THE UNLUCKY ANSWER

As today is Friday, the 13th, a superstitious day of bad luck, we focus on the one character who could have answered all the LOST questions, Daniel Faraday.

Poor Daniel. He was doomed from the start.

His back story was as hazy as his science.

Daniel was born on the mainland (as there is a birth certificate for him) and was the son of Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore,  although he did not know the identity of his father (that was left blank on the birth certificate). This is the first unsolved mystery of this character: who was Daniel's real father?

We know that young Eloise and Widmore were co-leaders of a small Others fraction on the Island. Widmore wanted control of "his" island against any outsider, and Eloise seemed to be more focused on survival. How they both got to the island was unknown. But it seems they were both quite protective of it.

During their early adulthood, the time traveling Daniel appears on the island. Eloise shoots and kills "her son" then realizes her mistake. This sets off one of the most important background characters into action.

We know that both Eloise and Widmore left the island before the Purge. Widmore was banished by Ben because Widmore "violated the rules" by having a child (Penny) with an off-islander. Eloise's departure was not told. (She could have been part of the evacuation, or she may have left after killing her son in the time travel arc.)

It would seem that Eloise's sole goal in the series was to protect Daniel. After Eloise and Widmore's relationship soured, Eloise also changed Daniel's last name to Faraday so Charles could not find him. But we know how powerful Widmore was; he knew and found Daniel.

One could speculate that the falling out between Eloise and Widmore was about Daniel and his special abilities. Daniel had "time traveled" to the island. Widmore wanted to get back to the island and seize it as his own. What better means to do so than "time travel." Likewise, Eloise would want to save the time traveling Daniel from her own actions of killing him. As a result, Eloise may have needed to find a man who was a scientific genius. (Clue to last name: Stephen Hawking.)

Eloise needed to unlock the elements of space-time in order to correct Daniel's destiny. So she forced Daniel to give up music to study extreme theoretical science. So Daniel studied at Oxford, earning his doctorate at the youngest age on record. At that time, his girlfriend Teresa Spencer, was deemed to be a distraction. Soon after, Daniel started unauthorized experiments (funded by Widmore) involving time travel. He created a machine in 1996 that allowed a living creature's consciousness to travel through time. He tested it on a lab rat he named Eloise, which signifies an open hostility toward his mother and her constant pressure on him to succeed in this science.

During that same year, Daniel was visited by a stranger named Desmond Hume. Desmond claimed to know about the machine, Daniel initially believed that a colleague was playing a practical joke on him, but when Desmond mentioned "Eloise,"  Daniel's lab rat, he believed Desmond. In his lab, Daniel tested "the Numbers" Desmond supplied to him. He used the machine on Eloise, enabling her to unerringly complete a maze that she would not be taught how to run for another hour. Daniel's blackboard revealed his interest in the Kerr metric as part of his theory of time-transported consciousness. According to Daniel's theory, a being that undergoes time-transported consciousness must identify a "constant,"  something existing in both periods of time travel that can serve as an anchor for the being's consciousness; failure to find a constant results in instability of consciousness, and the resulting stress can lead to brain aneurysm and eventual death. 

Daniel's success led him to ramp up his experiments.  The experiment apparently resulted in Theresa becoming permanently mentally 'unstuck' in time, with her condition deteriorating to the point that she became permanently bedridden, in a coma-like state as a result of his experiments. (Widmore funded her care for her parents silence.) Soon after this accident, Daniel went to America. Daniel began to study at  DHARMA. It seemed that Daniel started to experiment on himself, which wrecked his ability to connect with his own memory. He constantly wrote notes in his leather journal to remember. 

But while in the United States, Daniel's mental state deteriorated to the point in 2004 where he is under the care of a woman (caretaker or some initially assumed a girlfriend or wife). When the news of Flight 815's crash, with film footage of the wreckage shown on the television, Daniel had a mental breakdown which he could not explain. When Widmore arrived, he told him that the wreckage was a fake. He told Daniel that the real Flight 815 had crashed on a "miraculous island," and offered him the chance to go there, promising that it would "cure" him. Several days later, Daniel was playing piano at his home, trying to remember the Chopin piece he was playing when he was ten, when he was visited by his mother. She persuaded him to accept Widmore's offer and go to the Island, assuring him that she would be proud of him if he did so. Daniel agreed to accept the offer.

Daniel brought several critical (we thought) elements to the LOST mythology. First, he brought with him science explanations for the island's mysteries. Second, he brought with him a window to the people pulling the strings behind the curtain (Eloise and Widmore, shadow villains). Third, he brought in intellectually naive character in the mix of amateur action heroes.

But Daniel's story is really messed up.

First, there are the paradoxes that cannot be put in their places. Young Eloise "kills" her adult yet unborn son on the island. This is a classic time travel problem that should have had radical results. Since Eloise has a son in the future, but kills him in the past, why would she "re-live" this pain by actually conceiving him in the future? Some could argue that an adult traveling back into time to meet their death is not a conventional paradox since Daniel was destined to die "someday," and this was the means of his own demise. But a secondary issue is that if Eloise knew Daniel was going to die on the island, why did she do everything in power after killing him to get him to study time travel and go on the trip to the island?

It would seem that Eloise "needed" Daniel to become a brilliant scientist in order to kill him on the island so her own fantasy sideways world dream family situation would come true. In Daniel's death on the island, Eloise could lead a normal, but rich life in the after life. It sounds insane, but that seems to be the whole motivation for the Eloise manipulation of both Daniel and Widmore.

So Daniel had a bounty on his head before he was even born. He was never going to have a real, normal, human life.

Second, if Daniel's theory of mental consciousness time travel is to be believed, was his research adopted by DHARMA to create the full transformation of physical time travel as demonstrated by the turning of the frozen donkey wheel? When Ben turned it, the island began "time skipping" but only with a few individuals. The idea of someone having a "constant" in real and skip times seems to be moot because people have connections in those worlds (i.e. parents, close friends, spouses, children, etc.). If the salvation key is consciously putting a mental image of a person in both time periods in your mind before you time jump, then that seems superficially a magic chant or spell and not science. (The ancient Egyptians Book of the Dead contained various chants and spells to help souls travel through the dangers of the underworld; perhaps Daniel's theory is like these spells.)

If Daniel was already mentally time tripping in the U.S., then why did he need to go to the island? The only explanation was that he needed to "die" on the island in order for his consciousness (some would call it his soul) to reach Eloise in the after life, so she could repress his memories and not "move on" through the next level of existence. This would presuppose that the island is actually an inter-dimensional gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead. For some unknown reason, people dying on the island have their memories repressed when their souls reach the after life. It is sort of a dream state in the sideways world where people, like in dreams, try to subconsciously work out real world problems through various fantasies. 

If the island allowed full body and mind time travel, then there should be no "mental" only time travel side effects, such as the nose bleeds and death that happened to Charlotte. Daniel was nose bleeding before he was shot, so he was going to also die even though his "constant," Desmond, was on the island and in his original time period. So, since there are two sets of rules at play in one time travel sequence, no clear conclusion could be made on what is truly happening on the island. If Daniel's theory is the control, then everyone on the island was time tripping, in a dream like state, in a forehell to the sideways world. If DHARMA and the island's FDW full time travel machine was the control, then only when you met yourself in both time frames could you be paradoxically removed from existence. But that did not happen to Charlotte or Daniel. In face, some time trippers were reincarnated. 

So it gets back to the big mystery of why, throughout all the trauma and manipulation of Daniel's life, did Eloise want, need, desire or demand Daniel to be on the freighter, come ashore, and be killed by her younger self? The only viable answer was that guilt was making Eloise dream up these actions.

For the symbolism of a young woman killing her "adult" child could represent a psychological trauma of Eloise's young life, such as an abortion. If she aborted "Daniel" or lost him during pregnancy on the island, then the series could evolve around a troubled young woman's lost mental state of delusions and fantasies of having the perfect life with her dead fetus. Eloise could have been haunted by her actions so that she could have been institutionalized as a mental patient. As creepy as that may seem, it allows for the fact that science, sci-fi and any other rational explanations for series events be immaterial and irrelevant. The sole factor was keeping her dead child from realizing that his own mother killed him.

LEADERS

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. - - Walter Lippman

If leadership was a central theme to the drama of the show, how did the characters pass "the final test?"

Jack did leave Hurley in charge of the island. A very, very, very reluctant Hurley in charge of the island. But it is inferred that Ben was very "beneficial" in Hurley's island reign, so much so that Hurley was rewarded with heavenly reunion with Libby. (In the succession plan, that would leave Ben in charge of the island and sideways view, with the dual knowledge that only Eloise had).

Locke was only briefly in charge of the group when the time skips happened after Ben screwed things up in the FDW. However, Locke was a pawn in Christian smoke monster's plot to get Jack back to the island in order to thwart, kill Jacob to find MIB's alleged loophole (which may be the same as everyone else on the island - - - get to the sideways plane of existence, the after life, from the way station island).

Flocke was a more successful faux leader, who ruled like Ben and Widmore  did the Others, by an iron fist and no mercy. But Flocke was not a real human being, and he wanted to leave no one behind (as his mental state, if any, was to destroy all human candidates in order to escape his prison.)

Sayid was only briefly in charge of his Iraqi torture unit. But when push came to shove, he betrayed his uniform, killed a superior, let a prisoner escape, then became a U.S, CIA operative. On the island, Sayid refused a full leadership role (except on a few rescue missions) because he could not trust himself.

