"At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one's lost self." --- Brendan Francis
As I have stated previously, the characters in LOST all were deeply lonely individuals.
Jack is an example of the disjointed loneliness. As his consciousness dies in the bamboo thicket, his subconscious is entering the back door of the church, to be joined back into one self (soul).
Friday, May 28, 2010
S6E17 LIGHT CAVE LESSON
What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?
The light cave where Desmond pulled out the stone stopper, and where Jack replaced it was the heart of the island. This cave is the center of the LOST mythology and end game.
When the stopper was pulled out, the light source was turned off; evil was released (island began to have earthquakes); and the supernatural turned natural (Flocke into human form).
Likewise, when the stopper plugged the hole, the light source was turned back on; evil was trapped; so did the natural turn into supernatural(?)
The light was explained as being in everyone (is is "life, death, and rebirth.") The writers are referring to a universal soul concept, where everyone is connected by one giant life force.
However, we know from experience that darkness, evil is also in everyone. So why was there a need for a stone stopper on the island to keep evil at bay?
Once the evil was released, it appears to "consume" all the light (soul). It would turn everyone evil. As Flocke complained, it would take away "humanity."
So the lesson is that humanity is the balance between light and dark.
The light cave where Desmond pulled out the stone stopper, and where Jack replaced it was the heart of the island. This cave is the center of the LOST mythology and end game.
When the stopper was pulled out, the light source was turned off; evil was released (island began to have earthquakes); and the supernatural turned natural (Flocke into human form).
Likewise, when the stopper plugged the hole, the light source was turned back on; evil was trapped; so did the natural turn into supernatural(?)
The light was explained as being in everyone (is is "life, death, and rebirth.") The writers are referring to a universal soul concept, where everyone is connected by one giant life force.
However, we know from experience that darkness, evil is also in everyone. So why was there a need for a stone stopper on the island to keep evil at bay?
Once the evil was released, it appears to "consume" all the light (soul). It would turn everyone evil. As Flocke complained, it would take away "humanity."
So the lesson is that humanity is the balance between light and dark.
S6E17 HUMANITY LESSON
What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?
Throughout the series, viewers were aghast at the total lack of communication between characters. Their ability not to ask basic questions of their colleagues after harrowing missions. It was quite frustrating to have no character demand answers.
Maybe everyone was dumb, dumber and dumber still.
People marched across the island multiple times with no clue on what they were doing. Putting a total plan together was quite the hard mental labor for most. And even if you had some one with a spark of a master mind (example, Ben), his plans normally blew up in ways he did not expect himself.
The real test of human intelligence came at the end. Flocke wants to find Desmond to use his "special properties" to destroy the island. How Desmond would actually be used to destroy the island is totally unknown. At the same time, Jack wants to take Desmond to the same place to "save" the island. One what basis of information? Jack does not have a clue. He does not even have a hunch. The problem solving of the characters lacked any common sense. It is arrogant assumption that is presented as intelligent fact by the characters.
So Flocke and Jack both work together to lower Desmond down the cave, not knowing what, if anything, was going to happen or why. It is not as bad as giving a teenager $1000, keys to a superfast sports car, and an errand to go pick up a six-pack of beer and some smokes at the local convenience store.
And when Desmond gets to the cave chamber, he has no clue what to do. So he uncorks the island. The light source goes away, and the evil heat and earthquakes start to tear the island a part. It took a while for them to realize that Desmond's action was a push. It did not save or destroy the island. The magic that was Flocke turned into human form. By releasing the evil contained in under the island, it allowed the evil smoke monster to take on human form so Flocke could be killed. (It is illogical that a release of more evil energy on an evil being would cause it change into a tame human being; unless the lesson is that all humans are evil.)
When Jack returns to the cave, he does not know what Desmond did, but has to go back to fix things. Everyone assumes electromagnetic man (Dez) is dead. Jack saves him and puts back the cork in the chamber. The light returns, the water returns, and in the end Jack is expelled from the cave like Jacob's brother (who was dead). But Jack is not quite dead, and he stumbles to the place of beginning to pass on, not knowing whether anything he did worked. The theme of shooting off the hip first and asking questions learning answers later came full cycle.
The characters never asked enough questions to make intelligent choices. Irrational behavior controlled logic. It is an indictment of sorts on the state of modern man. When modern man is stripped away of his tools, he does not revert back to alpha predator with keen instincts, but a bumbling yokel whose only saving grace is luck. The series did not show educated, modern, men and women in intellectually sound decision making moments. Rash decisions were the norm. Failure was always the first option.
Throughout the series, viewers were aghast at the total lack of communication between characters. Their ability not to ask basic questions of their colleagues after harrowing missions. It was quite frustrating to have no character demand answers.
Maybe everyone was dumb, dumber and dumber still.
People marched across the island multiple times with no clue on what they were doing. Putting a total plan together was quite the hard mental labor for most. And even if you had some one with a spark of a master mind (example, Ben), his plans normally blew up in ways he did not expect himself.
The real test of human intelligence came at the end. Flocke wants to find Desmond to use his "special properties" to destroy the island. How Desmond would actually be used to destroy the island is totally unknown. At the same time, Jack wants to take Desmond to the same place to "save" the island. One what basis of information? Jack does not have a clue. He does not even have a hunch. The problem solving of the characters lacked any common sense. It is arrogant assumption that is presented as intelligent fact by the characters.
So Flocke and Jack both work together to lower Desmond down the cave, not knowing what, if anything, was going to happen or why. It is not as bad as giving a teenager $1000, keys to a superfast sports car, and an errand to go pick up a six-pack of beer and some smokes at the local convenience store.
And when Desmond gets to the cave chamber, he has no clue what to do. So he uncorks the island. The light source goes away, and the evil heat and earthquakes start to tear the island a part. It took a while for them to realize that Desmond's action was a push. It did not save or destroy the island. The magic that was Flocke turned into human form. By releasing the evil contained in under the island, it allowed the evil smoke monster to take on human form so Flocke could be killed. (It is illogical that a release of more evil energy on an evil being would cause it change into a tame human being; unless the lesson is that all humans are evil.)
When Jack returns to the cave, he does not know what Desmond did, but has to go back to fix things. Everyone assumes electromagnetic man (Dez) is dead. Jack saves him and puts back the cork in the chamber. The light returns, the water returns, and in the end Jack is expelled from the cave like Jacob's brother (who was dead). But Jack is not quite dead, and he stumbles to the place of beginning to pass on, not knowing whether anything he did worked. The theme of shooting off the hip first and asking questions learning answers later came full cycle.
The characters never asked enough questions to make intelligent choices. Irrational behavior controlled logic. It is an indictment of sorts on the state of modern man. When modern man is stripped away of his tools, he does not revert back to alpha predator with keen instincts, but a bumbling yokel whose only saving grace is luck. The series did not show educated, modern, men and women in intellectually sound decision making moments. Rash decisions were the norm. Failure was always the first option.
S6E17 TIME LESSON
What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?
In regard to the concept of time, probably an ancient philosophy over the modern industrial view. Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers believed that time itself was an illusion. Nature, and man being part of it, were part of seasonal cycles. The whole world was geared to cycles: seasons, tidal, celestial calendars that covered 24,000 year periods (which accuracy confirmed by modern computers). Ancient inventors made water clocks which help predict the star patterns and astrological events. The people of that time lived in the "now."
Only slackers, casinos and opium dens have need for just living in "the now" rather than being connected to other working individuals in society.
It was only when industrialization and railroad companies brought in "time zones," a division of the country into hour blocks in order to more efficiently move passengers and freight to long distance destinations. Time became a mathematical formula of set hours and minutes that was disconnected to the past agricultural sun dial observations. The mathematical time evolved into our normal cultural concept of linear time lines. Daily lives are now controlled by the hourly blocks of time. In fact, in some sense, we are slaves to time periods just as Desmond was a slave to imputing the Numbers into the Hatch computer.
In the sideways world, Christian tells Jack that there is "no past, present or future" only "now." Everyone in that existence was dead. Souls have no need for linear time frames. They are eternal.
The island was sort of a time transition zone. Once the 815ers arrived, no one really counted the days that they were stranded on the beach. The only key element of time was 108 minutes. After that element was eliminated, time became a logical illusion when people began to "skip" across different decades at random until the FDW was turned a second time. The true meaning of time may be that it is all in your head. That life is a cycle but you perceive your living time as an illusion.
In regard to the concept of time, probably an ancient philosophy over the modern industrial view. Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers believed that time itself was an illusion. Nature, and man being part of it, were part of seasonal cycles. The whole world was geared to cycles: seasons, tidal, celestial calendars that covered 24,000 year periods (which accuracy confirmed by modern computers). Ancient inventors made water clocks which help predict the star patterns and astrological events. The people of that time lived in the "now."
Only slackers, casinos and opium dens have need for just living in "the now" rather than being connected to other working individuals in society.
It was only when industrialization and railroad companies brought in "time zones," a division of the country into hour blocks in order to more efficiently move passengers and freight to long distance destinations. Time became a mathematical formula of set hours and minutes that was disconnected to the past agricultural sun dial observations. The mathematical time evolved into our normal cultural concept of linear time lines. Daily lives are now controlled by the hourly blocks of time. In fact, in some sense, we are slaves to time periods just as Desmond was a slave to imputing the Numbers into the Hatch computer.
In the sideways world, Christian tells Jack that there is "no past, present or future" only "now." Everyone in that existence was dead. Souls have no need for linear time frames. They are eternal.
The island was sort of a time transition zone. Once the 815ers arrived, no one really counted the days that they were stranded on the beach. The only key element of time was 108 minutes. After that element was eliminated, time became a logical illusion when people began to "skip" across different decades at random until the FDW was turned a second time. The true meaning of time may be that it is all in your head. That life is a cycle but you perceive your living time as an illusion.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
S6E17 WHAT IS THE LIGHT CAVE?
If the island is a cork that keeps evil inside the bottle called the universe, then we saw Jack lift and replace the stopper in the Light Cave. This cave looked like a ancient chamber. And upon closer examination of the stone stopper, there were hieroglyphs on it!When the stone stopper in the chamber was removed, the water was absorbed (the light vanished) and we saw a fire and brimstone glow from the opening, with massive island wide earthquakes. Once the stopper was removed, Flocke was suddenly human again as if the magic spell of being an immortal smoke monster had been lifted. The light was the supernatural magic? The evil red fire actually consumes the light when released from the cave stopper?
During this earthquake period, Jack defeated Flocke with the help of Kate, thereby ending the saga of Jacob and his brother, who was created by his body floating into the cave of light after Jacob beat (killed?) him. The smoke monster was called the evil incarnate. If the light was the symbol for life, then the red lava fire must have been the symbol for death. If not bottled up, evil would consume all that is good, including life itself.
But this light cave chamber opens up another very hidden mystery. Besides the fact that TPTB put hieroglyphs on the actual stopper when there was no reason to, the translation really adds more questions:
BURY MY ENEMY
(Alternatively: Bury My Criminal, Traitor, or Prisoner)
Who or what is buried under the stopper?
Who or what put that person/thing underground?
Did the burial of the evil enemy create the Light Source, which is a part of everyone? If so, then the island light predates CrazyMom who raised Jacob and MIB.
S6E17 LIVE ALONE DIE TOGETHER
In some unexplained way, the main characters in Season 1 made a subconscious psychic bond between themselves which created the sideways (fantasy) world, where their conscious souls after death could wait (in a timeless place of just constructed memories and dreams) until everyone had died and their full consciousness would be "awakened" by island memories.
This was done because the island time was the most important time of their real lives, according to Christian. They made a subconscious pact to not live together, but to die together.
If Christian's statement is true, it really means that our beloved characters had really sub-par to crappy real lives. Loneliness appears to be the largest theme of the show that was lurking in the shadows of every story line.
Why was the island time the "most" important to each character?
Locke: But for Jacob's life giving touch, he would have died a lonely and bitter man after his father pushed him out a high rise window. On the island, he found his first real purpose in life, to protect it. To be the person he wanted to be. But when he was murdered by Ben, all of Locke's aspirations had turned into pitiful loneliness and despair.
Jack: Jack had the job, social skills and status to have a fulfilling life as a California spinal surgeon. Jacob's touch accelerated Jack going off the rails by amplifying his unresolved father issues and personal faults. It is hard to see how his surgical miracles, colleagues and fulfilling career helping other people was nominal in relation to his eventual island sacrifice.
Kate: Jacob's touch actually kept tom boy Kate on the path of rebellious crime as a loner on the run. The cumulative acts of anti-social behavior were set aside when she landed in the island. She could truly start over fresh, and the castaways could see her real self hidden underneath all of her past emotional baggage.
Sayid: Once he left the island, Sayid would have had his desired life with Nadia. Jacob's intervention caused Sayid to lose his one true love, and let his dark side fully control his soul. The island experience was not Sayid's most important time in his life, it was his worst. None of his friends could save him.
Shannon: Shannon was killed on the island by accident. She was a self-centered, rich girl with a conscious disrespect for other people. She made no real difference on the island except for eye candy and Sayid's short term pillow. If this was the peak of her life, she really had a sad life. And why Sayid turned out to be her soul mate in the afterlife is marginalizing Sayid's longer term relationship with Nadia.
Bernard and Rose: The only thing the island brought this couple was peace. Their relationship was the same before the crash as it was after the crash. The other people on the island may have been interesting, kooky, and dangerous, but they felt no strong bonds once they decided "retirement rules" ("we don't get involved.") In fact, they butted heads with the group's leaders more often than not. Why they needed to move on with all of the other main characters appears to be unnecessary. (Yes, the inference is that they stayed on the island with Hurley during his guardianship and could have grown closer in nostalgic memory.)
Charlie: He died on the island trying to save Claire and Aaron, the only "family" unit he ever led.
His death was partially in vane because it was not Penny's boat. But one could see from ghost Charlie's interactions with Hurley, that the island bonds were strong in Charlie, who otherwise would have probably died a lonely, washed up guitar player drug addict.
Claire: One would think that her bonds with her mother and her sister in Australia would have been stronger than her eventual zombie brain death island existence. She had mentally given up her baby to be raised by another, which haunted her for most of her time on the island. We don't know what happened after she left, but we presume she re-bonded with Aaron.
Aaron: He is the person in the church that makes the least sense. The re-birth was used in the sideways world fiction in order to awaken Claire, Kate and Charlie so they could understand that they were dead and waiting with their island friends, the most important people and time of their lives, to move on together. Everyone in the church was dead. That includes new born Aaron. Why? He had no other life except for the island connections (most of people there he had no real contact with). Did Claire's return to him at age 3 scar the young boy with a "crazy" mother and the guilt that his birth caused her a lifetime of pain so when he died, his only happy moment was his infancy? That is really depressing at every level.
