THE SKY IS FALLING
Hope flickers when a small plane flies over the island- but moments later it bursts into flames. Before it crashes into a mountainside, a SINGLE PARACHUTER leaps from the plane. Despite vast distance and impending nightfall, a rescue party immediately organizes, but what they find when they reach this new visitor is the last thing anyone expects.
In these final ideas, a very strong theme of "hope" emerges as a means of churning the rollercoaster of emotions for the survivors. In the actual series, hope faded quickly after two weeks on the island.When Jack made his speech to live together or die alone, it was pretty much settled that the idea of rescue was fruitless (even though Michael would build at raft and try to leave). The small plane may have been a means to introduce a new character (or a "rare" guest star) that would cause the group to take sides or distrust one another. The guide does not state who this parachuter would have been or why he crashed on the island. This idea does house the multi-season run of group "missions" through the jungle where anyone who wanted to go do something, did. The question asked in this story line is what was the last person the group would expect to jump out of a plane? But the story does not say it is even a person! "This new visitor is the last thing anyone expects." It could have been many things that were later tied to the Beechcraft: the parachuter could have been the priest, Yemi, who would have suddenly tried to impose religious morality on the group. Or it could have been Eko, a drug dealer, who could have corrupted addicts like Charlie into his fold of new island criminal gang. Or it could have been an animal - - - like another polar bear! If the series was going to go weird, that would have been major league weird. The parachute drop feature was used in the actual series with Naomi's arrival, where she told the group that everyone on Flight 815 was dead. Maybe fans saw that episode, DOA, as confirmation that the major series premise was that the characters were in some sort of hell or after life limbo. But this story idea or the guide does not make reference to any change in reality or realms as being the location of the island.
BLACK BOX
The castaways find the FLIGHT DATA RECORDER from the cockpit. After undergoing a massive technological journey just to listen to it, what they ultimately redefines everything they thought they knew about what caused the crash.
Now, one will have to suspend most facets of belief that the castaways could actually get information from a flight recorder. After finding the black boxes, investigators take the recorders to a lab where they can download the data from the recorders and attempt to recreate the events of the accident. This process can take weeks or months to complete. In the United States, black-box manufacturers supply the NTSB with the readout systems and software needed to do a full analysis of the recorders' stored data. If the FDR is not damaged, investigators can simply play it back on the recorder by connecting it to a readout system. With solid-state recorders, investigators can extract stored data in a matter of minutes. Very often, recorders retrieved from wreckage are dented or burned. In these cases, the memory boards are removed, cleaned up and a new memory interface cable is installed. Then the memory board is connected to a working recorder. This recorder has special software to facilitate the retrieval of data without the possibility of overwriting any of it. So in reality, it would be nearly impossible for the castaways to retrieve any flight recorder data because the airplane does not contain the the readout systems or software necessary to retrieve the data. How the castaways would have "massive" technology journey (no one was viewed as an expert in the field) and since they may not have found the underground bunker system, would make this story line implausible and unbelievable. It would have detracted from the show. Further, the pilot told them that they were off course due to an electromagnetic issue. Unless the FDR information shows location coordinates in outer space, or under the ocean surface, what would drastically change the survivors perception of where they are? Lastly, the black box was used in the series as a prop in a con on Widmore's boat to give the survivors false hope. Again, it is not possible that a private party would have in its possession the black boxes from an airline crash.
THE SUB
The shores of the island yield yet another mystery when a body dressed in an unidentifiable military uniform washes up on the beach near the fuselage. The gruesome discovery turns into a new hope for the castaways, who spot a SUBMARINE run aground on the barrier reef. Realizing the sub represents potential salvation, a group of our survivors cross the treacherous reef to find that it is not quite abandoned...
The submarine as a vehicle was used in the series, as a Dharma transportation vehicle, and the last minute escape plan by the remaining 815 survivors at the end of Season 6. And the image of a washed up person on shore was used in the freighter arc to show the time distortion from the boat to the island. But this submarine plot is more straight forward. The idea of a grounded submarine with new people on board (military perhaps) adds to the confusion and danger the castaways have to meet head on. Unidentifiable uniforms could hark to the future - - - that the submarine somehow time traveled back to the island. Or it could mean that the survivors are actually in a different dimension, a parallel universe, after their plane went through an electromagnetic portal. Or, this could be a fuller introduction to the Others, not being the wild inhabitants of the island, but a military order. Again, this story line pushes the group into "action," as a means of maintaining their hope for "salvation." But this story line was never used in the series.
HURRICANE
No longer able to agree about the simplest of things, our group is on the verge of splitting into two when dark clouds appear miles off the coast. It soon becomes clear that a massive hurricane is heading their way, threatening not only the makeshift settlement they've worked so hard to build, but their very lives...
This is probably the most realistic story line in the guide. The fierce aspect of nature causes the group to react to a threat that is totally beyond their control. It puts life and death front and center. It defuses hope if their settlement and its coveted resources are destroyed. This panic situation would have created the drama the guide promised to the network. But it was never used in the series. Instead, a weaker version of the group "split" occurs in haphazard fashion. Locke tries to break the group along ideological lines. Later, Flocke (MIB) divides all the groups into followers and enemies. But most of the 815 camp splits are issue to issue, with characters changing sides all the time. There is no cohesive structure of camp life that actually brings about a true "split." The community on the beach turns more sheepish than proactive. There is no formal structure to their routine. No one wants to build a long term community, yet they have lost all hope for rescue. One could consider this mass depression or surrendering to fate. But the original guide had the group being more assertive, hopeful, and taking action to change their situation.
Besides the black box story idea, the other three concepts would have made good shows. And each one of those mysteries or events could have been concluded in an hour format.
