BYE BYE CHARLIE

 

The demise of Charlie was a puzzling development.

Dominic Monaghan’s character was killed off in Season Three by drowning in what amounted to a suicide mission. He died bravely aiding his fellow castaways in their never-ending attempt to get off the bizarre island. Why was this important character killed off?

As with other actors in the series, there may have been contract issues, popularity conflicts or actor's seeking other opportunities. Or, the writers needed to create "drama" to keep viewers watching from week to week. A cull of the main characters was a necessary evil.

When LOST started, Monaghan was in a relationship with his co-star, Evangeline Lily. Lily was a model. She had little acting experience when she was cast as the principal female lead in the show. As it was told from insiders, the original premise of the show had her character, Kate, being the leader of the survivors. Jack was supposed to have been killed off at the end of the pilot episode in order to grab the audience by the throat so prove the island was a dangerous place.

But the producers found Jack's character too appealing to let go so he was given a bigger, the focal role in the show. But Kate was always hanging around Jack as the principal female lead.

During the show, Lily broke up with Monaghan. Some believe it was due to Charlie’s lessening importance as the main character; he had been receiving much less screen time in the season before his demise. It could also stem from jealousy as Lily was receiving much more attention in the press from the beginning than he was - - - and the sudden popularity of the show must have added pressure to succeed.

But how Charlie had to die was maddening plot twist. The hokey idea that the underground station's code was musical notes (which apparently Charlie figured out quickly on his own) made Charlie the main character in that episode. He had to overcome his fear of swimming to dive deep below the water to get to the station. Then he had to fight off dangerous Others to send out a rescue signal. But when he got the message out, an explosion rocked the control room flooding the compartment. Everyone saw that Charlie had time to escape, but he locked the door to prevent the station from flooding or harming Desmond. The last thing Charlie did was receive a message he wrote on his hand: NOT PENNY'S BOAT.  It was a heroic demise when the waters engulfed him at the portal.

But Charlie could have opened the door to let the water rush into the very large open space of the station. He could have made it back to the open hole and swam out of the station. Most fans believed at the time it was an unnecessary character killing. Thus, there is a level of fan suspicion that there was another reason why Charlie left the show.

The character of Charlie had hit a dead end. The relationship with Claire, while special at the start, turning a boring pull-take romance that never got off the ground. Charlie's quest of having a trustworthy family blinded him from his true friendships. He never contributed a major "eureka" moment in the story lines. He was another downtrodden character, the LOST equivalent of a Star Trek red shirt.

We will never know the real reason Charlie got written out of the show. File it under the numerous "more questions than answers" bin.

REAL TO UNREAL

I never understood why Charlie's character wanted to die. He could have easily saved himself by getting out of the control room, even after Patchy flooded it by exploding a porthole (which is question for another day).

Charlie had much to live for:

1. He wanted very much to protect Claire and Aaron.
2. He wanted to have a family with Claire and Aaron.
3. He wanted to get his career back on track, since the island gave him a second chance at life.
4. He wanted to be a hero, so people would look upon him not as a "one hit wonder," but a real person.

His relationship with Claire was not that unusual. Claire was the damsel in distress after the crash. Who wants to deal with a pregnant woman in shock? But Charlie did - - - instinctively. But initially Charlie felt he did not have the skills to impress and keep her: Jack was the medical savior protecting her baby, while Locke was the hands on guy who could build her shelter and a crib. All Charlie could give Claire was kindness, something that apparently was lacking in her life.

And Claire did not know how to react to Charlie's affection.  She was put off by his imposition of himself into her island situation. She did not have the same feelings for him. Some would say her hormones were all out of whack, and the added stress of the Others wanting to take her child made her mad. But even as frustrated as Charlie got, he never gave up. When she was kidnapped, he went into the jungle to confront the Others - - -  and he wound up hanged by a tree. Jack had to cut him down - - - which brings us to an island tangent: did Charlie actually "die" in that encounter to be reincarnated as a smoke monster or soul seeking forgiveness of Claire for not being able to protect her like he had promised her?

If Charlie was Charlie 2.0 (soul/smoke monster/reincarnation) that would put a whole different spin on "what" the island was . . . . beyond a metaphysical dimension in time or space but a soul proving ground for redemption.

But after Desmond's purple fail safe moment (which like Charlie's hanging should have killed Desmond, who was found naked in the jungle), Claire seemed to gravitate toward Desmond rather than Charlie. It made Charlie jealous.  Then when Desmond told Charlie he could see future visions, including Claire and Aaron leaving the island on a helicopter, Charlie knew he had to make that happen. But when Desmond told him that he also saw Charlie dying - - - they connected the two visions as being a cause and effect. In order to save Claire, Charlie had to die.

There were no "rules" which made that connection true. Charlie's own weaknesses: his low self-esteem, his jealousy, his rejection, his self-pity, all contributed to his suicidal but heroic stance in the control room. In order to radio for rescue, Charlie had to recognize a musical pattern code to unlock the panel. This always seemed to contrived to be true reality. But it made Charlie the "only" person who could figure it out - - - his own supernatural power. But once he got contact established, he found out that Desmond's vision was wrong: it was not Penny's boat coming to save them. It was Widmore's freighter coming to kill them.

So instead of doing anything possible to bring that news back to the island - - - and to protect Claire from the coming harm - - - Charlie decided not to open the control room door. As Desmond pleaded with him to open it, Charlie drowned in what could be considered a senseless death.

The only thing that Charlie's death did was to cause other people, especially Desmond, pain. Dez's flashes were not reality and not true premonitions. Desmond's own personal motivation to get back to Penny clouded his judgment. It cost Charlie his life. It cost Charlie his chance to make things right with Claire.

After Charlie's death, Claire went insane when Aaron was taken away from her. Some believe that Claire may have been killed during that three year period of darkness - - - since she could see "Christian" a smoke monster, she too could have been recreated into one. She did not ask about Charlie at all when she encountered Kate. She did not miss him. Her sole focus was revenge.

So why did Claire rejoin up with Charlie in the after life? There connection was broken on the island when they were not on the best of terms. The sideways was an afterlife plane of existence, but it has the troublesome unreal aspect in which Aaron and Sun's baby have in common:

Why did the island pregnant women give birth to their children in the afterlife if they had already been born in the real world? 

Logically, an afterlife birth would mean that Claire and Sun never gave birth in their real worlds. That would mean the island was not in fact real. Their motherhoods were illusions. Their relationships and interactions with other people were merely dreams. The sideways world was the ultimate "do-over."

Charlie got his second chance with Claire, to experience the birth of Aaron. Claire got a loving partner in return. Their reconnection seems to be the most real of the final pairings, as we still have issues with how Jack and Kate wound up with each other while Locke never reconnected with Helen.

HURLEY'S ISLAND

Fifty years ago, American television debuted a new show called Gilligan's Island. The premise was simple: several passengers get on a charter boat for a three hour cruise. But the ship gets caught up in a violent storm. It is shipwrecked on an uncharted island. The survivors have to learn to make do with coconuts, palm leaves and goofy comedy.

Gilligan's Island represents the basic shipwreck story, but in a comedy as the first mate, Gilligan, is a hapless buffoon who keeps getting the group in trouble. In some ways, the success of this episodic series showed that this premise could work on prime time television.

It was never suggested that LOST should have been a reboot of Gilligan's Island. Until now.

The original cast featured the ship's captain, first mate Gilligan, a professor, a model Ginger, a farm girl Mary Ann and a rich couple, the Howells. We can re-cast the main characters of LOST into these roles.

There was only one married couple on the island. Rose and Bernard would be the Howells. However, they would not be the flamboyant multimillionaires, but a quiet retired couple searching for peace.

