There is one inflection point between the island and sideways story arcs. People believe it is Desmond, but the real man in the middle is a background character.
This comes about in reviewing a minor detail in the series. The flight manifest contained the names of all the passengers who flew on Flight 815. The manifest was part of the papers and materials kept by Sawyer in his stash shortly after the survivors started to build camp.
The earliest known time that the mid-section survivors were in
possession of the manifest was day 5 - Sunday, September 26th, 2004,
during the burning of the plane. It then went into Sawyer's possession for approximately eleven days before passing to Hurley on Day 16.
Hurley used the manifest in order to make a census of everyone on the beach and in the caves. He asked everyone for his name, place of residence, and the reason he was in Australia to compile the census.
It was during this process, Hurley found that Ethan Rom was not a passenger on the plane, but an Other.
Lostpedia states that only a few people have actually seen the manifest:
Locke knew Hurley and Sawyer's real names (Hugo Reyes and James Ford) from the manifest.
Sawyer had access to the manifest since it was part of his stash.
Hurley used the manifest to create his census of survivors.
And co-pilot Frank Lapidus claimed he had memorialized the entire 815 manifest so he was able to identify Juliet as not being a passenger. How Frank would have received a copy of the manifest (which is created at the gate through boarding passes) is unknown, but a telling bit of information.
In the flash sideways Flight 815, pilot Seth Norris is listed instead of Frank. Which means some details of the original flight were the same. But the manifest was slightly different, with some characters such as Desmond,
who were not on the plane originally, were on it in the flash sideways.
Other passengers were seated differently or missing altogether.
After having some realization about this world, Desmond asked his limo driver to get him a copy of the manifest so he could show the other passengers something. Desmond was later seen seeking out various passengers of Flight 815 and manipulating their circumstances to trigger an "awakening" though it is unclear to what extent he consulted the manifest to accomplish his goal.
What was the cosmic bridge between the island and the sideways plane manifests?
It could be the knowledge of Frank, who is the only character to leave the island more than twice, and the fact that Ajira 316 actually made it off the island with Desmond on it.
Lapidus is a Biblical name derived from the Latin word lapideus, meaning "made of stone."
So was alcoholic, depressed pilot Frank the foundation stone on which the series can be connected?
Frank, as a character, does not get a lot of credit for being independent, resourceful, dynamic, skilled and perceptive. He knew the evil intentions of the freighter crew from day one. He knew something was wrong in the whole disappearing Flight 815 scandal. In some respects, he was the one who had a clear understanding that people and events were being manipulated, so he rode the wave of the deceptions to find his answers. As a pragmatic person, he survived the various dangers on and off the island. And when he found the 815ers on his Ajira flight, he deadpanned that he was not getting to his scheduled destination.
Or was he? In some respects, Frank represents an guardian angel for some of the 815ers. Through guilt or heavenly redemption, he literally "saves" several people, including Kate twice. He was the man in the middle of the action, but not swept away by it.
By Frank getting Desmond off the island had to have changed the alternative time line to place Desmond on sideways Flight 815. This is the most dramatic change in the sideways manifest, as it creates the path for Desmond to remember and reunite the island memories to their souls. So Desmond takes on the role of an underworld ferryman or priest, to get his charges through judgment and paradise.
Showing posts with label 815. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 815. Show all posts
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
OUT OF SYNC
In biology class, students were required to dissect a frog. By cutting open the bloated corpse, students were supposed to learn how the internal organs worked inside the frog.
If we take the series as the frog, we can find three distinct organs or story lines:
1. The island crash survivor story arc which was the beginning of Season 1.
2. The Dharma-Others, Ben vs. Widmore story line which took root in the middle of the series.
3. The sideways story arc dominated the final season.
These are three distinct stories which really do not mesh well together.
It may have been better to break a part each of these three main stories into their own self-contained mini-series.
I think the overlap of the stories (in an attempt to amp up the drama and conflict with the 815 survivors) made things too complicated and muddled over time. The initial conflicts seemed to get overwritten then dropped as the series continued toward the Ending.
