smashing a rock against an atomic weapon to allegedly re-boot them back to their own time period. The last time we see the white light is at the end of the church ceremony, when Christian opens the back doors and the room is filled with white light as peace comes over the characters expressions.
The other element of these episodes is Michael’s dissent into his personal hell. His incompetence as a father transforms him into an incompetent killer. He compounds his mistakes by blaming Ben for the shootings, and covers up the truth while his friends watch innocent Libby die. As a result of his misguided love for his son, Michael will forever chain his soul to the Island seeking answers to his misery, as a trapped whisper in the jungle, which in some respects is his purgatory.
The capture of Jack, Sawyer and Kate along with the absence of Sayid leaves the beach camp “leaderless” until Locke comes to tell them that he would get their friends back from the Others, and that he will come up with a plan. It is another transformation that Locke is taking a leadership role from his past as a follower. This time it appears that many of the castaways will follow his lead in this time of crisis.
Some consider the end of the Season 2, “Live Together Die Alone,” to be the climax of the first two seasons on the mysterious island. Beginning with Season 3, the quick descent into filler arcs and mad quests against “frenemies” is maddening to critics. The series “jumped the shark” for a few viewers with the introduction of Nikki and Paulo at the end of Season 3 Episode 3. In order to keep up the level of “drama,” more red shirts were required to fill time.
Michael's escape from the island is problematic as well. When Ben tells him to go NNW at a compass bearing of 325, a map of the Pacific Ocean west of Fiji shows that the boat would be headed into open ocean and not toward any close land mass.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Desmond turning the “fail safe” key and the Hatch first exploding (with a solid steel door landing near the beach more than a mile away, and shaking the other side of the Island) then imploding into a large crater.
Locke returns to his commune past to build a sweat lodge to “talk” to the Island to find out what he needs to do now. The Island speaks through Boone, who is dead, who tells John that someone (Eko) is in danger and needs his immediate help.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 49:
MAN #1: It's us. I think we found it.
EP 50:
JULIET: Thank you, Ben.
EP 51:
BEN: That's home, Jack. Right there, on the other side of that glass. And if you listen to me -- if you trust me -- if you do what I tell you when the time comes -- I'll take you there. I will take you home.
EP 52:
CHARLIE: [looking at Desmond and back at Hurley] Okay. Well, when that wears off can you get bandages from the kitchen?
[Hurley continues staring as Desmond. The last shot we see is of Desmond looking out to sea -- worried and slightly crazed.]
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
What does it mean to SEE YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE?
The Hatch explosion/implosion should have killed a human being inside the blast crater. If one assumes that the 200 pound Hatch door was blown one mile to the beach camp in a minute (landing next to Claire and Bernard), the force needed to throw that door would be at least 17,600 foot pounds of force. A human neck can only withstand blunt force of 140 pounds. A human skull can withstand 1600-1900 pounds.
There are three ways in which to try to reconcile the Hatch explosion/implosion and the affect on the characters. One, the events on the island are wholly fantasy, with no relation to Earth physics or human endurance.
The inconsistency with how the implosion affected people inside the Hatch is a real story problem. Desmond winds up naked in jungle a day later. Charlie loses his hearing. Locke loses his voice. Eko apparently loses his consciousness. All of these injuries are inconsistent with the amount of force applied to their bodies as compared to physical objects such as hatch quarantine door. Hurley asks if Desmond has turned into a “Hulk,” a comic book character created by a mad experiment gone bad.
But there is another easy explanation. The first two seasons of LOST have all the components of a modern video game. In game play, you need a character with back stories. You need people or things to protect. You need territory to take or defend. You need spies, assassins, soldiers, weapons and missions. You need intel in order to form strategies. As we have said from the beginning, the key principle in LOST is “knowledge is power.” All the characters could be avatars in a complex multiplayer video game, with Desmond’s new “power” of flash forward visions, either a wild card upgrade or the fact the player is “farther” along at a different level than the other players. The flashbacks, with the repeat of characters in different places, could be assumed to be merely earlier versions of the current game, as developers often re-use characters in video game sequels.
The second is the concept of power and illusion of the mind. When Hurley talked in earlier episodes about transference, it could also relate to the concept of the show’s mental institution theories. When we talk about transference in the setting of a hospital mental institution, with its floors and “stations,” one could argue that there are similar pieces on the island. When you have institutional group sessions and group rooms, the island also has their own “groups.” If these groups have vivid fantasies, then they could create the island dynamic as it pits them against authority. Dave is Hurley’s alter-ego against such authority. When Dr. Brooks asks Hurley to make LISTs, that idea is transferred through to the Others who also demand “lists” or work off “lists of names.” The idea of the Numbers, lists, food - - neurotic triggers of Hurley's mind - - - being of importance and repeating on the Island is because those elements are repeated because Hurley’s subconscious continues to repeat them in his fantasy world. Ben is also obsessive about LISTs: to Ethan and Goodwin after the plane crash, to Michael to bring back the four people to exchange for his son.
This leads to the continuing possibility that the big premise of Lost is contained in Hurley’s dream world. Dave’s explanation to Hurley that all of this is in his mind is the most detailed character driven rationale in the entire series. Where else can the surreal nature of the smoke monsters, polar bears in the jungle, whispers in the brush, and hostile natives all function except in the vivid fantasy world in someone’s creative mind. People have said that their night visions are so “real” that they wake up in a panic, thinking the events are happening to them in real time. What if they are so real, a catatonic patient cannot wake up from his nightmares? Dave’s solution is that you need to kill yourself in your nightmare in order to wake up in the real world.
Hurley choses to continue his fantasy over a chance at getting back at reality. If you believe that the flashbacks are “real,” then Hurley would have known about Libby at the mental institution: they shared the same day room. Her photograph would have been on the bulletin board. She was only a few feet away from him when Leonard is playing Connect Four. Hurley’s memories of people we know he saw or who he could have saw if it is a criminal mental institution create all of his Island “characters.” That makes sense on all the backstory “coincidences” of the Island characters, such as Desmond telling Jack at the stadium, “see you in another life,” just as Dave tells Hurley he will “see him in another life.” How would Hurley know Desmond’s line to Jack unless Hurley himself had a memory or subconscious use of it.
Hurley has an opportunity to end his mental trap, but some part of him does not want to deal with reality. In his reality, he blames himself for the death of two people in a deck collapse, because of his weight. But what if that guilt haunts him after his own death?
There are more references to other characters having mental problems, mental meltdowns or “losing their grip” on reality like Jack going through his divorce and fighting his father at an AA meeting, to Jin “losing his grip” when told to do his father-in-law’s killing. In fact, all of the characters in LOST have the ability to become violent killers. Even lovesick Desmond, kills Kelvin in a rage over keeping his repaired sailboat a secret. The repression of past harm could be re-tested in the environment of the Island, either as a metaphor for a hospital treatment, or as judgment of a person’s soul.
