MAGIC BOX

Penn and Teller are Las Vegas' premiere magic act. They are in the genre of comedy-magicians who take their craft seriously, but try to entertain audiences by revealing some alleged secrets while at the same time going crazy illusions. They have crossed over into many television projects, like Fool Us, a television show which professional magicians attempt to stump Penn and Teller on their tricks.

The art of magic is the slight of hand, misdirection, and logical interruption of a person's perception to surprise them with an unexpected result - - - like finding one's card in shuffled deck to sawing a woman in a box in half.  The latter uses a magic box to create the illusion of a saw blade tearing a woman in half, then separating the box into two halves.

If you want to know how that illusion is done, the internet probably has the answer.

If you want to know how the LOST island "magic box" works, then that is a different story.

We were told by Ben that the island is like a magic box, and if you want something badly enough, your wish will be fulfilled. In Locke's case, it was revenge upon his father, Cooper, who was suddenly transported to the island, held captive, then later killed in another revenge moment by Sawyer.

But what was the magic box?

It was never explained in the scripts. It may be a writer's slight of hand to move the action along without any rational basis for it. It was a tool to accomplish a plot twist without explaining it.

There are several ways to view the "magic"of the island through the metaphor of the box.

1. It could be a wish fulfillment center. If one believes in the island like children believe strongly in Santa Claus, you wishes will be granted by the island. Examples: Ben got cancer and needed to cure, so the island fulfilled his wish by crashing Flight 815 with Jack on board.

2. It is a dream catcher. The island EM fields can tap into human memories and recreate them in physical forms. This would explain Kate's horse, Walt's polar bear comic and Jack's father being present and seen on the island.  Instead of theater of the mind, it is actual theater of the island as memories become props. (Perhaps, this is how the smoke monster was created, through the nightmares of children about things attacking them in the dark.) The stronger the emotional tie to the memory, the faster the island conjures up the prop.

3. It is a Pandora's Box. The island is the mythological repository for the jar of all evils that the god, Pandora, sent to Earth to create pain on mankind. For those who have evil in their heart, like Ben, they could access the evils inside the box. Locke was so hateful toward his father, that he wanted to kill him, so the box provided Cooper to Locke.

4. It is Room 23, a mind control experimental lab. Those who were held captive or part of Dharma could have been exposed to the techniques of mind control. As a side effect, or part of the program, vivid memories are implanted into subjects which seem real to them outside the laboratory. Hurley can talk to dead people because those conversations were implanted into his memories.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

What we knew about the island is what we perceived about the island. Perceptions are reality unless the perceptions are deceptions. Then our perception is wrong.

What do we truly know about the island?

It looked like a tropical island.
It had palm trees, beaches, ocean currents, a reef, volcanic mountains and bamboo groves.

It also was "moving" away from the freighter. Daniel's rocket experiment data proved it.
It also "vanished" without leaving a massive void in the ocean space which would have created a massive tsunami. Instead, it was just a ripple on the ocean's surface.

So we have something that looks like an island but acts like a  . . .

Space ship.
A portal to another dimension.
An illusion.
Something else.

We were also told that the island needed "protection." Protection from what? It seemed that human beings could exploit the power of the island's core for evil purposes, but we never saw anyone actually harness that power. We saw individuals turn the frozen donkey wheel, but that exercise merely teleported those turners off the island. The Dharma Initiative drilled into the electromagnetic pockets in an attempt to harness the energy, but the only things that happened were time traveling bunnies and The Incident.

Like nature, the island seems untameable by human hands.

But the entire series undercurrent was the need to find an island guardian. In the first instance, Crazy Mother killed a Roman woman to steal her new born sons. She took those babies in order to have one of them replace her as the guardian of the island. That role went to Jacob. And after Jacob killed his brother, he sought to replace himself. He brought hundreds of candidates to the island to match wits with the apparent dead spirit of his brother, MIB. But the goal was the same as Crazy Mother: to give up the burden of the guardianship.  The role went to Jack for a short period to re-set the island cork and rescue Desmond from the light cave; but then it was transferred to Hurley, who also did not want the job.

But what exactly was the job? Ben said it was anything Hurley wanted to do; he could make up his own rules.

Ben also remarked that the island was like a Magic Box; if you wished hard enough, your dreams could materialize.

So, it is possible that the real connection between the island and human beings is the runaway, uncontrollable dreams of human beings that the island could actually give them - - - if there was no governor - - - something to stop someone from becoming a god.

We were told that Hurley merely wound down the island, shut down the air drops, and went to the sideways world church reunion. But there is a huge gap in between these activities. First, the sideways world is in the after life. Second, if Hurley was alive on the island, how did he get to the sideways world if he was an immortal guardian? Did he have to trick someone into taking over his island guardianship in order to escape the island's hold on him?

It would seem so. Unless Hurley's grand wish was always to have a group of close friends, a woman who truly loved him, and a place where everyone could come together in peace and tranquility. Then his Magic Box moment would have been the sideways church reunion.

MYSTERY BOX

"Maybe there are times when mystery is more important than knowledge."— J.J. Abrams

Totally.
Disagree.

In the short term, when a couple begins their relationship, a little mystery goes further than knowledge, but at some point those personal mysteries have to unravel in order to get to know each other much better.