Jin and Sun: The island's other couple found themselves totally committed to each other after a long period of separation and loneliness. The island would have been the peak of their emotional bond to each other, especially in death. It is odd though, that their daughter plays no role in their moving on, while Aaron does for Claire.
Boone: He died on the island by trying to be some one he was not; he tried to break away to be someone different just like Locke. He did teach Jack that some times, you just have to let things go. Yet, it is hard to figure that a successful young man's most important part of his life was dying in an accident on the island. Or why the people in the church (except Shannon) were the most important people in his life. Was he totally devoid of friends in the real world?
Juliet: Her closest bond in the world was with her sister. There is no denying that fact. Her relationships with men was spotty at best. Her entire time on the island was focused on getting back to help her sister. She never got the chance to do that. She was a prisoner on the island, so how that negative emotion made her bond with the islanders over her own family is strange. She had many failed relationships on the island: Ben, Goodwin, the Dharma folks, Jack and Sawyer. In the end, she chose the time skip fantasy life with Sawyer.
Sawyer: He apparently leaves the island. We do not know whether he re-connects with Cassiday and his daughter (probably not). We do not think he joins up with Kate, because they are not together in the church. He had a lonely existence after his parents were killed, and his single minded revenge motivation for his life ended with the island. So, it is possible that Sawyer's life peaked with his island adventure.
Desmond and Penny: This is the problematic off-island couple. Their relationship had little to do with the island connections. In fact, it flourished outside the island. They had a child, little Charlie, who would have been the centerpiece of their strong family ties. This family unit would not have needed the other characters to move on. Penny had no deep attachment to anyone except Desmond. Like Jin & Sun, it is odd that Desmond's son was not part of the departure if these characters were waiting for the most important people in their lives to die and join them in the crossing over to eternity.
Libby: She is like Penny in some ways. Her only true connection with the island as being important in her life was her short relationship with Hurley. The unexplained and troubling aspect of Libby's story was that she was in the same mental hospital as Hurley, in the same day room. But Hurley never recognized her on the island. Now, Libby died on the island which left Hurley with a deep emotional void. And if Hurley remained the island guardian for a long period of time (as most people believe), Hurley had no special relationship in his entire life except for Libby.
Hurley: We can see why the island time was the most important for Hurley. People came to accept him for himself. They were not out to use him for his money. They were not shutting him out of their plans. He turned from introvert to extrovert; from follower to leader. A great deal of personal growth and responsibility happened as a direct result of his island time.
CONCLUSION: It appears the writers gave us a gallery of extremely lonely and troubled individuals whose high water mark in the real lives was the survival of a plane crash on a mysterious supernatural island. But the rationale for the gathering is inconsistent from character to character. Now, a few commentators have surmised that the sideways world was the construction solely for Jack; that this was Jack's purgatory - - - coming over party. That the other characters would have their own church reunions with other souls (such as being invited to multiple friends weddings over the course of your lifetime). If that is the case, why would the non-Jack characters have to be "awakened" in order to "move on." Moving on seems to be a singular event for all the characters sitting in the church pews.
SIDE NOTE: One of the perplexing aspects of the final scene was Christian's role. He was there to awaken his son. He said his friends had created this place so they could move on together. That infers that people can move on without an elaborate sideways world. Had Christian already "moved on" himself? We were told that Christian was not on the island; that his image was that of the smoke monster.
But Christian seemed to know more than he let on during that final scene. His appearance to Jack came from the direction of the church. He brought Jack to the main room. He was the one who walked down the aisle, between the two angel statues, and opened the doors to flood the room with white light (the final act of these souls moving to the next plane of existence). I had the sneaky suspicion that it was Christian who could have constructed this sideways world to help his son shed his guilt and unfinished business that tied down his soul so he could move on in peace. Of all the people in the church, Christian was the first person in the Lost saga to actually die in the real world. So he would be the only person who could have gathered the souls of his son's friends as they passed on (guardian angel style).
MORAL OF THE STORY: Jack's first island leadership speech to keep the survivors from falling a part was that they needed to "Live Together, or We'd Die Alone." Without a community effort, working together, no one would live. But even in this context of community, each character was still living alone, in some state of loneliness. However, the reward in the end was that the characters got to die together.
This was done because the island time was the most important time of their real lives, according to Christian. They made a subconscious pact to not live together, but to die together.
If Christian's statement is true, it really means that our beloved characters had really sub-par to crappy real lives. Loneliness appears to be the largest theme of the show that was lurking in the shadows of every story line.
Why was the island time the "most" important to each character?
Locke: But for Jacob's life giving touch, he would have died a lonely and bitter man after his father pushed him out a high rise window. On the island, he found his first real purpose in life, to protect it. To be the person he wanted to be. But when he was murdered by Ben, all of Locke's aspirations had turned into pitiful loneliness and despair.
Jack: Jack had the job, social skills and status to have a fulfilling life as a California spinal surgeon. Jacob's touch accelerated Jack going off the rails by amplifying his unresolved father issues and personal faults. It is hard to see how his surgical miracles, colleagues and fulfilling career helping other people was nominal in relation to his eventual island sacrifice.
Kate: Jacob's touch actually kept tom boy Kate on the path of rebellious crime as a loner on the run. The cumulative acts of anti-social behavior were set aside when she landed in the island. She could truly start over fresh, and the castaways could see her real self hidden underneath all of her past emotional baggage.
Sayid: Once he left the island, Sayid would have had his desired life with Nadia. Jacob's intervention caused Sayid to lose his one true love, and let his dark side fully control his soul. The island experience was not Sayid's most important time in his life, it was his worst. None of his friends could save him.
Shannon: Shannon was killed on the island by accident. She was a self-centered, rich girl with a conscious disrespect for other people. She made no real difference on the island except for eye candy and Sayid's short term pillow. If this was the peak of her life, she really had a sad life. And why Sayid turned out to be her soul mate in the afterlife is marginalizing Sayid's longer term relationship with Nadia.
Bernard and Rose: The only thing the island brought this couple was peace. Their relationship was the same before the crash as it was after the crash. The other people on the island may have been interesting, kooky, and dangerous, but they felt no strong bonds once they decided "retirement rules" ("we don't get involved.") In fact, they butted heads with the group's leaders more often than not. Why they needed to move on with all of the other main characters appears to be unnecessary. (Yes, the inference is that they stayed on the island with Hurley during his guardianship and could have grown closer in nostalgic memory.)
Charlie: He died on the island trying to save Claire and Aaron, the only "family" unit he ever led.
His death was partially in vane because it was not Penny's boat. But one could see from ghost Charlie's interactions with Hurley, that the island bonds were strong in Charlie, who otherwise would have probably died a lonely, washed up guitar player drug addict.
Claire: One would think that her bonds with her mother and her sister in Australia would have been stronger than her eventual zombie brain death island existence. She had mentally given up her baby to be raised by another, which haunted her for most of her time on the island. We don't know what happened after she left, but we presume she re-bonded with Aaron.
Aaron: He is the person in the church that makes the least sense. The re-birth was used in the sideways world fiction in order to awaken Claire, Kate and Charlie so they could understand that they were dead and waiting with their island friends, the most important people and time of their lives, to move on together. Everyone in the church was dead. That includes new born Aaron. Why? He had no other life except for the island connections (most of people there he had no real contact with). Did Claire's return to him at age 3 scar the young boy with a "crazy" mother and the guilt that his birth caused her a lifetime of pain so when he died, his only happy moment was his infancy? That is really depressing at every level.
Jin and Sun: The island's other couple found themselves totally committed to each other after a long period of separation and loneliness. The island would have been the peak of their emotional bond to each other, especially in death. It is odd though, that their daughter plays no role in their moving on, while Aaron does for Claire.
Boone: He died on the island by trying to be some one he was not; he tried to break away to be someone different just like Locke. He did teach Jack that some times, you just have to let things go. Yet, it is hard to figure that a successful young man's most important part of his life was dying in an accident on the island. Or why the people in the church (except Shannon) were the most important people in his life. Was he totally devoid of friends in the real world?
Juliet: Her closest bond in the world was with her sister. There is no denying that fact. Her relationships with men was spotty at best. Her entire time on the island was focused on getting back to help her sister. She never got the chance to do that. She was a prisoner on the island, so how that negative emotion made her bond with the islanders over her own family is strange. She had many failed relationships on the island: Ben, Goodwin, the Dharma folks, Jack and Sawyer. In the end, she chose the time skip fantasy life with Sawyer.
Sawyer: He apparently leaves the island. We do not know whether he re-connects with Cassiday and his daughter (probably not). We do not think he joins up with Kate, because they are not together in the church. He had a lonely existence after his parents were killed, and his single minded revenge motivation for his life ended with the island. So, it is possible that Sawyer's life peaked with his island adventure.
Desmond and Penny: This is the problematic off-island couple. Their relationship had little to do with the island connections. In fact, it flourished outside the island. They had a child, little Charlie, who would have been the centerpiece of their strong family ties. This family unit would not have needed the other characters to move on. Penny had no deep attachment to anyone except Desmond. Like Jin & Sun, it is odd that Desmond's son was not part of the departure if these characters were waiting for the most important people in their lives to die and join them in the crossing over to eternity.
Libby: She is like Penny in some ways. Her only true connection with the island as being important in her life was her short relationship with Hurley. The unexplained and troubling aspect of Libby's story was that she was in the same mental hospital as Hurley, in the same day room. But Hurley never recognized her on the island. Now, Libby died on the island which left Hurley with a deep emotional void. And if Hurley remained the island guardian for a long period of time (as most people believe), Hurley had no special relationship in his entire life except for Libby.
Hurley: We can see why the island time was the most important for Hurley. People came to accept him for himself. They were not out to use him for his money. They were not shutting him out of their plans. He turned from introvert to extrovert; from follower to leader. A great deal of personal growth and responsibility happened as a direct result of his island time.
CONCLUSION: It appears the writers gave us a gallery of extremely lonely and troubled individuals whose high water mark in the real lives was the survival of a plane crash on a mysterious supernatural island. But the rationale for the gathering is inconsistent from character to character. Now, a few commentators have surmised that the sideways world was the construction solely for Jack; that this was Jack's purgatory - - - coming over party. That the other characters would have their own church reunions with other souls (such as being invited to multiple friends weddings over the course of your lifetime). If that is the case, why would the non-Jack characters have to be "awakened" in order to "move on." Moving on seems to be a singular event for all the characters sitting in the church pews.
SIDE NOTE: One of the perplexing aspects of the final scene was Christian's role. He was there to awaken his son. He said his friends had created this place so they could move on together. That infers that people can move on without an elaborate sideways world. Had Christian already "moved on" himself? We were told that Christian was not on the island; that his image was that of the smoke monster.
But Christian seemed to know more than he let on during that final scene. His appearance to Jack came from the direction of the church. He brought Jack to the main room. He was the one who walked down the aisle, between the two angel statues, and opened the doors to flood the room with white light (the final act of these souls moving to the next plane of existence). I had the sneaky suspicion that it was Christian who could have constructed this sideways world to help his son shed his guilt and unfinished business that tied down his soul so he could move on in peace. Of all the people in the church, Christian was the first person in the Lost saga to actually die in the real world. So he would be the only person who could have gathered the souls of his son's friends as they passed on (guardian angel style).
MORAL OF THE STORY: Jack's first island leadership speech to keep the survivors from falling a part was that they needed to "Live Together, or We'd Die Alone." Without a community effort, working together, no one would live. But even in this context of community, each character was still living alone, in some state of loneliness. However, the reward in the end was that the characters got to die together.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
S6E17 CREDIT CONFUSION
The images of the plane crash wreckage during the final credits were NOT part of the story, according to ABC. The network put those images in to allow viewers to "decompress" before their evening news casts.
Huh?
When did executives get final cut? Why would the producers of the show (who edited it) allow it to be re-edited? Let alone add graphic inference that had some fans sour to the prospect that it was all made up, they all died on impact, it was all purgatory, etc. (Some people thought that before the closing credits).
So the network's record "correction" has been labeled that the events on the island really happened (real human beings in supernatural world that included ghosts and monsters). As Christian Shephard told his son that he was dead, he said the sideways events happened too (dead souls having realistic lives in the after life). The sideways realm served as a transition point as the characters gradually met up again and "moved on."
This clears nothing up. It is a chicken or the egg argument: which was created first, the island events or the sideways holding world? Boone, Charlie and Lilly died on the island . . . so how did they "create" a sub-space in their deaths to gather the other people to the sideways world? And once you died, why would you need to be "awakened" by island events in order to stop the sideways world from continuing forward? Dead is dead. And if these main island characters who consciously created this sideways place "move on" does that mean the sub-space sideways world collapses? Is that why Eloise's spirit was so adamant that Desmond not awaken the 815ers? Then what happens to Ben's soul who is not ready to move on? Why did it take Jack so long (from a sideways perspective of literally re-writing his old life with a different ex-wife and a high school son) to make it to the church reunion? Why stuff a long, detailed, drawn out fantasy after life in order to somehow re-boot or sync an important event to force your soul to acknowledge your own demise?
The sideways world fantasy of collective memories really did not have a religious context. If it was purgatory, shouldn't the souls of the departed try to make better moral decisions than having affairs (Sun & Jin), killing people (Sayid), or bribing police officers (Hurley) in order to "move on?" Oh, the standard answer is "it doesn't matter."
If you accept the premise that the final survivors left the island on Frank's plane, it would mean they would have lived out fairly meaningless lives for the next 30-40 years if the island events were "the most important part of their lives." Sawyer and Kate would spend the rest of their natural lives pining for Juliet and Jack? They meet no one else who can fill their lives?
The more I think about the ending, the characters gathering happiness may have been an illusion.
Huh?
When did executives get final cut? Why would the producers of the show (who edited it) allow it to be re-edited? Let alone add graphic inference that had some fans sour to the prospect that it was all made up, they all died on impact, it was all purgatory, etc. (Some people thought that before the closing credits).
So the network's record "correction" has been labeled that the events on the island really happened (real human beings in supernatural world that included ghosts and monsters). As Christian Shephard told his son that he was dead, he said the sideways events happened too (dead souls having realistic lives in the after life). The sideways realm served as a transition point as the characters gradually met up again and "moved on."