Sawyer was in charge of the beach castaways ("by default," as Hurley said) but that time Sawyer tried to "act" like a leader, but as a lone wolf con-man it was impossible for him to adapt. However, in the time warp arc, Sawyer did become a leader of his castway time travelers by becoming the sheriff of the barracks, waiting for the time skip to send them back. It was during this three year period that Juliet apparently tamed the wild Sawyer beast.

Kate led a few rescue missions, but tried to avoid becoming the leader of either the beach castaways or the candidates forum. She always put her own self-interests above other people. Even when she claimed to have "saved" Claire in the end by getting her on the plane, Kate could have stayed and gone back to try to save Jack, but she did not. She only wanted to get off the island. There were no tears in her decision.

Jacob was the leader who hid in the statue. He commanded through his liaison, Alpert, who in turn, gave instructions to Ben (who would twist things so he had the power.)  Alpert led the quiet Other near revolt against Ben, when he gave the file to Locke to make Locke the leader (by killing Cooper, his father, by Sawyer's hand.) Jacob assumed the leadership of the island at the request of his Crazy Mother, and regretted his actions that led to his own brother's demise (by the hands of the smoke monster). A leader with such guilt, shame and regret was never a good leader.

Widmore was a born bully of a leader. He was exiled from the island, and made his sole mission in life to return to recapture it. He used his inner strength to gather a vast fortune to fund his quest. In a certain respect, he succeeded at the task as he returned to the island, and indirectly defeated Flocke. But as a leader, he got blindsided by the vengeful rage of Ben, who killed Widmore for killing Alex. Many leaders find it appropriate to lead with "an eye for an eye" mission statement.

In their own way, and collectively, no one person was a great leader. Each had terrible personal faults and lacked command of their people and circumstances (which led to many lives lost.)

OUT OF SYNC

In biology class, students were required to dissect a frog. By cutting open the bloated corpse, students were supposed to learn how the internal organs worked inside the frog.

If we take the series as the frog, we can find three distinct organs or story lines:

1. The island crash survivor story arc which was the beginning of Season 1.

2. The Dharma-Others, Ben vs. Widmore story line which took root in the middle of the series.

3. The sideways story arc dominated the final season.

These are three distinct stories which really do not mesh well together.

It may have been better to break a part each of these three main stories into their own self-contained mini-series.

I think the overlap of the stories (in an attempt to amp up the drama and conflict with the 815 survivors) made things too complicated and muddled over time. The initial conflicts seemed to get overwritten then dropped as the series continued toward the Ending.

For example, the Ben vs. Widmore "war" was promoted as an end-all bloodbath with deep seeded roots, but it sputtered and really was never presented as much more as a board room clash over the remains of the Dharma assets and the Others loyalty.  The final conclusion was Ben's petty assassination of Widmore, but that did not change the direction of the show or create any lasting impact on character development.

If you kept all three dramas separated, it may have made a clearer focus on the actual characters (in a character driven show). If the plane crash survivors did not have to deal with outsiders, but merely try to cope with survival and creation of their own new civilization, there could have been as much conflict and action that was not juiced by dangerous outsiders or black smoke magic. If the Dharma-Widmore-Ben-Others conflict was carved out as a separate story (without the time travel 815ers interventions) that may have concluded in a better fashion (possibly, with no one left on the island if Ben and Widmore truly went to war.)  And the sideways story arc needed to really separate itself from the forgotten character back stories to show a real alternative for each character (a real lesson to viewers that choices do matter in one's life.)

Season 1 and 2 could have been 815 crash survivor centric. Season 3 and 4 could have been Dharma-Widmore-Other-Ben flash back island history in conflict/war. Season 5 could have been the sideways alternative. Which would leave Season 6 to weave these resolutions together.

The main 815 characters could have learned the history of Dharma-Others in Season 3 by stumbling across the empty barracks and records/journals of those who fought those battles. It would be a lesson plan on how not to survive on the island by petty jealousy, power plays or betrayals. The sideways alternative could have been positioned as the main characters "dream" scenarios of how their life was, or could have been and what it might be if they were rescued. Since the survivors were not going to be rescued from the island, each character would have a lot of down time to imagine what happened to their lives, their regrets and their lost future. The sideways would not be a place in the after life, but the subconscious desire of each individual.

Then how could these three distinct story modules come together in the final season?

Simple. After years of being on the island, the 815ers are rescued by a passing freighter which was blown off course in a storm. As the 815ers tale of survival is told, it brings back the prior survivors of the Ben and Widmore more to the 815ers on the mainland, to share what happened to them when they got back "home."  The final season would involve how the survivors would cope coming "home" to the mainland - - - how their families had changed, how their jobs were lost, how they "didn't fit in" and then how they missed their fellow castaways.  Culture would build them up as instant celebrities, then bring them down as flawed characters out of touch with current society.

There could a final reunion in an LA marina. The main characters could meet to discuss their problems fitting in to their re-booted lives (which probably in some ways mirrors their lives prior to Flight 815). There also could be former island survivors like Ben who give the forlorn castaways the ultimate choice: to return to the island.

Each character's final decision making process would be the climax of the show. Who would stay and who would give up their re-newed life on the mainland, for the harsh life on the island? Who would step up to be the new (or old) leaders? Who would tearfully break the final bonds of friendship to stay in LA? And that is how the three story lines could sync together.

THE NEW WIDMORE

Charles Widmore was a wealthy businessman obsessed with one thing: returning to take control of the island (and its energy source).  In an alternative setting, sans island, Widmore's motivation would remain the same: finding and controlling life itself.

As a wealthy industrialist, Widmore Industries would take a different tact than Dharma's academic-grant roots to find the source of the life force.  He would throw money and resources to push results.

We could imagine Widmore's main scientific team being Dr. Chang, his son Daniel and even Keamy since one needs someone to get their hands dirty in order to get the job done. Widmore could pay for brilliant, outside the box thinkers, like Minkowski who would go mad in their quest to find the source. Widmore's iron fist would keep the team in line. He would crush the non-believers.

In the Widmore circle, Daniel would be the lynch pin. Daniel would be the theorist who has a difficult time shifting between reality and theory. When he injures his assistant in a mind experiment in space-time, he becomes a shell of himself, drawn away from his parents. But it his mother, Eloise, who gives him new hope to find "a cure" by joining his father in the quest for the scientific Holy Grail, the life source energy spring.  Daniel takes up the research to help amend for his past, but quickly becomes enamored with another research assistant, Charlotte, who is highly motivated to find the energy source. Widmore's sees quickly that he can use Daniel's affection toward Charlotte to keep Daniel in his game.

Because of Widmore's large donations to hospitals and charities, he gains access to a necessary component of his research projects: human test subjects from mental and hospital facilities. Here is where he gets transfers to his "research hospital" who have little life to go back to in the real world: Hurley, who speaks to the dead and has imaginary friends; Miles, who also speaks to the dead; Charlie, the drug addict on his last legs after being abandoned by his brother. These subjects have very little to live for - - - so they are used to search for the root of the human soul, which Widmore believes contains individual life force energy. If he can tap into a person's life force, he can trace it back to the source.

Dr. Chang has to balance Widmore's plan and keeping the subjects alive long enough to harness the life force profile, and globally trace it to its source. Dr. Chang has reservations about this plan, deeming it science fiction. In order to keep Dr. Chang from sabotaging his vision, Widmore brings in Miles, Chang's son, as a test case since his soul seems "multi-dimensional" if he can communicate with the departed. So Chang needs to push forward with dangerous research without harming his own son in the process.

As with the Dharma structure, this friction between Dr. Chang and Widmore can cause the conflict and mixed loyalties within the research facility. As things do not go forward as planned, Chang grips on to his science principles while Widmore searches for a short cut - - - through the religious beliefs of his wife, Eloise, and Brother Campbell. It is through Brother Campbell's monastery that Widmore takes a dysfunctional monk, Desmond, into the test subject department as control subject in his soul experiments. But while on the grounds, Desmond becomes infatuated with Widmore's daughter, Penny, and begins to ruin the context of his role in the experiments by running away from his religious principles for primal emotions. Widmore was going to get rid of this problem, but Penny quickly becomes attached to Desmond's quirky behavior. So Widmore secrets Desmond from being a test object into a corporate spy - - - giving him one opportunity to prove himself by infiltrating Dharma and collecting their key research data.

Whether Ben's spies know of this deception will have to play out over time. But Desmond as a clumsy spy could be the detonator for Jack's coup against Ben. But Ben and Widmore do not know that Desmond's loyalties lie elsewhere, with the third player in this quest to find the light source: Jacob's religious order.

MARKETING IN THE WILD

In another view of the LOST attic of fan theories, this was a new one on me. This one was created around the first-second season:

Fan Theory: Charles Widmore is using the island to test out psychic marketing. Widmore and the Others are both separately trying to make use of the facilities left behind by the Dharma Initiative for their own ends. And Widmore wants to use the arcane Dharma science to create a new form of "direct marketing" — beaming product marketing directly into your consciousness. And the Oceanic 815 castaways didn't crash on the island, they landed there and were fooled into thinking they crashed. It's possible that Widmore brought the castaways to the island to use them as "test subjects for Widmore product/market research testing." In any case, Jack and the other castaways will discover in the second season finale that they didn't really crash, when they find a landing strip hidden on the other side of the island.