The fascination with mystery boxes is that of a young child several days before Christmas, shaking boxes under the tree. Since you cannot see what is inside the box, it makes one mad to find out. For some, the sole goal is to rip the box open to see what is inside. For a few, it is anticipatory dread that there may be something disappointing inside the box.

Some say LOST was Abrams'  monument to mystery because it left so many unanswered questions. If six seasons were a tribute to his love of magic, wonder, and infinite possibility, what was truly inside LOST's mystery box?

SCIENCE OF MAGIC?

It maybe the endless debate. Was LOST based on science or magic?  Or neither. Or both. Or nothing.

The initial proposition was that Jack was a man of "science," being a medical doctor and all, would struggle against Locke, a man of "faith."  But Locke never had a background story in either religion or spiritual belief. He took many people's word as gospel, but he constantly got burned as a result. It is hard to tell whether Locke's "new island vision" was a lightning bolt of religious faith or an obsessive need for purpose - - - a second chance to live his dream.

Ben called the island a "Magic Box."  Afterward, Locke's reward for protecting the island was what he desperately wanted: to confront his father, Cooper. The island brought Cooper, who claimed he was in a serious automobile accident but was swept away to the island, to Locke. Then Ben told Locke that in order to be an island leader, he'd have to kill his father (just as Ben himself had done). One could consider the latter ritual as pagan, a form a sadistic worship. But it could be just as well as manipulative fear of the general population of the Others.

After Desmond's fail safe key "save," the series may have jumped the Dharma shark to dismiss both science and faith toward the vague realm of pure magic. Desmond, Charlie and Eko really should not have survived the explosion/implosion of the Hatch. The island should not have been bouncing around in both time and space, let alone controlled by a wooden donkey wheel.

For the writers, magic had one great tool. Magic has no explanation. It is just magic. No science. No faith. No belief system. No connecting the dots to get a result. No, magic is abracadabra; it is what it is and does what it does because it is magic.

Supernatural is not a explanation because one cannot dissect it in order to see how it works. Even a trained magician at a kid's party can teach someone the hidden dove trick. But in a scripted series where the viewer is led down various twisting paths with scientific and religious terminology, one would hope the writers would have taught us their own hidden dove tricks.

QUANTUM EXPERIMENTAL VIEW

There is a new way to look at the LOST conundrums.

It is an analogy often used to explain difficult situations in the show, The Big Bang Theory. It is called "Schrodinger's cat." Schrodinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes explained as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Edwin Schrodinger in 1935. Though he never actually created the experiment, he wanted to illustrate a problem in one interpretation of quantum mechanics as it  applied to everyday objects. The issue Schrodinger had was the this interpretation of quantum mechanics did not yield a description of an objective reality but dealt only with probabilities of observing, or measuring, various aspects of energy quanta, entities that fit neither the classical idea of particles nor the classical idea of waves. The act of measurement causes the set of probabilities to immediately and randomly assume only one of the possible values.

Schrodinger's experiment postulated that a cat would be placed in a sealed box with a vial of poison. The poison would be released at an unknown, random time. This uncertainty of what is happening inside the sealed box presents the possibility that a cat that may be both alive and dead, depending on an earlier random event. This thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of quantum physics.  In the course of developing this experiment, Schrodinger coined the term Verschränkung ("entanglement").

LOST is the cat in the magic box we all call our television sets.

Based upon the information we have received, we did not know whether the characters were dead or alive at any given moment in the series.   Also, the show featured themes that included paradoxes (time travel events), various aspects of unique energy properties (the heart of the island) and most certainly the entanglement of various diverse character lives with each other. Faraday thought of the island dynamic as a measurable place in time and space, until he found that the set of probabilities could be adversely affected by "variables," which in some viewers minds meant the free will decisions of the characters.

Further, Ben clearly described the concept of the Magic Box to Locke. Ben said that if Locke wanted something badly, the magic box would produce it. Locke wanted to see the box, but Ben scoffed that aside. In Locke's case, suddenly Anthony Cooper was captured and on the island (as he said right after an automobile accident; and that the island was hell). At the time, Locke's whole life revolved around the betrayal of his father and the revenge he sought for the downfalls in his life. Those strong emotional thoughts created the situation where Locke could confront his worse nightmare face to face.

The island as a magic box does not yield an objective reality, but dealt with the probabilities of observing various aspects of a person's life outside the classical ideas of religious thought (judgment, punishment, penance, accountability, and redemption). It gave the main characters various opportunities to relive difficult moments in their lives, to give them second chances or the possibility to change (their perceived outcome of key life events). The island could be viewed as one large interactive, interpersonal experiment in which the viewers got an inside peek of the events transpiring therein.

THE GAP

There are a few elements that most people can agree upon: the island was a magical place; it was a spiritual place; it was not of this world. The implication of those facts is that somehow (such as Thoth's magic) the main characters were diverted, taken, kidnapped or sent though time, space, or realms.

This chart explains the possibilities. In our normal life existence, a human soul would live her or his life out in a normal fashion, ending in some sort of purgatory afterlife as taught by most of the major religions. But in LOST, the normal life continuum was interrupted by the "plane crash."  The passengers on Flight 815 were diverted to a magical island in a different realm of existence.  The FDW chamber held hieroglyphs which stated there were various "Earth gates." This chamber could have been a two way teleportation device.