Third, that the events of the Island is in the realm of the afterlife. In an Albert Brooks movie tangent, the idea that Hurley was in an accident that killed two people, one of those people may have been himself. Like in Defending Your Life, a dead Hurley boards a plane to the afterlife with fellow souls, except for some reason, these people don’t believe they are dead. The plane crash was a fiction for these lost souls to work out their sins, issues and character flaws in order to pass on to the next level of existence.
There is also a reference to the Brooks movie when Juliet has a large file in front of her when she is talking to Jack. She tells him “this is your life.” She says knows everything about him, much like the angel defender does with Albert Brooks’ character.
These episodes dynamically reinforce the three theories about game play, mental illness, and the afterlife, creating a spiritual fantasy world that the characters are trying to get through, via quests, religious ritual or missions of survival. It seems that some characters must reach their personal “rock bottom” in order to change, in order to be saved.
Any form of dream or non-Earth state could explain away all of the inconsistencies, continuity, legal errors, medical errors and supernatural elements of the show. For in a dream you can do anything you want, including reviving the dead.
What does it mean to SEE YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE? It can mean see you at the next game level, see you in the next dream, or see you in the afterlife.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 49-52 (Days 67-69)
The second season begins to wind down with the build up of the confrontation with the Others.
Michael reveals secrets about the Others' camp to the survivors; Hurley and Libby plan their first date. When Ana is attacked by Ben, she begins to contemplate taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Michael is reunited with his friends and tells them he wants to go back for Walt, which Ben said the Others would never give up. Michael takes matters into his own hands, and as a result he shoots Ana and Libby.
After Eko experiences unusual dreams, he asks Locke to take him to the “?” from the blast door map. They go out and find the Pearl Station. Michael must maintain his cool as he watches Libby die slowly. In the Hatch, the rest of the survivors must come to terms with what just transpired and try to ease the suffering of a mortally wounded Libby.
As the survivors mourn the losses Ana and Libby, Michael continues to badger the 815ers to launch a rescue mission for Walt, an assault against the Others who are to blame for their current situation. Michael convinces Hurley, Jack, Kate and Sawyer to ambush the Others.
Events come to a head as Michael leads his friends across the Island to confront the Others. Meanwhile, Desmond returns to the Island on his sailboat, and he and Locke make a decision to see what happens if the Hatch countdown timer goes beyond zero.
Michael’s ambush party is captured by the Others; Sayid, Jin and Sun use Desmond’s boat to counterattack and to meet up Jack's crew. Locke and Desmond confront Eko, who wants to continue to press the Hatch button.
Season 3 begins with Jack in a holding cell, an aquarium at the Dharma Hydra station. The interrogation of Sawyer and Kate take different tacks: Sawyer is caged and treated harshly by Tom (Mr. Friendly) while Kate is given beach breakfast with Ben, who then tells her the rest of her stay would be harsh. All three prisoners have had blood drawn and/or something injected into their arms.
We also see the “crash” of Flight 815 from the vantage point of the center of the Island barracks where the Others have a bucolic campus. Once the crash occurs, Ben orders Goodwin to run an hour away to the tail section; and Ethan to become a survivor in the front section of the plane. He wants “lists” in 3 days.
Sawyer and Kate are put to work by boss Danny Pickett in clearing the jungle of rocks, which we will later learn is for a runway. Sawyer “tests” his guards by kissing Kate to gather information on who is strong and who is weak. At the same time, the Others are testing Sawyer and Kate, first with the polar bear biscuit food cage puzzle, and their escape plans (as Ben is sitting in a monitoring station observing them).
Sayid’s rescue/ambush plan fails, as the Others board the sailboat while Jin and Sayid wait in the shadows of the beach fire. The boarding party finds Sun with a gun; Colleen tells Sun that she won’t shoot, because she is not a killer. But we know from a flashback that Sun is a killer, cleaning up her own mess with her tutor, when Jin could not follow her father’s instructions. Sun shoots Colleen in the stomach; more gun fire erupts and the sailboat leaves the dock. Jin rushes out into the water to find Sun in the darkness.
Locke also has to “clean up his own mess” when he is physically jolted by ghost Boone in the sweat lodge, built inside of Eko’s church frame. Boone tells him that he needs to save someone. It turns out to be Eko from a polar bear that has dragged him into a deep cave. Locke continues to see and hear visions.
Desmond, after the implosion, begins to see mental “flash forwards” including Locke’s rescue speech to the other camp members after returning with injured Eko. Other campers are upset that Hurley did not tell them
Science:
Entropy.
1. thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system. (Symbol: S )
2. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder: a marketplace where entropy reigns supreme.
3. (in information theory) a logarithmic measure of the rate of transfer of information in a particular message or language.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent., Greek roots for “transformation.”
Improbabilities:
Kelvin Inman, the American soldier in Iraq with Sayid, is now pushing button in Hatch with Desmond.
Charlie and Eko surviving without burns the dynamite fireball in the Hatch hallway. Also, Charlie, Eko, Locke and Desmond surviving a massive explosion-implosion of the Hatch which threw a large solid steel hatch cover (which took two men to open) more than a mile in the air to the beach camp.
Mysteries:
What did the fail safe key really do? Did it lock or imprison an evil spirit? Did it move the island out of its protective snow globe shell? Or did it do nothing of importance (mental nightmare)?
How did Penelope’s Russian men in the Arctic “find” Desmond after the Hatch explosion/implosion?
How can Ben and the Others leave the Island, and Desmond in his boat could not?
And if Ben can leave the island (by boat or submarine), why is he building a runway?
How did Ben not know about Desmond’s sailboat? Does it also mean that Ben did not know about Desmond being on the Island?
Themes:
Life and Death. There is a fine line between life and death. To what ends will a father do to save the life of his son? Is it rational for Michael to murder two people under the anger that his group is not helping him enough to find his son? At this point in the story, it is the plane survivors who act more like savages - - - killing three others and a few of their own people by gross negligence. But later on, we will be told that pales in comparison with Ben’s purge of Dharma.
Being “Sorry.” The characters are continually telling people they are sorry for some action, but in most cases the ask of forgiveness is hollow. At times, lies continue to cover up repentance for their past actions.
Mirrors. Events continue to mirror other events in different character story lines. The repetitive nature of the tests of the Island invokes a series of game play levels.
Clues:
When Desmond returns on his sailboat, which floated back to the Island, he states "we are stuck in a bloody snow globe! There's no outside world, there's no escape." Desmond finally asks Jack if they are "still pushing" to which Jack replies with a smile, "Yeah, we're still pushing it."
Again, Desmond tells Locke this time, “see you in another life” just before he turns the failsafe key.
Eko makes the sign of the cross before lighting off the dynamite to get back into the Hatch; Desmond makes the sign of the cross before turning the fail safe key.
Ben tells Michael to say at a 325 compass bearing to get “home.” That is the only way to get through the “snow globe” of the Island realm.