For example, the Ben vs. Widmore "war" was promoted as an end-all bloodbath with deep seeded roots, but it sputtered and really was never presented as much more as a board room clash over the remains of the Dharma assets and the Others loyalty. The final conclusion was Ben's petty assassination of Widmore, but that did not change the direction of the show or create any lasting impact on character development.
If you kept all three dramas separated, it may have made a clearer focus on the actual characters (in a character driven show). If the plane crash survivors did not have to deal with outsiders, but merely try to cope with survival and creation of their own new civilization, there could have been as much conflict and action that was not juiced by dangerous outsiders or black smoke magic. If the Dharma-Widmore-Ben-Others conflict was carved out as a separate story (without the time travel 815ers interventions) that may have concluded in a better fashion (possibly, with no one left on the island if Ben and Widmore truly went to war.) And the sideways story arc needed to really separate itself from the forgotten character back stories to show a real alternative for each character (a real lesson to viewers that choices do matter in one's life.)
Season 1 and 2 could have been 815 crash survivor centric. Season 3 and 4 could have been Dharma-Widmore-Other-Ben flash back island history in conflict/war. Season 5 could have been the sideways alternative. Which would leave Season 6 to weave these resolutions together.
The main 815 characters could have learned the history of Dharma-Others in Season 3 by stumbling across the empty barracks and records/journals of those who fought those battles. It would be a lesson plan on how not to survive on the island by petty jealousy, power plays or betrayals. The sideways alternative could have been positioned as the main characters "dream" scenarios of how their life was, or could have been and what it might be if they were rescued. Since the survivors were not going to be rescued from the island, each character would have a lot of down time to imagine what happened to their lives, their regrets and their lost future. The sideways would not be a place in the after life, but the subconscious desire of each individual.
Then how could these three distinct story modules come together in the final season?
Simple. After years of being on the island, the 815ers are rescued by a passing freighter which was blown off course in a storm. As the 815ers tale of survival is told, it brings back the prior survivors of the Ben and Widmore more to the 815ers on the mainland, to share what happened to them when they got back "home." The final season would involve how the survivors would cope coming "home" to the mainland - - - how their families had changed, how their jobs were lost, how they "didn't fit in" and then how they missed their fellow castaways. Culture would build them up as instant celebrities, then bring them down as flawed characters out of touch with current society.
There could a final reunion in an LA marina. The main characters could meet to discuss their problems fitting in to their re-booted lives (which probably in some ways mirrors their lives prior to Flight 815). There also could be former island survivors like Ben who give the forlorn castaways the ultimate choice: to return to the island.
Each character's final decision making process would be the climax of the show. Who would stay and who would give up their re-newed life on the mainland, for the harsh life on the island? Who would step up to be the new (or old) leaders? Who would tearfully break the final bonds of friendship to stay in LA? And that is how the three story lines could sync together.
If we take the series as the frog, we can find three distinct organs or story lines:
1. The island crash survivor story arc which was the beginning of Season 1.
2. The Dharma-Others, Ben vs. Widmore story line which took root in the middle of the series.
3. The sideways story arc dominated the final season.
These are three distinct stories which really do not mesh well together.
It may have been better to break a part each of these three main stories into their own self-contained mini-series.
I think the overlap of the stories (in an attempt to amp up the drama and conflict with the 815 survivors) made things too complicated and muddled over time. The initial conflicts seemed to get overwritten then dropped as the series continued toward the Ending.
For example, the Ben vs. Widmore "war" was promoted as an end-all bloodbath with deep seeded roots, but it sputtered and really was never presented as much more as a board room clash over the remains of the Dharma assets and the Others loyalty. The final conclusion was Ben's petty assassination of Widmore, but that did not change the direction of the show or create any lasting impact on character development.