Why were the characters diverted into the island realm? There are a few reasons: to train for their eventual journey through the after life; to kill boredom of the gods (throughout the pantheon of Greek myths the gods came down to Earth to mess with humanity); or to experiment on human souls to determine if they were worthy of a greater purpose.

But once a person got to the island, there were only four choices. One could go back through the diversion portal back to the normal Earth time line. One could stay (or be trapped) on the island in human or spirit form. One could "die" on the island and one's soul could go through a nexus gate to the afterlife. Or, as some of the characters did (but we don't know how), they opened a new gate to create their own sideways purgatory (a purgatory within purgatory). The various realm gates appear to intersect in the afterlife, to be sorted by the White Light.

The big Gap in the flow chart of where the characters were during the series is the island itself. Many fans thought the island was connected by a wormhole which would explain the shifts in time and space. Others believed that the island was a fore-hell for lost souls to begin to sort out their acceptance of their fate of being dead. Others thought that characters were trapped in mental delusions so strong that their conscious thought they were transported to different realms.

If we go with the proposition that what happened was "real," then the passengers on Flight 815 were diverted from normal Pacific air space through an electromagnetic energy field and deposited on the island. This island looks and feels like a tropical island, but it contains supernatural elements and immortal beings so it cannot be of "our Earth."  The characters are still "alive," but must try to live in a spiritual or a world in a different universe. In order to get back to Earth, they must escape the pull of the island's power source or use it to re-open the diversion portal. Only a handful of people ever made it back to their Earth time line. The rest either went directly to the afterlife or diverted themselves to the sideways world to wait for their friends to "awaken."

The concept of awakening leads to the concept of magic: being under a spell. Illusionists can put audience members into deep sleep, hypnotize them, make them do weird things, then snap them back to reality. Did the island and/or Jacob serve the role as magician? Or was the real guardian of the souls of Jack's friends Christian? He died before the other characters so he may have been in an afterlife position to direct or re-direct his son to the promise land (as inferred by the church ending).

In any event, the characters were clearly "detoured" from their normal life's path by and through the island. The question remains about how they got from gap to gap in the time-space-reality spectrum.

MAGIC BOX

One of the great unexplained aspects of the series was The Magic Box.

“Let me put it so you'll understand. Picture a box. You know something about boxes, don't you John? What if I told you that, somewhere on this island, there is a very large box and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted to be in it when you opened that box, there it would be? What would you say about that, John?” --- Ben to Locke.

Ben then went on to show Locke a bound and gagged Anthony Cooper who Ben claimed came out of the magic box.

When Locke pressed Ben for more about the box, Ben snapped back that "the box is a metaphor, John." Despite this, he continues to maintain that by some agency things that people on the island want or need show up. Later, when Ben and Locke entered the Orchid, Locke marveled at the mysterious technology and asked if this was the magic box. Ben retorted that it was not.

J.J. Abrams often explained his love of "the unseen mystery," using the metaphor of a mystery box. TPTB admitted that the  "the magic box" was symbolic;  stating that "the entire island is a magic box."


It would appear that the creative team drew upon the 1967 novel, The Third Policeman for the concept of their magic box.

In the novel, an unnamed protagonist and narrator is orphaned as a child (though he only states that his parents have more than "left" later on), and is sent to boarding school where he first becomes acquainted with the work of the bizarre philosopher, De Selby.

De Selby is a natural skeptic of all known laws of physics, who casually dismisses the evidence of human experience. He contends, for example, that "the permanent hallucination known conventionally as 'life' is an effect of constantly walking in a particular direction around a sausage-shaped earth, and that night results from 'accumulations of black air."

Obsessed by the philosopher's somewhat odd theories, the protagonist sets out on a catastrophic quest to publish a definitive commentary on the philosopher. He shares some of his writings on De Selby with John Divney, an unsavory man who has served as reluctant caretaker to the narrator's parents' farm and public house since their death. Divney devises a plan to murder and rob a local rich man, which he convinces the narrator into going along with, because Divney explains it is his responsibility to publish the works on De Selby - with fair backing or not.

The narrator and Divney murder their chosen victim, but Divney hides the money box. The narrator then begins spending every moment with Divney in order to discover the box's whereabouts.
The protagonist finally gets hold of the money box only to discover that the box does not contain money, but “omnium," a substance described as the essential inherent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything, and which is literally everything one desires. The substance called omnium therefore can create anything the beholder desires.

After finding out about the power of the magic box, the narrator has grand visions of his future omnipotence, but begins to experience strange and hallucinatory  events involving a bicycle, a robber, two policemen and a strangely elastic sense of space and time. However, the narrator learns that things created by his will and the omnium cannot be removed from the labyrinth and taken back to the outside world.


The parallels to LOST are quite clear. The Island is isolated from the outside world. It contains a supernatural energy in the light cave. It is a force that is never understood or explained by the people guarding it. The people who arrive on the island experience strange and hallucination events, many based upon their past lives. Some people seem to be re-living aspects of their lives hoping for a different result. But the infinite power of the island force creates and corrupts human beings into murder, deception, kidnapping and mind control.