This clears nothing up. It is a chicken or the egg argument: which was created first, the island events or the sideways holding world? Boone, Charlie and Lilly died on the island . . . so how did they "create" a sub-space in their deaths to gather the other people to the sideways world? And once you died, why would you need to be "awakened" by island events in order to stop the sideways world from continuing forward? Dead is dead. And if these main island characters who consciously created this sideways place "move on" does that mean the sub-space sideways world collapses? Is that why Eloise's spirit was so adamant that Desmond not awaken the 815ers? Then what happens to Ben's soul who is not ready to move on? Why did it take Jack so long (from a sideways perspective of literally re-writing his old life with a different ex-wife and a high school son) to make it to the church reunion? Why stuff a long, detailed, drawn out fantasy after life in order to somehow re-boot or sync an important event to force your soul to acknowledge your own demise?
The sideways world fantasy of collective memories really did not have a religious context. If it was purgatory, shouldn't the souls of the departed try to make better moral decisions than having affairs (Sun & Jin), killing people (Sayid), or bribing police officers (Hurley) in order to "move on?" Oh, the standard answer is "it doesn't matter."
If you accept the premise that the final survivors left the island on Frank's plane, it would mean they would have lived out fairly meaningless lives for the next 30-40 years if the island events were "the most important part of their lives." Sawyer and Kate would spend the rest of their natural lives pining for Juliet and Jack? They meet no one else who can fill their lives?
The more I think about the ending, the characters gathering happiness may have been an illusion.
S6E17 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
For all the disappointments, there were many great accomplishments for the series.
1. The barrage of science and literary references made people look up classic literature and physics text references. For a television show, it stimulated thought "outside" the show itself. In certain respects, it re-educated some viewers with their long lost high school and college courses. In other respects, it opened up new areas of study, such as my own new, ancient Egyptology degree.
2. The series opened the door to full internet connection between the show runners, the episodes and the fans. The fan boards were the life blood of the show. At it appeared that TPTB did have a pulse of the fan base as the show went forward, including killing off the unpopular Nikki and Paolo.
3. It was one of the few shows to weather extremely long hiatus periods. Most formatted television shows would have died on the re-run vine if new episodes were missing for almost a year because of work stoppages.
4. The series did show case the performance of several fine actors. The scenes between Locke and Ben will be considered great performances in the future. The series will also propel the cast into new acting ventures.
1. The barrage of science and literary references made people look up classic literature and physics text references. For a television show, it stimulated thought "outside" the show itself. In certain respects, it re-educated some viewers with their long lost high school and college courses. In other respects, it opened up new areas of study, such as my own new, ancient Egyptology degree.
2. The series opened the door to full internet connection between the show runners, the episodes and the fans. The fan boards were the life blood of the show. At it appeared that TPTB did have a pulse of the fan base as the show went forward, including killing off the unpopular Nikki and Paolo.
3. It was one of the few shows to weather extremely long hiatus periods. Most formatted television shows would have died on the re-run vine if new episodes were missing for almost a year because of work stoppages.
4. The series did show case the performance of several fine actors. The scenes between Locke and Ben will be considered great performances in the future. The series will also propel the cast into new acting ventures.
S6E17 DISAPPOINTMENTS
LOST was the story written by its producers to be what they wanted to it to be. There is nothing any viewer or fan can do to change the story that was shown to us because it was not our story but the writers vision. It is like reading a book. At the end, every person has an opinion on whether the writer accomplished his/her goals.
Did TPTB accomplish their goals? Probably.
Did TPTB deliver a totally satisfying ending? Probably not.
A list of growing disappointments is a factor of the new, unanswered questions posed by the finale:
1. A vague explanation of the sideways world (as a construction by Jack's friends waiting for him to arrive so they can all move on; some sort of partitioned waiting room in heaven) was fine, but the ending did not clearly tie together the pre-island, island and post-island events. Were those events "real," partially real, or another "construction" by Jack's family or friends? What was real and what was imagined and what was mixed surreality? The current debates on whether the main characters died before, during or after the crash of 815 should have been settled by the writers in the last episode. It has been a focal issue from the first episode: did they survive the crash? It should have been clearly answered. Many point to Christian's comments in the sideways world that Jack's life was "real,: but he said the sideways world was also real.
2. There was no concept of "time." In the sideways world, Christian said there was no past, present or future, just "now." Except, throughout the season we saw a linear progression of days or weeks in a realistic world of Desmond running around trying to "awaken" people's minds so they could gather and leave together. If there is no concept of time, how can anyone be sure that the island events happened before the sideways world?
3. There was no explanation of why people needed to be "awakened" in the sideways world. They were all dead. Supposedly dead at different times, some before and some after Jack's demise. Was this just Jack's vision of purgatory? If so, can the characters cross over multiple times with different groups?
4. If the island was the most important bonds the 20 characters had during their real lifetimes, and that is the sole reason why their souls congregated for the journey to the after life, then our characters who left the island must have had no significant life experiences until their alleged natural deaths. Example, Aaron had no deep bonds with anybody so he was "re-born" as a baby in death? That seems profoundly unfair and sad. If people survived the island to lead real lives, their families, their children would have been greater bonds than the islanders. (Once combat soldiers who lived through hellish conditions go home, I don't see the overwhelming need to re-connect with their squads especially if they are dispersed over different places).
5. Why did Hurley, as the island protector, thank Ben for being a good "Number Two," when there was nothing shown. People have speculated that Jack died in the finale, but his soul was in limbo was decades to centuries. It is also speculated that the sideways world was Hurley and Ben's creation to hold their island friends spirits together until they "arrived" for their next journey. But that theory does not explain why Hurley and Ben themselves had to be "awakened" in the sideways world.
6. Many people were really disappointed to find Sayid's soul mate to be Shannon and not Nadia. People also observed that in the final gathering, Boone and Locke had no companions for the next journey. So there was no clarity on what it took to be "ready" to move on. It is interesting to note that the symbolic seating arrangement in the church mimicked the seating on Flight 815. That leads some to speculate that 815 was purgatory number one; sideways world purgatory number two; and the church scene the lift-off of eternal life.
7. One of the major criticisms of the story telling is that the ending left many, many questions with the answer "it did not matter." It is almost shocking that for the amount of time, energy, research and effort in making the Dharma stations, the temples, the hieroglyphs, the Blast Door map, the science fiction elements of time travel or moving a physical island were all immaterial or irrelevant as foundational facts for the story's resolution and explanation of character enlightenment. Those mysterious island elements were mere props or red herrings? The final explanation was that LOST was always about "character development." But that was only half of the overall story.
8. Another lip biting irritation was that the writers failed to explain "any of the rules." Jacob and MIB had unspoken rules which may or may not have been broken throughout the show. It seems that the island guardian can make up the rules. How is that possible if the island is a real physical place with natural and supernatural forces? "There are no rules" explanation for the island context is a weak way of not trying to explain all the contrary elements and actions the viewers saw for six season. Some could call it an intellectual cop-out.
9. In the same vein, what really was the smoke monster? Did it exist before MIB's body was tossed into the cave? What was it made of? Who were the skeletons in the life force cave? Who were the other children running around taunting Flocke? What was the island? Why did it need to be protected? Why were some characters deemed "special?" Why did Desmond's fail safe body fail when Jack's plugging the opening worked? Why did the cork need to be in place? What were the dynamics of the earthquake lava in the cave vs. the green light that reappeared once the hole was capped? And why didn't Jack turn into a smoke monster? Is Michael still a trapped soul (a whisper) on the island? What were the writers true visions of humanity: are we reincarnated? do we have only one soul? is there a heaven? is there a hell? what is the key to a person obtaining eternal happiness? TPTB did not have lecture us on theology to give us some explanation of why these characters found their way to that place. The ending was more a secular humanism vibe than any one religious context.
LOST was a roller coaster for fans to watch, debate, interact, speculate, and predict. From a television standpoint, it was a good show, highly entertaining. Many people found the end gathering emotional, touching . . . some compared it to a real funeral. For the amount of time invested with the characters, combined with the angst of the show concluding forever, there would be some emotional release. But for some, the ending was anti-climatic. The alleged "war" over the island turned into a mere duel. The the vast amount of unanswered questions muted the significance of the ending. There is plenty of room for a valid criticism that the show could have tied up more loose ends in a coherent way. But, if the writers had painted themselves into a corner by throwing so many conflicting elements at us as filler, then their decision of moving off quietly into the light was their best means of ending the story.
In summary, I felt underwhelmed by the ending. In my mind it could have a more dramatic and better ending. I am glad it resolved a major piece of the Big Premise. The fuzzy good feeling for the characters at the end was okay. Early in the episode I thought TPTB would not be able to pull off any good ending. I thought to myself they should have ended the series with the last episode of Season 5. (Now that would have kept the debates alive for a long time). But when sideways Jack pulled the x-ray over his face, I knew immediately that this was a symbol of his own death mask; that the show really was about death and the after life. So I let go and let the writers conclude their tale in their own way.
LOST was one of those shows that made you think outside the TV box. The on-line communities of commentators, bloggers and fans helped bridge the gap between episodes with their thoughts and theories which greatly added to the overall LOST experience.
Did TPTB accomplish their goals? Probably.
Did TPTB deliver a totally satisfying ending? Probably not.
A list of growing disappointments is a factor of the new, unanswered questions posed by the finale:
1. A vague explanation of the sideways world (as a construction by Jack's friends waiting for him to arrive so they can all move on; some sort of partitioned waiting room in heaven) was fine, but the ending did not clearly tie together the pre-island, island and post-island events. Were those events "real," partially real, or another "construction" by Jack's family or friends? What was real and what was imagined and what was mixed surreality? The current debates on whether the main characters died before, during or after the crash of 815 should have been settled by the writers in the last episode. It has been a focal issue from the first episode: did they survive the crash? It should have been clearly answered. Many point to Christian's comments in the sideways world that Jack's life was "real,: but he said the sideways world was also real.
2. There was no concept of "time." In the sideways world, Christian said there was no past, present or future, just "now." Except, throughout the season we saw a linear progression of days or weeks in a realistic world of Desmond running around trying to "awaken" people's minds so they could gather and leave together. If there is no concept of time, how can anyone be sure that the island events happened before the sideways world?
3. There was no explanation of why people needed to be "awakened" in the sideways world. They were all dead. Supposedly dead at different times, some before and some after Jack's demise. Was this just Jack's vision of purgatory? If so, can the characters cross over multiple times with different groups?
4. If the island was the most important bonds the 20 characters had during their real lifetimes, and that is the sole reason why their souls congregated for the journey to the after life, then our characters who left the island must have had no significant life experiences until their alleged natural deaths. Example, Aaron had no deep bonds with anybody so he was "re-born" as a baby in death? That seems profoundly unfair and sad. If people survived the island to lead real lives, their families, their children would have been greater bonds than the islanders. (Once combat soldiers who lived through hellish conditions go home, I don't see the overwhelming need to re-connect with their squads especially if they are dispersed over different places).
5. Why did Hurley, as the island protector, thank Ben for being a good "Number Two," when there was nothing shown. People have speculated that Jack died in the finale, but his soul was in limbo was decades to centuries. It is also speculated that the sideways world was Hurley and Ben's creation to hold their island friends spirits together until they "arrived" for their next journey. But that theory does not explain why Hurley and Ben themselves had to be "awakened" in the sideways world.
6. Many people were really disappointed to find Sayid's soul mate to be Shannon and not Nadia. People also observed that in the final gathering, Boone and Locke had no companions for the next journey. So there was no clarity on what it took to be "ready" to move on. It is interesting to note that the symbolic seating arrangement in the church mimicked the seating on Flight 815. That leads some to speculate that 815 was purgatory number one; sideways world purgatory number two; and the church scene the lift-off of eternal life.
7. One of the major criticisms of the story telling is that the ending left many, many questions with the answer "it did not matter." It is almost shocking that for the amount of time, energy, research and effort in making the Dharma stations, the temples, the hieroglyphs, the Blast Door map, the science fiction elements of time travel or moving a physical island were all immaterial or irrelevant as foundational facts for the story's resolution and explanation of character enlightenment. Those mysterious island elements were mere props or red herrings? The final explanation was that LOST was always about "character development." But that was only half of the overall story.
8. Another lip biting irritation was that the writers failed to explain "any of the rules." Jacob and MIB had unspoken rules which may or may not have been broken throughout the show. It seems that the island guardian can make up the rules. How is that possible if the island is a real physical place with natural and supernatural forces? "There are no rules" explanation for the island context is a weak way of not trying to explain all the contrary elements and actions the viewers saw for six season. Some could call it an intellectual cop-out.
9. In the same vein, what really was the smoke monster? Did it exist before MIB's body was tossed into the cave? What was it made of? Who were the skeletons in the life force cave? Who were the other children running around taunting Flocke? What was the island? Why did it need to be protected? Why were some characters deemed "special?" Why did Desmond's fail safe body fail when Jack's plugging the opening worked? Why did the cork need to be in place? What were the dynamics of the earthquake lava in the cave vs. the green light that reappeared once the hole was capped? And why didn't Jack turn into a smoke monster? Is Michael still a trapped soul (a whisper) on the island? What were the writers true visions of humanity: are we reincarnated? do we have only one soul? is there a heaven? is there a hell? what is the key to a person obtaining eternal happiness? TPTB did not have lecture us on theology to give us some explanation of why these characters found their way to that place. The ending was more a secular humanism vibe than any one religious context.
LOST was a roller coaster for fans to watch, debate, interact, speculate, and predict. From a television standpoint, it was a good show, highly entertaining. Many people found the end gathering emotional, touching . . . some compared it to a real funeral. For the amount of time invested with the characters, combined with the angst of the show concluding forever, there would be some emotional release. But for some, the ending was anti-climatic. The alleged "war" over the island turned into a mere duel. The the vast amount of unanswered questions muted the significance of the ending. There is plenty of room for a valid criticism that the show could have tied up more loose ends in a coherent way. But, if the writers had painted themselves into a corner by throwing so many conflicting elements at us as filler, then their decision of moving off quietly into the light was their best means of ending the story.
In summary, I felt underwhelmed by the ending. In my mind it could have a more dramatic and better ending. I am glad it resolved a major piece of the Big Premise. The fuzzy good feeling for the characters at the end was okay. Early in the episode I thought TPTB would not be able to pull off any good ending. I thought to myself they should have ended the series with the last episode of Season 5. (Now that would have kept the debates alive for a long time). But when sideways Jack pulled the x-ray over his face, I knew immediately that this was a symbol of his own death mask; that the show really was about death and the after life. So I let go and let the writers conclude their tale in their own way.
LOST was one of those shows that made you think outside the TV box. The on-line communities of commentators, bloggers and fans helped bridge the gap between episodes with their thoughts and theories which greatly added to the overall LOST experience.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
S6E17 I'LL TAKE THE COMBO PLATTER
After 200 posts during the last season of the show (which I never thought I would do), it came down to a little bit of this and a little bit of that theory as a partial Big Picture to LOST.