If you kept all three dramas separated, it may have made a clearer focus on the actual characters (in a character driven show). If the plane crash survivors did not have to deal with outsiders, but merely try to cope with survival and creation of their own new civilization, there could have been as much conflict and action that was not juiced by dangerous outsiders or black smoke magic. If the Dharma-Widmore-Ben-Others conflict was carved out as a separate story (without the time travel 815ers interventions) that may have concluded in a better fashion (possibly, with no one left on the island if Ben and Widmore truly went to war.) And the sideways story arc needed to really separate itself from the forgotten character back stories to show a real alternative for each character (a real lesson to viewers that choices do matter in one's life.)
Season 1 and 2 could have been 815 crash survivor centric. Season 3 and 4 could have been Dharma-Widmore-Other-Ben flash back island history in conflict/war. Season 5 could have been the sideways alternative. Which would leave Season 6 to weave these resolutions together.
The main 815 characters could have learned the history of Dharma-Others in Season 3 by stumbling across the empty barracks and records/journals of those who fought those battles. It would be a lesson plan on how not to survive on the island by petty jealousy, power plays or betrayals. The sideways alternative could have been positioned as the main characters "dream" scenarios of how their life was, or could have been and what it might be if they were rescued. Since the survivors were not going to be rescued from the island, each character would have a lot of down time to imagine what happened to their lives, their regrets and their lost future. The sideways would not be a place in the after life, but the subconscious desire of each individual.
Then how could these three distinct story modules come together in the final season?
Simple. After years of being on the island, the 815ers are rescued by a passing freighter which was blown off course in a storm. As the 815ers tale of survival is told, it brings back the prior survivors of the Ben and Widmore more to the 815ers on the mainland, to share what happened to them when they got back "home." The final season would involve how the survivors would cope coming "home" to the mainland - - - how their families had changed, how their jobs were lost, how they "didn't fit in" and then how they missed their fellow castaways. Culture would build them up as instant celebrities, then bring them down as flawed characters out of touch with current society.
There could a final reunion in an LA marina. The main characters could meet to discuss their problems fitting in to their re-booted lives (which probably in some ways mirrors their lives prior to Flight 815). There also could be former island survivors like Ben who give the forlorn castaways the ultimate choice: to return to the island.
Each character's final decision making process would be the climax of the show. Who would stay and who would give up their re-newed life on the mainland, for the harsh life on the island? Who would step up to be the new (or old) leaders? Who would tearfully break the final bonds of friendship to stay in LA? And that is how the three story lines could sync together.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
THE BIG LIE
LOST was hailed as the best written and filmed show in its television era. Fans expected a the intertwined mysteries to unwind in a tight script of revelations and satisfying conclusions. To say there were stumbles along the way would be an understatement.
The biggest problem was with the biggest lie.
Recall, Daniel is sitting in his chair watching television when the news breaks that searchers had found the remains of Flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean. There were no survivors. Robotic cameras showed footage of the wreckage.
Recall, Naomi parachuted onto the island from the Widmore freighter. She told the 815ers she met that Flight 815 had been found - - - that there were no survivors - - - they were all dead.
Later, we were told that Widmore "faked" the Flight 815 crash site in order to "hide" the island. Except there are several problems with that lie within a lie. First, every aircraft has detailed serial numbers on its parts. One cannot buy one and change the parts IDs. It was totally implausible for a fake wreckage to be made with an actual plane because each plane is also registered in the U.S. Second, if the plane and bodies were found, the authorities would have recovered them for the sake of closure for the families. The impossible explanation was that Widmore dug up 248 graves to deposit bodies on his fake wreckage. Third, the freighter captained showed us the alleged black boxes from Flight 815. However, if they were recovered, they would never have been released to a private individual. The FAA and government would have kept them as evidence. So none of the "fake" plane wreck is real.
But the real kicker is that after the world wide Flight 815 found story was the Oceanic
Six showing up in Hawaii. If the plane wreck footage found all passengers and crew on board died, then how did six survivors wind up in Hawaii? The passenger manifest cannot be altered to add five more people after the fact. Further, when Kate was arrested in Sydney, the authorities would have noticed whether or not she was pregnant (as she alleged in the press conference). None of the O6 story arc made sense.