The farm girl would be played by Kate because she grew up in rural Iowa, and acts like a tomboy. She would probably be more aggressive than Mary Ann.

The model would be played by Shannon, because she grew up as a spoiled, jet set brat. She would probably be more snooty than Ginger.

The professor would be played by Sayid, since he had the encyclopedic knowledge of all things electrical and mechanical. He would mirror the professor's role of finding impossible ways to make machines out of nothing.

The goofy guy that always gets in trouble would fall to Charlie. Charlie never fit in with any group except with his best bud, Hurley. Charlie was never that strong, he never led on missions, and he had personal demons he needed to keep secret. He was insecure and lonely. He tried too hard to be a part of a group.

So this leads the heavyset skipper role to Hurley, which in some ways fits into LOST because Hurley winds up as the island guardian. As the skipper, Hurley would be a reluctant leader with a sense of humor. Like on the LOST island, Hurley would be the glue that keeps the group together because of his even demeanor and kind outlook.

Taking parts of LOST's cast to re-imagine Gilligan's Island is not that hard.

CLAIRE'S DIARY

In all the professionals, people used to documenting their days, only one person actually wrote down their narrative - - -  Claire. Claire had a diary in which she recorded the events in her life.

Claire kept a diary, in which she wrote frequently. She wrote down her dreams in it, including the one in which her baby was stolen. After Claire was kidnapped by Ethan, Sawyer made fun of Charlie by mockingly reading an entry that claimed Claire was getting tired of "that has-been rock star." When Charlie read the diary, he saw a packing list for her trip and that she wrote: 

"I realized I really like Charlie. There's something about him that's just so adorable and sweet."

He also saw that she had written down her recurring dreams of a "black rock" (though it appeared to be of an actual black rock, not the ship). After she returned to the survivors' camp, she tried to use it to recover her memories by writing them down, but ultimately got help from Libby to remember what happened to her at the Staff medical station. 

On the page Charlie views before the one that reveals Claire's feelings towards him, the words "I HATE HIM" are mysteriously written on their own, under what appears to be a list of things Claire misses from the outside world. Also on this page is a word or short sentence that is blurred out. 

There are several ways to view the diary. First, it could just be a diary. A memory book of events, feelings, emotions and thoughts by an individual. Second, it could be part of the story engine. Either Claire herself (and her memories) or those words are feeding smoke monsters/island to re-create those events in her life in order to experiment or experience her raw emotions. Some could argue that Claire's own thoughts in her diary are the active island dreams that played out in the series as real life events. Third, the diary could be planted "new" memories to replace her real world experience. She was kidnapped and had severe memory loss (which was convenient plot point). The diary would be a natural way to try to remember her own past. But it could have been a false past. Recall, she went to the same psychic that Eko wandered into researching his miracle woman.  It could have been an elaborate plot or conspiracy to implant suggestions into a person's subconscious then unleash it in a controlled, stressful laboratory environment (the island).

The island was filled with science stations doing research into mind control, mental suggestion and stress observation. Using Claire as a test subject to determine if false diary memories could replace forgotten real ones seems to be on par with the military-industrial background of the Dharma mission.

Did Claire's diary notations have any impact in the series story? She was searching for a new family after her car crash that injured her mother and alienated her sister. Then, in an unlikely scenerio, she found a respected half-brother, Jack, who cared for her and her baby. She also found an unlikely sister in Kate, who helped save Aaron from the island dangers.

Claire's diary could have been the foundation, the heart of the LOST story lines. But there was not enough meat on the bone to carry all the various tangents to make it a credible theory.

THE CHARACTER SUMMATION OF CHARLIE

Getting back to the LOST writer's guide, the third character summation listed was for Charlie. It stated:

A caring soul wrapped inside a self-deprecating yet wildly amusing wit, Charlie is an addict on a collision course with mandatory REHAB. Completely unable to accept the fact that he is a has-been, Charlie continues to live in the shadow of Drive Shaft. More than a band, but a surrogate family (albeit a dysfunctional one), the last year has been particularly hard on him as the band unraveled due to the ridiculous behavior and raging egos of its singer and lead guitarist, a feud Charlie found himself constantly trying to diffuse. But now the dream is over. Trapped on the island, Charlie faces not only the specter of violent drug withdrawal, but also the possibility of resuming his role as the consummate sideman - maybe someday becoming a trusted aide to Jack and finding in the castaways the family he once thought he had found in his band. 

There are certain elements clearly defined in the pilot episode for Charlie. The guide repeats them with some background clarity. It appears his dream was to be a rock n roll star. He achieved some fame and with fame comes the lifestyle. Things were going well until bad behavior and conflict broke the band.  Charlie turned into a drug user. Though he  was in a popular band, he was not the center of attention. His ego is bruised; he does not want to be second fiddle. In typical rock n roll fashion, there is a band feud between Charlie and the lead singer (who is not described as his brother). 

What was revealing and different is how the writer's perceived a bigger role for the Charlie character (which may have come about because Monaghan was dating Lilly at the time of the pilot episode).  Charlie was listed as the Number 3 character, with the story nexus of becoming a close friend to Jack.

Instead of the entire group of the beach castaways becoming his surrogate family, Charlie gravitates towards pregnant Claire, to give her support in the hope that she would take him in as part of her new family. This is probably more closely related to reality since a man with a big secret (drug addiction) would not be a gadfly in a large group dynamic. 

But as the series unfolded, Charlie's role took on the nature of being a puppy following various people around the island. He followed Kate, then went to befriend Locke, then goofed around with Hurley, then become attached to Claire, who pushed off his advances especially when Locke intervened to help her with a cradle. He was then mostly on his own, with small connections with Eko and then in the end, with time flashing Desmond, who told him he had to die in order to save Claire and Aaron (which really cannot be confirmed as true).

Charlie's role as a main character quickly eroded once he was paired in an uneasy romance story with Claire. He never became Jack's right hand man who had his back (in some viewpoints, Kate took that role). He never found an extended family within the castaways, just a few friends in Hurley and Claire. He was tolerated by some (like Sawyer) more than liked as a strong personality. His celebrity status had no value or currency with the other castaways. He really did not offer that many survival skills in order to be a necessary, dependable component for the new society that the writer's laid out early in the guide. Charlie served as a "red shirt," giving a cliffhanger twist of dying with the words NOT PENNY'S BOAT on his hand.

CHARACTER OF CHARLIE

Charlie was the one character with the most "near" death experiences. Or death experiences, depending on how you fall in the Big Premise debate.

Let's review the near death/death aspects of Charlie:

1. He was a heroin addict and took near lethal doses when his life turned sour.
2. He survived the plane crash.
3. He nearly got sucked into the airplane turbine (like another passenger would do).
4. He was nearly beheaded by a piece of falling plan debris (after engine explosion).
5. He survived two perilous ordeals with the smoke monster.
6. He was attacked by a vicious swarm of bees.
7. He was nearly trapped in a cave collapse.
8. He was hanged by Ethan (and had to be revived from death by Jack).
9. He nearly fell into gorge with old suspension bridge failed.
10. He was speared in the throat by a Rousseau trap.
11. He had a large bag of rocks fall on his head.
12. He survived the dynamite blast at the hatch door.
13. He survived the Hatch explosion-implosion caused by Desmond's fail safe key.
14. He survived Hurley's van plunging down a hillside.
15. He almost drowned saving a drowning woman in the ocean.
16. He was almost hit by lightning bolt on a clear day.
17. Charlie drown in the Looking Glass radio room.

Charlie was the luckiest or unluckiest man alive, again depending on one views the LOST world.