This theory tries to explain away two major issues with many early fans. First, that the passengers on the plane would not have survived a plane crash at cruising altitude. In this theory, there was no plane crash; it was a mental deception. Second, it attempts to explain why and how Widmore became so powerful on the mainland and so obsessed with the island's "powers."

There is plenty of evidence to support a mental-psychic-human experimentation theory to the show. It does help lessen the confusion about Jacob and the tangents like time travel (it did not happen because it was programmed to confuse the subjects). It puts a person like Jacob not as immortal god, but the head of research and development. He recruited test subjects to run grand mental experiments like Widmore's own son did with lab rats at Oxford. Daniel claimed to have found a means of time travel, but it is more likely he had a nervous breakdown knowing that his mental training techniques were being used by Widmore to manipulate a person's free will.

What the Others would have wanted with the Dharma technology would be similar: cult mind control.  If Jacob was not working for Widmore, he would have been a Jimmy Jones cult leader. Or, perhaps, both because the Others were actually earlier "test subjects" whose minds had such adverse reactions to the experiments they could no longer be returned to normal society on the mainland.

The theory was correct in predicting that there would be an unknown airstrip on the island. The theory is at odds with any product or marketing research analysis to the test subjects. If the focus was on creating habits or product preferences, the island environment did not allow for product recognition or choices. In fact, only a few of the castaways actually were subjected to the intense Dharma manipulative behavior exercises at a station: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Carl, Walt and Desmond. The general "fear" of island dangers, such as the manipulative story of "the disease" and the terror of the smoke monster, were probably more control mechanisms to keep the subjects herded at the beach camp.

The idea that the castaways were subject to mental punishment and mind control dangers can be a good story line, but for what purpose? If Widmore was the man behind the curtain, what was he trying to get out of ruining other people's lives. He may have just been a meglomaniac himself, and torture was his amusement. It could be the ruins of a failed "re-education" process for the military to deal with anything from post-traumatic stress disorder to training cold blood assassins. But Widmore already allegedly had all the money in the world, why would being able to control purchase habits of nations make him any better off (richer, yes; a market manipulator of all goods, yes)? A military-industrial use of mental corruption seems to be a richer avenue of study than targeting preferences over brands of paper towels.

LITTLE MAN COMPLEX

“ There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind. ” - - - Napoleon Bonaparte

A Napoleon complex is one of self-absorbed grandeur.  Some psychoanalysis of Bonaparte claim that his small stature but high dream expectations led him to become a tyrannical monster hell bent on conquering all of Europe. Great historical figures often have grand visions of their legacy. What better way to be remembered than enslaving an entire continent?

There were two characters who fall into the emperor category of conquest and control: Ben and Widmore.

Widmore was not a small man. He had apparently grown up on the island. He knew it contained serious power source. He wanted to control it for his own ambitions. He was once the leader of the Others, the self-proclaimed guardians of the island. Whether Widmore knew of or believed in Jacob is unclear. He had a relationship with a powerful woman, Eloise Hawking, and had a brilliant academic son, Daniel. But it was his lust for power and privilege that got Widmore expelled - - - his crime was having a child off the island (Penny) with another unknown woman. Why the island would have such a moral barometer on an out-of-wedlock daughter while allowing the Others to kidnap and kill visitors makes no logical sense. But being LOST, logic or common sense are not necessary elements in any story line.

Once forced to leave the island, Widmore used his ego and talents to build up a vast business empire. But that empire was only a means of gaining enough power to find his island and reclaim it. Widmore's quest was to return to the island, and get revenge on the man who kicked him off it: Ben.

Ben was a small man. His small size fits into the Napoleon grandeur of over-compensating for an inferiority complex. Ben did not have a good childhood. He had no close friends. His father blamed him for his mother's death at childbirth. He was lonely. He dreamed that people would look up at him in awe and fear. He wanted to control his own destiny. He wanted to rebel against the Dharma lock-step. He still had a measure of compassion when he did not kill Alex or her mother Rousseau even though Widmore had ordered it as part of Ben's initiation. Instead, Ben took baby Alex under his care and control. Perhaps this was his first lesson in turning an adverse situation into an advantage.

Both Widmore and Ben were clever in making other people do their dirty business. They both had elaborate plans to get what they wanted from other people. Ben used psychological mind games to confuse then submit people to his will. Ben became frustrated and angry when people, especially women, did not follow his orders.

When Ben got to the leadership role he wanted, he ruled like a tyrant. It was his way or the highway. In that way, even though he was a "bad" character, he was a compelling character. There is a part of human nature that would lash out like Ben did because of his back story. There is always an inner demon that burns to be liked and loved by other human beings; but when that does not happen - - - one becomes bitter, angry and more controlling over people around him.

 Ben was the most complex character. He went through the rollercoaster of being good (as a boy) to bad (as an adult) to at least repented as a dead soul.

THE BIG LIE

LOST was hailed as the best written and filmed show in its television era. Fans expected a the intertwined mysteries to unwind in a tight script of revelations and satisfying conclusions. To say there were stumbles along the way would be an understatement.

The biggest problem was with the biggest lie.

Recall, Daniel is sitting in his chair watching television when the news breaks that searchers had found the remains of Flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean. There were no survivors. Robotic cameras showed footage of the wreckage.

Recall, Naomi parachuted onto the island from the Widmore freighter. She told the 815ers she met that Flight 815 had been found - - - that there were no survivors - - - they were all dead.

Later, we were told that Widmore "faked" the Flight 815 crash site in order to "hide" the island. Except there are several problems with that lie within a lie. First, every aircraft has detailed serial numbers on its parts. One cannot buy one and change the parts IDs. It was totally implausible for a fake wreckage to be made with an actual plane because each plane is also registered in the U.S. Second, if the plane and bodies were found, the authorities would have recovered them for the sake of closure for the families. The impossible explanation was that Widmore dug up 248 graves to deposit bodies on his fake wreckage. Third, the freighter captained showed us the alleged black boxes from Flight 815. However, if they were recovered, they would never have been released to a private individual. The FAA and government would have kept them as evidence. So none of the "fake" plane wreck is real.

But the real kicker is that after the world wide Flight 815 found story was the Oceanic
Six showing up in Hawaii. If the plane wreck footage found all passengers and crew on board died, then how did six survivors wind up in Hawaii? The passenger manifest cannot be altered to add five more people after the fact. Further, when Kate was arrested in Sydney, the authorities would have noticed whether or not she was pregnant (as she alleged in the press conference). None of the O6 story arc made sense.

The reasoning behind Widmore's elaborate plans, including the extermination of everyone on the island, was also flawed beyond belief. There was no reason for the O6 people coming back to the island. If Widmore wanted to keep it a secret, that was already done when the island "moved" prior to the O6 rescue. The O6 people did not know where the island was; and more importantly, the world had stopped looking for the wreckage because it had been "found."

And there was no reason for Jack to concoct the Lie that the O6 were the only survivors of the plane crash. The miracle that the five survived the crash and washed ashore on an unchartered island was enough to "verify" the Widmore lie where the wreckage site was located and found. The exact opposite should have been said - - - to save their friends left behind the O6 should have mounted a public rescue effort to beat Widmore back to the island.

And the reason why the O6 or Widmore had to come back to the island was unclear. The O6 wanted to come back for the vague notion of saving their friends - - - but they did not know whether they were alive or not. Widmore wanted to protect the island by killing everyone on it. But if everyone was to be eliminated or exterminated on the island, there would be no protectors left.

In fact, only one person had the means to actually find the lost island: Eloise. If one really wanted to protect the island from outsiders, all you had to do was take out Eloise.

So, none of the elaborate lies makes any sense, individually or as a scripted collaboration of plot points.

POWER AND LOSS

"People who have power look for fights. People who don't have power lose everything."  - - - Masashi Kishimoto

Who were the most powerful people in LOST?

Widmore was a powerful businessman who could do just about anything, including "faking" the 815 crash site with corpses. He was ruthless. He showed no mercy. He did everything he could get back control of the island, including sending mercenaries to kill everyone.

Ben was a powerful leader of the Others. He manipulated his followers by a combination of fear and mental brain washing. He also was ruthless and showed little mercy to his enemies. He helped wipe out Dharma compound by betraying his co-workers with nerve gas. That was his first coup; his second was exiling Widmore from the island.

Jacob was the island guardian. He had immense power of an immortal being. He could grant eternal life as he did to Alpert, but he could not bring back the dead to life. He could bring people to his island. He manipulated his followers through surrogates, adding a level hidden control over the people who believed in him. His followers would worship him but never see or hear him.

Eloise seemed to know everything about everyone. She knew the power of the island. She knew how to find the island. She knew how to manipulate people to get to the island. And she was the only person fully aware of what the sideways world was, and that awakening her son who make him leave her. If knowledge was power in the series (as I believe), then Eloise was a very powerful character who used it to her advantage.

But at the same time, Widmore lost his island conquest goal when he was killed by Ben.

Likewise, Ben lost his control and leadership of the Others when he killed Jacob.

And Jacob lost his followers when word spread that he had been killed by Ben and Flocke.

Widmore lost everything material in his life that he acquired under the most brutal means, but somehow he was rewarded with a blissful life in the sideways world.

Ben lost everything in his life, including his family, friends and followers, but he was somehow rewarded with a second chance in the sideways world where he did not have to move on. He was granted a similar reward as Eloise, the knowledge of the sideways world realm, and an opportunity to keep the fantasy world alive in his own mind.