The reasoning behind Widmore's elaborate plans, including the extermination of everyone on the island, was also flawed beyond belief. There was no reason for the O6 people coming back to the island. If Widmore wanted to keep it a secret, that was already done when the island "moved" prior to the O6 rescue. The O6 people did not know where the island was; and more importantly, the world had stopped looking for the wreckage because it had been "found."
And there was no reason for Jack to concoct the Lie that the O6 were the only survivors of the plane crash. The miracle that the five survived the crash and washed ashore on an unchartered island was enough to "verify" the Widmore lie where the wreckage site was located and found. The exact opposite should have been said - - - to save their friends left behind the O6 should have mounted a public rescue effort to beat Widmore back to the island.
And the reason why the O6 or Widmore had to come back to the island was unclear. The O6 wanted to come back for the vague notion of saving their friends - - - but they did not know whether they were alive or not. Widmore wanted to protect the island by killing everyone on it. But if everyone was to be eliminated or exterminated on the island, there would be no protectors left.
In fact, only one person had the means to actually find the lost island: Eloise. If one really wanted to protect the island from outsiders, all you had to do was take out Eloise.
So, none of the elaborate lies makes any sense, individually or as a scripted collaboration of plot points.
The biggest problem was with the biggest lie.
Recall, Daniel is sitting in his chair watching television when the news breaks that searchers had found the remains of Flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean. There were no survivors. Robotic cameras showed footage of the wreckage.
Recall, Naomi parachuted onto the island from the Widmore freighter. She told the 815ers she met that Flight 815 had been found - - - that there were no survivors - - - they were all dead.
Later, we were told that Widmore "faked" the Flight 815 crash site in order to "hide" the island. Except there are several problems with that lie within a lie. First, every aircraft has detailed serial numbers on its parts. One cannot buy one and change the parts IDs. It was totally implausible for a fake wreckage to be made with an actual plane because each plane is also registered in the U.S. Second, if the plane and bodies were found, the authorities would have recovered them for the sake of closure for the families. The impossible explanation was that Widmore dug up 248 graves to deposit bodies on his fake wreckage. Third, the freighter captained showed us the alleged black boxes from Flight 815. However, if they were recovered, they would never have been released to a private individual. The FAA and government would have kept them as evidence. So none of the "fake" plane wreck is real.
But the real kicker is that after the world wide Flight 815 found story was the Oceanic
Six showing up in Hawaii. If the plane wreck footage found all passengers and crew on board died, then how did six survivors wind up in Hawaii? The passenger manifest cannot be altered to add five more people after the fact. Further, when Kate was arrested in Sydney, the authorities would have noticed whether or not she was pregnant (as she alleged in the press conference). None of the O6 story arc made sense.
The reasoning behind Widmore's elaborate plans, including the extermination of everyone on the island, was also flawed beyond belief. There was no reason for the O6 people coming back to the island. If Widmore wanted to keep it a secret, that was already done when the island "moved" prior to the O6 rescue. The O6 people did not know where the island was; and more importantly, the world had stopped looking for the wreckage because it had been "found."
And there was no reason for Jack to concoct the Lie that the O6 were the only survivors of the plane crash. The miracle that the five survived the crash and washed ashore on an unchartered island was enough to "verify" the Widmore lie where the wreckage site was located and found. The exact opposite should have been said - - - to save their friends left behind the O6 should have mounted a public rescue effort to beat Widmore back to the island.
And the reason why the O6 or Widmore had to come back to the island was unclear. The O6 wanted to come back for the vague notion of saving their friends - - - but they did not know whether they were alive or not. Widmore wanted to protect the island by killing everyone on it. But if everyone was to be eliminated or exterminated on the island, there would be no protectors left.
In fact, only one person had the means to actually find the lost island: Eloise. If one really wanted to protect the island from outsiders, all you had to do was take out Eloise.
So, none of the elaborate lies makes any sense, individually or as a scripted collaboration of plot points.