Discussion:
The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret --- that man is back at heart: mark and avoid him. - - - Cicero
A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing . . . It takes something from the world, and has something to give in return. - - - Sarah Orne Jewett
As the second season winds down, there was a huge event that should have answered several burning questions about the Island and the Hatch. When Desmond returns, he makes the decision to “save them all,” and explodes the Hatch. In doing so, his “reality” does not change, again. When he says to Locke before inserting the failsafe key, we hear for the third time in the series “see you in another life.” This infers that the characters are never going back to their old life; that there is no escape from the Island; and that the Island is another realm.
The failure to explain, even in a science fiction way, begins the slow decline of the of the story line continuity and mysteries. A formula will emerge in the next seasons of adding characters as red shirts, to be killed off in an unexplained conflict with the Others, who are in an unexplained conflict with Widmore, over control of the Island which no one knows what it is or its purpose.
The vague explanation of the Hatch and its purpose is that there is a “unique” electromagnetic property under the Island that was uncovered during the drilling of the Hatch “the Incident,” and as a result the Hatch was constructed over the anomaly in order to discharge the EM build up to avoid another incident, which is earthquake shaking magnetic pulls toward the underground station walls.
From lostpedia, the pivotal event of season 2:
[Back in the Hatch Desmond opens his Dickens book and finds the failsafe key. We see the timer at 29 seconds. Desmond rushes to open the grate and get to the failsafe.]
DESMOND: 3 days before you came down here, before we met, I heard a banging on the Hatch door, shouting. But it was you, John, wasn't it? You said there isn't any purpose—there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.
LOCKE: No, no, no, none of this is real! Nothing is going to happen. We're going to be okay.
[We see 5 seconds left on the timer.]
DESMOND: I've got to go. And you've got to get as far away from here as possible.
LOCKE: Go where?! Stop!
DESMOND: I'm going to blow the dam, John. [the timer starts flipping to the hieroglyphs] I'm sorry for whatever happened that made you stop believing. But it's all real. Now I've got to go and make it all go away.
LOCKE: Wait, Desmond.
DESMOND: I'll see you in another life, brother.
[We see the last hieroglyph lock in place. The loudspeaker starts announcing System Failure over and over. Everything starts shaking. We see Charlie trying to help Eko.]
CHARLIE: Eko! Eko! Wake up! Can you move? Okay, come on.
[Knives and forks start flying toward the magnet wall, with Charlie and Eko in their path. Everything metal in the place starts flying toward the magnet wall. Charlie helps Eko walk. Desmond makes it to the failsafe mechanism.]
CHARLIE: Eko, on your feet.
EKO: Charlie.
CHARLIE: No.
[Eko pushes Charlie away and knocks him to the ground. Eko heads back toward the computer room. The washing machine comes barreling toward Charlie as he rolls out of the way.]
EKO: John!
LOCKE: I was wrong.
[We see Desmond cross himself and insert the key. We hear Penelope as a VO, reading again.]
PENELOPE: All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her. I will wait for you. Always. I love you.
DESMOND: [turning the key] I love you, Penny.
[The screen fades to white.]
This event transforms the series. Desmond now becomes a center piece character, the wild card in a suddenly wild place. The Island survives a massive release of energy which apparently destroys matter but leaves the humans unharmed. How is that possible? Clearly, it is not. It is direct evidence that the characters are not human beings in the sense of being of blood and breathing carbon.
There may be an ode to the science of Entropy, but in a literary sense. The Hatch’s EM properties is a “magic wand” to represent supernatural change in the characters, a conversion from their past problems, motives and fears toward new “work” to rehabilitate their souls. The Hatch explosion also marks the lack of peace on the Island, and the slow decline of disorder in the bitter struggle between the survivors and the Others. The transformation, including the accelerating use of personal information against people, is new dynamic at play.
This massive white light experience will come back two more times in the series. The next is the Juliet time travel “falling down the well” moment of smashing a rock against an atomic weapon to allegedly re-boot them back to their own time period. The last time we see the white light is at the end of the church ceremony, when Christian opens the back doors and the room is filled with white light as peace comes over the characters expressions.
The other element of these episodes is Michael’s dissent into his personal hell. His incompetence as a father transforms him into an incompetent killer. He compounds his mistakes by blaming Ben for the shootings, and covers up the truth while his friends watch innocent Libby die. As a result of his misguided love for his son, Michael will forever chain his soul to the Island seeking answers to his misery, as a trapped whisper in the jungle, which in some respects is his purgatory.
The capture of Jack, Sawyer and Kate along with the absence of Sayid leaves the beach camp “leaderless” until Locke comes to tell them that he would get their friends back from the Others, and that he will come up with a plan. It is another transformation that Locke is taking a leadership role from his past as a follower. This time it appears that many of the castaways will follow his lead in this time of crisis.
Some consider the end of the Season 2, “Live Together Die Alone,” to be the climax of the first two seasons on the mysterious island. Beginning with Season 3, the quick descent into filler arcs and mad quests against “frenemies” is maddening to critics. The series “jumped the shark” for a few viewers with the introduction of Nikki and Paulo at the end of Season 3 Episode 3. In order to keep up the level of “drama,” more red shirts were required to fill time.
Michael's escape from the island is problematic as well. When Ben tells him to go NNW at a compass bearing of 325, a map of the Pacific Ocean west of Fiji shows that the boat would be headed into open ocean and not toward any close land mass.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Desmond turning the “fail safe” key and the Hatch first exploding (with a solid steel door landing near the beach more than a mile away, and shaking the other side of the Island) then imploding into a large crater.
Locke returns to his commune past to build a sweat lodge to “talk” to the Island to find out what he needs to do now. The Island speaks through Boone, who is dead, who tells John that someone (Eko) is in danger and needs his immediate help.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 49:
MAN #1: It's us. I think we found it.
EP 50:
JULIET: Thank you, Ben.
EP 51:
BEN: That's home, Jack. Right there, on the other side of that glass. And if you listen to me -- if you trust me -- if you do what I tell you when the time comes -- I'll take you there. I will take you home.
EP 52:
CHARLIE: [looking at Desmond and back at Hurley] Okay. Well, when that wears off can you get bandages from the kitchen?
[Hurley continues staring as Desmond. The last shot we see is of Desmond looking out to sea -- worried and slightly crazed.]
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
What does it mean to SEE YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE?
The Hatch explosion/implosion should have killed a human being inside the blast crater. If one assumes that the 200 pound Hatch door was blown one mile to the beach camp in a minute (landing next to Claire and Bernard), the force needed to throw that door would be at least 17,600 foot pounds of force. A human neck can only withstand blunt force of 140 pounds. A human skull can withstand 1600-1900 pounds.
There are three ways in which to try to reconcile the Hatch explosion/implosion and the affect on the characters. One, the events on the island are wholly fantasy, with no relation to Earth physics or human endurance.