If anyone could tap into the island's magic box, it could create a chaotic world.
If the power of the magic box was true,  it would help explain why the children were taken by the Others, why Walt was abducted, and why children are so seldom seen at the Barracks. Assuming the Island works like a genie: if you want something bad enough, the island will create it for you. If that is the case, then island protectors don't want children running around all the time, imagining things like dragons, giant robots, fairies, unicorns, and even polar bears.

Walt was reading a comic book which contained a polar bear before the crash. He was "special" which may mean he had an active imagination.  This would explain Ms. Klugh's comment to Walt about going back into" the room," which is believed to be the mind control Room 23 where Karl was brain washed by Ben to stay away from Alex. If Walt had a particularly active imagination that made him even more dangerous, that may be why the Others let him go off the island with Michael instead of trying to be contain or control his thoughts in Room 23.  The reason that children are not seen around the Barracks could be simple: their imaginations are a threat and danger to everyone on the island.

The concept that life itself is one large hallucination was also referenced in LOST. The prime example was when Ben was trying to get the O6 cast back to the island. In the marina, there was a boat called Illusion. The O6 had desired to leave the island, to be rescued, to get back to their lives in the mainland, only to find that their lives hollow or meaningless. The theory that the Island would draw them back could be true but it could also be that the O6 never actually left the Island itself if everyone was part of a layered and complex group hallucination.

We still don't know how the magic box actually works. What would trigger Cooper being in a car crash then suddenly transported to the island? Cooper believed he died and was sent to Hell. Locke's deep emotional desire to confront his father? To kill his father, or make him suffer? If the trigger is such raw emotion, why did Kate in a melancholy state imagine her horse? Or were all the Dharma food drops really caused by hunger pains by the Hatch crews? And how did Alpert arrive at the island when he was headed to the gallows? It is hard to believe that Jacob knew about him and desired him to be transported to the island like the Cooper situation.

The whole magic box theory does not explain Jacob's need to bring anyone to the island in the first place. If he was all-knowing, he could create anything he wanted by using the island's power. Perhaps, everything about the LOST experience was created in Jacob's mind. He is the lonely, alien, godlike being trapped protecting a supernatural element in order to keep the universe in balance. However, as a child, he had an imagination and need for friendship, adventure and sense of purpose. He created all the conflicts, all the characters, and all the events in order to occupy his mind so he would not go totally mad. Over time, he imagined a crazy mother and a brother. He imagined a conflict with them. He killed his brother but in his guilt created a smoke monster who sought revenge and escape. (If MIB was real, it could have tapped the magic box and easily "escaped" the island at any time without the help of the candidates). But it seems that the island as a child's playroom was a self-contained, padded cell metaphysically isolated from the rest of the universe.

The magic box may be the only explanation for the sideways world. When Christian said to Jack that the sideways world was created by his friends, we could not conceive how mortal human beings could create a purgatory waiting room in another dimension of time or space.  If those characters truly believed and desired to "die together" and move on in the after life as a group, then the island could have their sideways world. But it would seem that it was the characters subconscious that desired the sideways world since the characters did not know about it until they were "awakened." The whole concept of the sideways awakening still does not make much sense. If you can control your after life by not knowing you are dead, why can't you continue to live out in the fantasy purgatory instead of going into the unknown white light?

If the entire LOST experience was the fantasy world of Jacob, then the sideways world becomes even more problematic. Can an imaginary person have a fantasy life such as to create a sideways world existence?

Then what of Jacob? Did he really die by Ben's hand and MIB's cremation? Apparently not, since Jacob continued to roam the island in physical form as an adult and as a child. This gets us to the possibility that Jacob was never real. It was the Island that created Jacob. The Island itself is a intelligent being that receives the thoughts, desires, and dreams of people. As the key to "life, death and rebirth," the Island could channel those strong emotional waves back into the world. For example, if a couple is infertile they could wish and dream hard for a miracle, which may in turn be granted by the Island. The Island could also be thought of a "prayer collector," where people ask their god for intervention, forgiveness or guidance. As a supernatural being, the Island could grant those prayers. These ideas would fit into the theory that the Island was one large metaphoric magic box.


When Christian said everything was "real," in the context of a pure fantasy world that could be correct. If the Island pooled similar desires of people and gathered them in one place to interact and find what they most desired (ex., friendship), then the fulfillment of those wishes would absolutely seem real whether the person was alive, dead or a spirit seeking closure on life's regrets.


This is all well and good, but if true, the magic box execution was inconsistent and possibly flawed. With the main characters, did they actually have their dreams fulfilled by their Island experiences? Was Jack's sole wish in life to prove his father wrong about Jack not being a leader? Was Locke's sole wish in life to kill his father? Or being a outback adventurer? Was Kate's sole wish in life to stop running away from her problems and settle down? In the end, we cannot conclude that either Jack, Locke or Kate got what they truly desired; Jack was reunited with his father but the slate was cleaned, Locke's life did not end well and he was broken in the fantasy sideways world, and Kate wound up with Jack but we don't know what happened to them next.  In some ways, the sideways world was what the main characters truly desired in their miserable real lives. If that was the case, then none of them would have wanted to "move on" in the church. It would be counter-intuitive to end what you truly wished for or what the Island's magic box gave you.