Friday, April 11, 2014
THE CRASH
On September 22, 2004, at 2:15 pm local time, Oceanic Flight 815 left from Gate 23, and took off from Sydney, Australia, scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles at 10:42.
Approximately six hours into the flight, the crew encountered problems with their radio. Having lost contact with ground control, the pilot decided to alter course and "turn back" towards Fiji.
Approximately two hours later, having traveled more than 1000 miles off their planned course, the plane hit turbulence, which eventually resulted in the plane's crash. The plane had suffered a mid-air break up and crashed on an uncharted Island, with more than 69 passengers and 2 crew members surviving the crash itself. Later in the series, six of those survivors made it off the Island and became known as the Oceanic Six.
Eight hours after take-off would put Oceanic 815 on the Island around 10:15pm Sydney time, later local time since they were flying eastward (Fiji is 2 time zones later, Tahiti is 4). However, it was clearly mid-day when the plane lands, and on the printout from the Pearl found by Locke and Eko, it is clearly shown that the Swan's system failure occurred on September 22, 2004, at 4:16 pm. This is another indication of the time discrepancy the Island and the outside world. Similarly, Ajira Flight 316jumped from night to day after experiencing severe turbulence following a bright yellowy white flash.
At first, everyone believed that the airplane crashed due to mid-air turbulence which tore a part the aircraft. Later, on the island, Desmond believed Flight 815's breakup and crash by his failure to enter The Numbers into the Swan computer, causing a large burst of electromagnetic energy. However, the last explanation was that the plane's off-course deviation and arrival to the Island's airspace was Jacob supernatural ability to bring the plane because many of the flight's passengers were candidates to replace him as island guardian.
Two months after the crash, wreckage was found in the Sunda Trench in the Indian Ocean near Bali. All of the passengers were presumed dead. In reality, however, the discovered wreckage was staged by Charles Widmore to keep people finding the real plane crash site.
There are several aspects of the event time line which really do not make much sense. First, if the real reason Flight 815 crashed on the island was that Jacob made it so, then there really was no reason why the pilots were off-course for two hours before the break-up. Jacob could have just instantly taken the plane and diverted it directly to the island. This would have been more feasible especially if his "powers" got all his potential candidates on Flight 815 in the first place.
In addition, if Jacob had such supernatural powers to divert and break a part of airplane, did he not also have the power to teleport just his candidates from plane as shown when Ajira plane crash landed on the island? The Oceanic Six members were teleported into different times.
It also quite bothersome that if Jacob's sole goal was to get his candidates to the island, why did he need to "kill" 253 other passengers and crew?
The second issue is why Desmond believed he "caused" the crash by not putting in the Numbers. At the time of this reveal, it was an "ah-ha!" moment of clarity to viewers . . . it actually explained a real island event. However, this explanation was taken away as a red herring by the Jacob story arc. It is strange that Hume, who supposedly was not a candidate, somehow got sucked into the island snow globe. The one person who really wanted to get rid of Hume (by manipulation) was Eloise, who actually knew her own "future-past" of killing her time traveling son. It is also odd that Widmore would have known about the 815 crash on his mystery island when in fact, he could not find it.
The whole idea that Jacob brought other people to the island, including Widmore's mercenaries, to "test" his candidates also seems to be stretch. How did the violent forces of soldiers or even the smoke monster actually factor into the final decision? It did not. Ghost Jacob merely asked for a volunteer in the end. So all the criss-crossing double crossing events on the island had little basis in resolving the reason why Flight 815 crashed and why there were certain survivors.
When one looks backward from Season 6's explanation of the plane crash (Jacob's doing), it really puts no context into the island events. The main characters were like lab rats running a confusing maze for no apparent reason. There is an overlay of cruelty by a bored, unsympathetic supernatural figure, Jacob. Why would he have taunted the pilots with 2 hours of being off-course? Why would he have snapped the plane in two, killing most of the passengers and crew on board? Why would he allow the other inhabitants to kill each other off, then go after his precious candidates?