The inconsistency with how the implosion affected people inside the Hatch is a real story problem. Desmond winds up naked in jungle a day later. Charlie loses his hearing. Locke loses his voice. Eko apparently loses his consciousness. All of these injuries are inconsistent with the amount of force applied to their bodies as compared to physical objects such as hatch quarantine door. Hurley asks if Desmond has turned into a “Hulk,” a comic book character created by a mad experiment gone bad.
But there is another easy explanation. The first two seasons of LOST have all the components of a modern video game. In game play, you need a character with back stories. You need people or things to protect. You need territory to take or defend. You need spies, assassins, soldiers, weapons and missions. You need intel in order to form strategies. As we have said from the beginning, the key principle in LOST is “knowledge is power.” All the characters could be avatars in a complex multiplayer video game, with Desmond’s new “power” of flash forward visions, either a wild card upgrade or the fact the player is “farther” along at a different level than the other players. The flashbacks, with the repeat of characters in different places, could be assumed to be merely earlier versions of the current game, as developers often re-use characters in video game sequels.
The second is the concept of power and illusion of the mind. When Hurley talked in earlier episodes about transference, it could also relate to the concept of the show’s mental institution theories. When we talk about transference in the setting of a hospital mental institution, with its floors and “stations,” one could argue that there are similar pieces on the island. When you have institutional group sessions and group rooms, the island also has their own “groups.” If these groups have vivid fantasies, then they could create the island dynamic as it pits them against authority. Dave is Hurley’s alter-ego against such authority. When Dr. Brooks asks Hurley to make LISTs, that idea is transferred through to the Others who also demand “lists” or work off “lists of names.” The idea of the Numbers, lists, food - - neurotic triggers of Hurley's mind - - - being of importance and repeating on the Island is because those elements are repeated because Hurley’s subconscious continues to repeat them in his fantasy world. Ben is also obsessive about LISTs: to Ethan and Goodwin after the plane crash, to Michael to bring back the four people to exchange for his son.
This leads to the continuing possibility that the big premise of Lost is contained in Hurley’s dream world. Dave’s explanation to Hurley that all of this is in his mind is the most detailed character driven rationale in the entire series. Where else can the surreal nature of the smoke monsters, polar bears in the jungle, whispers in the brush, and hostile natives all function except in the vivid fantasy world in someone’s creative mind. People have said that their night visions are so “real” that they wake up in a panic, thinking the events are happening to them in real time. What if they are so real, a catatonic patient cannot wake up from his nightmares? Dave’s solution is that you need to kill yourself in your nightmare in order to wake up in the real world.
Hurley choses to continue his fantasy over a chance at getting back at reality. If you believe that the flashbacks are “real,” then Hurley would have known about Libby at the mental institution: they shared the same day room. Her photograph would have been on the bulletin board. She was only a few feet away from him when Leonard is playing Connect Four. Hurley’s memories of people we know he saw or who he could have saw if it is a criminal mental institution create all of his Island “characters.” That makes sense on all the backstory “coincidences” of the Island characters, such as Desmond telling Jack at the stadium, “see you in another life,” just as Dave tells Hurley he will “see him in another life.” How would Hurley know Desmond’s line to Jack unless Hurley himself had a memory or subconscious use of it.
Hurley has an opportunity to end his mental trap, but some part of him does not want to deal with reality. In his reality, he blames himself for the death of two people in a deck collapse, because of his weight. But what if that guilt haunts him after his own death?
There are more references to other characters having mental problems, mental meltdowns or “losing their grip” on reality like Jack going through his divorce and fighting his father at an AA meeting, to Jin “losing his grip” when told to do his father-in-law’s killing. In fact, all of the characters in LOST have the ability to become violent killers. Even lovesick Desmond, kills Kelvin in a rage over keeping his repaired sailboat a secret. The repression of past harm could be re-tested in the environment of the Island, either as a metaphor for a hospital treatment, or as judgment of a person’s soul.
Third, that the events of the Island is in the realm of the afterlife. In an Albert Brooks movie tangent, the idea that Hurley was in an accident that killed two people, one of those people may have been himself. Like in Defending Your Life, a dead Hurley boards a plane to the afterlife with fellow souls, except for some reason, these people don’t believe they are dead. The plane crash was a fiction for these lost souls to work out their sins, issues and character flaws in order to pass on to the next level of existence.
There is also a reference to the Brooks movie when Juliet has a large file in front of her when she is talking to Jack. She tells him “this is your life.” She says knows everything about him, much like the angel defender does with Albert Brooks’ character.
These episodes dynamically reinforce the three theories about game play, mental illness, and the afterlife, creating a spiritual fantasy world that the characters are trying to get through, via quests, religious ritual or missions of survival. It seems that some characters must reach their personal “rock bottom” in order to change, in order to be saved.
Any form of dream or non-Earth state could explain away all of the inconsistencies, continuity, legal errors, medical errors and supernatural elements of the show. For in a dream you can do anything you want, including reviving the dead.
What does it mean to SEE YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE? It can mean see you at the next game level, see you in the next dream, or see you in the afterlife.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
REBOOT EPISODES 45-48
POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 45-48 (Days 63-66)
The second season begins to wind down with the build up of the confrontation with the Others.
Michael reveals secrets about the Others' camp to the survivors; Hurley and Libby plan their first date. When Ana is attacked by Ben, she begins to contemplate taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Michael is reunited with his friends and tells them he wants to go back for Walt, which Ben said the Others would never give up. Michael takes matters into his own hands, and as a result he shoots Ana and Libby.
After Eko experiences unusual dreams, he asks Locke to take him to the “?” from the blast door map. They go out and find the Pearl Station. Michael must maintain his cool as he watches Libby die slowly. In the Hatch, the rest of the survivors must come to terms with what just transpired and try to ease the suffering of a mortally wounded Libby.
As the survivors mourn the losses Ana and Libby, Michael continues to badger the 815ers to launch a rescue mission for Walt, an assault against the Others who are to blame for their current situation. Michael convinces Hurley, Jack, Kate and Sawyer to ambush the Others.
Events come to a head as Michael leads his friends across the Island to confront the Others. Meanwhile, Desmond returns to the Island on his sailboat, and he and Locke make a decision to see what happens if the Hatch countdown timer goes beyond zero.
Michael’s ambush party is seen by the Others; Michael is confronted by Jack. Sayid, Jin and Sun use Desmond’s boat to counterattack and to meet up Jack's crew. Locke and Desmond trick Eko from leaving the station during a Lockdown, in order to test whether something happens if one does not press the Hatch button.
Science:
Brain washing is a technique to make people do something against their natural will.
Scientific studies began in the 1950s including the spheres of cults, marketing, influence, thought reform, torture and reeducation.