It is hard to pin down what purpose the Charlie character was supposed to bring to the table. If one thinks Desmond was the catalyst to fuel the conclusion in the sideways world, that would underestimate the role of Charlie, who got Desmond to awaken by nearly killing him by steering the rental car into the harbor (to recreate his own Looking Glass death scene).

Charlie's past was one of a religious upbringing in Northern England. It appeared that his closest friend was his brother, Liam. They created a one-hit wonder band, but drugs tore it a part. When Liam left to start his own family, Charlie was alone and consumed by his own drug addiction to the point of hospitalization. He went to Australia to reunite with his brother and rekindle the band, but he was rebuffed.

It is clear that Charlie was a follower for his entire life. He had a longing to belong to something bigger than himself. He wanted to be useful, to be needed, and to have someone who could rely upon him. That is why he gravitated toward helping Claire. From the beginning, he was protective of Claire. Then, most fans believe he fell in love with Claire because she gave him something he desperately wanted: a family.  He says that the best moment of his life was when he met her.

Like most performers, he lacked social skills. He was cheerful and liked to make jokes to ease the atmosphere. He became friends with Hurley.

If Charlie was supposed to represent a religious contrast, a crisis of self, then the series missed this plot line. He was a wayward child who did not practice his religion. His lifestyle rebelled against it. He lost his faith due to his drug obsession and band crisis, but went whether it was real or not he may have regained it as his last action before death was making the sign of the cross.

Was Charlie's death the sacrifice that saved his friends? No. Widmore's crew still came to the island. Flocke continued his rampage of terror and manipulation.  Desmond's vision of Claire leaving the island with Aaron proved false.

If the island was a place of death as alluded to many times during the stories, then it is clear that Charlie died FOUR times on the island: in the plane crash, hanged by Ethan, in the Hatch explosion, and drowning in the Looking Glass. Since Charlie experienced the "most death," he was the one who was the most likely to haunt his friends like Hurley - -  to be a personal messenger, guardian or spiritual protector. Since he knew about his death, that the island was death, he could accept it (which is the hallmark of awakening in the after life) which meant that Charlie was the key in the sideways story to get the people to the church (in an illogical and inconsistent way since Charlie truly awakened second to last when Claire gave re-birth to Aaron backstage at the concert).

If this was Star Trek, Charlie would have been cast as the classic red shirt. His purpose was to show the dangers to be faced by the other (more) main characters.

REBOOT EPISODES 69-72

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 69-72 (Days 89-91)

In these 4 episodes, we reach the end of Season 3, and the half way point of the LOST saga.

Ben remembers arriving on the island with his father and growing up to become the Others leader. Ben takes Locke to “see” Jacob, the mysterious cult leader.  Meanwhile, secrets about Juliet and Naomi are revealed to the camp.  At night, the whole camp is in uproar about Naomi’s arrival on the island,  as well as her story about the plane having already been found and everyone is dead.  As Sawyer plays the tape, Jack and Juliet return. Everyone questions them, but Juliet tries to explain that she is actually helping them. They turn over the tape and hear that Ben plans to lead a team to kidnap all the fertile women. Juliet reveals that she has already told Jack about it, and that they were still thinking of a plan.

A group of survivors trek inland following Jack. On the way, Charlie sees Desmond stop in his tracks, and despite his denial, Charlie suspects he may have had another one of his visions. Jack tells them that they have arrived and that he and Juliet have been forced to come up with a plan to stop the attack. He calls out and Danielle comes out and sets off a large dynamite explosion blowing up a tree. As the rest of the group recoil in surprise, Jack explains that Juliet will mark the tents of pregnant women with white rocks as she was told, but the Others will find nothing inside but dynamite. As Jack states, "We're gonna blow 'em all to hell."

Back at camp, Charlie talks with Naomi. She asks who the survivors are going to war with but he says that it's a long story. She recognizes him from Drive Shaft, because after his apparent death, a "Greatest Hits" album was released and became very popular. Charlie is pleased at the news, although he notices Desmond in the distance, an ominous reminder of his possible fate.

At the same time, Sayid tells Jack that he can't get a rescue signal out to the freighter because of Danielle’s old distress call is blocking the signal. He tells Jack that they need to go to the radio tower to turn it off, but Juliet says it would make no difference,, as Ben is blocking all transmissions from an underwater station called The Looking Glass.  She mentions that she has no idea where it is, but Sayid he thinks he might know.

Charlie sits with Claire as Desmond approaches, asking to speak with him. Desmond reluctantly admits that he lied, and has seen a flash — one of Claire and Aaron getting into a Helicopter and leaving the Island.  Charlie at first does not understand how this can be bad, but Desmond explains that for this to happen, Charlie must drown after "flicking a switch next to a yellow light" in a hatch.

Jack devises a defense plan to combat the kidnapping plot. Charlie volunteers to go to the underwater station to switch off the jamming equipment so Claire can be saved.

The camp leaves to begin their second exodus to the radio tower.

Sayid, Jin and Bernard are left behind as the three marksmen who will ambush the Others. He makes Jack promise that no matter what happens on the beach, Jack will lead the remaining survivors to the tower and signal the ship; he tells Jack that he is willing to die but only if the others can be rescued. Jack understands and is ready to undertake the long trek to the tower. Before leaving with the others for the radio tower, Rose reminds Bernard that he is "not Rambo" and warns him to be careful. Jin speaks with Sun, intimately telling her to stay close to Jack. Sun asks him why he is staying behind to help, he tells her (in English) because they need to go home. Sun cries and they kiss, Juliet watches further away.

Once they are on their way, Naomi takes Jack aside and tells him that Juliet is not trusted by the other survivors. Then she shows him how to use the radio - in case she doesn't make it.

In the underground station, Charlie is captured is interrogated by Bonnie and Greta. He says that he found out about the Looking Glass from Juliet. Bonnie and Greta go into the radio room to call Ben.
 Charlie sees the blinking yellow light from Desmond's vision of the jamming equipment. After he shouts his name to Ben, Bonnie tells Ben about Juliet's betrayal (overheard by Alpert and Patchy). Ben orders Patchy to go to the Looking Glass to find out why Charlie is there. Ben has to admit he lied about the station being inoperable. Patchy wonders what else Juliet has told the Losties. Ben tries to contact the Others' kidnap team but they are in radio silence.

Charlie’s final message that the people claiming to liberate them are not who they seem to be...

Science:

Once the pin is pulled the fuse and the chemical explosive do not require oxygen to do their stuff, so a grenade can explode under water.

Explosive chemical reactions break down compounds into highly compressed gases, as well as heat resulting from compound molecules being blasted apart. The gases expand rapidly, and the heat speeds up individual gas particles to increase expansion speed even more.

This rapidly expanding gas, called a pressure wave, is the key to any explosive's destructive power. If the pressure wave is fast enough to break the sound barrier, it generates a powerful shock wave. A land explosion can burn skin, tear apart limbs and propel objects and shrapnel through the air.
When the pressure wave travels through the air and connects with a living organism, the organism's body reflects most of the force. This is because there's a difference in densities: The molecules in solid skin are closer together than the rapidly moving gas molecules.

However, portions of your body contain gas, meaning the density is the same as the expanding gas in the pressure wave. The pressure wave hits the body and, while most of it is reflected, some of it manages to compress internal gases. As a result, the victim sustains primary blast injuries. These typically affect the lungs, ears and -- in rare cases -- intestines. These gassy chambers basically implode, rupturing and fragmenting tissue.

In an explosion surrounded by air, the atmosphere will compress and absorb some of the explosive energy. This decreases the lethal range of the explosion. Water, however, is often described as incompressible. Technically, it can compress, but it takes a massive amount of pressure to apply a small amount of compression. This means that in an underwater explosion, the surrounding water doesn't absorb the pressure like air does, but moves with it. An underwater explosion doesn't propel objects through the water nearly as far as a surface explosion throws shrapnel because of the drag water exerts on objects. However, an underwater explosion transmits pressure with greater intensity over a longer distance.