I change, tweaked, stumbled through, debated, defended, and questioned myself (like other viewers) who tried to connect the dots to figure It all Out. And in the End, we will never truly figure the whole thing out. Too many aspects of the show are left open to interpretation, speculation, head scratching or double meaning.
In the side game of trying to figure out where TPTB were heading with their story lines, I came close in guessing a few of the final elements. A summary of my personal chronology of theories of LOST finds elements of each rolled into one combination lock conclusion to the show:
1. PURGATORY
While watching the pilot, my first reaction was that the plane broke a part at altitude: there would be no survivors. So the show had to be about purgatory, with most of the characters
unaware of their plight, thinking that they had survived the crash. The themes of good-evil, character tests and personal redemption are strong plot lines.
When I re-watched the pilot episode, I also vividly recalled the one glaring element that called into question whether this was "real:" it was that huge turbine engine, still functioning at full bore, with no attached fuel (it was totally separated from the wing). It should not function. It should have blown up on impact.
The End: Christian confirms to Jack that the sideways world was an after life creation of his friends so they could keep their memories of each other when it was time to "move on." Many are calling the sideways world "purgatory" but we really did not see any mental anguish, punishment, penance or forgiveness in the characters. But everyone accepts that the characters in the sideways world were DEAD and the sideways story arc "not real."
2. INTERACTIVE DREAM
If purgatory was dismissed, what would be the other possible explanation for the characters sensing they crashed on a tropical island? The concept of powerful electromagnetic energy, and clues from what the passengers had on the plane (Hurley's polar bear comic book and Walt's game) lead me to theorize that tired passengers fall asleep during the long flight, and the turbulence and EM caused the sleepers to connect brain wave activity into a form of a
networked interactive game.
The End: The vague explanation of the sideways world is like an interactive, make-believe place where the characters would "hang out" until it was Time to Move On. It does not explain why bad things happened to people; but in the end nothing truly bad comes from it. Sun's bullet wound never meant anything; Locke's paralysis was never real; it was merely a holding area until the prior character's mind re-connected with its alternative self. In essence, the same mechanics could hold true for the island world. It had action, the feel of reality, bullets, sweat, blood, seeming consequences to actions, in an emotional roller coast among "new" friends. Just as the sideways world is the waiting room to heaven, why could not the island been the penance, realization, enlightenment in order to gain admission into the sideways room?
3. DUPLICATES IN ALT DIMENSION
Another prospect of the mysterious EM powers: the plane travels through a high energy electromagnetic field and like an office copy machine, scans everyone to create copies in an alternative universe. Since the duplicates retain all their memories and personality traits, they believe themselves to be their original selves. The show is about duplicates or twins in a different realm, but may or may not have a continual connection with their original selves (causing mental issues).
The End: The EM on the island was a byproduct of the Life Force (it is life, death, and rebirth), but it is clear that in the story construction, the characters did have "duplicates" on the island and in the sideways world (for which there was no past, present or future, just "now" - - - even though we saw an actual lineal time reference during this season). The concept of splitting souls or new bodies in the after life is a center piece of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. So on one level, the concept of character duplication was true.
4. ALIEN EXPERIMENT
Under the file folder that nothing is ever really new, was the prospect that the passengers were taken off the doomed plane and transported to an island (ship) for aliens to run experiments on humans ( i.e. Star Trek episode The Cage.) The various stations or hatches were mere experiments or puzzles constructed to see how humans could adapt, solve problems or crack under the pressure.
The End: No alien being references in the finale. In fact, a great number of fans were disappointed with the non-scientific explanation of the end. However, if the characters were dead before 815 crashed on the island, the island itself was a test, an experiment to make the characters confront their personal issues, work through them, literally "battle their own demons" to "see the light."
5. MENTAL INSTITUTION
The first cast member hired by TPTB was Hurley. It seems like an odd choice, but he always appears to be around the center of action. Hurley believes that he has been cursed by the Numbers, that he has imaginary friends, and that he can interact with dead people. Coupled with the factors that most of the cast has criminal behavior, daddy issues, alcohol, drug and psychotic problems, the fact that the island is a free form Mental Institution, a Santa Rosa
Club Med for the criminally insane, could explain a lot of the story line. Many believe that it would be a disappointing finale if this was merely one large Hurley mental meltdown.
The End: There was no reference to the characters being institutionalized and hooked up to machines. The end was not a theater Room 23 mind wash event. And it was not just the delusions of one person's fantasy running wild.
6. EGYPTIAN PORTAL
If the Egyptians were an advanced technological society, they would have used any and all technology to get closer to their gods, or to guarantee their Pharaohs place in the heavens.
The End: The island was clearly a means to the End for the characters, especially Jack. It was a place that the characters needed in order come to terms before "awakening" in the heaven's ante room with friends. The unknown element is how was the connection made from the island mind to the heavenly soul.
7. NEXUS BUFFER THEORY
This was most complex, mixed theory: that the island is the dimensional space between heaven and hell. The island Others were demons who could not reproduce or create life in hell. Ben's manic desire for women to have children on the island by capturing Juliet was his solution to create his own army of demons, who along with Sata, would attempt to recapture Heaven for themselves. Angels have been summoned to stop the War before it begins, and the souls of the 815ers have been caught in the middle of this pending epic struggle.
The End: It was clearly explained that the island was a "cork" that held evil at bay, so in one respect the concept of "buffer" between worlds was true. However, the foreshadowed "War" that Widmore pondered never got to the epic struggle and battles that I had envisioned. Not even close. The non-violent struggle between two supernatural beings, Jacob and MIB, was anti-climatic when viewed in the context of the final minutes of the show, where the characters finally wound up.
I change, tweaked, stumbled through, debated, defended, and questioned myself (like other viewers) who tried to connect the dots to figure It all Out. And in the End, we will never truly figure the whole thing out. Too many aspects of the show are left open to interpretation, speculation, head scratching or double meaning.
In the side game of trying to figure out where TPTB were heading with their story lines, I came close in guessing a few of the final elements. A summary of my personal chronology of theories of LOST finds elements of each rolled into one combination lock conclusion to the show:
1. PURGATORY
While watching the pilot, my first reaction was that the plane broke a part at altitude: there would be no survivors. So the show had to be about purgatory, with most of the characters
unaware of their plight, thinking that they had survived the crash. The themes of good-evil, character tests and personal redemption are strong plot lines.
When I re-watched the pilot episode, I also vividly recalled the one glaring element that called into question whether this was "real:" it was that huge turbine engine, still functioning at full bore, with no attached fuel (it was totally separated from the wing). It should not function. It should have blown up on impact.
The End: Christian confirms to Jack that the sideways world was an after life creation of his friends so they could keep their memories of each other when it was time to "move on." Many are calling the sideways world "purgatory" but we really did not see any mental anguish, punishment, penance or forgiveness in the characters. But everyone accepts that the characters in the sideways world were DEAD and the sideways story arc "not real."
2. INTERACTIVE DREAM
If purgatory was dismissed, what would be the other possible explanation for the characters sensing they crashed on a tropical island? The concept of powerful electromagnetic energy, and clues from what the passengers had on the plane (Hurley's polar bear comic book and Walt's game) lead me to theorize that tired passengers fall asleep during the long flight, and the turbulence and EM caused the sleepers to connect brain wave activity into a form of a
networked interactive game.
The End: The vague explanation of the sideways world is like an interactive, make-believe place where the characters would "hang out" until it was Time to Move On. It does not explain why bad things happened to people; but in the end nothing truly bad comes from it. Sun's bullet wound never meant anything; Locke's paralysis was never real; it was merely a holding area until the prior character's mind re-connected with its alternative self. In essence, the same mechanics could hold true for the island world. It had action, the feel of reality, bullets, sweat, blood, seeming consequences to actions, in an emotional roller coast among "new" friends. Just as the sideways world is the waiting room to heaven, why could not the island been the penance, realization, enlightenment in order to gain admission into the sideways room?
3. DUPLICATES IN ALT DIMENSION
Another prospect of the mysterious EM powers: the plane travels through a high energy electromagnetic field and like an office copy machine, scans everyone to create copies in an alternative universe. Since the duplicates retain all their memories and personality traits, they believe themselves to be their original selves. The show is about duplicates or twins in a different realm, but may or may not have a continual connection with their original selves (causing mental issues).
The End: The EM on the island was a byproduct of the Life Force (it is life, death, and rebirth), but it is clear that in the story construction, the characters did have "duplicates" on the island and in the sideways world (for which there was no past, present or future, just "now" - - - even though we saw an actual lineal time reference during this season). The concept of splitting souls or new bodies in the after life is a center piece of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. So on one level, the concept of character duplication was true.
4. ALIEN EXPERIMENT
Under the file folder that nothing is ever really new, was the prospect that the passengers were taken off the doomed plane and transported to an island (ship) for aliens to run experiments on humans ( i.e. Star Trek episode The Cage.) The various stations or hatches were mere experiments or puzzles constructed to see how humans could adapt, solve problems or crack under the pressure.
The End: No alien being references in the finale. In fact, a great number of fans were disappointed with the non-scientific explanation of the end. However, if the characters were dead before 815 crashed on the island, the island itself was a test, an experiment to make the characters confront their personal issues, work through them, literally "battle their own demons" to "see the light."
5. MENTAL INSTITUTION
The first cast member hired by TPTB was Hurley. It seems like an odd choice, but he always appears to be around the center of action. Hurley believes that he has been cursed by the Numbers, that he has imaginary friends, and that he can interact with dead people. Coupled with the factors that most of the cast has criminal behavior, daddy issues, alcohol, drug and psychotic problems, the fact that the island is a free form Mental Institution, a Santa Rosa
Club Med for the criminally insane, could explain a lot of the story line. Many believe that it would be a disappointing finale if this was merely one large Hurley mental meltdown.
The End: There was no reference to the characters being institutionalized and hooked up to machines. The end was not a theater Room 23 mind wash event. And it was not just the delusions of one person's fantasy running wild.
6. EGYPTIAN PORTAL
If the Egyptians were an advanced technological society, they would have used any and all technology to get closer to their gods, or to guarantee their Pharaohs place in the heavens.
The End: The island was clearly a means to the End for the characters, especially Jack. It was a place that the characters needed in order come to terms before "awakening" in the heaven's ante room with friends. The unknown element is how was the connection made from the island mind to the heavenly soul.
7. NEXUS BUFFER THEORY
This was most complex, mixed theory: that the island is the dimensional space between heaven and hell. The island Others were demons who could not reproduce or create life in hell. Ben's manic desire for women to have children on the island by capturing Juliet was his solution to create his own army of demons, who along with Sata, would attempt to recapture Heaven for themselves. Angels have been summoned to stop the War before it begins, and the souls of the 815ers have been caught in the middle of this pending epic struggle.
The End: It was clearly explained that the island was a "cork" that held evil at bay, so in one respect the concept of "buffer" between worlds was true. However, the foreshadowed "War" that Widmore pondered never got to the epic struggle and battles that I had envisioned. Not even close. The non-violent struggle between two supernatural beings, Jacob and MIB, was anti-climatic when viewed in the context of the final minutes of the show, where the characters finally wound up.
Monday, May 24, 2010
S6E17 SOULS IN THE CHURCH
Here is how the lost souls, now ready through collective memory, are ready to "move on" after death:
FRONT ROW (left to right)
LOCKE (aisle) JACK KATE
SAYID SHANNON BERNARD ROSE (aisle) CHARLIE (with Aaron) CLAIRE SUN JIN
BOONE JULIET SAWYER (Christian in aisle) DESMOND PENNY HURLEY LIBBY
BEN remained outside because he was "not ready."
There were 20 "main" characters in the end scene, which means that only these characters had "found" their lost souls through redemption, realization, solution to their past lives' issues, enlightenment (or even just "letting go of the past,") in order to "awaken" spiritually to move onto eternity. Aaron with Charlie and Claire is the one odd element, for to be in the sideways world he would be dead. But at some point he "existed" in the real world prior to 815, while David did not. It does support the observation that only the pre-815 events were "real" and the island and sideway worlds were split views of the after life (how free will and different choices can change a person's humanity or spirit.) Total enlightenment comes with the realization of the black and white alternatives.
S6E17 LOCKE, TV STOCK & BARREL
Maybe the hype was too great; maybe the expectations were set too high; maybe the filler became more important than the actual angel food cake. There are many merely "satisfied" viewers, but underwhelmed to confused by the actual story construction. How one looked at the story as it unfolded created a bias on the reaction at the end. The angry fan thinks it was a long con by the producers to deny the fact in Season 1 that the show was about purgatory. Some in the middle just don't like that the time and resources to try to figure out the island's mythical quantum physics properties was nothing more than an illusion. In the end, it was a typical, stock television ending: happy trails to the cast, an emotional roller coaster for a few, and a big rug to sweep points under cover. As one reviewer said, "It could have been worse."
A quick review of the major points are in order.
Big premise of the show was clearly answered: it was all about DEATH.
Did Flight 815 actually crash in S1E1? Most now believe it did, resulting in all island events occuring in DEATH. (I believe the cast was dead before 815 crash; that the flight crash was a symbolic device to get lost souls to purgatory).
Where were the "survivors?" DEAD. Purgatory is a purification process. Each person on the island had to interact with other lost souls in order to move on to the next level. But there were two different levels or worlds: the island and the sideways. And there lies the confusion: how can you have two purgatories. The concept of the split soul was part of ancient Egyptian religion (the "ba" and the "ka"). The writers failed to adequately explain their viewpoint on the mechanism of their after life sojourn.
The ending was underwhelming even though my basic theories were nearly spot on. It was underwhelming because the writer's craft was missing in tying the various key elements together into one coherent thought process. TPTB kept the details vague (because they did not know how to explain everything without ticking off more viewers).
If one thought the island world was real, then finding out it was not was hard. Especially, when you see the conclusion of the sideways world as souls in the after life waiting to be "awakened" by the island "experiences" in order to move on to eternity.
Last week, I thought there were 7 possible story constructions to the show. See, Time Lines, May 19, 2010. There was one scenario that was a wild card:
Flashbacks were real
Island events were fake
Sideways events were fake.
Better terms would describe the ending:
Flashbacks were the REAL lives of the characters, the memories of the souls who had died with unresolved issues, that needed to have a means of resolution and redemption in order to be enlightened or saved.
Island events/time line were AFTER LIFE events constructed upon the memories, fantasy, nightmares and fears of the characters (which I theorize would have been Hurley and Ben).