The neurological basis for reasoning and cognition in the brain, and brings the point across that the self is changeable. The physiology behind neurological pathways which include webs of neurons containing dendrites, axons and synapses; and this explains that certain brains with more rigid pathways will be less susceptible to new information or creative stimuli. Neurological science to show that brainwashed individuals have more rigid pathways, and that rigidity can make it unlikely that the individual will rethink situations or be able to later reorganize these pathways.
Certain techniques in influencing and brainwashing others, including a restriction of individual freedoms, deception, and methods that conflict with one's decision-making processes. the techniques used by cults to influence others are similar to those used by other social groups, and compares similar totalitarian aspects of cults and communist societies. These techniques include isolating the individual and controlling their access to information, challenging their belief structure and creating doubt, and repeating messages in a pressurized environment. cults emphasize positive aspects of the group over negative aspects of outsiders, endlessly repeat simple ideas in "highly reductive, definitive - sounding phrases", and refer to "abstract and ambiguous" ideas associated with "huge emotional baggage” according to neuroscientist Kathleen Taylor.
Improbabilities:
Inman, the American soldier in Iraq with Sayid, is now pushing button in Hatch with Desmond.
In the 13 day Island flashback, why would Jack and/or Locke trust anything Michael would say after Michael knocked out Locke and pulled a gun on Jack in the Hatch? Michael’s violence against his friends under the guise of finding his son would get more paranoid after his return when he wants to organize a small ambush party that Jack agrees Michael has a right to lead.
Mysteries:
How can Ben and the Others leave the Island, and Desmond in his boat could not?
Is the vaccine actually the sickness or merely another fake element to get people to do something that does not matter?
What is the four toe foot statue base represent? We will learn that it is the remains of the statue of Tawaret, an ancient Egyptian god of fertility and death.
Themes:
Life and Death. There is a fine line between life and death. To what ends will a father do to save the life of his son? Is it rational for Michael to murder two people under the anger that his group is not helping him enough to find his son? At this point in the story, it is the plane survivors who act more like savages - - - killing three others and a few of their own people by gross negligence. But later on, we will be told that pales in comparison with Ben’s purge of Dharma.
Missions and Quests. The main characters are often viewed, from even within the secondary characters, as going off into the jungle on dangerous missions. Those roles are similar to those of characters in massive on-line games like Worlds of Warcraft.
Clues:
When Desmond returns on his sailboat, which floated back to the Island, he states "we are stuck in a bloody snow globe! There's no outside world, there's no escape."
Desmond finally asks Jack if they are "still pushing" to which Jack replies with a smile, "Yeah, we're still pushing it." Locke later remarks that the “world’s still here,” for which Desmond responds “not so sure.”
Ben tells Ana, “you are the killers!” And when confronted with his lies, Ben knows his fate with the survivors or his own group by saying “I’m dead anyway.”
Desmond won’t read Dickens “Our Mutual Friend” until just before his death; but his copy is tattered and worn like it has been read a lot.
When Michael asks Eko if he is a priest, Michael says next that he must believe in Hell.
Eko tells the story of a boy who kills a dog to protect his sister. The boy wonders if he can go to heaven for his action, and Eko tells him he will be forgiven so long as he is sorry. But the boy is still afraid that he will to Hell and find the dog waiting there for him.
Eko pieces together the impossible facts to conclude the Island is a magical place because his brother’s plane crashes halfway around the world, his plane crashes in the same place, and that he and John have vivid dreams of his brother telling them what to do.
Eko sees the vision of bleeding/dead Ana, who tells Eko to help Jack, and to help Locke find the question mark.
Discussion:
“ Business demands faith, compels earnestness, requires courage, is honestly selfish, is penalized for mistakes, and is the essence of life. ”
— William Feather
“Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.”
--- Laurence J. Peter
“Love must not touch the marrow of the soul. Our affections must be breakable chains that we can cast them off or tighten them.”
---- Louise Erdrich
As the second season winds down, there was a huge event that should have answered several burning questions about the Island and the Hatch. When Desmond returns, he tells the survivors that they are never going back to their old life; that there is no escape from the Island. Desmond then begins to drink himself to death.
The other element of these episodes is Michael’s dissent into his personal hell. His incompetence as a father transforms him into an incompetent killer. He compounds his mistakes by blaming Ben for the shootings, and covers up the truth while his friends watch innocent Libby die. As a result of his misguided love for his son, Michael will forever chain his soul to the Island seeking answers to his misery, as a trapped whisper in the jungle, which in some respects is his purgatory.
We also begin to get clear understanding of the fears and motivations of the characters.
We also see continuing repetition of themes and situations between characters.
Christian and Ana “run away” from their problems to go to Australia much in the same way that Kate is running away from her past decisions. We see characters like Desmond having to prove himself but fails just like Hurley believes he failed Libby on his organization of their first date.
Desmond is called a coward by Widmore. In order to restore his honor, he decides to win a round the world boat race sponsored by Widmore in order to win Penny back. How that makes any sense when Penny is engaged to another man, and upset with Dez for not writing her while he was “away.” (It is noteworthy that she does not acknowledge his “prison,” but uses the word “away” which has one meaning of “to go toward nonexistence.”) So Desmond’s fate is to do something incredibly brave in order to restore his honor so he can reconnect with his love, Penny. As in the Wizard of Oz, courage can only be obtained by the tests along the way to the end.
We see Michael as a father who allowed his son to be adopted and taken away by another person be racked by guilt of his selfish decision to compound his mistakes in order to get Walt back. Michael’s incompetence continues in his role as a murderer, because he could not do that right when he shot Libby, who suffered an agonizing death in front of her friends.
Charlie has his own personal demon, drugs. It tears a part his personal relationships. It leaves him alone; he fears being alone. So in order to restore his friendship with Claire, he must break free from the hold that drugs has on his soul. He does so when Vincent shows him Sawyer’s stash. Charlie throws all the statues out to sea. Later, at the funeral of Ana and Libby, Claire holds his hand, re-connecting their bond.
Bonds appear to be an important element of Island survival. Sawyer admits to Jack that Jack is the closest thing he has to a friend. Friendship could be equated to Faraday’s concept of having “a Constant” to keep you mind frying during the time travel elements of the future story arc. The bonds of friendship are important facets of human life, of social order and social behavior. When Jack repeats his mantra, “Live Together, Die Alone,” he means that their group bonds are more important than self-centered, selfish goals. We will find that those who go it alone, such as Michael, will wind up with damnation as a trapped island whisper, believed to be a lost soul that has not or cannot be redeemed.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Desmond sailing “due west” for three weeks and not finding Fiji, but the only land is his return to the Island, which he considers “a large snow globe.”
Dead people showing up on the island, like Eko’s brother and Ana, telling Eko what to do next. Spirits are guiding individuals along the path of Island existence, in the same way one could say angels may guide souls through the after life.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 45:
LIBBY: [appearing] Michael?!
[Michael, surprised, turns and shoots her twice. He opens the armory door. He and Gale stare at each other for a long moment. Michael shoots himself in the arm.]