Improbabilities:

Patchy “surviving” a spear to the chest AND going deep underwater (holding his breath with a gaping chest wound) to detonate a grenade which drowns Charlie in the Looking Glass communication room.

Themes:

Sacrifice. Charlie’s death based upon a faulty vision. Claire does not leave the Island on a helicopter.

Alternative reality. The reveal that somehow Jack is “off” the Island and wanting to go back (flash forward) stumped many viewer. It was a twist that was hard to fit into the disjointed sequence that was Lost’s plot structure. But it got weirder when the final reveal is that flash forwards were the sideways world (after life).

Clues:

Hurley goes from believing that he is cursed by his lottery winnings, to believing that he is dead from the plane crash. Is this realization the “second” person (besides Rose) who understands that they are all dead? And is this why the passive Hurley turns killer with the van during the Other’s camp raid? It could be said that Hurley’s new belief in his “real”  situation is why he became Jacob’s true successor.

Charlie’s heroic act is based upon his own memories, musical notes. It shows that the Island is taking character memories and re-postulating them into sacrificial moments to see how the characters react and use their own “free will” to die.

Charlie states that it is not Penny’s boat. Desmond takes Charlie’s death in vain. If not Penny, the 815ers cannot trust the freighter people. Naomi asks about the “war” on the island, but which war is it? Others vs. survivors, or freighters vs. Others. And is the “war” the final resolution between Jacob and MIB?

When Naomi asks Jack what he did before the island, Jack says he was a doctor. In an odd response, Naomi says “of course you were,” as in “if that is what you believe.” It can’t be taken just as a off-hand remark because Naomi knows more than she appears, as she was “recruited” by Jacob for this mission.

Ben is fearful of the freighter attacking the island. Ben’s own web of lies to his own people begin to unravel as they start to distrust him. He says to Jack when contact is made, “this is the beginning of The End.” It could mean the end of his power. It could mean the end of the Others on the island, as he said “every living thing on the island would be killed.” Or could it relate to Lost’s final episode, “The End,” the re-constitution of the characters souls in the after life?

When Locke is shot and falls into the purge ditch to die, he loses movement in his legs. His paralysis returns as he gets closer to death. No so more than when he decides to take his own life with the revolver; he struggles to reach for the gun. This could show a relationship between parallel universes: as Locke’s life fades on the island, his disabled state returns as his spirit is about to depart the island. It would be symbolic that the island is not part of the real world.

There were several references to being rescued and taken “home.” Home could refer to their off-island lives. But one definition of the word “home” states that it is “an institution for people needing professional care or supervision: example, an old people's home.” Or, in some theories, a mental institution.

Another word used often was “hero.” 
A hero is defined as “a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities: example, a war hero.” It can also mean
(in mythology and folklore) a person of superhuman qualities and often semi-divine origin, in particular one of those whose exploits and dealings with the gods were the subject of ancient Greek myths and legends.

Naomi appears to have died twice on the island: first as a result of the parachute jump and severe injury, and then second with Locke’s knife. There may be a connection in a gamer way to the character’s and their permanent removal from the island: you get one free “death” on the island. It could explain why Patchy survived both the sonic fence or spear gun, to meet his final fate with the underwater grenade. That would mean that all the passengers have used up their one life in the crash.


Discussion:

“ Wishes cost nothing unless you want them to come true. ”
— Frank Tyger

“ Action is the last resource of those who know not how to dream. ”
— Oscar Wilde

“ A long dispute means that both parties are wrong. ”
— Voltaire

False assumptions are worse than lies. So many times characters jump to conclusions without understanding the situation or question the facts.

Why did Charlie need to “die?”  In order for Desmond’s dream to come true?

Desmond had a final vision - Charlie dying by turning off the flooded underwater station's signal jammer. Charlie accepted the suicide mission. He hides his ring with Aaron and kisses Claire goodbye. He went out in a canoe with Desmond, passing on a list of his life's best moments. Dez volunteers to take Charlie's place, but Charlie knocked him out with an oar and  dives to the station, discovering it wasn't flooded after all, but it was inhabited by female Others who beat and interrogated him until reanimated Patchy arrived and shots them, per orders of Ben. Using scuba gear, Mikhail (Patchy) dives down to the station - where, on Ben's orders, he killed Greta and fatally wounded Bonnie before being shot in the chest by Desmond with a speargun. Charlie convinced the dying Bonnie to give him the code to turn off the jamming equipment due to her anger towards Ben's betrayal.

One issue is that Charlie should have known Desmond’s vision is faulty because the station was not flooded. Charlie’s background in blind faith has led him astray, putting aside common sense, to push on with his suicidal mission.

Charlie gives Desmond his final message before drowning. He then received an incoming message, revealing that Desmond's girlfriend Penny hadn't sent their "rescuers." Mikhail, still alive, then blew up a port window, filling the chamber with water. Charlie passed on the message  “Not Penny’s Boat” on his hand.

Charlie states when he is writing his “greatest hits” list of events in his life, number one was meeting Claire. He also states that “memories are all” his has - - - which begs the question whether memories are all his or blurred with other island captives. An example is Charlie being called a hero for stopping a purse snatcher in London. The woman he saved was Nadia. Now, Charlie never knew Nadia, for she is part of Sayid’s memories. It would appear that memories from the characters are props in the actions or events of other characters. And yes, that makes a confusing, tangled cosmic string.

But it may be the dynamic stock feed for the island, a West World for spirits. It is not a new concept that souls may need a “break” from their afterlife to go to a spiritual-adventurous resort to “re-live” memories and/or create new ones. Look at Mikail - - - he dies as often as the Yul Brenner gunslinger.
But is Charlie really a hero or a dumb oaf? When the communication station was filling with water, one can see that Charlie could have swam out of the port hole to safety even after failing to open the chamber door. So how does Charlie’s death further the cause of rescue from the island? It does nothing. It does transform Charlie into a spirit that physically haunts Hurley.

Charlie will appear to Hurley during his years off the island. Hurley first saw him in a convenience store and panicked, and his flight turned into a full on car chase with the police. In the interrogation room, Hurley hallucinated Charlie drowning, disturbing him so greatly that he agreed to be taken back to the Santa Rosa Mental Institution. Charlie began visiting him regularly there, and physically slapping him to attention,  in plain view of the other patients. Charlie’s sacrifice turns him into a messenger, trying to guide Hurley back to the island, as other characters seem to have done in other story arcs.

But just as memories of the island captives is important in the dynamic of the events that unfold on the island, Jacob’s memories of his dead brother may be the living embodiment of the Island itself. There is an eternal conflict rooted in the Island. We just are never really told what it really, truly all about. There is no context (mortar) to support the events (bricks) in the foundation of the Lost mythology.

The question of who the “original” inhabitants of the Island will never be known. But from the structures and stories, we know that there were Egyptian temples and statues built on the Island. This predates the Roman era, the time when Jacob’s mother was shipwrecked on the Island.

At that time, Crazy Mother was the only person on the island. She was the Island “guardian.” So, we can assume she brought Jacob’s parents to the island. Now, whether she was also a person “brought” to the island during an earlier time is probable, as she probably succeeded some Egyptian leader just as Jacob succeeds her. Kings or rulers of a territory have the right to make their own rules.

There appears to be a clear good vs. evil game at work on the island. It mirrors the tension between science and technology vs. religion and morality. When Jacob and MIB discuss the reason why Jacob continues to bring human beings to the island, MIB laments that they always turn corrupt and Jacob loses in his bet. So it is more likely that the island guardian brings both good and evil people to the island to determine which type of person wins out when people are left to fend for themselves, and when absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is a spark of this power play when Jack returns to the angry camp with Juliet, and Jack tells them to follow “his” plan to kill the Others. He expects them to follow his orders, and “blow them all to Hell.”