Sideways events/time line (which chronologically were 3 years behind the island; but time does not matter according to Christian) were AFTER LIFE events constructed while the characters were waiting for their souls to re-merge after resolving their life issues.
A quick review of the major points are in order.
Big premise of the show was clearly answered: it was all about DEATH.
Did Flight 815 actually crash in S1E1? Most now believe it did, resulting in all island events occuring in DEATH. (I believe the cast was dead before 815 crash; that the flight crash was a symbolic device to get lost souls to purgatory).
Where were the "survivors?" DEAD. Purgatory is a purification process. Each person on the island had to interact with other lost souls in order to move on to the next level. But there were two different levels or worlds: the island and the sideways. And there lies the confusion: how can you have two purgatories. The concept of the split soul was part of ancient Egyptian religion (the "ba" and the "ka"). The writers failed to adequately explain their viewpoint on the mechanism of their after life sojourn.
The ending was underwhelming even though my basic theories were nearly spot on. It was underwhelming because the writer's craft was missing in tying the various key elements together into one coherent thought process. TPTB kept the details vague (because they did not know how to explain everything without ticking off more viewers).
If one thought the island world was real, then finding out it was not was hard. Especially, when you see the conclusion of the sideways world as souls in the after life waiting to be "awakened" by the island "experiences" in order to move on to eternity.
Last week, I thought there were 7 possible story constructions to the show. See, Time Lines, May 19, 2010. There was one scenario that was a wild card:
Flashbacks were real
Island events were fake
Sideways events were fake.
Better terms would describe the ending:
Flashbacks were the REAL lives of the characters, the memories of the souls who had died with unresolved issues, that needed to have a means of resolution and redemption in order to be enlightened or saved.
Island events/time line were AFTER LIFE events constructed upon the memories, fantasy, nightmares and fears of the characters (which I theorize would have been Hurley and Ben).
Sideways events/time line (which chronologically were 3 years behind the island; but time does not matter according to Christian) were AFTER LIFE events constructed while the characters were waiting for their souls to re-merge after resolving their life issues.
Friday, May 21, 2010
FINAL PONDER
A final ponder before the finale. . . .
On the island - - -
a plane crashes and survival, rescue are paramount.
a smoke monster appears signals danger.
they find strange places and a Dharma group that lead to deaths.
a turn of a wheel and the island moves
the O5 return to the island to reset the time splits with jughead; more deaths.
Jacob is killed.
candidates to replace the island guardian are chosen; Jack volunteers.
to be concluded: the smoke monster's destruction of the island.
In the sideways world - - -
there is no plane crash; everyone is living their own separate lives.
until Charlie begins to "leak" island memories in a mad state.
Desmond becomes a believer.
to be concluded: Desmond's quest to "awaken" memories of 815ers to ??????
How would Desmond's "awakening" of 815ers memories in the sideways world have any effect on the island events (especially since many sideways characters are DEAD there)?
How could island memories awakened three years behind current island events help stop the smoke monster from destroying the island?
At Jacob's camp fire meeting with the remaining candidates, Jacob states that they must do what he could not do: kill Flocke/Smokey. Jack asked if it was possible, and Jacob's reply was "he hopes so" because Flocke is certainly going to try to kill them. No instructions on how to defeat the monster who is going to destroy what Jacob has protected for thousands of years. A desperate Jacob, who claims near death in order to pass on his guardianship to Jack, does not seem that worried about the End. Odd. We have seen conventional weapons have no affect on it. Only a sonic fence allegedly keeps it at bay. For on-the-job training, Jack is put into a battle field situation with no weapons, no knowledge of the enemy, no plan and no intel. Have a nice day.
Why would the sideways world characters care about the island? It is already destroyed, under water, when their Flight 815 lands at LAX. The sideways characters lives don't need to change in order to go forward. Why would any one care about helping out their parallel universe selves?
"They're coming!" Does that mean the collective mind power of the sidewinders being awakened at the concert teleporting to the island world as a "weapon?" Could it be as simple as "mind over matter?" The destruction of the island boogie man, Smokey, by a collective mind melt? The confusion in Smokey's mind from sideways world of people it killed creates a mental paradox which short-circuits our EM monster? The mechanics of such a story device would be hard to explain within the known island mythology.
On the island - - -
a plane crashes and survival, rescue are paramount.
a smoke monster appears signals danger.
they find strange places and a Dharma group that lead to deaths.
a turn of a wheel and the island moves
the O5 return to the island to reset the time splits with jughead; more deaths.
Jacob is killed.
candidates to replace the island guardian are chosen; Jack volunteers.
to be concluded: the smoke monster's destruction of the island.
In the sideways world - - -
there is no plane crash; everyone is living their own separate lives.
until Charlie begins to "leak" island memories in a mad state.
Desmond becomes a believer.
to be concluded: Desmond's quest to "awaken" memories of 815ers to ??????
How would Desmond's "awakening" of 815ers memories in the sideways world have any effect on the island events (especially since many sideways characters are DEAD there)?
How could island memories awakened three years behind current island events help stop the smoke monster from destroying the island?
At Jacob's camp fire meeting with the remaining candidates, Jacob states that they must do what he could not do: kill Flocke/Smokey. Jack asked if it was possible, and Jacob's reply was "he hopes so" because Flocke is certainly going to try to kill them. No instructions on how to defeat the monster who is going to destroy what Jacob has protected for thousands of years. A desperate Jacob, who claims near death in order to pass on his guardianship to Jack, does not seem that worried about the End. Odd. We have seen conventional weapons have no affect on it. Only a sonic fence allegedly keeps it at bay. For on-the-job training, Jack is put into a battle field situation with no weapons, no knowledge of the enemy, no plan and no intel. Have a nice day.
Why would the sideways world characters care about the island? It is already destroyed, under water, when their Flight 815 lands at LAX. The sideways characters lives don't need to change in order to go forward. Why would any one care about helping out their parallel universe selves?
"They're coming!" Does that mean the collective mind power of the sidewinders being awakened at the concert teleporting to the island world as a "weapon?" Could it be as simple as "mind over matter?" The destruction of the island boogie man, Smokey, by a collective mind melt? The confusion in Smokey's mind from sideways world of people it killed creates a mental paradox which short-circuits our EM monster? The mechanics of such a story device would be hard to explain within the known island mythology.
MERGING WORLDS
The concept of merging the sideways world with the island world makes little sense. For if the sideways world was corporeal to the original intent and story line of Lost from Season 1, why did it turn up only in Season 6?
For some, the sideways world is the happy-happy land where our island characters can be re-born or have a better life. If the island explosion-implosion climax distorts the earth spatial time line to invert it back to 1970, with no Jacob "touch" interventions, and the characters lives were totally altered to "the way it was supposed to be," then that could be a plausible ending. From a story construction standpoint, I prefer a separation of church and state: there is no suitable purpose why the sideways world and the island world need to cross over and connect if they developed separately in time and space.
The sideways world is set in 2004. Flight 815 lands in LAX. None of the characters on the plane are aware of a mysterious island (for it is shown under water). The island world is currently set in 2007, and there are only a hand full of people left alive who know that the island exists. In the island situation, the main purpose is to keep the island secret, to avoid humans from trying to exploit (or destroy the light); basically allow it to disappear. If that is the over riding purpose in the island story line, there is no need for any action in the sideways world. If the sideways world is a different linear highway in time space than the island's time space, so its actions or non-actions should have no affect on the island events.
To have any affect between sideways and island worlds, they would have to be both on the same highway. It would mean the island car is three miles ahead of the sideways car, both speeding along the same highway. Again, the separation means no overlap. The sideways world is not chasing "history" or known events. The only way the sideways world and the island world could be together is if one is real and one is an illusion (like one sleeping kid and one loud, talking kid on the same school bus, a couple rows a part from each other. The talker could "disturb" the sleeper.) The problem is that our Lost bus would contain two of every character, who led different lives or made different choices to create contradictions (subtext: paradoxes). Slamming the two together would be like rooting for a school bus crash.
This season, the sideways Desmond has been hell bent on re-connecting the sideways characters from 815 to sideways irrelevant island world memories. How does the main characters knowledge of the island in the sideways world help or solve the Smokey problem that Jack and the other survivors now face? I grossly speculated that a possible writer angle would be that the only way to kill Flocke would be a conscious connection to the sideways world, in which, sideways Jack "kills" Locke on the operating table. How or why this would affect Flocke, I don't know. It seems too far out to be the final solution, from a story connection let alone quantum physics and sci-fi parallel universe principles.
This is why I cringe at the prospect that the final ending of the show is a merger between the time worlds. How does one take two independent people and fuse them into one body and soul? Does one die? Do both die? It creates too many new questions.
For some, the sideways world is the happy-happy land where our island characters can be re-born or have a better life. If the island explosion-implosion climax distorts the earth spatial time line to invert it back to 1970, with no Jacob "touch" interventions, and the characters lives were totally altered to "the way it was supposed to be," then that could be a plausible ending. From a story construction standpoint, I prefer a separation of church and state: there is no suitable purpose why the sideways world and the island world need to cross over and connect if they developed separately in time and space.
The sideways world is set in 2004. Flight 815 lands in LAX. None of the characters on the plane are aware of a mysterious island (for it is shown under water). The island world is currently set in 2007, and there are only a hand full of people left alive who know that the island exists. In the island situation, the main purpose is to keep the island secret, to avoid humans from trying to exploit (or destroy the light); basically allow it to disappear. If that is the over riding purpose in the island story line, there is no need for any action in the sideways world. If the sideways world is a different linear highway in time space than the island's time space, so its actions or non-actions should have no affect on the island events.
To have any affect between sideways and island worlds, they would have to be both on the same highway. It would mean the island car is three miles ahead of the sideways car, both speeding along the same highway. Again, the separation means no overlap. The sideways world is not chasing "history" or known events. The only way the sideways world and the island world could be together is if one is real and one is an illusion (like one sleeping kid and one loud, talking kid on the same school bus, a couple rows a part from each other. The talker could "disturb" the sleeper.) The problem is that our Lost bus would contain two of every character, who led different lives or made different choices to create contradictions (subtext: paradoxes). Slamming the two together would be like rooting for a school bus crash.
This season, the sideways Desmond has been hell bent on re-connecting the sideways characters from 815 to sideways irrelevant island world memories. How does the main characters knowledge of the island in the sideways world help or solve the Smokey problem that Jack and the other survivors now face? I grossly speculated that a possible writer angle would be that the only way to kill Flocke would be a conscious connection to the sideways world, in which, sideways Jack "kills" Locke on the operating table. How or why this would affect Flocke, I don't know. It seems too far out to be the final solution, from a story connection let alone quantum physics and sci-fi parallel universe principles.
This is why I cringe at the prospect that the final ending of the show is a merger between the time worlds. How does one take two independent people and fuse them into one body and soul? Does one die? Do both die? It creates too many new questions.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
S6E16 RECAP
L: Lo! - - - The most shocking twist was Richard being Capt. Frank'd by Smokey. So much for Jacob's "immortal touch." It appears when a character's usefulness is gone, they get "smoked" or killed off.
O: Obnoxious - - - Jacob's camp fire question and answer session never answered any of the Big Questions. Also the Jack guardian ceremony seemed very lame.
S: Story line - - - We are heading for a Jacob-Island v. Smokey show down, which really does not dove tail into any foundation in the S1E1 pilot episode. There is still no context to why this show down is so important, even to the Candidates, because Jacob's selection reasoning was flawed to bogus. Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are now officially red shirts because their candidacies have expired. The return of evil Ben helps his fans get some blood splatter closure. The season has been devoid of science to explain the events or back stories. It is relying on vague myth and fantasy elements in order to not explain the island world.
T: Time line - - - The sideways time line continues to make less and less sense. The factual errors about police procedures, escaping the van with a bribe, and Desmond gathering up all the people for "the concert," (or mutual agreement or coordination of the sideways consciousness to enlightenment), puts this time arc into the fantasy world perspective.
O: Obnoxious - - - Jacob's camp fire question and answer session never answered any of the Big Questions. Also the Jack guardian ceremony seemed very lame.
S: Story line - - - We are heading for a Jacob-Island v. Smokey show down, which really does not dove tail into any foundation in the S1E1 pilot episode. There is still no context to why this show down is so important, even to the Candidates, because Jacob's selection reasoning was flawed to bogus. Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are now officially red shirts because their candidacies have expired. The return of evil Ben helps his fans get some blood splatter closure. The season has been devoid of science to explain the events or back stories. It is relying on vague myth and fantasy elements in order to not explain the island world.
T: Time line - - - The sideways time line continues to make less and less sense. The factual errors about police procedures, escaping the van with a bribe, and Desmond gathering up all the people for "the concert," (or mutual agreement or coordination of the sideways consciousness to enlightenment), puts this time arc into the fantasy world perspective.
GNAWING ANSWERS
Throughout Season 6, I kept a running list of gnawing questions from the show that I would have like answered and explained by the writers. Since the End is upon us, it is time to review those 20 QUESTIONS:
1. After being released by the Others at the ferry landing, why did not Hurley tell his comrades that Michael had left the island with Walt by boat?
No Answer (but part of the series non-communication issues between characters that have driven many viewers into madness.)
2. Why was Hurley let go by the Others?
The answer was probably to tell the survivors not to come after the captives, but why was Hurley taken in the first place is not clear.
3. Why do people on the island call Hurley "Hurley" when his name is Hugo?
No answer.
Update: another poster referenced the pilot episode. In it, the first reference to "Hurley" Hugo introducing himself to Sayid. Later, when Jack is attending the marshal with Hugo. Hugo gets sick from the blood and Jack thinks he is about to hurl. Jack calls him "Hurley" but we never see Hugo actually introducing himself to Jack. We still do not know why Hugo is called Hurley or why he wants to call himself Hurley on the island when he is Hugo in the flashbacks.
4. If WHH, when did it first happen?
It is debatable if the time lines will ever make sense.
5. Are flashbacks really flashbacks of real events?
Unknown, depends on the Big Premise of the show, which has not been clearly revealed to date.
6. Why were the Numbers required to be used to reset the Hatch timer when one could use a simple reset key?
This is another technical head scratcher, especially since the explanation of the Numbers were merely designations for the Candidates.
7. Why did Patchey seemingly "die" numerous times on the island but to return to reign havoc on the 815ers?
No clear answer. One could speculate that island people cannot commit "suicide" or the island itself controls life and death decisions.
8. How could the Island "stop" Michael from committing suicide in NY?
Unknown.
9. Is there a connection between having special powers if you arrive on the island in a suit and tie?
Apparently not, the key is if you are dead (Christian and Locke) then the smoke monster can use your possessions and fabricate a ghost.