EP 46:
JACK: Michael. He's okay. He made it, Libby. It's okay. It's alright.
[Libby gasps for air and dies. Jack closes her eyelids. Hurley cries. Kate cries and Sawyer comforts her. We hear the timer alarm start sounding. We see Eko and Locke walking through the jungle. We see Michael standing by himself in the armory. We see a close up of the prompt at the computer monitor.]
EP 47:
SUN: Boat. Boat!
[We see a sailboat coming in to shore.]
EP 48:
SAYID: We’re here.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
If one looks to what is actually said within the show as the answers and theories to the Island mysteries, this is what we have so far:
1. Dave’s explanation to Hurley that Hurley is still in the hospital, in a catatonic state, and that he has created all these characters and events in his own mind.
2. Desmond believes that they are no longer in “their world” after sailing for three weeks in a “bloody snow globe.” The concept as the Island in a different dimension or realm is a compelling premise, even if the characters survived the plane crash and transported to a spirit world interacting with dead souls seeking redemption.
3. Sawyer believes satirically that the Others are aliens. This would infer that the survivors are alien abductees on a ship or other planet as test subjects, like the Star Trek episode The Cage.
4. Many characters have referenced the Island being Hell or the after life. Rose and Locke acknowledge their secret “miracles” after the plane crash, a crash a normal person would not have survived. Radinzky, Inman’s partner in the Hatch, puts on the blast door map reference to Cerberus, the guardian dogs of Hell. Through Michael’s guilt and cover up, he references a belief in Hell to Eko.
5. That the survivors are unfortunate castaways who have landed on a crazy island controlled by dangerous psychopaths who have built several scientific stations to monitor and test human behavior in a series of cruel lies.
6. Likewise, there is evidence that the inhabitants of the Island all have mental illness symptoms or traits, including parenting and social issues, criminal behavior and paranoia. The Island may be a symbolic view point of insane people receiving treatment in a mental institution in order to “change” their behavior. The ability to “change” one’s path is an important element in each person’s back story. When Ben yells at Ana that her group “are the killers,” there could be truth in that statement that everyone on the island is criminally insane, and being treated in an unconventional manner as part of their sentence on an isolated penal colony. All the 815ers came from Australia, which began its existence as a penal colony.
7. After Walt is captured and sees Michael briefly, he warns him that it is all “pretend.” The Others are pretending to be a band of shoddy hillbillies. But it is a lie. But to pretend in a child’s world is to dream and act out adventure stories with other children. The idea that there are no children around could infer that the children are present, but in the form of adults, acting out their own interconnected dramas. This could all be as simple as a game of pretend. It could be an on-line game, it could be a virtual world, or it could be a fantasy dream of a “special” child. Any form of dream state could explain away all of the inconsistencies, continuity, legal errors, medical errors and supernatural elements of the show. For in a dream you can do anything you want, including reviving the dead.
These episodes dynamically reinforce the science that mind control is at the heart of the Island characters survival. Is it about mental illness in a person(s) that creates a fantasy world that the characters are trying to get through, via quests, religious ritual or missions of survival? Or is characters in a hospital setting getting treatment from real doctors for whom the patients turn into villains? The whole idea that Dharma, the Others, Widmore or any other group is using brain washing techniques to “change” a person’s behavior or beliefs is compelling when viewed from the point of the last eight episodes. Ben and Klug use spies, interviews, and data collection of the survivors, including capturing subjects, isolating individuals from their group, controlling their access to information, challenging their belief structure; creating doubt, and repeating messages in a pressurized environment of confinement or supernatural dangers. It seems that the Island structures are all available means to re-train a person’s mind or brain wash them to change. It seems that some characters must reach their personal “rock bottom” in order to change, and in turn, in order to be saved from their personal demons.
Example, when Klug is interviewing Michael in the Other’s camp, she is asking questions like a physician would to a new patient. She gives Michael a list of names, similar to what Dr. Brooks did with Hurley at the mental institution. When Walt is given three minutes with Michael, Klug threatens Walt with “the room,” which is Room 23 at a station that was used by Dharma and the Others for brain washing individuals. But Walt warns Michael that “this is all PRETEND!!” The whole scene leaves Michael an emotional wreck, willing to do anything asked of him to get his son back, including murder. The question is whether Klug is helping Michael “change” his maniac personality disorder, re-channel his emotional guilt of not being a good father to his son, or feeding Michael’s fragile emotional state to act on impulses of pure evil.
LOST REBOOT
Recap: Episodes 45-48 (Days 63-66)
The second season begins to wind down with the build up of the confrontation with the Others.
Michael reveals secrets about the Others' camp to the survivors; Hurley and Libby plan their first date. When Ana is attacked by Ben, she begins to contemplate taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Michael is reunited with his friends and tells them he wants to go back for Walt, which Ben said the Others would never give up. Michael takes matters into his own hands, and as a result he shoots Ana and Libby.
After Eko experiences unusual dreams, he asks Locke to take him to the “?” from the blast door map. They go out and find the Pearl Station. Michael must maintain his cool as he watches Libby die slowly. In the Hatch, the rest of the survivors must come to terms with what just transpired and try to ease the suffering of a mortally wounded Libby.
As the survivors mourn the losses Ana and Libby, Michael continues to badger the 815ers to launch a rescue mission for Walt, an assault against the Others who are to blame for their current situation. Michael convinces Hurley, Jack, Kate and Sawyer to ambush the Others.
Events come to a head as Michael leads his friends across the Island to confront the Others. Meanwhile, Desmond returns to the Island on his sailboat, and he and Locke make a decision to see what happens if the Hatch countdown timer goes beyond zero.
Michael’s ambush party is seen by the Others; Michael is confronted by Jack. Sayid, Jin and Sun use Desmond’s boat to counterattack and to meet up Jack's crew. Locke and Desmond trick Eko from leaving the station during a Lockdown, in order to test whether something happens if one does not press the Hatch button.
Science:
Brain washing is a technique to make people do something against their natural will.
Scientific studies began in the 1950s including the spheres of cults, marketing, influence, thought reform, torture and reeducation.
The neurological basis for reasoning and cognition in the brain, and brings the point across that the self is changeable. The physiology behind neurological pathways which include webs of neurons containing dendrites, axons and synapses; and this explains that certain brains with more rigid pathways will be less susceptible to new information or creative stimuli. Neurological science to show that brainwashed individuals have more rigid pathways, and that rigidity can make it unlikely that the individual will rethink situations or be able to later reorganize these pathways.
Certain techniques in influencing and brainwashing others, including a restriction of individual freedoms, deception, and methods that conflict with one's decision-making processes. the techniques used by cults to influence others are similar to those used by other social groups, and compares similar totalitarian aspects of cults and communist societies. These techniques include isolating the individual and controlling their access to information, challenging their belief structure and creating doubt, and repeating messages in a pressurized environment. cults emphasize positive aspects of the group over negative aspects of outsiders, endlessly repeat simple ideas in "highly reductive, definitive - sounding phrases", and refer to "abstract and ambiguous" ideas associated with "huge emotional baggage” according to neuroscientist Kathleen Taylor.