There is another explanation of the "magic box" situation. Magic box could be code for hypnotic control. Room 23 was devised to alter the thoughts of individuals, apparently to love Jacob. In any cult, the control of the followers is key to the leader's power. Brain washing can occur in many forms. It could be the filter to find out who was "good" (as in easily manipulated to the island cause) or "bad" (unworthy of Jacob's good graces). That is why the Others always called themselves the "good guys." They truly believed it.

By manipulating the minds of their subjects, leaders like Ben or Widmore could get people to do criminal things in the guise of a higher calling. For example, Ben's minions could have caused Cooper's car crash and drugged him in the ambulance to transport him to the Island so Ben could "shock" Locke into becoming a loyal Other. That would not be "magic," but a complex criminal scheme of kidnapping, drugs, brain conditioning, and forced loyalty. The same plan was used to get Juliet to the Island. She was literally kidnapped, drugged on the sub, conditioned to believe her work on the Island was so important, and that she could never leave the island.


Of course, the last option is the least favorable explanation. The magic box could have been a literary trick to put in unexplainable plot twists into the story line in order to fill time from season to season. Who did not think WTH? when Ben revealed to  Locke "his gift" of a bound and gagged Cooper, the man that had caused Locke so much physical and mental pain?!


The Magic Box, whether it was real, symbolic of the leader's power or authority, or the will of a supernatural being, will never be fully known.

THE JINN THEORY

Throughout various ancient cultures, people believed that magical non-human spirits came to Earth as messengers, prophets, or wish grantors. Some believed these messengers were angels from heaven; some believed that the genie was both a helpful and a malevolent possessor of magic. In the Aladdin tales, when a person asked for their three wishes, the grant would be a literal or twisted version of the words used - - - resulting in unintended consequences and grief to the "lucky" person who found the genie.

The genie would grant wishes once he was "released" or "escaped" the confines of his prison. Only higher magic could keep a genie in his place.

The Prophet Muhammad reportedly divided jinn into three classes: those who have wings and fly in the air, those who resemble snakes and dogs, and those who travel about ceaselessly.

There were many mysterious things on the island. One mystery was the crying Hurley bird so that matches "wings and fly in the air" jinn;  Vincent is a dog who happens to arrive just as something (usually bad) happens; and the smoke forms of Smokey that "travel about ceaselessly" on the island like a prisoner trapped in a cage.

The island could be the lamp trapping the smoke monster (as Desmond called it a snow globe).

However, the island may provide other "containers" for a genie. Many people assumed that the ash ring around Jacob's cabin was to keep the smoke monster out. However, what if it was the opposite? It was meant to keep Jacob locked away.

Jacob was always inside the Cabin, like he couldn't get out.
Jacob is a powerful person, but seems to be a little devilish.
The Others are so scared about him because since he is a Genie, he can do whatever he wants to to them, so his followers actually fear him.
Jacob could grant certain wishes to a person (like Richard's immortality).
He can also heal people from mortal diseases, like cancer or paralysis.
He could get them back into the illness if he wanted to grant other people their wish or hope (such as Juliet wanting to leave the island but the only way that could happen is if Ben would die in surgery.)
It was not the Island that healed people, but Jacob.
Since Jacob spied on everyone he brought to the island, he had all their memories, wishes, desires.
He could use that information to control and manipulate people.

While some believe that the gods created genii just the same as human beings, others believe that they actually predated mankind. The island has been around for a long, long time and there seem to be beings that can live longer than the usual number of years.

So what are the basic properties of a genie?

In Islam, it is believed that there are three main creations. The first being Angels, who never commit sins and never disobey God. The second being human beings who are given freewill and are accountable for their choice in life. By the end of the day, only those who follow the righteous path will go to paradise. Lastly, you have the jinns. They are very much like human beings except from the fact that they cannot be seen. They are given freewill and choose their religion. Like human beings, they will be judged according to the lives they have led when Judgement Day arrives. 

There is disagreement over whether these creatures are a force of good or evil. Both Jacob and MIB play off the black v. white theme (which we interpret as good v. evil.). But recall, Jacob has allowed most of the people he brought to the island to be killed, injured or maimed.

There is a  belief that jinn are angry spirits born from smokeless fire whereas man was born of the earth itself.  Both Jacob and MIB were prone to spats of quick anger. It appeared that in their ghost forms they would taunt each other. The Dharma station people used the term Cerebus to describe the the smoke monster because its actions always seems angry or in a rage.

Just like man, however, the jinn were given free will. However, as man - - beginning with Adam - - struggled to bring out the best in his nature, the jinn preferred to give in to the dark side.  Some believe that the character of Satan describes a jinn - -  a powerful being who used to work for good but is now tasked to punish or manipulate man for a better purpose. Everyone on the island and major players off island are obsessed with the idea of free will and choice. A jinn cannot make you do something against your will, but a jinn can influence a person to make that decision.

Jinn live in a realm between earth and heaven. Their dimension makes them somewhat separate and distinct from the normal human realm which is an apt description of the Island. The root meaning of the Arabic word for genie translates into"hidden from sight."  Jacob could only be seen by a few select people. But he could see all humans, but humans could not see him.

Ancient tales state that god provided protection for unsuspecting humans in the form of a prayer that asks for refuge from the whisperings of the jinn. More than that, however, having a strong religious faith is also necessary to subvert the jinn's ability to influence humans. The constant missions the survivors were tasked with were means to break down their personal beliefs so that they could be more easily influenced by the jinn, whether it be Jacob and/or MIB. In the theme debate between science and faith, it is faith can protect people from the jinn.