Do followers lose their humanity, their “goodness” when leaders continue to absorb the power between individuals and turn that into “evil?” That may be the basic game between Jacob and MIB: a philosophical question that has always ended with evil corrupting the good; the good never winning.

There is no sense of mortality or judgment for the killings on the island. The island may have cloaks of religion, and themes of redemption, but the actual killings is primal and without regard to any consequences. They appear indiscriminate and without remorse, almost in a video game style shooter.

We made the assumption that the 815ers are “good” and the Others are “evil.” But in the backstories of the 815ers, there is much evil: murderers, criminals, mentally unstable personalities, drug abusers, alcoholics and thieves. We know another outsider, Ben, is a psychopathic mass murderer due his purge of Dharma. But what of the original Hostiles? We see only Ben’s influence on them, part of which was learned behavior from Widmore when he was a leader of the band who expelled the military from the island.

There is a ramp up on the killing in this arc to end Season 3. When we compare the final tallies for the series, it is hard to distinguish which group was good or evil. In fact, there appears to be no lessons learned, no remorse and no moral consequences from killing anyone.

If you consider the Island as MIB, the smoke monster and Jacob, they account for 44 deaths.

If you count Ben with the Others, they killed 64 people (including the purge)

If you count the 815 survivors, they killed 42 people.

If you consider outsiders like Danielle and Desmond, Danielle killed 3 and Desmond killed 1 (unless you also count the 254 passengers killed on impact as his fault or the Island’s EM field).

If you consider Widmore and his forces, they killed 10 people.

There is no distinction between whether a death was intentional, accidental, negligent or in self defense. Death is a way of life on the island.

In fact, there is no moral high ground or moral stance that any of these groups declare when the conflict begins or ends. It is almost a primal “us against them” attack reflex. There are killers who are saved in the end, and some killers who are not saved in the end.

The final false assumption at the end of the third season was bad beard Jack's off-island story. We all thought from the editing that this was a drunken Jack, crashing after his divorce to Sarah, to the edge of despair. He even argues with the new chief of surgery about talking to his father about his condition. He is suicidal. He makes one final reach out to Sarah, but she rebuffs him. But in the final scene at the airport, we learn that the bearded Jack pining is not a flash back, but he is a flash forward - - - to a time off-island. The woman who would not talk to him on the phone was Kate. And in a crazed expression of despair, Jack yells "we have to go back!" which means that at least some of the survivors made it off the island.

It was a viewer game changer. It put some doubt in the story time line, which would be further complicated by the island time travel arc which led to another cliff hanger, The Incident.

But confusion would become a constant, soon. There will be unanswered questions like what ever happened to Annie, Ben's island school pal? If she was the only one who was kind to young Ben, where was she in his life? What happened after she left the island? And why did not Ben join her? He kept the wooden doll because she said with it "they would never be a part." But they were kept separated for no apparent reason. Once Ben became a leader and brought more people to the island, he could have re-connected with her.  And in a twisted way, Ben's kidnapping and calling Alex "his daughter" was a replacement for Annie. But in the End, why did not Ben seek out Annie? Unless he feared that any wish he had with her would not come true.

There is a parallel between Ben's sad little life and Jack's. Ben pleads to Jack not to call the freighter, telling him he has nothing to go back to on the mainland. Ben has nothing to go back to either. Both men's lives are similar: drunken father's, not getting the respect they deserved, and both wanting to be greater than their father - - - leaders, making the hard life and death decisions, without faltering under the pressure. In all of his manipulative tricks, Ben could not convince Jack to stop the call. And even though Locke killed Naomi as she got the signal, Locke could not convince Jack to stop the call, either.


Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

The ash ring around Jacob’s cabin was thought by many as a talisman to ward off evil spirits from seeing or attacking Jacob.

Tall Walt appearing to Locke in the purge ditch to tell him to get up because “he was work to do.” The strange voice implies that this Walt is not the boy who left the island, but a representation created by MIB or Jacob in shape shifting mode.




Last lines in episodes:

EP 69:

BEN: Well, I certainly hope he helps you, John.
[Ben leaves Locke lying in the ditch.]

EP 70:

CHARLIE: [Laughs and pants] I'm alive. AH! I'm alive!!!!

[A door opens and two women run out, both with guns. A light comes on, and one woman runs to Charlie and points her gun right at his face. He makes a weak smile.]

EP 71:

WALT: Because, you have work to do.
[Locke smiles.]

EP 72:

JACK: We have to go back!

[A plane takes off over Jack's head.]

New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

Naomi is working for Mr. Abaddon who is working for Jacob. Naomi is a messenger. Alpert is a messenger (messenger bag holds Sawyer’s file to Locke). Jacob puts together a team under the guise of Widmore’s obsession to return to control the power of the Island (life and death?). But it is all part Jacob’s plan to bring those people to the Island. For what purpose? Worship him as a god? Experiment on human behavior with his brother, MIB? To prove a point that humanity can make noble self-sacrifices for a greater good?

And the “good” is represented by multiple types of religions, just as “evil” can be represented by the technology driven groups. MIB was drawn to working with the Romans, who had learned to fashion a crude frozen donkey wheel. Crazy Mother and Jacob appear to be naturalists, anti-technology, as it corrupts humanity. The struggle of technology taking away human elements in society could be a core reason why MIB and Jacob argue about the people brought to the island. It may be a game of which type of person can cope the best: spiritual or technological.

For what ever reason, Crazy Mother was the last soul on the Island until the Roman shipwreck. The Romans succeeded the Egyptians as the world’s great engineering civilization. Succession is an important theme in the Lost stories. In a certain way, Jack is succeeding Ben; both had drunken father/daddy issues which never resolved themselves properly. Both grabbed power because they were told as a boy that they lacked the qualities for leadership.

The American military industrial complex succeeded the empires of Europe in World War II, as represented by the jughead bomb on the Island. Apparently, the Hostiles led by Eloise and Widmore took out the U.S. military. Afterward, the scientists of the Dharma Institute were brought to the island as a direct contrast to the cult like subsistent Hostiles. The clash of cultures was set up to determine whether good or evil would will out. In the case of recruiting a disillusioned Ben, the Hostiles “purged” Dharma in mass homicide. One can only say that evil won that battle.

Now, Jacob has brought another series of people to the Island, a cast of characters all with personal physical and mental issues. Many of those people start off “bad,” such as murderers, cheats, liars, killers and drug addicts. Many of those people start off “good,” as in religious, kind, nurturing and caring for other people. The dynamic story line shows that many of the “bad” people turn “good” and many “good” people turn “bad.”

If the Island is a organic construct of the memories of the souls brought into its energy field (its core computing processor), it is possible that Jacob himself is using his own memories to keep his brother “alive” on the Island, just as Eloise is trying desperately to keep her son, Daniel, “alive” with her in the sideways world.

Look at the character tree:

Follow the character paths like falling dominoes. Like in the Egyptian game of Senet, the object is to get your pieces off the board. Or in this version, turn the characters into your black or white (good or evil) color. MIB must have been intent on destroying Jacob's candidates.

You can trace MIB’s path of “influence” throughout the chart. However, it ends with Locke, since it will come to pass that Jack does not follow Flocke’s path to evil, but instead Jack sacrifices himself to save his friends. That sacrifice for the “good of others” is the end game, the check mate, in the Jacob-MIB philosophical battle; Jacob finally wins - - - freeing himself from the obligation of the island wardenship which was his own prison of memories. Hurley reluctantly assumes the role as Island guardian, only to dismantle it - -  - and apparently to leave Bernard, Rose, Cindy, the children and any remaining Others on their own, at peace, on the Island.