Improbabilities:
Inman, the American soldier in Iraq with Sayid, is now pushing button in Hatch with Desmond.
In the 13 day Island flashback, why would Jack and/or Locke trust anything Michael would say after Michael knocked out Locke and pulled a gun on Jack in the Hatch? Michael’s violence against his friends under the guise of finding his son would get more paranoid after his return when he wants to organize a small ambush party that Jack agrees Michael has a right to lead.
Mysteries:
How can Ben and the Others leave the Island, and Desmond in his boat could not?
Is the vaccine actually the sickness or merely another fake element to get people to do something that does not matter?
What is the four toe foot statue base represent? We will learn that it is the remains of the statue of Tawaret, an ancient Egyptian god of fertility and death.
Themes:
Life and Death. There is a fine line between life and death. To what ends will a father do to save the life of his son? Is it rational for Michael to murder two people under the anger that his group is not helping him enough to find his son? At this point in the story, it is the plane survivors who act more like savages - - - killing three others and a few of their own people by gross negligence. But later on, we will be told that pales in comparison with Ben’s purge of Dharma.
Missions and Quests. The main characters are often viewed, from even within the secondary characters, as going off into the jungle on dangerous missions. Those roles are similar to those of characters in massive on-line games like Worlds of Warcraft.
Clues:
When Desmond returns on his sailboat, which floated back to the Island, he states "we are stuck in a bloody snow globe! There's no outside world, there's no escape."
Desmond finally asks Jack if they are "still pushing" to which Jack replies with a smile, "Yeah, we're still pushing it." Locke later remarks that the “world’s still here,” for which Desmond responds “not so sure.”
Ben tells Ana, “you are the killers!” And when confronted with his lies, Ben knows his fate with the survivors or his own group by saying “I’m dead anyway.”
Desmond won’t read Dickens “Our Mutual Friend” until just before his death; but his copy is tattered and worn like it has been read a lot.
When Michael asks Eko if he is a priest, Michael says next that he must believe in Hell.
Eko tells the story of a boy who kills a dog to protect his sister. The boy wonders if he can go to heaven for his action, and Eko tells him he will be forgiven so long as he is sorry. But the boy is still afraid that he will to Hell and find the dog waiting there for him.
Eko pieces together the impossible facts to conclude the Island is a magical place because his brother’s plane crashes halfway around the world, his plane crashes in the same place, and that he and John have vivid dreams of his brother telling them what to do.
Eko sees the vision of bleeding/dead Ana, who tells Eko to help Jack, and to help Locke find the question mark.
Discussion:
“ Business demands faith, compels earnestness, requires courage, is honestly selfish, is penalized for mistakes, and is the essence of life. ”
— William Feather
“Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.”
--- Laurence J. Peter
“Love must not touch the marrow of the soul. Our affections must be breakable chains that we can cast them off or tighten them.”
---- Louise Erdrich
As the second season winds down, there was a huge event that should have answered several burning questions about the Island and the Hatch. When Desmond returns, he tells the survivors that they are never going back to their old life; that there is no escape from the Island. Desmond then begins to drink himself to death.
The other element of these episodes is Michael’s dissent into his personal hell. His incompetence as a father transforms him into an incompetent killer. He compounds his mistakes by blaming Ben for the shootings, and covers up the truth while his friends watch innocent Libby die. As a result of his misguided love for his son, Michael will forever chain his soul to the Island seeking answers to his misery, as a trapped whisper in the jungle, which in some respects is his purgatory.
We also begin to get clear understanding of the fears and motivations of the characters.
We also see continuing repetition of themes and situations between characters.
Christian and Ana “run away” from their problems to go to Australia much in the same way that Kate is running away from her past decisions. We see characters like Desmond having to prove himself but fails just like Hurley believes he failed Libby on his organization of their first date.
Desmond is called a coward by Widmore. In order to restore his honor, he decides to win a round the world boat race sponsored by Widmore in order to win Penny back. How that makes any sense when Penny is engaged to another man, and upset with Dez for not writing her while he was “away.” (It is noteworthy that she does not acknowledge his “prison,” but uses the word “away” which has one meaning of “to go toward nonexistence.”) So Desmond’s fate is to do something incredibly brave in order to restore his honor so he can reconnect with his love, Penny. As in the Wizard of Oz, courage can only be obtained by the tests along the way to the end.
We see Michael as a father who allowed his son to be adopted and taken away by another person be racked by guilt of his selfish decision to compound his mistakes in order to get Walt back. Michael’s incompetence continues in his role as a murderer, because he could not do that right when he shot Libby, who suffered an agonizing death in front of her friends.
Charlie has his own personal demon, drugs. It tears a part his personal relationships. It leaves him alone; he fears being alone. So in order to restore his friendship with Claire, he must break free from the hold that drugs has on his soul. He does so when Vincent shows him Sawyer’s stash. Charlie throws all the statues out to sea. Later, at the funeral of Ana and Libby, Claire holds his hand, re-connecting their bond.
Bonds appear to be an important element of Island survival. Sawyer admits to Jack that Jack is the closest thing he has to a friend. Friendship could be equated to Faraday’s concept of having “a Constant” to keep you mind frying during the time travel elements of the future story arc. The bonds of friendship are important facets of human life, of social order and social behavior. When Jack repeats his mantra, “Live Together, Die Alone,” he means that their group bonds are more important than self-centered, selfish goals. We will find that those who go it alone, such as Michael, will wind up with damnation as a trapped island whisper, believed to be a lost soul that has not or cannot be redeemed.
Magical/Supernatural/Elements:
Desmond sailing “due west” for three weeks and not finding Fiji, but the only land is his return to the Island, which he considers “a large snow globe.”
Dead people showing up on the island, like Eko’s brother and Ana, telling Eko what to do next. Spirits are guiding individuals along the path of Island existence, in the same way one could say angels may guide souls through the after life.
Last lines in episodes:
EP 45:
LIBBY: [appearing] Michael?!
[Michael, surprised, turns and shoots her twice. He opens the armory door. He and Gale stare at each other for a long moment. Michael shoots himself in the arm.]
EP 46:
JACK: Michael. He's okay. He made it, Libby. It's okay. It's alright.
[Libby gasps for air and dies. Jack closes her eyelids. Hurley cries. Kate cries and Sawyer comforts her. We hear the timer alarm start sounding. We see Eko and Locke walking through the jungle. We see Michael standing by himself in the armory. We see a close up of the prompt at the computer monitor.]
EP 47:
SUN: Boat. Boat!
[We see a sailboat coming in to shore.]
EP 48:
SAYID: We’re here.