Jacob had lost his family while on the island. He was trapped there as the light source guardian. He spent thousands of years trying to find a way to leave, but the smoke monster kept him imprisoned on the island. When ghost Jacob told the final candidates that when the fire (his light) would go out, he would be no more - - - it would seem that Jacob received no reward for his island service. He lost everything and everyone close to him.

LEADERSHIP

Let others lead small lives, but not you.. Let others argue over small things, but not you.. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you. — Jim Rohn

Leadership was a central theme of LOST. Various individuals wanted to control the island, but they never said what they would do with it. For a few, there was a silence of purpose that was seen in their beady eyes.

Leadership and guardianship are two different concepts. A guardian is a person who takes it upon himself or herself to look after someone, usually a minor child or disabled adult. The guardian is a person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of their ward. The guardian fulfills the role of an interested parent in the welfare of their ward. A guardian provides the basic necessities of life to the ward: food, shelter, security, medical and educational attention. Some guardianships end when the ward becomes an adult, but some guardianships last until death.

Leadership is a broader brush stroke. A leader is a decision maker in a group of people. A leader brings to the group a collective purpose, strategy and a plan in order to for the group to succeed in its goals. Leaders can be in any walk of life: business, charity, religious or even family units. A person needs a strong personality to draw other people to their way of thinking. A leader has various tools to assume power over his followers, such as persuasion, personality, intimidation, fear, or withholding favor such as life's necessities. 

LOST had many strong and clashing leaders. In chronological time, the first leader we actually saw was Eloise when she was a young woman on the island. It was during a time skip when the castaways went to the 1950s to witness the Others capture the atomic bomb from the U.S. military (which in itself is a highly improbable event). But Eloise seemed to have the final word on matters, even overruling Widmore in a challenge to what to do with the strangers. We don't know Eloise's back story, but she is one of the few characters who knows how the LOST universe works, even though she explains it in vague analogies like "time correction" to Desmond. Someone who has the knowledge, the keys to a specific universe that other people cannot comprehend, can weld great power.

Widmore made his leadership mark more in the business world off the island. As a driven personality, Widmore was relentless in getting what he wanted in the real world. As a result, he acquired a vast fortune which he then used to buy loyalty of his soldiers. His leadership in the business world was apparently all for his quest to return to the island and conquer it. Whether Eloise actually indirectly helped Widmore find the island in Season 6 is a subject of debate, but she probably did since she had the sole means of finding it.

We then have the less driven leader like Horus. Horus was the man in charge of the Dharma Initiative on the island. He still reported to someone on the mainland, but he was in charge of the island group. Or so he thought, since Dr. Chang seemed to run the construction and science operations independently of Horus' input. Horus was the man in charge when Ben arrived on the island. Ben would later see weakness in Horus' power structure, which probably led Ben to devise his purge.

Ben was a role model for dictator leadership. He ruled with the iron fist of fear. He got the Others to follow him because he showed them he could kill without emotional strings, such as killing his own father. That act of rebellion seemed to be the new caveat for leadership of the Others, as Locke had to do the same thing in order to oust Ben. And when Locke arrived back at camp with Cooper's body, the Others suddenly had two viable leaders and they began to split (with Alpert siding with Locke; some followers wanted change).

Locke had failed at becoming the leader of the beach survivors. Locke had more success as the Other's leader until his decision making continued to be wrong. In order to stop the island time skips, he was told that he had to reset the frozen donkey wheel, and to die. Locke never understood the meaning of the latter. His death did not do anything to rally any island inhabitant to change or assume the leadership mantel. He was always considered a weak leader.

Another weak leader was Jacob. He was a sideline leader. The Others worshipped him like a god, which allowed their group leaders like Ben to manipulate people by claiming he had spoken to Jacob and this is what Jacob wanted them to do. But Ben never saw Jacob until the confrontation in the statue with Flocke. Jacob did not want to interact with the humans he brought to the island. Whether it was beneath him, like pets or lab rats to amuse MIB, Jacob was clearly disconnected with the idea of making decisions for other people.

In the same way, Jack did not want to make island decisions. He became the beach camp leader by default, as the survivors saw Jack, the Doctor, as an educated, smart and worthy leader because of his professional skills. He was their immediate best hope for survival from their plane crash injuries, physical and mental. But as the burden of leadership grew with Jack, he tried to make hard decisions but was stunned with the amount of push-back from his fellow survivors, including people like Kate. Jack's role as an island was one of convenience. He did not change the fate of his fellow castaways who slowly were killed off by the island events, including missions he led in the jungle. 

Though leadership was a large theme of the series, the role of leader seems to be secondary. There was a large story format of "follow the leader," as in the child's game - - - which could be an explanation of the constant not-well-thought-out mission sequences. Leadership was more a childlike game on the island, possibly because the island was run by a childlike power.

It is possible that leadership was merely a decoy, a ruse, a game of play to keep the island, as a supernatural childlike entity, occupied from tapping its destructive powers that could destroy the entire universe. The island guardian was needed to check the needs and welfare of the island itself, as a living being of vast power, otherwise the island child could go on a cosmic rampage which would destroy all Life on Earth. It is an interesting theory that could have been a light bulb moment for the series if that was the explanation of the show's premise, but sadly it was not the case. The leadership story arcs were merely a tennis match of back and forth power struggles that constitute filler material in the overall story.

LEADERSHIP

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower" - - - Steve Jobs

The Apple Computer co-founder was also fond of saying that he did not believe in focus groups where consumers would tell companies what features they wanted in their electronic products. Jobs was insistent that he would tell them what consumers wanted before they knew they wanted it.

Being light years ahead of the curve is one thing, but understanding the dynamic of interpersonal skills is another. As a brash, combative and anal-retentive boss, Jobs had his employees both fearing and worshipping him because of his innovation push towards continued excellence.

The theme of leadership was prominent in the LOST series. It was something that a few characters sought as the ultimate goal in their lives: Widmore, Ben, Locke. A few characters never wanted the role of leader put upon them: Jack, Sawyer, Hurley.  In many respects, the various island story arcs were variations of the child's game of follow the leader.

The pinnacle of leadership would be a devote following. Jacob was a cult figure to the Others, even though few, if any of his followers actually met him. The closest encounter we have is Dogen's back story, when he said he met a man who could save his son from terrible injuries, but it would cost the father (Dogen) a life of service to the island at the Temple. Dogen accepted his punishment for his actions and became a high priest for Jacob's vague vision of the balance between light and dark forces.

But Jacob kept in the shadows. He was a loner. He did not need the adoration of people in his presence. It appears the humans brought to the island were treated more like intellectual pawns in his thesis game with MIB. At some point, a leader needs an emotional connection with his people in order to lead them to the right way.

Widmore was once a co-leader of the Others, but he was banished from the island for allegedly having an off-island child. As a result of his banishment, Widmore spent his entire lifetime trying to return to the island and seek vengeance against Ben and his followers. Widmore's great leadership was purely based on the power of money. He had a lot of it; and he used his wealth to create an army of mercenaries. Those people were only connected by the promise of personal wealth and not of greater purpose.

Ben also ruled with an iron fist. His followers were mostly fearful of his wrath. He used mental manipulation to hold his followers on their paths instead of voluntary devotion to his cause.  Once Ben assumed leadership of the Others, he really had no great vision of what to do next. He started to do side projects like fertility studies which the native hostiles, including Alpert, found disconcerting and not within the framework of the island's purpose.

Locke's tenure as a leader was short. He desperately wanted to be treated and respected like a leader. But most people considered him a fool. When Locke became a leader, it was because the group had come to a crossroads. He got his small band of followers because he promised hope when Jack was still stressing practical necessities of survival.

Jack was thrust into a leadership role based upon his outward skill set as a doctor. People respect a doctor who has special knowledge and skills to help heal people in the time of need. The crash survivors naturally migrated toward the doctor for comfort and advice. Jack's quiet acceptance of his role helped solidify his position as beach camp leader.

But at the same time, Jack did not innovate or create a grand vision for the survivors to follow. Jack did not set down a rescue plan. It was Michael who had the idea of the raft. When Jack was captured by the Others and learned of their ships and technology, he did not fashion a plan in order to use those tools to escape the island. When the freighter arrived at the island, Jack naively accepted their offer of help when other survivors, including Locke, were skeptical of their motivations. Jack's leadership was mostly following the cues of other people's ideas. Jack never had a grand plan of his own.

Even when O6 crazy Jack wanted to get back the island, he had no clue how to do so. He was at the mercy of devious Ben and Eloise. At that point, Jack became a follower. When he time traveled to 1977 Dharma, it was Sawyer who was in charge of their little group. Jack became a wall flower until the final Jacob camp fire scene where he volunteered to be the guardian in order to stop MIB from leaving the island. But as the guardian, Jack had no clue on how to defeat MIB. He gave no direction. He gave no grand speech to mass his troops for battle. It was merely a series of fortunate coincidence that felled MIB.

Even at the end in the bamboo grove, Jack as the leader, was not even mourned by his fellow survivors. They did not stop to honor Jack. They fled to the Hydra Island to catch the plane flight off the island. There was no greater purpose in their actions. It was all personal, selfish survival.

Though leadership was touted throughout the series, there really was no true leader amongst any of the characters. Perhaps the message is that leadership is a hollow title. There is little respect or little rewards in taking the responsibility or accountability for your actions or those of your followers.