10. Did Claire die when the Barrack house she was in exploded during the raid?
Open to speculation, but she did turn into a Flocke zombie afterward.
11. What was Ben's deal with Kate during their beach luncheon after she was captured? Unknown, but there is a weird loop in the sideways world that touches upon that: Desmond offering Kate a black cocktail dress after her escape from the prison wagon.
12. Who were the Other Others (the children) who were terrorizing the Tailies?
No clear answer. One of the blond jungle kids was young ghost Jacob, and another may have been ghost MIB. But there were other children lurking in the jungle and at the temple.
13. Why did Smokey scan Juliet then leave her alone?
No clear answer why the monster scanned people (to recreate visions of lost loved ones to manipulate behavior, or gather information.) Locke was scanned and saw the Light, then the second time Smokey tried to kill him.
14. Why did Horace repeat himself like a skipping record when talking to Locke at the cabin? The consensus was that was Locke's dream "skipping," but when do dreams skip?
15. Why did Ben use water to summon Smokey?
Ben claimed he used it to summon the monster, but in reality "it was summoning me." There was no explanation of how the water trap called or released Smokey into the camp.
16. Why does the Island heal some (Rose, Locke) but allow others to die?
Unknown and inconsistent.
17. What are the Rules that Ben and Widmore mentioned in their meeting?
If one takes Jacob and MIB's words, the guardian makes up the rules, so there really are No Rules.
18. "They're Coming!" What group of people (invaders?) are coming to the island in S6?
The plurality of the statement infers it was Widmore's people, but they were no threat to Jacob, Smokey or the castaways. It was probably a red herring panic cry to build tension or drama.
19. Why does Alpert never age?
The answer was that Jacob gave him immortal life to be his advisor on the island. For 140 years it worked, until the Smoke Monster Capt. Frank'd him in "What They Died For."
20. Why is it so difficult to locate the island?
Unknown. We still have no concrete explanation of what the island is, where the island is located, how the island operates, when it was created or why it exists. If the island is itself a main character in the show, it is the key to understanding the Big Premise.
So of the 20 questions posed,
4 were answered (20%)
6 were partially answered (30%)
10 were not answered (50%)
I think most viewers would agree that those percentages reflect the over all answers to everyone's questions and mysteries associated with the show. Whether having more than half of viewer questions remain unanswered could lead to some disappointment.
1. After being released by the Others at the ferry landing, why did not Hurley tell his comrades that Michael had left the island with Walt by boat?
No Answer (but part of the series non-communication issues between characters that have driven many viewers into madness.)
2. Why was Hurley let go by the Others?
The answer was probably to tell the survivors not to come after the captives, but why was Hurley taken in the first place is not clear.
3. Why do people on the island call Hurley "Hurley" when his name is Hugo?
No answer.
Update: another poster referenced the pilot episode. In it, the first reference to "Hurley" Hugo introducing himself to Sayid. Later, when Jack is attending the marshal with Hugo. Hugo gets sick from the blood and Jack thinks he is about to hurl. Jack calls him "Hurley" but we never see Hugo actually introducing himself to Jack. We still do not know why Hugo is called Hurley or why he wants to call himself Hurley on the island when he is Hugo in the flashbacks.
4. If WHH, when did it first happen?
It is debatable if the time lines will ever make sense.
5. Are flashbacks really flashbacks of real events?
Unknown, depends on the Big Premise of the show, which has not been clearly revealed to date.
6. Why were the Numbers required to be used to reset the Hatch timer when one could use a simple reset key?
This is another technical head scratcher, especially since the explanation of the Numbers were merely designations for the Candidates.
7. Why did Patchey seemingly "die" numerous times on the island but to return to reign havoc on the 815ers?
No clear answer. One could speculate that island people cannot commit "suicide" or the island itself controls life and death decisions.
8. How could the Island "stop" Michael from committing suicide in NY?
Unknown.
9. Is there a connection between having special powers if you arrive on the island in a suit and tie?
Apparently not, the key is if you are dead (Christian and Locke) then the smoke monster can use your possessions and fabricate a ghost.
10. Did Claire die when the Barrack house she was in exploded during the raid?
Open to speculation, but she did turn into a Flocke zombie afterward.
11. What was Ben's deal with Kate during their beach luncheon after she was captured? Unknown, but there is a weird loop in the sideways world that touches upon that: Desmond offering Kate a black cocktail dress after her escape from the prison wagon.
12. Who were the Other Others (the children) who were terrorizing the Tailies?
No clear answer. One of the blond jungle kids was young ghost Jacob, and another may have been ghost MIB. But there were other children lurking in the jungle and at the temple.
13. Why did Smokey scan Juliet then leave her alone?
No clear answer why the monster scanned people (to recreate visions of lost loved ones to manipulate behavior, or gather information.) Locke was scanned and saw the Light, then the second time Smokey tried to kill him.
14. Why did Horace repeat himself like a skipping record when talking to Locke at the cabin? The consensus was that was Locke's dream "skipping," but when do dreams skip?
15. Why did Ben use water to summon Smokey?
Ben claimed he used it to summon the monster, but in reality "it was summoning me." There was no explanation of how the water trap called or released Smokey into the camp.
16. Why does the Island heal some (Rose, Locke) but allow others to die?
Unknown and inconsistent.
17. What are the Rules that Ben and Widmore mentioned in their meeting?
If one takes Jacob and MIB's words, the guardian makes up the rules, so there really are No Rules.
18. "They're Coming!" What group of people (invaders?) are coming to the island in S6?
The plurality of the statement infers it was Widmore's people, but they were no threat to Jacob, Smokey or the castaways. It was probably a red herring panic cry to build tension or drama.
19. Why does Alpert never age?
The answer was that Jacob gave him immortal life to be his advisor on the island. For 140 years it worked, until the Smoke Monster Capt. Frank'd him in "What They Died For."
20. Why is it so difficult to locate the island?
Unknown. We still have no concrete explanation of what the island is, where the island is located, how the island operates, when it was created or why it exists. If the island is itself a main character in the show, it is the key to understanding the Big Premise.
So of the 20 questions posed,
4 were answered (20%)
6 were partially answered (30%)
10 were not answered (50%)
I think most viewers would agree that those percentages reflect the over all answers to everyone's questions and mysteries associated with the show. Whether having more than half of viewer questions remain unanswered could lead to some disappointment.
WHAT IS SMOKEY?
What is the smoke monster?
It could have always existed on the island, as the original protector of the light source.
It could have been "awakened" or "released" when MIB's body was put into the light cave.
It could have been created from MIB's soul.
The monster appears to have electromagnetic properties (electric flashes; scanning).
It has the ability to shape shift matter into human forms but cannot create human beings (no blood when Flocke stabbed with knife, but Flocke "sweats" while in the jungle).
Things that do not affect it, either as the smoke monster or Flocke:
air, light, darkness, water, fire, earth, bullets, knives, electromagnetism, radiation (from the cave).
The only thing that does affect it: sonic fence (sound waves).
If the smoke monster is an electromagnetic being, electromagnetic waves is a part of its construction; sound waves must somehow "disrupt," "cancel" or "refract" its matter in a destructive manner. So the only possible solution would be blast Flocke at point blank range with a sonic boom? (Like a portable boom box playing Driveshaft??)
It could have always existed on the island, as the original protector of the light source.
It could have been "awakened" or "released" when MIB's body was put into the light cave.
It could have been created from MIB's soul.
The monster appears to have electromagnetic properties (electric flashes; scanning).
It has the ability to shape shift matter into human forms but cannot create human beings (no blood when Flocke stabbed with knife, but Flocke "sweats" while in the jungle).
Things that do not affect it, either as the smoke monster or Flocke:
air, light, darkness, water, fire, earth, bullets, knives, electromagnetism, radiation (from the cave).
The only thing that does affect it: sonic fence (sound waves).
If the smoke monster is an electromagnetic being, electromagnetic waves is a part of its construction; sound waves must somehow "disrupt," "cancel" or "refract" its matter in a destructive manner. So the only possible solution would be blast Flocke at point blank range with a sonic boom? (Like a portable boom box playing Driveshaft??)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
TIME LINES
There are seven possible story constructions for LOST. Whether the flashbacks, island world or the sideways world are real or fake (imaginary). A chart is helpful:
(FB=I) means flashbacks are in sync with island
(I*SW) means the island and sideways are not in sync
(Wild Card) means island and sideways world are both correct.
The context of LOST can vary depending on the final Context. From this analysis, it is more probable that the flashbacks and island time lines correlate. Jacob infers such as he has watched the candidates, and the island characters have referenced their flashbacks.
It is interesting to note the wild card possibilities:
the Flashbacks and Sideways are real and the island is not; and
the Flashbacks are false but the Island and Sideways are real (but in different dimensions?)
The finale needs to confirm one of these story constructions otherwise the context of the characters actions cannot be considered in their true light.
(FB=I) means flashbacks are in sync with island(I*SW) means the island and sideways are not in sync
(Wild Card) means island and sideways world are both correct.
The context of LOST can vary depending on the final Context. From this analysis, it is more probable that the flashbacks and island time lines correlate. Jacob infers such as he has watched the candidates, and the island characters have referenced their flashbacks.
It is interesting to note the wild card possibilities:
the Flashbacks and Sideways are real and the island is not; and
the Flashbacks are false but the Island and Sideways are real (but in different dimensions?)
The finale needs to confirm one of these story constructions otherwise the context of the characters actions cannot be considered in their true light.
S6E16 JACOB'S POW WOW
Jacob's camp fire meeting with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer was disappointing on many levels. It was the perfect opportunity to answer the key questions about the island, the role of the guardian, and what roles need to be played out to allegedly safe guard the world from Flocke. But more vague answers than truths.
The use of young ghost Jacob to take Jacob's ashes from Hurley, then to have Hurley find adult ghost Jacob tending a fire makes little sense. Why would Jacob transform into a child to get the pouch when Hurley already knows who Jacob is and would readily give him what he wanted if told. It would seem that the inference is that young child ghost and adult ghost are two separate ghosts. Which puts a crazy twist on CrazyMom's statement that she made it possible that Jacob and MIB could not harm/kill each other, if she had in fact, already killed them and she was taking care of ghosts and not human beings.
Jacob's statement that his ashes were in the fire, and when the fire goes out, so does he. Except, in the statue, the fire with his ashes did go out. But he continued to run around the island in ghost form; a form which can actually manipulate objects like water and cups.
The whole reason he brought candidates to the island was flawed and untrue. He stated that each of the four remaining candidates were there because they had no real life to go back to. That is not true: Jack was a successful surgeon who had a mother to care for; Sawyer had a daughter; Hurley had his parents and his wealth (and potential charity giving to help others); and Kate also had an ill mother. I guess Jacob does not consider any kind of "family life" important.
Also, Jack's acceptance of the role of island guardian without any detailed information about the duties was unrealistic. There was nothing heroic about accepting an unknown challenge; it came off as a dumb move.
Then, the "ceremony" to transfer Jacob's "power" to Jack was also contrived. The director made sure we could not hear Jacob's mumblings (see, prior post on CrazyMom's translation). The expression of acknowledgment was more like "a deer in the head lights" moment. Then, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley sulking off to the side, in relief that they were not picked, was cowardly sad. In sum, the whole moment lacked any compassion for these characters.
What continues to irk me is that the characters continue to march around without a clue what they are supposed to do. Now, Jack has assumed official leadership. He has a quest to stop a smoke monster. From what? How? Why? That is not heroic, but suicidal based on Flocke's current behavior.
The use of young ghost Jacob to take Jacob's ashes from Hurley, then to have Hurley find adult ghost Jacob tending a fire makes little sense. Why would Jacob transform into a child to get the pouch when Hurley already knows who Jacob is and would readily give him what he wanted if told. It would seem that the inference is that young child ghost and adult ghost are two separate ghosts. Which puts a crazy twist on CrazyMom's statement that she made it possible that Jacob and MIB could not harm/kill each other, if she had in fact, already killed them and she was taking care of ghosts and not human beings.
Jacob's statement that his ashes were in the fire, and when the fire goes out, so does he. Except, in the statue, the fire with his ashes did go out. But he continued to run around the island in ghost form; a form which can actually manipulate objects like water and cups.
The whole reason he brought candidates to the island was flawed and untrue. He stated that each of the four remaining candidates were there because they had no real life to go back to. That is not true: Jack was a successful surgeon who had a mother to care for; Sawyer had a daughter; Hurley had his parents and his wealth (and potential charity giving to help others); and Kate also had an ill mother. I guess Jacob does not consider any kind of "family life" important.
Also, Jack's acceptance of the role of island guardian without any detailed information about the duties was unrealistic. There was nothing heroic about accepting an unknown challenge; it came off as a dumb move.
Then, the "ceremony" to transfer Jacob's "power" to Jack was also contrived. The director made sure we could not hear Jacob's mumblings (see, prior post on CrazyMom's translation). The expression of acknowledgment was more like "a deer in the head lights" moment. Then, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley sulking off to the side, in relief that they were not picked, was cowardly sad. In sum, the whole moment lacked any compassion for these characters.
What continues to irk me is that the characters continue to march around without a clue what they are supposed to do. Now, Jack has assumed official leadership. He has a quest to stop a smoke monster. From what? How? Why? That is not heroic, but suicidal based on Flocke's current behavior.
S6E16 BRAIN DEAD
There was much to dislike about "What They Died For." First, and foremost, the question was not answered: everyone who died on the island, from Claudia, her group, through the Others, 815ers, to Widmore's people, died for no specific purpose. "The island" is not an answer, it still remains a vague question.
Second, the brain dead intelligence of the characters continues to frustrate. Example, Widmore's show down with Flocke. Widmore is threatened by Flocke, and knowing his end is near, he goes ahead and tells Flocke what he wants to know, that Desmond is a "fail safe." Ben blows Widmore away, but we all assume Widmore was not leaving that house alive. Ben, himself, turned illogical slug around Flocke. He was told that he would inherit the island once Flocke was done, but at the well, Ben knew Flocke's plan was to destroy the island (which means Ben would also die). Ben's reaction is to help Flocke finish his plan, including hunting down the survivors. Jack volunteering for a job with no description or purpose was also dumb. The idea of accepting a drink from the guardian suddenly opens you mind to vast knowledge has no basis in fact. Jacob gave Richard immortality; but that was false as Smokey Capt' Frank'd him in Dharmaville.
Third, in that vein, there are no rules. What people say is never the truth. Ben and Widmore stated in the past they could not kill each other; it was against the Rules; but Ben did so. CrazyMom said Jacob could not harm MIB, but Jacob killed his brother.