There is also a belief that some humands can call forth a jinn to do their bidding. When Keamy attacks the barracks and kills Alex, Ben summons with water the smoke monster. (Later he would say that the smoke monster summoned him.) But the result was that Ben got his wish - - - instant violent revenge against Keamy's men.

It is also said that jinn could not reproduce. If jinns cannot breed with human beings, although there are many indications that they have wanted and tried to do just that in order to gain more permanent residence inside the earthly realm. This may explain why children could not be born on the island.

Jinns were only created to serve and praise god. So at one time there were considered "good guys," but lost their way while on earth. Jinn can make anything happen, travel in the blink of an eye and shape shift into any form. This could explain the island time skips, the ghosts of past memories roaming the island for the characters to see, and why some people (like Patchy) apparently died several times on the island.

However, it is believed that after shape shifting, jinns will have to abide to the laws of their physical form, which means that they will now be visible to human eyes. This may not be a good thing, as this would make them more vulnerable. It is believe that if the animal the jinn shape shifted into is killed, than the jinn too will die. The jinn can be killed with a gunshot or wounded with a knife. LOST was inconsistent in how Jacob and MIB met their demise. Jacob was stabbed then burned to ash, but later reformed to speak to the candidates before a separate (unexplained) fire would burn out. MIB in Flocke's form was shot but he did not die. It was only after Jacob's apparent demise and the stone cork reset of the island did MIB apparently die from Kate's gunshot wound and fall. But we do not know for certain whether these deaths were true, or an illusion to fulfill the final wishes of the main characters.

One could try to go back and see if any of the main characters were granted "three wishes" in the Americanized version of the genie tale.



One could argue that Locke made three wishes that the Island granted him:

- make me walk again
- give my father the punishment he deserves
- make me live again


Except, one could also argue that Jacob was the person who created all that pain and sadness in Locke. Jacob sent Richard to visit Locke as a newborn and as a young child. Jacob may have influenced Cooper to abandon his family, causing Locke to be raised in foster homes. Jacob may have had his hand in causing Locke to become paralyzed and so distraught to become a "viable" candidate (brain washed) to take over the Island guardian duties.


The jinn theory is like any other LOST fan theory. It has its good points to help explain the continuity errors and huge story line lapses. But it has its flaws as well because it would seem to be a massive white wash of what fans were led to believe what the story was truly about in Season 1.

REBOOT: EPISODES 5-8

LOST REBOOT  

Recap: Episodes 5-8 (Day 7 -10)

Jack repeatedly sees the image of his dead father in the jungle. The water supply runs low, survivors turn to violence when the last water bottles are stolen. Jack’s search for his father leads him to a source of fresh water, the caves.

Jin assaults Michael because of his apparent relationship with Sun. Sayid handcuffs Sayid to the wreckage, and Sun is torn about revealing her secret to the group. Jack’s plan to move the survivors meets resistance from half the group. 

Charlie goes into heroin withdraw after Locke takes away his last drug stash. Sayid tries again to try to find the power source for the French transmission, but his plan is thwarted by a mysterious attack. Jack is trapped in a cave-in which requires cooperation to rescue him.

Shannon has an asthma attack and Boone believes Sawyer is the one who stole her inhalers. Jack and Sayid have to decide whether to resort to violence and torture  in order to get the medicine from Sawyer.  Also, Sayid tries to learn who attacked him in the jungle by leaving the group as a result of only being able to trust himself.

Science: 

Each of the main LOST characters are loners. They come from backgrounds of no real friendships. As such, many have problems communicating, space issues, introverted personalities and trust issues. In medical science, a “loner” is a label for a person who shuns human interaction for a variety of reasons. These reasons can range from a lack of certain social skills (such as people with Asperger's Syndrome), misanthropy, excessive rejection from others, or just for a desire to be with oneself. A common psychological term used to describe the personality of loners is introversion.

Some individuals refuse to interact with others because of perceived or accurate superiority. They wish to only relate to individuals they consider worthy of their time and attention. Therefore, a loner will have very few intimate relationships. Many feel anxious in their presence because they perceive the loner's disdain towards them. It is also common for people to believe them to be arrogant and egotistical.

Loners can dig themselves into deep psychological holes. Misuse of drugs as a form of escape from the real world. People who never leave their homes for fear of interacting with strangers. Deep introversion can lead to alienation which can create paranoia and anger issues leading to violence.

Jack fails to realize that there is a natural method to help Shannon with her asthma attack. It is Sun who uses eucalyptus leaves to alleviate Shannon’s symptoms. This Australian plant does have medical properties to treat respiratory illness such as pharyngitis (inflammation of the pharynx), bronchitis (inflammation of bronchial tubes) and pneumonia (inflammation of the lung parenchyma). Eucalyptus leaves come in pills and liquids. It can also be taken with tea or tincture. The semisolid preparation of eucalyptus leaves (called ointment) is applied externally as a remedy for pain of rheumatism (any painful disorder of the joints or muscles), neuralgia (acute spasmodic pain along the course of one or more nerves) and stiffness. The ointment is also applied topically for soothing an irritation. Inhaling the vapors coming out of boiled eucalyptus leaves is a familiar herbal remedy for asthma (respiratory disorder characterized by wheezing), congestion (excessive accumulation of blood in a body part) and other respiratory disorders.