POOR HENRY

Poor Henry Gale. We never got his back story on how a balloonist from Minnesota would have crashed landed in a hidden Pacific island.

The Gale sub-story was contained in the episode, "Lockdown," in which the Hatch group was at odds after finding Ben in the jungle. Some believed his story that he was not "one of them," the Others, but a fellow crash survivor. But Sayid always had his doubts about Ben's story. So he went on a mission to find the balloon crash site. When he returned to the Hatch, he told Ben and everyone that he found the balloon and the grave of Henry's wife. A relieved Ben smiled to his prison guards. But that was soon wiped away when Sayid said that he dug up the grave to find the remains of a man named Henry Gale and his identification. The cause of Gale's death was an apparent broken neck.

What we know of Gale is that a) his was from Wayzata, Minnesota; b) he was born August 11, 1964; c) he had a wife named Jennifer; he was a 6'3" 220 lb black man.  The balloon was sponsored by Widmore Corporation, Minnesota Metallurgy, Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack and Nozz-A-La Cola. Two of those sponsors have direct links to the Island.

Was there any significance to August 11, 1964 birthdate?
Historical events from August 11th include:

1. In 3114 BC, the Long Count calendar of the Mayans begins.
2. In 1332, the Scots are routed by the English in the Scottish Independence War.
3. In 1929, Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career.
4. in 1934, the first civilian prisoners arrive at Alcatraz.
5. In 1942, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for frequency-hopping spread spectrum communications system which will become the basis for modern wireless telephone technologies including Wi-Fi.
6. In 1950, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak is born.
7. In 1964, race riots begin in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
8. In 1972, the last U.S. ground troops leave Vietnam.

From the clues found at the crash site, the balloon crash occurred sometime in 2003. This assumes Gale didn't allow his license to expire and that Minnesota has a four-year license renewal period. The $20 bill that Gale had on him was issued on October 9, 2003, according to the serial number on the bill.

This would put Gale's solo balloon quest in late 2003. At this point in time, the Dharma folks had been purged by Ben and the Others. Desmond was locked down in the Hatch with Kelvin since 2001.

There are many theories about what Gale's appearance on the island meant, but there is more a coincidence in that Gale follows the pattern of "lost" adventurers like Desmond. Like Dez, there was an apparent connection with Widmore who had a burning desire to find the island that had banished him.

The unanswered mysteries around Gale are:

• How did Henry Gale break his neck?
• Who buried him?
• How and when did Henry and his balloon come to fly over the Island?
• Of all possible cover stories, why did Ben choose Henry Gale's identity?

One possibility is that Gale was going to be the replacement for Kelvin or Desmond. He would fit the mold of being a technical person who may have been motivated by his quest to impress his wife, so that he could be manipulated to press the buttons for the next several years.

Or that Gale followed the role of Naomi, as a Widmore agent trying to find then gather intel on the Island for Widmore. If so, the Others would have probably killed him because "he was one of the bad guys."

Gale could have been a Jacob "candidate," but his name does not appear on any list.

He could have been a dumb sap who got caught up in another "incident" that caused his balloon to unwittingly plunge onto the island. We know that he survived the crash landing because he wrote a note to his wife on the back of a $20 bill:

Jennifer,
Well you were
right. Crossing
the Pacific
isn't easy.
I owe you a
beer. I'm
hiking to one of
the beaches to
start a
signal fire, but
if you're reading
this, I guess I didn't
make it. I'm sorry,
I love you Jenny,
always have,
always will.
Yours,
Henry 

As a result, Sayid assumes Ben and the Others killed him, while Ben simply denied that he had any part in it. The only other alternative is that Rousseau or one of her traps killed Gale, then she found the note and buried him next to his balloon. But since Ben knew so much of Gale's background information (including his name), Gale's demise most likely occurred at the hands of the Others.

But Henry's note is very similar in tone to the pining Desmond kept for his Penny when Dez was trapped on the Island. There is a pattern of long separation between loved ones that keeps an island captive in an emotional state.

A charged emotional state was one of the background themes in the series. When a person is in a highly emotional situation, their mind can wander, weaken or plunge into darkness. There were clues that boost those observations:

Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle in 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. In that story, the Wizard travels from Omaha, Nebraska, to the land of Oz in a hot air balloon. The first episode where Jacob appears is called "The Man Behind the Curtain" also an allusion to the Wizard of Oz. One could make the connection that Gale's appearance on the island is in someway related to Jacob.

The Smiley face on the balloon is a nod to the WATCHMEN comic book. Nozz-A-La Cola is a reference to Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It is the soda that exists in an alternate universe in place of Coca-Cola.  These may be clues that Gale was part of an alternative reality.

We do not know much more about Gale or his background. But we also have few facts about Desmond's early life.  Desmond did not graduate from university because he had to support his three brothers after the unknown death or disappearance of their father. This leads to a question of whether the "taking" of people by Jacob to the island may be "generational," i.e. Desmond's father may have been an earlier candidate who disappeared just as his son would decades later.

One day, in late 1995 or 1996, Desmond was drinking while painting his flat. He fell off of the ladder hitting his head on the floor, and was splayed out in the red paint which pooled underneath him and splattered on the walls. Just after, Penny came home and seeing him on the floor went to help him. This fall would begin to trigger Desmond's mental flashes. In 1996 at Camp Millar (north of Glasgow, Scotland), Desmond woke up from what he thought was a dream, in which he was in a helicopter in a storm. In reality, his consciousness was time traveling to December 24, 2004. Desmond continued to uncontrollably leap back and forth between 1996 and 2004. Confused when in the future, 1996-Desmond received instructions from the 2004 Daniel Faraday to meet him at The Queen's College Department of Physics in Oxford in 1996. After Desmond convinced Daniel that he had been to the future, 1996-Daniel Faraday explained that unless Desmond found a "a constant" something familiar and meaningful in both time periods, he (Desmond) would likely have a brain aneurysm and die. Desmond decided that Penny would be his constant.

Like Gale, Desmond set off on a quest that his mate did not endorse.  Desmond then traveled to America, where Widmore's solo race was set to begin in 2001.  Desmond met Libby Smith (the same woman from Hurley's mental institution) in a café, where she insisted on buying him coffee. During their conversation, Desmond confided in her his shortcomings for joining the race. Libby then surprisingly revealed her ownership of a boat which had belonged to her late husband. Upon her insistence, Desmond eventually accepted Libby's offer of the boat, promising to win the race "for love."

This puts Libby's role in the light of being an enabler - - - much like Naomi acted as Jacob's agent to get people to the island. She could have been also acting on behalf of Widmore, who wanted to get rid of poor Dez so his daughter would not wind up with a loser. It would also mean that Libby was also present to observe, then get Hurley onto Flight 815. It could also mean that since Libby had three husbands, maybe hubby number two was an avid balloonist - - - and she donated her late husband's balloon to Gale so he could accomplish his mission for his wife.

But unlike Desmond's eventual reunion with Penny, Gale's life and time on the island was cut extremely short. But there is a pattern that new people were brought to the island by shipwreck, balloon crash and plane crash, catastrophic events which in many cases cause death. Gale's broken neck could have been upon impact, and the rest of his story may have been an illusion like Oz.

MEET KEVIN, DISSECT KEVIN'S STORY

"Meet Kevin Johnson" was one of those strange episodes that started a twisted plot arc but turned into a braided contextual nightmare.

The character of Michael started off as a man dispossessed of his new born son. It was a contrast to the other characters "daddy issues" when in fact Michael at least tried to have a relationship with Walt, but his mother and her career separated any normal family setting. As a failed artist and kicking around from job to job, Michael could not stand in the (economic) way for Walt to have a better life. It is clear that Walt resented the fact he grew up without his "real" father. But Walt never understood that it was his mother who pushed them away. It is also clear that Michael "regretted" that he gave up with parental rights to Walt.

Walt grew up moving from country to country. It appears he did not make friends. When his mother died, his adoptive father abandoned him (which legally and morally he could not do) back to Michael, who assumed the responsibility to take care of his son, though he had no legal or moral obligation to do so. This sets up the odd relationship for Walt: two fathers, two prior abandonments, and an uncertain future.

So when Michael is bringing Walt back the the United States, both are on edge. Both do not how to communicate with each other because they were strangers. So what better "bonding" experience than surviving a plane crash and camping on an island with deadly smoke monsters and murderous Others?

Michael's overriding obsession is to get off the island and rescue his son. He does it by building a raft, but that leads to Walt being captured by the Others. He does it by making a deal with the Others to get Ben out of the Hatch prison in exchange for safe passage off the island. In executing the deal, Michael kills Ana Lucia and Libby. When he arranges for a posse to get their "killer" and to save Walt, Michael betrays his own people (Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley) and gives them up to the Others.  At the dock, Michael is rewarded with a boat and passage off the island. To the stunned silence of the 815ers, Michael receives instructions from Ben to take the boat and follow a bearing of 325, so both he and his son can find rescue. They leave the island and their "friends" at the hands of a recently tortured Ben and his group.

The structure of Michael's sub-plot story followed the traditional literary paths. There was a beginning, conflict, a middle, a reunion, then heartbreak tearing a part, then a dangerous climax to the resolution Michael had hoped for - - - getting off the island with his son. Michael's story and role in LOST should have ended there, in Season 4. His character did change: from anguished father letting go of his son to a murderous protector of his son against adverse odds. In Michael's mind, the ends justified the means, which was standard operating procedure for many of the Island's characters. People may not like what Michael did, but there was some logical basis for his actions.