Fourth, the Jacob camp has come to the conclusion they have to "kill" the monster. But they have no idea how to do it. Widmore claims Desmond's special property to withstand EM energy is a "fail safe," except from a continuity standpoint MIB is made of EM energy. What is Desmond supposed to do? Bear hug Flocke and attempt to drown him in the pool? We know Flocke can withstand a dip in the lake from the dock scene (so he does not melt like a wicked witch). I continue to dislike the sideways story arc, but I think the writers may use it for one purpose: sideways Jack will screw up and kill Locke in surgery, and that death will transpose itself onto Flocke. It mirrors Jack's father's surgical screw up. How or why that would work on the island probably would never be explained.
Fifth, there has been a growing debate on whether one world is real and the other is not real. Is the sideways world the "real one" with the island as some subconscious testing ground? Is Smokey the real Boogie Man in people's nightmares? But it hard to fathom either world being all that real as the sideways fact errors continue to mount (example, Ana Lucia as a patrol officer would not be in charge of transporting prisoners to county jail, sheriffs would be; when Ben is beat up no call to the police? That school would have been in lock down with SWAT teams patrolling the hallways.) David Letterman joked that he felt the only viable ending in his mind is Jack being told to "wake up! The plane is landing in Cincinnati."
Second, the brain dead intelligence of the characters continues to frustrate. Example, Widmore's show down with Flocke. Widmore is threatened by Flocke, and knowing his end is near, he goes ahead and tells Flocke what he wants to know, that Desmond is a "fail safe." Ben blows Widmore away, but we all assume Widmore was not leaving that house alive. Ben, himself, turned illogical slug around Flocke. He was told that he would inherit the island once Flocke was done, but at the well, Ben knew Flocke's plan was to destroy the island (which means Ben would also die). Ben's reaction is to help Flocke finish his plan, including hunting down the survivors. Jack volunteering for a job with no description or purpose was also dumb. The idea of accepting a drink from the guardian suddenly opens you mind to vast knowledge has no basis in fact. Jacob gave Richard immortality; but that was false as Smokey Capt' Frank'd him in Dharmaville.
Third, in that vein, there are no rules. What people say is never the truth. Ben and Widmore stated in the past they could not kill each other; it was against the Rules; but Ben did so. CrazyMom said Jacob could not harm MIB, but Jacob killed his brother.
Fourth, the Jacob camp has come to the conclusion they have to "kill" the monster. But they have no idea how to do it. Widmore claims Desmond's special property to withstand EM energy is a "fail safe," except from a continuity standpoint MIB is made of EM energy. What is Desmond supposed to do? Bear hug Flocke and attempt to drown him in the pool? We know Flocke can withstand a dip in the lake from the dock scene (so he does not melt like a wicked witch). I continue to dislike the sideways story arc, but I think the writers may use it for one purpose: sideways Jack will screw up and kill Locke in surgery, and that death will transpose itself onto Flocke. It mirrors Jack's father's surgical screw up. How or why that would work on the island probably would never be explained.
Fifth, there has been a growing debate on whether one world is real and the other is not real. Is the sideways world the "real one" with the island as some subconscious testing ground? Is Smokey the real Boogie Man in people's nightmares? But it hard to fathom either world being all that real as the sideways fact errors continue to mount (example, Ana Lucia as a patrol officer would not be in charge of transporting prisoners to county jail, sheriffs would be; when Ben is beat up no call to the police? That school would have been in lock down with SWAT teams patrolling the hallways.) David Letterman joked that he felt the only viable ending in his mind is Jack being told to "wake up! The plane is landing in Cincinnati."
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
S6E15 THE KILL JAR
The island family tree is quite the Kill Jar:
CRAZYMOM kills Claudia to take Jacob and MIB; kills Claudia's people
MIB kills CRAZYMOM
JACOB kills MIB and throws body into Light to create SMOKEY
SMOKEY kills Black Rock crew except RICHARD; kills Rousseau group except Rousseau; kills Others except WIDMORE & ELOISE (plus Cindy, Emma & Zach we think); kills misc. 815ers
ELOISE kills Faraday
WIDMORE's men kill Others, 815ers, Rousseau
BEN kills DHARMA in purge; kills LOCKE; then kills JACOB at SMOKEY-FLOCKE'S urging to create Ghost Jacob
815ers and Others kill each other.
I think the only person left on the island who has not directed killed someone may be RICHARD, except he was with the Others who helped BEN with the purge, and gave Locke the intel to have Sawyer kill Cooper. At this point we do not know whether ROSE and/or BERNARD are still alive on the island in 2007, so the only person without blood on her resume would be ROSE.
So everyone on the island has something in common: they have been part of a murder.
CRAZYMOM kills Claudia to take Jacob and MIB; kills Claudia's people
MIB kills CRAZYMOM
JACOB kills MIB and throws body into Light to create SMOKEY
SMOKEY kills Black Rock crew except RICHARD; kills Rousseau group except Rousseau; kills Others except WIDMORE & ELOISE (plus Cindy, Emma & Zach we think); kills misc. 815ers
ELOISE kills Faraday
WIDMORE's men kill Others, 815ers, Rousseau
BEN kills DHARMA in purge; kills LOCKE; then kills JACOB at SMOKEY-FLOCKE'S urging to create Ghost Jacob
815ers and Others kill each other.
I think the only person left on the island who has not directed killed someone may be RICHARD, except he was with the Others who helped BEN with the purge, and gave Locke the intel to have Sawyer kill Cooper. At this point we do not know whether ROSE and/or BERNARD are still alive on the island in 2007, so the only person without blood on her resume would be ROSE.
So everyone on the island has something in common: they have been part of a murder.
S6E15 DIAGRAM
How can one diagram the known elements of the Island? We were told about the Life Force (Light) that is under the Island. We know the Island is represented as a land mass in a sea. We know that people have been "brought" to the Island by its guardian from the mainland. It creates its own weird eye ball effect.
TITLES
If episode titles are the real clues to what LOST is all about, one could consider it is about Death.
Live Together, Die Alone (S2E23/24)
Tricia Tanaka is Dead (S3E10)
Confirmed Dead (S4E2)
This Place is Death (S5E5)
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham (S5E7)
Dead is Dead (S5E12)
What They Died For (S6E16)
Other titles referred to death:
Do No Harm (S1E20), the doctor's oath not to kill one's patients.
The 23rd Psalm (S2E10), widely quoted at funerals.
The Cost of Living (S3E5), where death is the answer to that question.
D.O.C. (S3E18), which some referred to as "Dead on Crash."
Some Like it Hoth (S5E13), a reference to the Egyptian after life god, Thoth.
The island could be purgatory, the Egyptian after life, a nexus point between heaven and hell, or the Garden of Eden. We won't know until the end.
Live Together, Die Alone (S2E23/24)
Tricia Tanaka is Dead (S3E10)
Confirmed Dead (S4E2)
This Place is Death (S5E5)
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham (S5E7)
Dead is Dead (S5E12)
What They Died For (S6E16)
Other titles referred to death:
Do No Harm (S1E20), the doctor's oath not to kill one's patients.
The 23rd Psalm (S2E10), widely quoted at funerals.
The Cost of Living (S3E5), where death is the answer to that question.
D.O.C. (S3E18), which some referred to as "Dead on Crash."
Some Like it Hoth (S5E13), a reference to the Egyptian after life god, Thoth.
The island could be purgatory, the Egyptian after life, a nexus point between heaven and hell, or the Garden of Eden. We won't know until the end.
Monday, May 17, 2010
S6E15 TRANSLATION
Lostpedia tries to translate the words CrazyMom speaks when presenting the wine to Jacob to become the new island guardian:
"For we do not accept this just as a common drink, but as if that (he?) should be one with me."
This solemn statement gives us no insight on what, if anything, CrazyMom was giving Jacob. The symbolism, if any, is lost in that scene.
I had thought the words were a "magic spell" that would grant Jacob full powers over the island as its protector. But that is not the case. It is another non-answer to the question of what is the island.
"For we do not accept this just as a common drink, but as if that (he?) should be one with me."
This solemn statement gives us no insight on what, if anything, CrazyMom was giving Jacob. The symbolism, if any, is lost in that scene.
I had thought the words were a "magic spell" that would grant Jacob full powers over the island as its protector. But that is not the case. It is another non-answer to the question of what is the island.
S6E15 RECAP
L: Lo! . . . was probably the reaction of half of the viewers who thought this back story episode was a stinker, when in fact it answered several daunting questions such as who were Jacob and MIB (brothers), who were Adam and Eve (CrazyMom and MIB), and who created the donkey wheel (MIB and the Roman Others).
O: Obnoxious . . . was probably the vagueness of the answer of what the island is all about. The mysterious "life force" pool which no one is to enter, but CrazyMom was the guardian of, had no context to the 815ers struggles on the island. It was a Star Wars type of answer, but without an application to the actual characters. It also does not explain where the island is located, why people want the light force, how they can get the light force, how they can harness the light force (since people can not add it to their own), and how to fight the smoke monster.
S: Story line . . . the concept of a standard mystery, or a science fiction genre, has started to stumble towards an awkward fantasy explanation for the previous five years of island stories. And this is why some viewers are growing weary and upset that the show is winding up for a major disappointment, with more weak or vague resolutions of the significant issues. It does add one twist to the relationship between Jacob and Smokey. They are not really brothers. Jacob buried his brother. Smokey was the unholy creation of MIB's dead soul and the island spiritual waters. There is no reason why Smokey could not have destroyed Jacob sooner, or why it is still attached to the island.
T: Time line . . . this episode put the island past back to the Roman era, around 250 BC. That means that the Jacob-Smokey conflict has lasted for more than 2000 years without a resolution. It also brought in no reference to "time travel" as a dynamic for Jacob or Smokey to prove their point about humanity.
O: Obnoxious . . . was probably the vagueness of the answer of what the island is all about. The mysterious "life force" pool which no one is to enter, but CrazyMom was the guardian of, had no context to the 815ers struggles on the island. It was a Star Wars type of answer, but without an application to the actual characters. It also does not explain where the island is located, why people want the light force, how they can get the light force, how they can harness the light force (since people can not add it to their own), and how to fight the smoke monster.
S: Story line . . . the concept of a standard mystery, or a science fiction genre, has started to stumble towards an awkward fantasy explanation for the previous five years of island stories. And this is why some viewers are growing weary and upset that the show is winding up for a major disappointment, with more weak or vague resolutions of the significant issues. It does add one twist to the relationship between Jacob and Smokey. They are not really brothers. Jacob buried his brother. Smokey was the unholy creation of MIB's dead soul and the island spiritual waters. There is no reason why Smokey could not have destroyed Jacob sooner, or why it is still attached to the island.
T: Time line . . . this episode put the island past back to the Roman era, around 250 BC. That means that the Jacob-Smokey conflict has lasted for more than 2000 years without a resolution. It also brought in no reference to "time travel" as a dynamic for Jacob or Smokey to prove their point about humanity.
Friday, May 14, 2010
S6E15 DHARMA LIGHT
In Season 5, Dr. Chang was at the Orchid station during its construction. As the workers were nearing the pocket of energy, there was an accident and a worker was hurt. Chang came to the sight and told them to stop digging.
When asked what they were going to do with the EM, Chang said that it would be used for time travel experiments. A worker laughed about going back into time and killing Hitler to avoid World War II.
The Orchid station was constructed above the FDW chamber. We know that early island inhabitants made the donkey wheel during MIB's human life time. We are not sure whether MIB completed that project, or that new arrivals took up the cause to harness the light energy of the island. But at some point, someone finished the FDW and turned the wheel. It should have a) moved the island location and b) transported the turner in time and space. That is what we saw happen to Ben and Locke.
Unless, it is an illusion.
We are aware that the smoke monster can take memories of individuals are recreate matter (in the form of Kate's horse, Locke's body, poisonous spiders). Is it possible that the smoke monster can also mind control (from scans of people's brains like it did to Locke and Juliet)?
I wonder if MIB's memory of "clever" people with ideas about the life energy could use it to change the past. There are a few common things that both Jacob and MIB would jointly like to correct: a) MIB killing CrazyMom; b) Jacob killing his brother and turning him into Smokey; or c) CrazyMom killing Claudia. The search for time travel may have been the quest, "the progress" of the brothers to make amends with their own Past mistakes. Once they can achieve it, their misery ends.
We have only seen the ability of the island forces at most 140 years in the past (2004 to prior to Black Rock's 1867 crash) when the main castaways were flashing between time periods on the island. And maybe that was the real problem facing Jacob: how to use the light in order to go back 2200 years to his island birth. He does not have the technology or knowledge to use the light to fuel his time travel quest. And if the light force is finite, he may be actually running out of time and resources to accomplish his goal. Further complicating the matter, the ghost of his brother, MIB, has soured on the idea because of centuries of failure to "reclaim" his human body and humanity that Jacob took from him. MIB's soul now wants Jacob to suffer as much as he has on the island. If Dharma was the last, great hope of Jacob to find his time travel machine, then the purge may have been MIB's plan to thwart it.
When asked what they were going to do with the EM, Chang said that it would be used for time travel experiments. A worker laughed about going back into time and killing Hitler to avoid World War II.
The Orchid station was constructed above the FDW chamber. We know that early island inhabitants made the donkey wheel during MIB's human life time. We are not sure whether MIB completed that project, or that new arrivals took up the cause to harness the light energy of the island. But at some point, someone finished the FDW and turned the wheel. It should have a) moved the island location and b) transported the turner in time and space. That is what we saw happen to Ben and Locke.
Unless, it is an illusion.
We are aware that the smoke monster can take memories of individuals are recreate matter (in the form of Kate's horse, Locke's body, poisonous spiders). Is it possible that the smoke monster can also mind control (from scans of people's brains like it did to Locke and Juliet)?
I wonder if MIB's memory of "clever" people with ideas about the life energy could use it to change the past. There are a few common things that both Jacob and MIB would jointly like to correct: a) MIB killing CrazyMom; b) Jacob killing his brother and turning him into Smokey; or c) CrazyMom killing Claudia. The search for time travel may have been the quest, "the progress" of the brothers to make amends with their own Past mistakes. Once they can achieve it, their misery ends.
We have only seen the ability of the island forces at most 140 years in the past (2004 to prior to Black Rock's 1867 crash) when the main castaways were flashing between time periods on the island. And maybe that was the real problem facing Jacob: how to use the light in order to go back 2200 years to his island birth. He does not have the technology or knowledge to use the light to fuel his time travel quest. And if the light force is finite, he may be actually running out of time and resources to accomplish his goal. Further complicating the matter, the ghost of his brother, MIB, has soured on the idea because of centuries of failure to "reclaim" his human body and humanity that Jacob took from him. MIB's soul now wants Jacob to suffer as much as he has on the island. If Dharma was the last, great hope of Jacob to find his time travel machine, then the purge may have been MIB's plan to thwart it.