Improbabilities:

When Sayid claims he needs to launch three antenna to triangulate the power signal transmission, he is incorrect. It takes only two antenna to coordinate with the actual power source for triangulation. 

When Michael inspects the cave for structural integrity because he was in the “construction business” for eight years is hard to grasp how he is a geologic engineer or can see inside rock to determine whether it is stable or not.

When Sawyer’s artery is severed by Sayid, Jack tells him to go to the caves to get his medical bag. Under normal circumstances, a severed artery will bleed out in a matter of minutes causing death. Treatment is by a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. But such an amount of blood loss and time, Sawyer would have been in shock and most likely dead before Sayid returns for Jack to stitch up the artery.

Mysteries: 
The Island is explained by Locke to Charlie as "The Magic Box" Ben would later show us, in the way that the Island will grant wishes to a person if that person gives up something in return. But the Island operates in blur of illusion: is it real or not real? 

Themes: 

Relationships.  Kate flashed a lot of skin in these episodes. We prospectively know her family issues and bad girl behavior which is her inner conflict. She wants to be liked by the good boys (Jack) but is drawn to the bad boys (Sawyer). But she realizes that when she is close to a good boy, he gets hurt (badly, as in friend Tom car crash while running away from trouble).

Sun also has back issues with her father. She wants to get away from him and wants to elope with someone totally different, Jin, a working class fisherman’s son. But after marriage, she finds out that she has married a monster, someone just like her father. She plans to runaway from Jin at the Sydney Airport, but at the last moment thinks about his simple flower gift when they first dated; sealing her fate on the Island.

Illusion. More and more evidence is shown that a Smoke monster, such as Flocke, can create illusions or matter from memories on the Island. Charlie standing on a bee hive because he is afraid of bees; or Charlie using the illusion of peanut butter to get Claire to the caves.

Savior/Hero.

Jack is called a “savior.” He does not want any leadership decisions, because in his background his father told him he does not have what it takes to make hard life-death decisions or live with the consequences. When Jack finds his father’s empty coffin, he destroys it - - - releases that mental baggage that allows him to return to the group with a plan to move to the caves and fresh water. He gives the “Live Together, or Die Alone” speech.

Charlie also sheds his brother’s broken promises and his non-existence as a band member to find self-worth by saving Jack by digging out of the cave collapse by following the moth (the metaphor which Locke created previously to tell Charlie that “the struggle is what makes you strong.”) Charlie gets his drug stash back from Locke, but does not use it but throws it into the fire. Locke says he is proud of him, which is the first re-affirmation Charlie has received that gives him confidence to get out of his shell and get closer to Claire.

Clues:

We begin to get more of The Numbers, for which the creators claim had no real significance in the series except for their repeated use. 

When Sun is at the Sydney Airport, her escape is timed to 11:15. Now this is the first time that we have a key number that is negative (11= 15 minus 4). It could be said that derivative numbers, especially ones created by subtraction, are omens for bad luck.

When Kate and Sayid are in the jungle on another antenna mission, Sayid remarks that the plane’s tail section broke up mid air and the middle section cartwheeled across the jungle. But they survived with no harmful effects, just a bruise or cut. He believed it was impossible. Kate’s response: “something happened.”  That something is the Island, and its “transformational” effect on these characters/souls. And when Kate and Sayid meet at the end when Sayid is leaving camp for good, he says to her “I hope we meet again.” Is this foreshadowing of Sayid leaving the community of loners because he can trust no one, realizing that he is already dead; that his words are his last humanity before the island “infects” him with darkness to create another smoke monster?

Discussion:

Throughout these episodes, it is becoming clear that Locke is really not John Locke, wheelchair loner, but Jacob’s brother in disguise. Locke is patiently manipulating the other survivors to create situations of fear, anxiety, pain or emotional release. Locke is around when Jack sees his father’s illusion. Locke is there to “save” Jack from the cliff. Locke is around when Jack is lead to the caves and water. Locke manipulates Sayid to attack and torture Sawyer. Locke uses Charlie to explain what the Island is: The Magic Box - - -  the island can grant you a wish (your guitar) but you have to give something in return (his drugs). Locke creates personal fearful situations like Charlie standing on a bee hive in order to push the characters into other emotional situations (pushing Kate and Jack into the cave to find Adam and Eve, which Locke names - - - but we know are Crazy Mother and Jacob’s brother) as a way of telling them there is no rescue off the island.  Locke is orchestrating all of the action on the island during these episodes, directly or indirectly. We know this because when Charlie races for help and tells Locke that Jack is trapped in a cave-in, Locke shows no emotion; he does nothing to help.

The Island is re-creating strong memories and emotional situations in each character. Sun gives up her secret (English) to Michael in order to save Jin from painful imprisonment, just as she gave up her own freedom to be with Jin at the Sydney Airport.

Sawyer prefers death than being saved by Jack. For a doctor, Jack’s medical oath has been further compromised by allowing Sayid to torture Sawyer in order to get medicine for Shannon, especially when there were alternatives that he failed to realize. 