The end of Michael's island time did give us a few key points. First, apparently Ben is a man of his word. Since Mrs. Klugh made a deal with Michael, he would honor it. (Or would he?) Second, despite Desmond's claim that the Island was in "a bloody snow globe" and there was no way back to civilization, Ben told Michael to use bearing 325 to get home. Third, there is a foreshadowing of the importance of "lists," especially in the realm of Jacob's candidates. The four 815ers brought to the dock as payment for Walt were all candidates. It is unclear whether Ben ever knew who were candidates or what Jacob's grand plan for everyone, but it could be that Ben took his captives to "test them" on behalf of either Jacob or MIB. Could they be corrupted?

So the end of Michael's island story end gave us several important clues into the Island, the ability to leave the island, and the militaristic honor among the Others.

But then the reincorporation of Michael into the series led to major story structural problems.

One could understand Walt's rejection of Michael once Walt was told the cost of their freedom (two lives and four friends being held captive). But it does not explain Michael's need to return to the Island.

Once rejected by Walt, Michael goes on a downward spiral (much like Jack would do when he leaved the island with the O6). He is distraught and cannot live with the fact he killed two women. He is now estranged from Walt because of those actions. He writes a note to Walt, gets into his car, and at very high speed crashes into a shipping container. Instead of dying, he wakes in the hospital only to find that his nurse is dead Libby. He screams, and then truly awakens but refuses to answer anyone's question of what happened to him. After his release, Michael trades Jin's watch for a hand gun. He goes into an alley to shoot himself, but is interrupted by Mr. Friendly. Michael demands that Mr. Friendly, Tom, shoot him. But Tom replies "the island is not done" with Michael. Tom says Michael "still has work to do" (which is the same line Tall Walt gives a shot Locke when he is lying in the purge mass grave). A short time later, Michael tries to commit suicide in his apartment but the gun does not work. We are lead to believe that it is the Island intervention. Then Michael sees a news report that the remains of Flight 815 was found with confirmation that all 324 passengers and crew had perished in the crash.

Michael goes to see Tom. Tom explains to Michael that the television report was wrong. Widmore had created a fake crash site in order to keep the island to himself. Michael demands proof, and Tom calmy shows him files of exhumed graves, plane receipts and official looking documentation (which has the eerie vibe of a Sawyer con job). Michael is told that Widmore's plan is to send a force to the island and kill everyone on it.

Tom gives Michael an offer. He can get on the freighter as a crew member and stop Widmore from killing everyone on the island. Michael asks why he should do it, and Tom reminds him that this would be a chance to redeem himself for the actions he took on the island. Tom says that Michael will not return to the island, but destroy the freighter and everyone on board. He is handed a passport and an alias, Kevin Johnson.

In this set-up, we are led to believe many improbable and impossible factors. First, that Ben and the Others kept minute tabs on Michael after he left the island. There was no reason to do so. Michael was never going back to the island, or disclose its location because that would admit his guilt in two murders. If Ben thought Michael was a threat, then he should have let Michael commit suicide. Problem solved. Second, that the Island is a supernatural power that intervenes to stop Michael's numerous suicide attempts. How? Why? So in Season 4, the TPTB basically tells us that the Island and its premise was just one big McGuffin? Third, how gullible are Michael and the viewers to believe that a detailed oriented man like Widmore who could fake a plane crash would not check every crew member on his freighter's mission to seize the Island? It is not credible that Ben could "sneak" his own agent on board Widmore's freighter. Fourth, we were told that no one could find the island so why would Michael believe the freighter could? Also, there were more "loyal" soldiers in the Others camp to be the saboteur than Michael.

Once on the boat, Michael realizes that Widmore's crew is filled with soldiers who plan on killing the island inhabitants. This is not a rescue mission as helicopter pilot Frank told him. Back in his room, Michael opens his crate and finds a case in it. He takes the case to the engine room and finds a bomb inside. Michael inputs the combination for the bomb, but hesitates to push the EXECUTE button to set off the bomb. Suddenly, he hears the same Mama Cass song he was listening to in the car when he tried to commit suicide. He sees another vision of Libby who tells him not to do it, and then disappears. Michael says, "I love you, Walt" and pushes the button. The bomb's 15-second timer expires, but the bomb doesn't explode. Instead, a flag pops up with a note around it which reads "NOT YET."

This scene adds another thick layer of disbelief. It should never matter where the freighter exploded so long as it never reaches the island. The non-explosion was a mean trick on the viewers to add suspense then not deliver (in the hope of adding more filler).  The scene also adds to the growing visions of dead people within the series. It strengthens the evidence that the characters are not in the real world but in supernatural place where dead souls reside and interact.

We are then included into another layer of a con. When Michael is taken to the radio room to take a call from "Walt," Michael rushes in to speak to his son (even though we know Walt has no idea where Michael is or how to contact him). For some reason, Michael thinks Walt is on the line. Ben informs Michael there are innocent people on the freighter, and that the plan was never to kill them all, because Ben isn't "that kind of person." He says he gave the fake bomb to Michael to show that unlike Widmore, he does not want to kill innocents. Ben then orders Michael to get him a list of everyone on board, report the list back to him, and then disable both the radio and engine so that the ship cannot get to the Island. Michael is obviously shaken up, but Ben tells him that he can now consider himself "one of the good guys."


We know Ben is a master liar and manipulator. We can tell that Ben is using Michael to do his dirty work. But if Ben truly wanted no one to reach the island, then he should have given Michael those instructions to disable the freighter from the beginning instead of the fake bomb. And the need for a freighter list seems to be an excessive-compulsive waste of time. It gets further unnecessarily complicated when the helicopter lands on the island, and Desmond and Sayid go to the freighter. In the simple scheme of not allowing anyone on or off the island, Ben has made a huge mess of it. Unless, Ben himself is being manipulated by Jacob who really wants to bring new people to the island for his game with MIB. (Which would make some sense since we were told ONLY Jacob had the power to bring people to the island.)

Later, Sayid and Desmond find Michael in the engine room and confront him about why he is on the boat. Michael tells his story about being Ben's "man on the boat." When he learns Michael is working for Ben. Sayid grabs Michael and drags him into Captain Gault's room, revealing Michael's true identity as the saboteur, a spy, a traitor, and a survivor of Oceanic 815. This action pushes two sets of dangerous dominoes into motion. It disrupts Ben's plan to thwart Widmore's forces from getting to the island. It also sets into motion the safe passage of the soldiers to the island to confront Ben.

Ben has to give up his secrecy when his plan begins to fall a part. Locke takes a leadership role.
Locke holds a meeting with everyone at the Barracks to share information. Miles confirms the people from the freighter are after Ben. Sawyer suggests they just turn Ben over to the freighter people. Ben says the orders of the freighter people are to capture him, then kill everyone else on the Island; Miles does not deny it.

Ben persuades Alex to go to a location he calls "the Temple" with Karl and Danielle, and tells her the rest of the Others are already there. He provides them with a map. Ben tells Alex she is in danger because the people who are coming to the Island will use her to get to him. He assures her that her mother will protect them. He is dead wrong.

Some time into their journey, Danielle, Alex, and Karl take a break. Sudden gunfire erupts from the jungle and Karl is shot in the chest. Danielle and Alex hide behind a tree and quickly decide they need to make a run for it. They get to their feet, but Danielle is immediately hit by gunfire and falls to the ground. Alex stands up, puts her hands in the air and yells, "I'm Ben's daughter!"


This episode is one where everything goes wrong from its stated purpose. Michael's voyage of redemption has turned into a savage murderous spectacle. Michael's failure to stop the freighter (which was part of Ben's disjointed plan) caused the deaths of many more innocent people. The fate of the innocent were sealed when Sayid betrayed Michael like Michael had done to the 815ers. Michael was played for the fool by everyone.


From a failed artist, to construction worker, then to sailboat builder, to freighter engine expert to finally alleged bomb detention specialist, Michael's skill set continued to grow beyond belief when the story line needed some authoritative explanation. The more grand Michael's expertise grew in the series, the more the show stumbled toward pure fantasy over even science fiction. Especially in the end, when ghost Christian, speaking as the Island, allows Michael to end his life by allowing the jury and scientifically inaccurate bomb device, to blow up the freighter.

The last thing Kevin Johnson gave the story was the ghost meeting with Hurley near the end of the series. Michael tells Hurley that he is a whisper, a ghost, trapped on the island. Michael accepts his fate to be trapped as a lost soul on the island. However, this conclusion runs contrary to what happens to Ben. Ben did more heinous things on and off the island than Michael did, yet Ben was "rewarded" by continuing to live on the island and then later going to the sideways world to being his after life.


It is one of the great problems with LOST. It set forth canon about "rules," but never explained them or even followed them consistently from character to character. The uneven application of the rules weakens the story foundation for the series. Why would Michael have to remain a ghost on the island for eternity while Ben and other evil people get a second, third or fourth chance at redemption?


The idea that Michael was not "ready" to move on is also suspect because Ben himself states the same thing Hurley outside the church. The concept that Michael needed to re-connect in his own sideways world with Walt also has no basis because Michael was not a part of the sideways world. We are not shown any tangible proof that Michael had the  ability to create  his own purgatory realm. He may never had a chance because Hurley was going to shut down the island operations. Just as Walt was abandoned by his fathers, Michael's character was abandoned by the writers. And Michael was not alone in the inconsistent treatment and altered resolutions of many characters.