The LOST story line was like the plane crash: an ugly debris field of a tangled mess of ideas and plots which cannot be put back together.
Approximately six hours into the flight, the crew encountered problems with their radio. Having lost contact with ground control, the pilot decided to alter course and "turn back" towards Fiji.
Approximately two hours later, having traveled more than 1000 miles off their planned course, the plane hit turbulence, which eventually resulted in the plane's crash. The plane had suffered a mid-air break up and crashed on an uncharted Island, with more than 69 passengers and 2 crew members surviving the crash itself. Later in the series, six of those survivors made it off the Island and became known as the Oceanic Six.
Eight hours after take-off would put Oceanic 815 on the Island around 10:15pm Sydney time, later local time since they were flying eastward (Fiji is 2 time zones later, Tahiti is 4). However, it was clearly mid-day when the plane lands, and on the printout from the Pearl found by Locke and Eko, it is clearly shown that the Swan's system failure occurred on September 22, 2004, at 4:16 pm. This is another indication of the time discrepancy the Island and the outside world. Similarly, Ajira Flight 316jumped from night to day after experiencing severe turbulence following a bright yellowy white flash.
At first, everyone believed that the airplane crashed due to mid-air turbulence which tore a part the aircraft. Later, on the island, Desmond believed Flight 815's breakup and crash by his failure to enter The Numbers into the Swan computer, causing a large burst of electromagnetic energy. However, the last explanation was that the plane's off-course deviation and arrival to the Island's airspace was Jacob supernatural ability to bring the plane because many of the flight's passengers were candidates to replace him as island guardian.
Two months after the crash, wreckage was found in the Sunda Trench in the Indian Ocean near Bali. All of the passengers were presumed dead. In reality, however, the discovered wreckage was staged by Charles Widmore to keep people finding the real plane crash site.
There are several aspects of the event time line which really do not make much sense. First, if the real reason Flight 815 crashed on the island was that Jacob made it so, then there really was no reason why the pilots were off-course for two hours before the break-up. Jacob could have just instantly taken the plane and diverted it directly to the island. This would have been more feasible especially if his "powers" got all his potential candidates on Flight 815 in the first place.
In addition, if Jacob had such supernatural powers to divert and break a part of airplane, did he not also have the power to teleport just his candidates from plane as shown when Ajira plane crash landed on the island? The Oceanic Six members were teleported into different times.
It also quite bothersome that if Jacob's sole goal was to get his candidates to the island, why did he need to "kill" 253 other passengers and crew?
The second issue is why Desmond believed he "caused" the crash by not putting in the Numbers. At the time of this reveal, it was an "ah-ha!" moment of clarity to viewers . . . it actually explained a real island event. However, this explanation was taken away as a red herring by the Jacob story arc. It is strange that Hume, who supposedly was not a candidate, somehow got sucked into the island snow globe. The one person who really wanted to get rid of Hume (by manipulation) was Eloise, who actually knew her own "future-past" of killing her time traveling son. It is also odd that Widmore would have known about the 815 crash on his mystery island when in fact, he could not find it.
The whole idea that Jacob brought other people to the island, including Widmore's mercenaries, to "test" his candidates also seems to be stretch. How did the violent forces of soldiers or even the smoke monster actually factor into the final decision? It did not. Ghost Jacob merely asked for a volunteer in the end. So all the criss-crossing double crossing events on the island had little basis in resolving the reason why Flight 815 crashed and why there were certain survivors.
When one looks backward from Season 6's explanation of the plane crash (Jacob's doing), it really puts no context into the island events. The main characters were like lab rats running a confusing maze for no apparent reason. There is an overlay of cruelty by a bored, unsympathetic supernatural figure, Jacob. Why would he have taunted the pilots with 2 hours of being off-course? Why would he have snapped the plane in two, killing most of the passengers and crew on board? Why would he allow the other inhabitants to kill each other off, then go after his precious candidates?
The LOST story line was like the plane crash: an ugly debris field of a tangled mess of ideas and plots which cannot be put back together.
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