New Ideas/Tests of Theories:
If one looks to what is actually said within the show as the answers and theories to the Island mysteries, this is what we have so far:
1. Dave’s explanation to Hurley that Hurley is still in the hospital, in a catatonic state, and that he has created all these characters and events in his own mind.
2. Desmond believes that they are no longer in “their world” after sailing for three weeks in a “bloody snow globe.” The concept as the Island in a different dimension or realm is a compelling premise, even if the characters survived the plane crash and transported to a spirit world interacting with dead souls seeking redemption.
3. Sawyer believes satirically that the Others are aliens. This would infer that the survivors are alien abductees on a ship or other planet as test subjects, like the Star Trek episode The Cage.
4. Many characters have referenced the Island being Hell or the after life. Rose and Locke acknowledge their secret “miracles” after the plane crash, a crash a normal person would not have survived. Radinzky, Inman’s partner in the Hatch, puts on the blast door map reference to Cerberus, the guardian dogs of Hell. Through Michael’s guilt and cover up, he references a belief in Hell to Eko.
5. That the survivors are unfortunate castaways who have landed on a crazy island controlled by dangerous psychopaths who have built several scientific stations to monitor and test human behavior in a series of cruel lies.
6. Likewise, there is evidence that the inhabitants of the Island all have mental illness symptoms or traits, including parenting and social issues, criminal behavior and paranoia. The Island may be a symbolic view point of insane people receiving treatment in a mental institution in order to “change” their behavior. The ability to “change” one’s path is an important element in each person’s back story. When Ben yells at Ana that her group “are the killers,” there could be truth in that statement that everyone on the island is criminally insane, and being treated in an unconventional manner as part of their sentence on an isolated penal colony. All the 815ers came from Australia, which began its existence as a penal colony.
7. After Walt is captured and sees Michael briefly, he warns him that it is all “pretend.” The Others are pretending to be a band of shoddy hillbillies. But it is a lie. But to pretend in a child’s world is to dream and act out adventure stories with other children. The idea that there are no children around could infer that the children are present, but in the form of adults, acting out their own interconnected dramas. This could all be as simple as a game of pretend. It could be an on-line game, it could be a virtual world, or it could be a fantasy dream of a “special” child. Any form of dream state could explain away all of the inconsistencies, continuity, legal errors, medical errors and supernatural elements of the show. For in a dream you can do anything you want, including reviving the dead.
These episodes dynamically reinforce the science that mind control is at the heart of the Island characters survival. Is it about mental illness in a person(s) that creates a fantasy world that the characters are trying to get through, via quests, religious ritual or missions of survival? Or is characters in a hospital setting getting treatment from real doctors for whom the patients turn into villains? The whole idea that Dharma, the Others, Widmore or any other group is using brain washing techniques to “change” a person’s behavior or beliefs is compelling when viewed from the point of the last eight episodes. Ben and Klug use spies, interviews, and data collection of the survivors, including capturing subjects, isolating individuals from their group, controlling their access to information, challenging their belief structure; creating doubt, and repeating messages in a pressurized environment of confinement or supernatural dangers. It seems that the Island structures are all available means to re-train a person’s mind or brain wash them to change. It seems that some characters must reach their personal “rock bottom” in order to change, and in turn, in order to be saved from their personal demons.
Example, when Klug is interviewing Michael in the Other’s camp, she is asking questions like a physician would to a new patient. She gives Michael a list of names, similar to what Dr. Brooks did with Hurley at the mental institution. When Walt is given three minutes with Michael, Klug threatens Walt with “the room,” which is Room 23 at a station that was used by Dharma and the Others for brain washing individuals. But Walt warns Michael that “this is all PRETEND!!” The whole scene leaves Michael an emotional wreck, willing to do anything asked of him to get his son back, including murder. The question is whether Klug is helping Michael “change” his maniac personality disorder, re-channel his emotional guilt of not being a good father to his son, or feeding Michael’s fragile emotional state to act on impulses of pure evil.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
LOST IN A PLANE CRASH
It is not a LOST re-creation, but the Discovery Channel has filmed a plane crash from inside the cabin to determine what really happens to the passengers. It is one of the debatable elements of the pilot episode of LOST: whether anyone could have survived a high altitude plane crash.
According to the New York Post, the Discovery Channel crashed a huge 727 airplane, with test-dummy “passengers,” into the Mexican desert — "giving viewers a stomach-churning look at what happens inside this hellish scenario."
The successful test, the first of its kind in nearly 30 years, airs Sunday, October 7, 2012, on Discovery’s “Curiosity” series.
The purpose of the show was to answer several questions, including which part of the plane is the safest in which to sit, how someone should sit in the event of a crash (to brace or not to brace?) and whether people can safely evacuate a cabin that’s been severely compromised in a crash of this magnitude.
The crash-test
dummies, along with about two dozen cameras, were placed in various
parts of the airplane’s passenger section for the crash — which was
theoretically “survivable” and was filmed last April in Laguna Salada,
Mexico, about 20 miles southwest of Mexicali.
The newspaper reports that professor of bio-mechanics, Dr. Cindy Bir and survivability expert Dr. Tom Barth, who works for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), were involved in the project for the four years it took to (literally) get off the ground.
“This was a truly amazing data set and something that’s never been done before,” says Bir. “To actually have a full-size plane and all those dummies collecting data . . . it looks like we’re going to walk away with one or two research papers.
“We saw a little bit of everything,” she says of the post-impact crash scene. “We had dummies in two different zones — ‘braced’ versus ‘unbraced’ — and got a good picture of what happened [to them] upon impact.
“We’ll be analyzing the data for a while,” she says. “All I’ll say is that there are some sections [of the plane] that don’t do as well as others.”
According to the New York Post, the Discovery Channel crashed a huge 727 airplane, with test-dummy “passengers,” into the Mexican desert — "giving viewers a stomach-churning look at what happens inside this hellish scenario."
The successful test, the first of its kind in nearly 30 years, airs Sunday, October 7, 2012, on Discovery’s “Curiosity” series.
The purpose of the show was to answer several questions, including which part of the plane is the safest in which to sit, how someone should sit in the event of a crash (to brace or not to brace?) and whether people can safely evacuate a cabin that’s been severely compromised in a crash of this magnitude.
The newspaper reports that professor of bio-mechanics, Dr. Cindy Bir and survivability expert Dr. Tom Barth, who works for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), were involved in the project for the four years it took to (literally) get off the ground.
“This was a truly amazing data set and something that’s never been done before,” says Bir. “To actually have a full-size plane and all those dummies collecting data . . . it looks like we’re going to walk away with one or two research papers.
“We saw a little bit of everything,” she says of the post-impact crash scene. “We had dummies in two different zones — ‘braced’ versus ‘unbraced’ — and got a good picture of what happened [to them] upon impact.
“We’ll be analyzing the data for a while,” she says. “All I’ll say is that there are some sections [of the plane] that don’t do as well as others.”
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