Part of the reactions of the characters is from their personalities shaped by their childhoods and environments. In Life, there are three strong factors which shapes a person (for good or ill): family, friends and community. With most of the main characters, they have family issues, most have no real friends, and are loners who don't seek out community (and in return don't have community support system). In the chart below, the Family-Friends-Community intersecting circles could be labeled as "faith, hope and charity" subgroups.

The main characters come to the Island with little religion, little hope and some charity to their fellow man (Jack healing the wounded, but most survivors kept to themselves, including Jack who cussed at himself for not talking to the woman who would drown in the ocean).


In the same manner, a pattern is developing on how to explain the interaction between the Island elements, the off-island elements (flashbacks and flash forwards to come) and the Sideways (purgatory) realm. Where all three distinct places intersect is LOST. When Kate realizes that "something happened" to them when they survived an unsurvivable plane crash, the characters have been somehow "saved" or "transformed" into a spirit world of the Island, which intersects with their memories (off-island events) and the sideways world (what the characters created "together" in order to wait to move on together according to Christian). Just as the smoke monsters are manipulating the human souls memories to re-create their emotional moments on the Island, the human souls themselves may be subconsciously creating their own "fantasy" world in the sideways plane (as a vessel for their spirits when they are ready to re-unite with their bodies to continue the journey through the afterlife, as somewhat described in ancient Egyptian religious themes).


The intersection point of LOST means that a human soul can be at three places at once, but separate and independent until joined by an "awakening" event that pulls them fully into the Sideways/Afterlife existence. As said when the series was first shown, I believed "knowledge is power," and as soon as people realized that they were dead or in the afterlife, they had the power to control events (example, Eloise knew about all three spheres of existence and tried to stop Desmond from awakening her son, Daniel).


The interlocking spheres of existence can explain the premise of the show without having an absolute answer to whether the characters are alive or dead in any place or at any time; for in a spirit world of magic, illusion, memory and emotion, almost anything goes.


Themes:

“Time doesn’t matter on this damn island,” said Michael to Sun about the expensive watch. Time has no bearing for those who have no schedule in the real world.  However, Kate realizes that Sawyer wrote his secret letter in 1976 - - - as a child, which pins a point in the time line when the survivors have their time travel arc. 

Separation is another subtext when Jack’s decision splits the group into two: the cave people (survivors who must adapt to new life on island) and the Beach people (who still tend the signal fire in hope of rescue). But it is also symbolic of their new relationships and separation by choice. The song lyrics are telling: “is this where you want to be?” when Kate is alone on the beach. And “these are your friends, but are they REAL friends?”

Religion. 

“I did not take you as a religious man,” Jack says to Charlie. But Jack admits “I'm no saint.”  Charlie confesses his sins of temptation, but is told by the priest that he chooses the temptations. Right or wrong is a personal choice. People have to live with the choices they make; and people must be accountable for the choices they make. The religious concepts of right and wrong (or black and white as symbolized by the stones found by Jack in the cave with Adam and Eve) are present in the background of the character’s decision making process, and hampered to some extent by their personal histories (flashbacks).

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

“I looked into the eye of the Island . . . what I saw was beautiful.” Locke told that to Jack, but in context of the entire series, this must be a reference to the Man in Black being tossed into the Light Source Cave and being killed/transformed into a Smoke Monster. The Light Source is the key element of the Island that none of the 815ers have found.

Last lines in episodes:

EP 5:

JACK: Yeah. I'm sorry, too.

EP 6:

WALT: When's your birthday?

[Sawyer, Sayid, Kate are all sitting together at the beach.]

[Locke, Hurley, Jack sitting together at the caves. Sun pulls out a night gown in front of Jin. Charlie plays guitar, looking sweaty. Jack looks to the sky. We fade to Kate, looking into the fire at the beach.]

EP 7:

LOCKE: I'm proud of you, Charlie. Always knew you could do it.

[Charlie looks up and sees a moth.]

EP 8:

SAYID: Someone has to walk the shore and map the Island, see what else there is. I can't think of a better person to do it than the only one I trust. I hope we meet again.

[He kisses her hand and leaves. A montage follows with "I Shall Not Walk Alone" playing. Charlie and Claire walk to the caves. Boone gives Shannon a bottle of water. Sawyer holds a lighter to his letter but changes his mind. Sayid walks down the beach into the sunset.]

New Ideas/Tests of Theories

More evidence points to Locke as being Flocke from the very beginning; MIB taking John Locke’s body and memories to manipulate the characters into stressful situations evoking emotions. Perhaps, Smoke monsters feed on human emotions. 

This raises another question: where is Jacob?  Is it possible that Jacob also inhabits one of the survivors.  A possibility could be Boone, because as a “lifeguard,” he improperly did CPR on Rose (for which Jack came in and saved her life) and Boone failed to save a drowning woman in the surf (for which Jack saved him). For what better way to learn about human behavior but to inhabit a human soul?  It would make some symmetry in the End, because in the Church the only two people who do not have a “Constant” or pairing are Locke and Boone.  This was strange when it happened that neither one had any other person to travel to the next level of existence, unless, of course, they are the Island Brothers.

Production Note: 

This is around the time when the LOST series was renewed by ABC for another season. Originally, Jack was was supposed to die in order to create horror and emotional response to the viewers. I wonder if the cave-in was written as the means of Jack’s original death, but he was spared by a network renewal and the creators needed to complete his story (and add filler arcs).