REBOOT - EPISODES 37-40

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 37-40 (Days 54-59 )

Charlie begins to have dreams and visions about Aaron, leading him to attempt to kidnap the baby in order to protect him.

Charlie tries to get closer to Claire, but Claire asks for some space, for now. He leaves, telling Aaron to take care of his mom.
After being an outcast, Charlie teams up with Sawyer to con Locke out of the vault guns.

Hurley asks Sawyer and Kate about the Tailies, including Libby (for which he may have a vague recollection of meeting).  Sawyer asks if Hurley has a love connection growing there. Hurley denies this and leaves, embarrassed. Kate and Sawyer both see Ana and Jack coming out of the jungle, talking to each other. Sawyer mentions it's the third time that he has seen them together. It doesn't make either of them particularly comfortable. Later, Sawyer gives Hurley a small push towards a relationship with Libby, and the two of them do laundry together in the hatch. Hurley asks if he knows her from somewhere. She distracts him by changing her shirt in his presence. She tells him that he stepped on her toe on the plane when he boarded last.

Rousseau leads the survivors to a man she has captured, who calls himself Henry Gale, a crashed balloonist from Minnesota. Rousseau warns them that he is a liar. They take him to the hatch where Sayid reverts to his torture mantra to extract information from Gale, specifically that he is an Other. Afterward, Gale begins to turn the psychological pressure on the Hatch occupants.

When Aaron has a fever, Claire is upset that something truly is wrong with her baby. When they go to the hatch for medical help, Claire believes she needs to remember what happened to her, whether the Others did something to her baby. She gives Sun her baby as she heads out with Kate and Rousseau to find the medical station. In the station, Claire finds the nursery room and examination room, where Ethan injected her with something. She then remembers a teenager helping her, and also Rousseau taking her back to the camp after her escape. But Claire is worried that they did not find “a cure” for what ails Aaron.

Science:

Dreams

Dreams are the subconscious manifestations of elements, events, people, places or things seen by a person during sleep. Dream interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to dreams. In many ancient societies, such as those of Egypt, dreaming was considered a supernatural communication or a means of divine intervention, whose message could be unravelled by people with certain powers. In modern times, various schools of psychology have offered theories about the meaning of dreams.

One of the earliest written examples of dream interpretation comes from the Babylonian tale, the Epic of Gilgamesh, whose story was referenced in earlier LOST analysis. In that story, Gilgamesh dreamt that an axe fell from the sky. The people gathered around it in admiration and worship. Gilgamesh threw the axe in front of his mother and then he embraced it like a wife. His mother, Ninsun, interpreted the dream. She said that someone powerful would soon appear. Gilgamesh would struggle with him and try to overpower him, but he would not succeed. Eventually they would become close friends and accomplish great things. She added, "That you embraced him like a wife means he will never forsake you. Thus your dream is solved.” While this example also shows the tendency to see dreams as mantic (as predicting the future), Ninsun's interpretation also anticipates a contemporary approach. The axe, phallic and aggressive, symbolizes for a male who will start as aggressive but turn into a friend. To embrace an axe is to transform aggression into affection and camaraderie.

 Ancient Egyptian priests also acted as dream interpreters.  Dreams have been held in considerable importance through history by most cultures. Some believe it was direct communication with the gods or deceased ancestors.

Sigmund Freud first argued that the motivation of all dream content is wish-fulfillment, and that the instigation of a dream is often to be found in the events of the day preceding the dream, which he called the "day residue." In the case of very young children, Freud claimed, this can be easily seen, as small children dream quite straightforwardly of the fulfillment of wishes that were aroused in them the previous day (the "dream day"). In adults, however, the situation is more complicated—since in Freud's submission, the dreams of adults have been subjected to distortion, with the dream's so-called "manifest content" being a heavily disguised derivative of the "latent" dream-thoughts present in the unconscious. As a result of this distortion and disguise, the dream's real significance is concealed: dreamers are no more capable of recognizing the actual meaning of their dreams than hysterics are able to understand the connection and significance of their neurotic symptoms.

 In waking life, Freud asserted, these so-called "resistances" altogether prevented the repressed wishes of the unconscious from entering consciousness; and though these wishes were to some extent able to emerge during the lowered state of sleep, the resistances were still strong enough to produce "a veil of disguise" sufficient to hide their true nature. Freud's view was that dreams are compromises which ensure that sleep is not interrupted: as "a disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes," they succeed in representing wishes as fulfilled which might otherwise disturb and waken the dreamer.
Freud listed the distorting operations that he claimed were applied to repressed wishes in forming the dream as recollected: it is because of these distortions (the so-called "dream-work") that the manifest content of the dream differs so greatly from the latent dream thought reached through analysis—and it is by reversing these distortions that the latent content is approached.

Freud considered that the experience of anxiety dreams and nightmares was the result of failures in the dream-work: rather than contradicting the "wish-fulfillment" theory, such phenomena demonstrated how the ego reacted to the awareness of repressed wishes that were too powerful and insufficiently disguised. Traumatic dreams (where the dream merely repeats the traumatic experience) were eventually admitted as exceptions to the theory.

Improbabilities:

A balloon piloted by a Minnesota businessman crash landing deep in the Pacific Ocean island.

The vision of the drug smuggler’s plane crashing on the Island actually being seen by Charlie in his present day.

Kate’s father and Desmond’s Hatch mate both being in the U.S. army in the first Iraq war, and having the same contact with Sayid. It would have been highly unlikely that Sayid, if he helped the American forces, to continue in the Republic Guard. He would have been killed as a traitor.

Mysteries:

Who was the real Henry Gale? A balloon crash lands on the island sometime in 2003, its pilot was a black man named Henry Gale. At some point he died of a broken neck, and Ben Linus took on his identity. Henry was buried in a grave near the balloon, although Ben claimed (in the guise of Henry as a captive in the Hatch) that his wife was buried there Sayid, after torturing him does not trust what Ben has said, so he digs up Henry's corpse, uncovering Ben's ruse. In Henry's wallet was a Minnesota driver's license and a $20 with a note to his wife written on it. The balloon was sponsored and/or manufactured by Widmore Corporation, owned by Ben’s nemesis and former Other leader, Charles Widmore . It was also sponsored byMr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack, where Hurley once worked, and Noss-A-La Cola.

Themes:

Power and control. Who is in charge, as Locke gets unnerved by Jack’s orders. He is egged on by the Others leader/spy, Ben, posing as Henry Gale. When Ana is accused of mock abduction of Sun in order to build her army and get access to the guns, Sawyer and Kate are pitted against Jack who believes the Others did it. Locke says it cannot be because they have a “truce” with the Others, so he hides the guns from Jack.

Violence. Sayid tortures Gale (Ben) in order to get information to confirm he is an Other. It is a reversion to Sayid’s former self, the thing that he has been really running away from since leaving Iraq.

Tests. When Charlie is having visions, he thinks that the Island is a personal test. And his test is to “save the baby” from unknown danger. He believes that everyone on the Island is being tested. This brings in religious and after life connotations, as Charlie believes the only way to “save” Aaron is to baptize him so he can get into heaven. And that would infer that subconsciously, Charlie has made the connection that the Island is Hell, testing their souls to make the right decisions.

Trust. When Charlie goes off and takes Aaron the second time, the entire camp turns against him. He is alone, which is his greatest fear. He is told by Locke that trust is easily lost, and that trust is hard to regain. Jack and Locke also have their trust issues with the locked gun closet, to have that trust used against them in Sawyer’s long con. Charlie “trusted” Sawyer’s plan to make Locke and Jack fools in front of their fellow campers. Further, Ben plants the seed of doubt into Locke when he asks Locke “I don’t know why you let the Doc call all the shots.”