REBOOT EPISODES 77-80

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 77-80 (Days 94-97)

Sayid and Desmond meet the crew members on freighter, while the latter experiences some unexpected side effects from the trip, when his mind bounces back and forth from 1996. The helicopter hits turbulence on its way to the freighter, and Desmond experiences unexpected side effects; as his consciousness travels in time he and a key character discover their “constants.” The episode follows Desmond's consciousness in a continuous narrative.

Juliet receives an unwelcome visit from someone from her past, Harper,  and is given orders to track down Charlotte and Daniel  in order to stop them from completing their mission of getting Ben.  Meanwhile, Ben offers Locke an enticing deal. Juliet is walking through the jungle and suddenly hears the whispers. She looks around and finds Harper standing behind her, who says that Ben has a message for her: Daniel and Charlotte are heading towards the Tempest station, and Juliet has to stop them, using deadly force if necessary. If Daniel and Charlotte figure out how to deploy the gas, everyone is going to die. Juliet asks why Harper doesn't stop them herself, and Harper answers that it is Ben's wish that Juliet does it, and says that although Ben is a prisoner,  he is "exactly where he wants to be." Harper says that Juliet must kill Daniel and Charlotte. The conversation is interrupted by Jack, who points his gun at Harper and demands to know who she is. She says she is an old friend of Juliet’s and she was telling her where the people they are looking for are headed and that Jack with his gun should go there too. The whispers are heard again, and Harper suddenly disappears.

Juliet is forced to reveal some startling news to Jin when Sun threatens to move to Locke’s camp.  Juliet warns Jin that Sun is very ill and will die within three weeks if she doesn’t leave the Island, but Jin doesn't appear to understand what Juliet is saying, and Sun refuses to translate. Sun is not swayed and Jin supports her, saying: “Where Sun go, I go.”  Meanwhile, Sayid and Desmond begin to get an idea of the freighter crew’s mission when they meet the ship’s  captain, who has a militaristic tone.

Sayid confronts Michael, Ben’s spy on the freighter while  Ben urges Alex to flee Locke’s camp to go the temple in order to survive an impending attack from the freighter crew. Sayid insists on learning why Michael was on the boat. Michael answers, “I’m here to die.”

Later, Sayid and Desmond find Michael in the engine room and confront him about why he is on the boat. Michael tells his story about being Ben's tool. When he is finished, Sayid asks him if he is truly working for Ben. Michael confirms this. Sayid grabs Michael and drags him into Captain Gault's room, revealing Michael's true identity as the saboteur, a spy, a traitor, and a survivor of Flight 815.


Science:

“Minkowski” as a crew name as a clue to the freighter situation. Hermann Minkowski was a scientist and peer of Albert Einstein. Minkowski’s work dealt with the concept of space-time. By 1907 Minkowski realized that Einstein’s special theory of relativity could be best understood in a four dimensional space,  in which time and space are not separated entities but intermingled in a four dimensional space-time. Minkowski said "The views of space and time which I wish to lay before you have sprung from the soil of experimental physics, and therein lies their strength. They are radical. Henceforth space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality."

“Faraday” as a scientist as a clue to the island electromagnetic properties. Michael Faraday was a 19th century English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include those of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis. It was by his research on the magnetic field  around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology.

The island as a large machine, which creates it own electromagnetic field, as referenced in the snow globe effect. And if this island electromagnetic field interfaces with Minkowski’s four dimensional space time to alter an individual’s reality in time.

Improbabilities:

When Capt. Gault shows Sayid the black box flight recorder from Flight 815, alleged “acquired” by Widmore, is unbelievable. Any plane crash debris, especially the flight recorder, would be impounded as critical investigative evidence by the NTSB. Further, Gault claims that the Flight 815 wreckage was “staged” by a man with great resources and serial killer motives to “find” 324 bodies for the wreck site: Ben. If one can film the wreck, and recover the flight recorder, the recover of other plane parts and bodies would be possible. With airliners having serial numbers on all parts and detailed records, it is impossible to “duplicate” a plane in a matter of weeks.

The concept of “mind jumps” from 1996 to 2004 caused by exposure to oscillating radiation frequencies. Further, the need for an “anchor” in both time periods would not cause Minkowski and other crew members to die because everyone has a parent, sibling, friend or co-worker in both time frames. The conscious imbalance and alleged brain trauma caused by severed “memories” from two time periods cannot cause physical harm - - - at best, it seems to cue schizophrenic behavior.

Frank being able to hold the helicopter on a bearing while flying through a thunderstorm.

Clues:

On the helicopter ride, Desmond “flashes” or mind jumps. One remarks whether he is “day dreaming.”

The Numbers may be Hurley’s curse, but they are also Desmond’s numbers. Penny’s apartment number in his latest mind jump and the setting for Daniel’s Eloise experiment are part of the Numbers.

Frank travels to the lower level of the ship, where he meets Regina, who seems somewhat distant and a little confused. He tells her that the captain wants him to bring the paper bag (to Sayid and Desmond), and that the book she is reading, The Survivors of the Chancellor, is upside down.

The book written by Jules Verne is about the final voyage of a British sailing ship, the Chancellor, told from the perspective of one of its passengers from his diary. In the story, one of the crew members commits suicide Later, Regina in chains, jumps overboard to her death while the crew watches. It seems people think of their fate, it happens to them.

Juliet explains that all pregnant women on the island do not come to term; in the second trimester there is nausea, followed by pain, unconsciousness then COMA, then death. However, her explanation that the body’s immune system attacks the mother by “white blood cells decreasing” is the opposite of an immune response (another gross medical error).

When Michael attempts suicide in a car crash, he awakes in a hospital room next to a comatose patient. A vision of ghost Libby appears to him. Then, Michael tries to commit suicide with a loaded gun, but it jams. He is told that the island won’t let him die. But when he is on the freighter, he tells Sayid that he is on the boat “to die.”

When Ben plays his “last card” of a secret video tape of Widmore, Ben says the blindfolded man “was one of his men” who gets severely beaten. That man appears to be Desmond in 1996.

The whispers in the jungle when Juliet is heading for the Tempest:

"Sarah is having another..."
"Is that the other woman?"

Right when Juliet runs into Harper in the jungle:

"Look out"
"Sarah is having another..."

"Did you hear that?"

"If she won't save us then who is?"

"Sarah, somebody's coming"

"There is somebody coming"

"Hold on one second"

"There is somebody coming"

After Jack runs into Juliet and Harper:

"Look out"
 
“Sarah, it's someone we know. Sarah, it's someone we know"

"I'm not answering"

"Answer them"

"We have our answer"

"Can we trust her?"

The “Sarah” we know is Jack’s ex-wife, the woman he “miraculously” cured after her auto accident.  The consensus is that when people die around the Island but cannot "move on" to the next stage, they remain as whispers, watching or trying to communicate with the living on the Island.  Characters often hear them when in peril, or when the Others or the Smoke Monster are near. The deceased whisperers can appear in their physical form only to a select few. If so, why is Sarah’s soul trapped on the island? Or are these whispers the echoes of people in Jack’s life, trapped in his mind?
Sarah should not be on the island; she moved on without Jack. It was Jack who could not let go of her. And now, a mental conflict inside of Jack about "moving on" from Sarah with another woman (Juliet?)

Daniel’s concept of a “constant” in both “worlds” is a clue that Desmond’s freighter flashes were not flashbacks, but connections in the sideways world, a parallel reality that once breached (known) can cause death if not controlled by a strong singularity in both worlds.

Discussion:

“ A word too much always defeats its purpose. ”
— Arthur Schopenhauer

Locke said there are no reason for rules if there is no punishment for breaking them. In the series, we have numerous “unwritten” rules, especially those island rules of Jacob, and the rules between Ben and Widmore in their feud.

Rules are defined as: a) one of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere: the rules of the game were understood, b) a law or principle that operates within a particular sphere of knowledge, describing or prescribing what is possible or allowable: the rules of grammar. c)  a code of practice and discipline for a religious order or community, or d) control of or dominion over an area or people.The word is from Latin, regula, meaning “straight stick.”

Somehow, the rules have been broken. And now there is the word, “war,” on the lips of Ben and the Others. Who is at war?

Jack thinks the survivors are at war with the Others. Locke had thought that too, until he became a splinter cell leader.

The Others think they are at war with the survivors for killing their people.

Ben thinks he is at war with Widmore’s men on the freighter.

But the twists on the freighter (more for shock value than plot movement) call into play a larger "con" being conducted on the characters. It is an emotional roller coaster when Michael's bomb does not explode, when Desmond incredibly "calls" Penny on Christmas eve, when Regina commits suicide and no one cares, and when the captain tells them the elaborate hoax of the Flight 815 wreckage (since there is no need to tell people where the false wreckage is when no one can find the island to begin with - - - it took the Black Rock journal purchased by Widmore to find the island). Who is running the con on the characters? Apparently, the all-powerful being called "the island" is calling the the life and death shots of the characters.

In the final season, we will learn that Jacob is at odds with his brother, MIB, but you cannot call their dispute a war. It is more a difference of opinion. A wager on the outcome of humans brought to the island for some unknown purpose. All we know is that MIB has continually won this wager and has grown tired of the characters brought to the island because in the end, they all wind up corrupting themselves.