Hope flickers when a small plane flies over the island- but moments later it bursts into flames. Before it crashes into a mountainside, a SINGLE PARACHUTER leaps from the plane. Despite vast distance and impending nightfall, a rescue party immediately organizes, but what they find when they reach this new visitor is the last thing anyone expects.
In these final ideas, a very strong theme of "hope" emerges as a means of churning the rollercoaster of emotions for the survivors. In the actual series, hope faded quickly after two weeks on the island.When Jack made his speech to live together or die alone, it was pretty much settled that the idea of rescue was fruitless (even though Michael would build at raft and try to leave). The small plane may have been a means to introduce a new character (or a "rare" guest star) that would cause the group to take sides or distrust one another. The guide does not state who this parachuter would have been or why he crashed on the island. This idea does house the multi-season run of group "missions" through the jungle where anyone who wanted to go do something, did. The question asked in this story line is what was the last person the group would expect to jump out of a plane? But the story does not say it is even a person! "This new visitor is the last thing anyone expects." It could have been many things that were later tied to the Beechcraft: the parachuter could have been the priest, Yemi, who would have suddenly tried to impose religious morality on the group. Or it could have been Eko, a drug dealer, who could have corrupted addicts like Charlie into his fold of new island criminal gang. Or it could have been an animal - - - like another polar bear! If the series was going to go weird, that would have been major league weird. The parachute drop feature was used in the actual series with Naomi's arrival, where she told the group that everyone on Flight 815 was dead. Maybe fans saw that episode, DOA, as confirmation that the major series premise was that the characters were in some sort of hell or after life limbo. But this story idea or the guide does not make reference to any change in reality or realms as being the location of the island.
BLACK BOX
The castaways find the FLIGHT DATA RECORDER from the cockpit. After undergoing a massive technological journey just to listen to it, what they ultimately redefines everything they thought they knew about what caused the crash.
Now, one will have to suspend most facets of belief that the castaways could actually get information from a flight recorder. After finding the black boxes, investigators take the recorders to a lab where they can download the data from the recorders and attempt to recreate the events of the accident. This process can take weeks or months to complete. In the United States, black-box manufacturers supply the NTSB with the readout systems and software needed to do a full analysis of the recorders' stored data. If the FDR is not damaged, investigators can simply play it back on the recorder by connecting it to a readout system. With solid-state recorders, investigators can extract stored data in a matter of minutes. Very often, recorders retrieved from wreckage are dented or burned. In these cases, the memory boards are removed, cleaned up and a new memory interface cable is installed. Then the memory board is connected to a working recorder. This recorder has special software to facilitate the retrieval of data without the possibility of overwriting any of it. So in reality, it would be nearly impossible for the castaways to retrieve any flight recorder data because the airplane does not contain the the readout systems or software necessary to retrieve the data. How the castaways would have "massive" technology journey (no one was viewed as an expert in the field) and since they may not have found the underground bunker system, would make this story line implausible and unbelievable. It would have detracted from the show. Further, the pilot told them that they were off course due to an electromagnetic issue. Unless the FDR information shows location coordinates in outer space, or under the ocean surface, what would drastically change the survivors perception of where they are? Lastly, the black box was used in the series as a prop in a con on Widmore's boat to give the survivors false hope. Again, it is not possible that a private party would have in its possession the black boxes from an airline crash.
THE SUB
The shores of the island yield yet another mystery when a body dressed in an unidentifiable military uniform washes up on the beach near the fuselage. The gruesome discovery turns into a new hope for the castaways, who spot a SUBMARINE run aground on the barrier reef. Realizing the sub represents potential salvation, a group of our survivors cross the treacherous reef to find that it is not quite abandoned...
The submarine as a vehicle was used in the series, as a Dharma transportation vehicle, and the last minute escape plan by the remaining 815 survivors at the end of Season 6. And the image of a washed up person on shore was used in the freighter arc to show the time distortion from the boat to the island. But this submarine plot is more straight forward. The idea of a grounded submarine with new people on board (military perhaps) adds to the confusion and danger the castaways have to meet head on. Unidentifiable uniforms could hark to the future - - - that the submarine somehow time traveled back to the island. Or it could mean that the survivors are actually in a different dimension, a parallel universe, after their plane went through an electromagnetic portal. Or, this could be a fuller introduction to the Others, not being the wild inhabitants of the island, but a military order. Again, this story line pushes the group into "action," as a means of maintaining their hope for "salvation." But this story line was never used in the series.
HURRICANE
No longer able to agree about the simplest of things, our group is on the verge of splitting into two when dark clouds appear miles off the coast. It soon becomes clear that a massive hurricane is heading their way, threatening not only the makeshift settlement they've worked so hard to build, but their very lives...
This is probably the most realistic story line in the guide. The fierce aspect of nature causes the group to react to a threat that is totally beyond their control. It puts life and death front and center. It defuses hope if their settlement and its coveted resources are destroyed. This panic situation would have created the drama the guide promised to the network. But it was never used in the series. Instead, a weaker version of the group "split" occurs in haphazard fashion. Locke tries to break the group along ideological lines. Later, Flocke (MIB) divides all the groups into followers and enemies. But most of the 815 camp splits are issue to issue, with characters changing sides all the time. There is no cohesive structure of camp life that actually brings about a true "split." The community on the beach turns more sheepish than proactive. There is no formal structure to their routine. No one wants to build a long term community, yet they have lost all hope for rescue. One could consider this mass depression or surrendering to fate. But the original guide had the group being more assertive, hopeful, and taking action to change their situation.
Besides the black box story idea, the other three concepts would have made good shows. And each one of those mysteries or events could have been concluded in an hour format.