Deception. There have been so many lies and deceptions from individuals that there is a shortage of truth on the Island. The atmosphere breeds assumptions and knee-jerk reactions that can be easily manipulated. Sawyer’s gun con is the prequel to the more elaborate Ben Linus con of the survivors. As we have said before, knowledge is power on the Island. But a little knowledge can be a dangerous weapon.

Clues:

The sponsors of the balloon appear to be a composite of character memories, Ben with Widmore and Hurley with Mr. Clucks.

Charlie realizing that the Island is “testing” everyone. Is it a personal test, a medical test, a psychological test or an afterlife redemption test toward judgment?

When Libby is trying to calm down an upset Claire who is starting to remember, Libby tells her that “she is combining experiences before the crash with things on the island” which upsets her. The same could be said for Libby, who was institutionalized with Hurley, that she is combining her prior mental illness experiences with her island (hospital therapy treatments) to create a vivid new fantasy.

Whether memory loss is a symptom of “the sickness?” Sayid is concerned that Jack and Locke are not on board with Rousseau’s warning about Ben being an Other. Sayid is convinced he is lying because when he demands answers about Gale burying his wife, he is not clear what he did - - - because Sayid knows how it would feel because he buried Shannon.

The tree frog taunting Sawyer. In some cultures, frogs have mythical significance. In Japan, frogs are symbols of good luck. Also they are believed to be their ancestors. The economy of ancient Egypt was centered on the Nile River, which teemed with frogs. The frog was particularly identified with Heket, a deity of fertility and childbirth. When the waters of the Nile receded, innumerable frogs would be heard croaking in the mud, the sort of event that may have influenced many myths. In one Egyptian creation myth, Heket and her ram-headed husband, Khnum, made both gods and human beings. According to another Egyptian creation myth, the original eight creatures were frogs and snakes that carried the cosmic egg. The tree frog on the Island could symbolize life, but with Sawyer crushing it - - - it could mean a place of death.

When the Hatch timer goes past zero, Egyptian symbols appear that I have translated to state "He escapes place of death."  The alarm does have meaning because without the Numbers, the alarm sounds and blast doors seal off the Hatch. The station is constructed for the purpose of containing something or someone (the Devil?) from destroying the world.

When Claire remembers Ethan at the medical station, she is given water from his canteen. But Claire says it tastes "sour."  Sour water is defined as water, usually waste, that contains sulfur compounds. Sulfur is associated with fire, brimstone and the underworld. 

Discussion:

Reveal not every secret you have to a friend, for how can you tell but that friend may hereafter become an enemy. And bring not all mischief you are able to upon an enemy, for he may one day become your friend.  - - - Saadi

In a dream, young Charlie comes down a flight of stairs in his slippers. It's Christmas morning and his brother Liam is already hard at work ripping open his presents. But while Liam continues to unwrap gift after gift, Charlie finds nothing at all for him. That is, until his mother leads him over to a brand new piano.. Charlie is thrilled, but before he can even begin to enjoy the gift, he learns it comes with a price, with his mother wanting him to become successful so he can “save them." Charlie, now fully grown, plays the piano, though it's now on the beach. Suddenly, he hears Aaron’s cries from inside it. Charlie tries to open it up, but can't. The incoming tide then tips the piano over onto its back and it begins to drift away, apparently carrying Aaron out to sea.  Charlie wakes up and checks to make sure Claire and Aaron are alright, and finds them with Locke.

While Charlie plays his guitar on the beach, he hears the faint cries of a baby and follows the sound to the ocean, where he sees Aaron’s cradle being tossed on the waves. He struggles to swim out and bring Aaron back to shore, where he discovers both Claire and his mother kneeling on the beach in robes, in angelic poses from a religious painting. Charlie is seeing a version of a religious painting from Charlie's childhood home. The angelic Claire and Charlie's mother repeat in unison: "The baby is in danger" and that Charlie "has to save him". A plane, Eko’s brother’s Beechcraft,  crashes in the background. A dove flies out of the sky, through the jungle, and past him out to sea. Hurley approaching him in biblical robes. Charlie wakes up standing in the ocean holding the baby, realizing it was a vivid dream. He tries to explain to Claire (and everyone else) that he was only trying to save him, but Claire slaps him across the face.

Charlie creates his own problems when Locke suspects Charlie is using heroin again. That breach of trust, even though Locke makes the wrong assumption, it later allows Locke to beat Charlie after his second taking of Aaron.  Locke says trust is a hard thing to win back, and Claire needs her time.
After unsuccessfully trying to enlist Locke, Charlie goes to Eko, who is marking trees because he "likes them". Eko suggests that Charlie's dreams mean something and could be a sign that he has to protect the baby. Eko suggests that the baby be baptized. Charlie goes to Claire with the idea, but is dismissed by Kate. Locke stands close by, watching Charlie, just like he did in during his first days on the Island (lie the Others observing and collecting data). In the jungle, Charlie finds his stash of heroin, but Locke appears. Charlie claims he came to finish the job and get rid of them all. But Locke doesn't believe him. He takes away all of the statues.

Claire asks Locke whether she and Aaron can sleep in the hatch but Locke offers to move his things closer to her tent for a while. She asks him about baptism and how much he knows about it. Locke tells her his view, calling it "spiritual insurance" so the baby will go to heaven. He says that there is no danger to her or the baby. In the religious context, Claire is also not baptized, so she could not be in heaven with her baby. Claire’s greatest fear is to be separated from her baby. But we do not know whether Island Aaron is a prop, like Jack’s son in the sideways world, or a real soul “reborn” in the church in The End.

Charlie starts a fire to distract Claire from Aaron's crib. While an attempt is made to put out the fire, Charlie grabs Aaron and runs with him to the ocean to baptize him. Locke and several other survivors run over after they hear Claire's cries. Locke tries to convince Charlie to hand him the baby, but Charlie refuses, saying, "Aaron's not your responsibility. Where were you when he was born? Where were you when he was taken? You're not his father. You're not his family." Locke replies that neither is he.Charlie gives Locke the baby, who hands him to Claire. Charlie tries to apologize but Locke punches him three times in the face. Charlie stumbles and falls into the water. Everyone leaves Charlie in disgust. All Charlie “wishes” is that “everything would go back to the way it was” with Claire and his island situation. But he ruined that. This problem mirrors his flashback life where he wished his brother, Liam, would get his act together in order to save the band. In that situation, Liam was kicked out of his house when his wife felt he was dangerous due to his drug addiction. On the island, Charlie has been kicked out of his “new” family because his erratic behavior from trying to kick his drug addiction. Charlie’s wish will only come true after he dies on the Island and is “reunited” with Claire in the sideways world church.

There are several scenes where Locke, observing from the jungle tree line, seems to be planning and calculating how to get people over to his side. In the Flocke theory, the opening to push Charlie away from Claire is Locke’s opportunity to make Claire dependent on him for protection and advice. We will learn that after Aaron leaves the island, Claire turns into evil darkness and Flocke is her best jungle friend.