We also still here that some people are “special.”  But in island terms, what does that mean? Ben infers that he is special because he “was born on the island.”  This is a false statement in physical reality; he was prematurely born on the mainland, in the forest, with his parents. Locke has also been called “special,” and he was also a “miracle” baby as he was born prematurely in a rural town after his mother was hit by a car driven by his biological father. Jacob and his brother are also “special,” because they have immortal and magical powers. Is it because they were truly “born” on the island, after a shipwreck? Or are all these persons “special” because they were “born” in a different dimension, in the island after life realm?

One last person was called “special.” Walt showed that he had telekinetic powers, so much so that his adoptive father was so spooked by his special talents that he pushed Walt off onto Michael to raise after Walt’s mother’s death. We do not have any information on Walt’s actual birth to put him in the same classification as Ben or Locke. But Walt shows one aspect of Jacob and MIB as he materializes as ghost Walt to Locke to tell the bleeding man to get up because he still has “work” to do.

Which leads us to another nebulous word from the series, “work.”  What is the “work” that drives people forward in the series. The Others, including Richard Alpert, have been worried about Ben’s sidetracking to other issues like the fertility question over the Other’s primary mission. But we have no idea what the Others “goal in life” is on the island, except to fear outsiders.

What is Locke’s “work” that he needs to accomplish? He has nothing to go back to off the island. In fact, his life was pretty much a miserable wreck. Is the work to be completed the coup of Ben’s leadership? Is it to become the island’s new guardian?

The 815ers have no clear mission either. First, it was survival. Second, it was living together or dying alone. Third, it was battling the Others. Fourth, it was rescue. Then, rescue concept tore the group in half. And then, when some of the survivors actually leave the island, they are compelled to return to the island.

The Tempest scene was badly conceived and poorly executed. First, the concept of Dan knowing the computer codes to change a chemical plant system is not credible. Second, the warning of the activation of the plant makes no sense. The plant was inactive when Charlotte and Dan arrived. There was no need to “de-activate it.” Third, when Juliet arrives to stop them, she passes the main power switch. She could have simply “turned” off the station’s power! Fourth, Daniel claims that he is there is make the chemical gas “inert.” However, an inert gas or noble gas, any of the elements in Group 18 of the periodic table. In order of increasing atomic number they are: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon. They are colorless, odorless, tasteless gases and were once believed to be entirely inert, i.e., forming no chemical compounds. So that is not what Daniel could do at a computer console. In order to neutralize a poisonous gas, something has to react to it. In 2005, Czech scientists believe they found the first known neutralizer for mustard gas:

An enzyme [employed through their method] reacts within minutes, is able to split several molecules of mustard gas per second, and its decontaminating effect is expected to last for hours at an average temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.

The problem is that Daniel is not neutralizing the gas: the computer screen ends with notation that a valve has been secured. It appears that the whole drama was for naught; a double, double cross. Are the freighters friend or foe? If a friend, why are they lying to the survivors? If they are a foe, why not use the gas and kill everyone? No wonder no trusts anyone anymore.


Is this why the whispers of Sarah talk about "trust?" The whole basis of the island story could be summed up as the mental instability of Jack. He is the one who could never get over Sarah. She was the one he fixed, but he could not fix their relationship. When he tries to commit suicide, it is Sarah who appears before him - - - and he wants to be with her, but she refuses and leaves. Sarah is one of the elements in Jack's life that he cannot get over. Likewise, it is Christian's berating that Jack cannot make the hard decisions, the life and more importantly, the death decisions. As such, he can never be a leader. He can never be a good doctor. So in a way, the island and its plots could center around the mental issues (or character flaws) of Jack not being able to "get over" Sarah and "move on" with another woman and the fact that he cannot "save" every life; and at times he needs to "take" lives in order for others to live. It would be an agonizing dynamic in a tortured soul's mind to try to reconcile those deep rooted beliefs; but that is what Jack does at the End.

The characters now appear to be rats in a complex maze. When Michael attempts to set off the bomb on the freighter, it surprises Ben that he actually attempted it. So the bomb was rigged NOT to explode. Instead, Ben ordered Michael to get a “list” of crew, then disable the radio room and engines. Why? If the whole purpose is to “stop” the crew from getting to the island, why not stop them dead in the water by exploding the bomb? The only reason is that Ben “wants” the crew to arrive at the island; that he wants “them” to do the dirty work of killing everyone but his “chosen” people (meaning all the 815ers). But Ben will stumble over his own arrogance, because when he sets Alex off to safety, Karl and Rousseau are both killed, and Alex is captured by Keamy’s ship crew. In one respect, this incident fulfills a wish of Ben’s: to get rid of Alex’s boyfriend and her mother. But the consequences for that decision will be grave.

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

The concept of “constants” and mental “time travel.”

The “whispers” are trapped souls left on the island.

The island “not allowing” Michael to commit suicide on at least two occasions, because Tom has Michael “has work to do” to save his friends still on the Island.

Last lines in episodes:

EP 77:
DESMOND: Aye. I'm perfect.

[Daniel is on the beach flipping through his journal. On a page, he sees: "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be MY constant."]

EP 78:

BEN: [cheerfully] See you guys at dinner.
[Ben marches into a house and shuts the door behind him, leaving Sawyer and Hurley dumbfounded.]

EP 79:

[Hurley and Sun are at a cemetery, Sun holding the baby. They approach Jin's tombstone. Sun kneels down, crying.]

SUN: [Subtitle: Jin... You were right. It's a girl. The delivery was hard on me... The doctor said I was calling out for you... I wish you could've been there. Jin... she's beautiful. Ji Yeon. I named her just like you wanted. I miss you so much. I miss you so much.]

EP 80:

ALEX: Wait! Wait! Don't! I'm Ben's daughter! I'm his daughter!


New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

In the last Reboot, we fully developed two “Unified Theories” to the Lost mythology to explain all of the factual and legal impossibilities in the actual Lost scripts. The Dream State theory postulates that the characters are alive in reality, but in a deep coma state where their minds have split in the dream world of the island and the fantasy world of the sideways realm.  In the Egyptian After Life theory, the characters are already dead before the plane crash, and that their souls have been split between the underworld (island world) and the spirit world (sideways).

Using the science concepts of Minkowski and Faraday, one could extract a science-fiction basis for the island itself. It has been debated whether the Island is a character, a person or a place. If one combines Faraday’s electromagnetic physics with Minkowski’s theories of space-time, the Island can be seen as a unique “machine,” creating its own electromagnetic field a part from the Earth, which creates an opening portal, nexus or intersection into the four dimensions of space-time. This portal connection to space-time would allow an individual to go back into the past (to change events) or go forward into the future (to see the future events). The island’s power is one of a living time machine. Any person of wealth or stature would want to “control” the ability to control a time machine. One could make a fortune knowing the future, or changing the past. This may be the motivation for Widmore’s attempt to reclaim the Island from Ben and the Others. At the same time, this may be the motivation for Ben to keep people from coming and going from the island. It’s power must remain a captive secret so the island is not over-run by “miracle seekers.”

So what is the Island?

We know various story “facts” about the island. First, it appears to be a Pacific tropic island, believed to be located somewhere near Fiji. Second, based on the freighter rocket experiment, it is moving away at a fairly rapid speed. Third, based on the helicopter flights, it is difficult to get because there is only one “door way” inside the mask or cloaked atmosphere that surrounds the island itself. Fourth, the island contains “unique” electromagnetic properties. It appears that the Hatch was constructed after an “incident” to control the “discharge” of any electromagnetic build-up. Fifth, Faraday remarks that the island “scatters light” differently than normal. Sixth, we will learn later that the island contains a cave containing a “life force.” Seventh, there is speculation whether the smoke monster is mechanical, nanotech, spiritual or an organic beast.

So what is the Island?

Various theories have been postulated over the years.

One, is that the island is the bridge between earth and hell, a place of limbo where the dead or near-dead act out their last days before the after life journey begins.

Two, is that the island is actually hell, and souls incorporated into human form must journey through various dangerous but familiar “tests” to determine whether they are worthy of redemption and a fantasy life in heaven.

Three, is that the island is a fantasy game show, like the movie  West World, but abandoned and taken over by evil spirits.

Four, is that the island is an alien space ship that has trapped people in its snow globe field to view humanity at its basic level.

Fifth, is that the island is merely a collective, networked dream of various characters who are in a state of coma or deep dreaming.

Sixth, is that the island is an alien time machine that has crash landed on earth, and the forces of good and evil are trying to control it.

Seventh, is that the island is ancient Atlantis, a highly advanced civilization that had mastered the elements and dimensions of time travel.

Eighth, is that the island is an ancient Egyptian portal to the underworld, created to help their pharaohs in the after life achieve great power and immortality.

Ninth, is that the island represents the subconscious of a troubled person, trapped in his or her own personal fantasy land.

Tenth, is that the island is a living being of supernatural powers, who uses human beings as pawns for his amusement.

Eleventh, is that the island is a prison for Satan, who is trapped by the electromagnetic fields created by messengers (angels) in order to “save the (human) world” from destruction.

Twelfth, is that the island is a quantum portal, a black hole in the fabric of the universe, that allows parallel universes (the multiverse theory) to come into contact with each other, either physically or mentally in time jumps.

Thirteen, is that the island is a metaphor for god, in how he gives people choices but allows their individual’s free will to guide their decision making to make their own choices; but with consequences for their actions, good or bad.