The next day, while Jack is nursing Charlie's wounds, Eko agrees to baptize Claire and her baby, to make sure that they will always be protected together. Locke puts the seven Virgin Mary statues in the hatch gun closet and changes the lock combination again. 
Charlie sits on the beach alone and pulls his hoodie over his head. We do not know that Charlie’s addiction withdrawal from heroin, and the mistrust that his actions have had a lasting effect on his friendships, are twisted into an obsession to “save” Aaron from unknown dangers. As a result, he puts the baby into danger. As an outcast, he is any easy mark for Sawyer to regain his status as beach hoarder. Using the innocent picture of Ana and Jack together, with the paranoia that the Others will attack the campers again, Sawyer lets Kate imagination make assumptions that Ana attacked Sun in the garden in order to recruit survivors for Jack’s army. With the attack, for which Jack believes the Others were responsible, Jack is going to arm his group and goes to the Hatch to collect weapons. Sawyer gets there first and convinces Locke to hide the weapons in the jungle so Jack can’t get them. Jack’s plan violates the trust arrangement Locke had with him, so in a pre-emptive move, Locke leaves Sawyer manning the computer. An altercation happens in the beach camp that night when Jack and Locke are at each other for breaking their “truce,” when Sawyer shows up with the guns. He proclaims he is the “new sheriff in town” (which is a prequel to his role in time travel 1977 Dharma). It makes Jack and Locke look like fools, which was Charlie’s goal in this con. Afterward, Charlie asks Sawyer to make sure his role, especially him attacking Sun, is never told to anyone. So Charlie trusts the man who is the biggest liar he knows with his darkest island secret.

With Jack back from the Hatch, Claire argues with him that something could be terribly wrong with Aaron's health. Though she tells Jack she's OK, she still seems extremely worried. The next morning, Claire seeks Libby. As a psychologist, she believes Libby can help cause some kind of memory regression, allowing her to remember what happened in the jungle after Ethan abducted her. As the two women sit meditating, flashes of memory once more overcome Claire's psyche, causing her to scream, shouting that she remembers Ethan.  Ordering Libby to do the technique again, she is warned that her memory could simply be combining experiences of other memories in the past blended together, but is adamant that what she saw was real, and that she was drugged and given something. Now fully convinced that Aaron is sick, Claire proclaims that she needs to find the room in her flashback. She asks that Kate help her.

This abduction quest leads Claire and Kate to Rousseau. In turn, they find the Dharma medical station. Claire remembers the examination room, the needles in her stomach to protect the baby, the nursery, and her knitting while drugged by Ethan. As they leave, Claire remembers that Rousseau did not attack her, but tried “to save her.”  Claire may have lost some memories, but Rousseau has still lost her daughter.

Last lines in episodes:

EP 37:
EKO: Not if I baptize you both.

EP 38:
SAWYER: I'm not a good person, Charlie. Never did a good thing in my life.

EP 39:
SAYID: That you were strung up by your neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days during which god only know what happened to her. That these people -- these Others -- are merciless, and can take any one of us whenever they choose. So tell me, Charlie, have you forgotten?

EP 40:
GALE: Right, okay. -- My mistake.
[Locke leaves the armory, starts to do the dishes, and then loses his temper, swiping all the dishes on the counter to the ground. Gale in the armory is smiling.]

New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

It has always been bothersome that the 815 survivors never moved to the safety of the Hatch, or that the communication/computer savvy Sayid would not have used the Hatch computer’s communication to send an SOS or at the very least, gather intel on the Others. It appears that the survivors “do what they are told” like children, more easily than adults. If you believe in the “mental institution” theories on the premise of the show, young children are often berated to follow certain behavior, and operate in lock-step with their peers. There is a sense in the show that undercurrent is present in the actions or more importantly non-actions of the survivors.

When Hurley talked about transference, it could also relate to the concept of the show’s mental institution theories. When Walt looks at a bird book and then a bird appears at his window, he is called special. When Locke is born, he is called special because of his miracle birth. Is it their thoughts that create actions in their fantasy worlds.  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. In the first instance, it was the Others against the scientific Dharma (doctors and institutional authority of the island). Now, it is the survivors against the Others who have displaced (in their own minds) the higher authority (which still resides in Jacob).

The PBS science show, NOVA, had a recent special on dreams. Some scientists believe that dreams are simulated threats that prepares a person for them in their waking existence. It goes back to primordial survival techniques that help individuals cope with real life dangerous situations if they have some “experience” with them in their dreams. In modern humans, the idea of being attacked by wild animals (a real possibility in stone age tribes) is replaced by real stressful situations like events in school or at work. In dreams, fearful visions have a basis in reality and may be used as coping mechanism when a person has to face that reality. In essence, dreams are a subconscious brain tool to help control life events in reality.

This leads to the possibility that the big premise of Lost is contained in a dream world. The surreal nature of the smoke monster is consistent with monsters and wild animal attacks in nightmares. 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.

The keystone factor that puts the dream theory into play is that at the End of Season 6, we are told constantly that characters need to be “awakened” in the sideways world, to remember their Island time, in order to “move on” in the afterlife since everyone in the sideways realm are dead. To become awake means to stop deep REM and subconscious dreaming, to end the events in one’s mind. This leads to a curious question: can dead souls dream?

What are the series flashbacks? Old dreams of the characters or real world events?
Is the Island setting a “dream world” where each character can create their own vision of their path - - - such as Locke being able to walk and be the Outback hunter?
Is the sideways world the purgatory waiting area for the souls to wake up from their island dream state? And what happens to a person living in one of these dreamscapes - - - when they “die?” Is that a reference to them “waking up” in another reality? Or is the solution to one’s fears in real life in the dream world enough to effectively release one’s soul to move on (such as Jack’s defeat of Flocke and saving his friends).

And whether is this a collective dream or a collective nightmare is unknown. But the idea that the island with his science stations mimics a hospital setting is clear. If the characters are patients, and the island is the mental hospital to study their various mental illnesses through tests, therapy, group interaction, and drugs, that could explain the hallucinations, the visions, the dreams and the delusions that come up again and again with various characters on the Island.

A layered dream existence for the characters is a mirror to the Egyptian theory that the characters souls are on a journey through the underworld. Ancient Egyptians believed that man’s soul is divided at death into various elements, and travel separate paths to be reunited after judgment.

This phase of the story line contains the guest actor turned into major character transformation. Michael Emerson’s performance as Henry Gale was so good that TPTB kept his character on as the super-evil Others leader, Ben Linus. Since the series first season renewal and critical acclaim, TPTB needed something to string alone the characters for the remaining four seasons. Emerson provided an opportunity to flesh out the enemy. It also lead to some mild criticism because it also clouded the initial storyline with filler and another rash of secondary red-shirt characters. For if one looks backward from the End, all the story lines surrounding the Others are not material to the alleged resolutions of the main characters in the church.

One of the dynamics in the forefront is a good versus evil conflict. Sawyer, after taking back his sheriff-hoarder crown, tells Charlie “I am not a good person - - - never done a good thing in my life.”  After Claire remembers the examination room, she recalls Ethan telling her that “we’re (the Others) are good people.” But Sayid tells outcast Charlie, “have you forgotten?” what the Others did to Claire and himself. Sayid explains that he knows Gale (Ben) is lying because “I know because I feel no guilt” about beating him up to get answers.  And Ben knew what was coming, because he did not have any fearful expression. He was more afraid when Eko took out his long knife during their Eko’s “confession” about killing two Others (in order to keep on “his righteous path”). In Ben’s expressions, we know he knows much about the 815 survivors, including Sayid being a torturer, but there are things that he does not know - - - for example, the Hatch and its last occupant, Desmond. Ben’s trip to Jack was done on purpose; he ran across Rousseau’s path so she would shoot him with the arrow. And he knew they would take him to their doctor because they are “good people.”  Ben would then get information on Jack, as a prelude to capturing him so Jack could do spinal surgery on Ben to save his life. In a way, Ben’s early story arc was a mirror of Sawyer’s con to get the guns. People think that they are doing what they believe is right, but those decisions have already been made by a puppet master to get the results he wants from them.

These episodes continue to reinforce the theories about mental illness creating a 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.