S6E15 LIGHT POOL
There are some viewers who are miffed by the concept of a magical light pool being the center piece of the island. It resorts to some sort of extraterrestrial location.
I have always thought that the best explanation for the unexplained would be the premise that the island was in a different realm like the underworld. TPTB were outspoken in Season 1 against the concept that the island was purgatory, but it could be a purgatory type setting without the religious connotations.
Maybe part of the viewer confusion is that the initial expectations of the show was presented in a style of a shipwreck-survival-adventure story which morphed into a science fiction now fantasy story line. The creators claim that all of these key elements were contained within the pilot episode, but besides the smoke monster, this is not accurate. The idea of "Jacob" did not get mentioned until late in Season 2, or any context until after Season 3.
People had hoped Season 6 was the light at the end of the tunnel, but they were not expecting the light to be a glowing pool of Life. The circumstances show that the special property of the island is not just strange electromagnetic energy, but the substance of Life itself. As stated in earlier posts, the Life force appears to be finite matter which can be "consumed" but not replaced. When MIB's body floated into the cave, the light diminished and the dark smoke monster appeared. If that is the case, then how is the Life force delivered to human beings?
When CrazyMom said the light was "life, death and re-birth," it could mean that the island is that nexus point between realms of life and death (after life). Not quite purgatory, but the light pool could a human soul recycling station. Except, the fact is that not very many people ever found the place; that its guardian's sole purpose was to guard the light pool from everyone.
I have always thought that the best explanation for the unexplained would be the premise that the island was in a different realm like the underworld. TPTB were outspoken in Season 1 against the concept that the island was purgatory, but it could be a purgatory type setting without the religious connotations.
Maybe part of the viewer confusion is that the initial expectations of the show was presented in a style of a shipwreck-survival-adventure story which morphed into a science fiction now fantasy story line. The creators claim that all of these key elements were contained within the pilot episode, but besides the smoke monster, this is not accurate. The idea of "Jacob" did not get mentioned until late in Season 2, or any context until after Season 3.
People had hoped Season 6 was the light at the end of the tunnel, but they were not expecting the light to be a glowing pool of Life. The circumstances show that the special property of the island is not just strange electromagnetic energy, but the substance of Life itself. As stated in earlier posts, the Life force appears to be finite matter which can be "consumed" but not replaced. When MIB's body floated into the cave, the light diminished and the dark smoke monster appeared. If that is the case, then how is the Life force delivered to human beings?
When CrazyMom said the light was "life, death and re-birth," it could mean that the island is that nexus point between realms of life and death (after life). Not quite purgatory, but the light pool could a human soul recycling station. Except, the fact is that not very many people ever found the place; that its guardian's sole purpose was to guard the light pool from everyone.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
S6E15 FORMULA PART TWO
CrazyMom also noted that the life source was finite. She had each person has some in them, but others want more. And this light can go out.
After MIB was drifted into the light cave, the light did dim. And if one believes the cave is where Adam and Eve was found was the same, then the light did go out.
It does put into play the notion that the universe is not infinite but finite. Life as its own element is not replaceable. It can be depleted. Like a light, be extinguished. And maybe that is the warning that people will "cease to exist" if the EM energy, life source or the island is compromised by Smokey.
A gnawing question arises to why, if there is such grave danger of allowing the life force to escape or be compromised, did Jacob allow visitors to play with it?
Claudia's people were smart enough, according to MIB, to start digging for the substance, and theorized that using a wheel and water, they could use the energy to return to their home. How they figured that out is a mystery. These visitors were killed off before attempting the Turn.
Unless Jacob was really hands off, in total isolation, the other people brought to the island continued the work of Claudia's people. They continued to dig wells, and in one deep one (under the Orchid station) completed the FDW room. Based on the construction, it looked ancient, pre-Industrial revolution. That puts the inventors in the realm of the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians, whose advanced, ancient mechanical knowledge is just being understood by modern scientists.
So, some distant past group completed the FDW, and turned it. It had to work because Ben knew about it, how to operate it, and what the consequences of the turn was to the island and to the turner. (He originally said that turning the FDW would move the island and the turner would never be allowed to come back. We saw evidence of the island disappearing, and Hawking's station trying to re-locate it. However, Ben did return to the island.)
So the physics of the light in conjunction with the FDW were known by previous inhabitants. So why did not Smokey leave with the first or second turner? Apparently he cannot leave the island by that means. Maybe, because Smokey appears to be created from the soul of man and the life source radiated waters, it cancels itself out. MIB's memories, soul, essence is trapped in the smoke monster form, which is "worse than death."
But what is really strange is that Jacob and/or MIB allowed more people to come to the island and tinker with the EM light source. The Egyptians probably used a pool for some healing religion properties. The military may have come in order to compare it to hydrogen bombs. Dharma may have come to test its properties on animals, humans, and as a power source.
If you are supposed to protect the island (and the finite life source contained thereon), there is little reason to bring more and more destructive people to the island to mess with its equilibrium.
After MIB was drifted into the light cave, the light did dim. And if one believes the cave is where Adam and Eve was found was the same, then the light did go out.
It does put into play the notion that the universe is not infinite but finite. Life as its own element is not replaceable. It can be depleted. Like a light, be extinguished. And maybe that is the warning that people will "cease to exist" if the EM energy, life source or the island is compromised by Smokey.
A gnawing question arises to why, if there is such grave danger of allowing the life force to escape or be compromised, did Jacob allow visitors to play with it?
Claudia's people were smart enough, according to MIB, to start digging for the substance, and theorized that using a wheel and water, they could use the energy to return to their home. How they figured that out is a mystery. These visitors were killed off before attempting the Turn.
Unless Jacob was really hands off, in total isolation, the other people brought to the island continued the work of Claudia's people. They continued to dig wells, and in one deep one (under the Orchid station) completed the FDW room. Based on the construction, it looked ancient, pre-Industrial revolution. That puts the inventors in the realm of the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians, whose advanced, ancient mechanical knowledge is just being understood by modern scientists.
So, some distant past group completed the FDW, and turned it. It had to work because Ben knew about it, how to operate it, and what the consequences of the turn was to the island and to the turner. (He originally said that turning the FDW would move the island and the turner would never be allowed to come back. We saw evidence of the island disappearing, and Hawking's station trying to re-locate it. However, Ben did return to the island.)
So the physics of the light in conjunction with the FDW were known by previous inhabitants. So why did not Smokey leave with the first or second turner? Apparently he cannot leave the island by that means. Maybe, because Smokey appears to be created from the soul of man and the life source radiated waters, it cancels itself out. MIB's memories, soul, essence is trapped in the smoke monster form, which is "worse than death."
But what is really strange is that Jacob and/or MIB allowed more people to come to the island and tinker with the EM light source. The Egyptians probably used a pool for some healing religion properties. The military may have come in order to compare it to hydrogen bombs. Dharma may have come to test its properties on animals, humans, and as a power source.
If you are supposed to protect the island (and the finite life source contained thereon), there is little reason to bring more and more destructive people to the island to mess with its equilibrium.
S6E15 FORMULA
CrazyMom told Jacob that the lighted cave contained "life, death, and rebirth," that is in every living creature. This life force is a secular divinity. If one can postulate that the Big Bang created the ever expanding universe, it also created the basic building blocks for all life as we know it. Life depends on death, death depends on life; the circle of life is a closed system.
When MIB joined his mother's castaways, he found the people inventive and smart. They had ideas about how to use the EM energy to try to get home. MIB found the EM energy underground, so they dug wells and caves to find it. What was interesting in his final discussion with CrazyMom was that they were going to dig out a space in the wall, and use a wheel and water.
Now this space was not the frozen donkey wheel that Ben and Locke used to time travel. The cave which CrazyMom showed Jacob contained the green light energy and water.
I doubt if the writers thought this through as an explanation of the light, but the island could be the well spring for life, using the principles of photosynthesis as the scientific basis. Electromagnetic radiation (such as sunlight) interacts with carbon and water in plants to create chemical reactions for which fuels the plants and omits oxygen as a byproduct.
Taking this one step further, if this "light" is part of each person, it could be conceptually be considered a person's "soul." For each person's soul to be in balance with nature, a spiritual guardian would need to protect the source of the life force from imbalance. Therefore, the island guardian is like a tech operator at a nuclear generator - - - making sure that the life reactor is safely in balance with the universe. What is certain is that this pocket of energy and life force is probably not in the same dimension as Earth. It is more probable that the island is like a cell nucleus, transmitting the vital information the cell (universe). Messing with the nucleus could lead to problems, such as cell division (multiverses), clones, or the death of the universe itself.
After MIB's death, it is apparent that Jacob and/or Smokey continued to bring the intelligent individuals to the island in order to harness the power of the life force energy: Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, the military in the 1950s who developed the hydrogen bomb, to Dharma which was a diverse scientific research community. Apparently, each of these great intellectual civilizations failed to fathom or harness the power of the life force, as MIB refrained that they all fail in the end. Jacob called it progress to the end. So maybe Jacob and Smokey were on the same page for thousands of years, using human intellect to find a way to harness the power of the life force, to change their untenable lives.
When MIB joined his mother's castaways, he found the people inventive and smart. They had ideas about how to use the EM energy to try to get home. MIB found the EM energy underground, so they dug wells and caves to find it. What was interesting in his final discussion with CrazyMom was that they were going to dig out a space in the wall, and use a wheel and water.
Now this space was not the frozen donkey wheel that Ben and Locke used to time travel. The cave which CrazyMom showed Jacob contained the green light energy and water.
I doubt if the writers thought this through as an explanation of the light, but the island could be the well spring for life, using the principles of photosynthesis as the scientific basis. Electromagnetic radiation (such as sunlight) interacts with carbon and water in plants to create chemical reactions for which fuels the plants and omits oxygen as a byproduct.
Taking this one step further, if this "light" is part of each person, it could be conceptually be considered a person's "soul." For each person's soul to be in balance with nature, a spiritual guardian would need to protect the source of the life force from imbalance. Therefore, the island guardian is like a tech operator at a nuclear generator - - - making sure that the life reactor is safely in balance with the universe. What is certain is that this pocket of energy and life force is probably not in the same dimension as Earth. It is more probable that the island is like a cell nucleus, transmitting the vital information the cell (universe). Messing with the nucleus could lead to problems, such as cell division (multiverses), clones, or the death of the universe itself.
After MIB's death, it is apparent that Jacob and/or Smokey continued to bring the intelligent individuals to the island in order to harness the power of the life force energy: Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, the military in the 1950s who developed the hydrogen bomb, to Dharma which was a diverse scientific research community. Apparently, each of these great intellectual civilizations failed to fathom or harness the power of the life force, as MIB refrained that they all fail in the end. Jacob called it progress to the end. So maybe Jacob and Smokey were on the same page for thousands of years, using human intellect to find a way to harness the power of the life force, to change their untenable lives.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
S6E15 ADAM AND EVE
We received an answer to a mystery which nobody could have guessed: "Adam and Eve" were MIB and CrazyMom.
CrazyMom was the island's enlightened guardian of the "life force" pool, who came across a shipwrecked pregnant Roman woman, Claudia. Claudia gives birth to Jacob, then unexpectedly, gives birth to a second unnamed son, MIB. CrazyMom immediately kills Claudia to take her two sons as her own.
CrazyMom keeps Jacob and MIB isolated and under her control. She claims to have made it so neither of them could kill each other. The boys have no concept of "death." They are unaware that anything exists on or off the island until they find other hunters in the jungle. When "people," a derogatory term she uses for other shipwrecked people on the island, she tells the boys that people are bad. But MIB was drawn to the people by seeing a vision of his late mother, who came to him in a strange spotlight. This was approximately 13 years after his mother's death. This one event leads MIB to rebel against CrazyMom and Jacob, to join forces with the other people as a way of finding a way home.
Now, who or what could project an apparition of a dead woman on the island? We are aware that the Smoke Monster is capable of changing forms and using the memories of individuals to create ghost interactions with the characters. It is also possible that CrazyMom also have the magical ability to project visions into individual's minds. She was the only one to "see" and interact with Claudia.
I don't know if the Smoke Monster existed before MIB body's was cast down the water into the life force pool. The boys were on the island for 13 years without any apparent encounter with anything strange. Jacob appeared surprised to see the smoke monster leave the cave for the first time.
So, the circumstances would lead one to believe that CrazyMom may have projected Claudia's ghost onto MIB. It could be part of her own End Game: how to create a successor guardian for the island life force. It made Jacob use his free will and "choose" to remain with her. Another 17 years pass until CrazyMom finds out of MIB's plan to manipulate the island energy to leave.
It is extremely interesting to note that MIB is in well chambers and in direct contact with the life force energy, but does not change into a smoke monster. When CrazyMom visits, he smashes MIB against the stone walls, knocking (or possibly) killing him. MIB "awakes" to find his village destroyed and his people dead. He seeks revenge.
But CrazyMom has planned ahead and convinced Jacob to take the role of island guardian. And through an incantation, Jacob receives full knowledge of the island and its properties. The literal torch of light was passed to him at that moment. Therefore, CrazyMom's duties to the island had ended and she could allow herself to die at the hands of MIB. In the end, she thanks him for killing her. Besides that pyschological scar, Jacob delivers a beat down to MIB. As part of the avenging CrazyMom's death, Jacob knocks out (or possibly) kills him, and lets his body drift into the life force cave. The place where CrazyMom described as giving life, death, rebirth. But she warned them never to enter it. It would be worse than death. And apparently, that is when the smoke monster was born.
We now know that in 1867, Jacob and MIB, at their beach scene before the Black Rock shipwreck, were guardian and smoke monster. For approximately 2072 years, the two beings had co-existed in a form of a truce. Jacob continued to bring people to the island, and MIB continued to eliminate them either directly or through manipulation to bring out their evil. It took more than 2000 years for MIB to make its first attempt to "kill" Jacob with Richard. Why the sudden change? Who were the people just before the Black Rock? Was there an event that caused MIB-Smokey to want to kill Jacob to leave the island? Or was this the point when Jacob got fed up with guarding the secrets of the island, and looked to find a successor like his CrazyMom did.
This back story tells us that the concept of time stands still on the island. That the only rules are those made by the person in charge. CrazyMom set the island rules. Then Jacob set the island rules. Now, Jacob's successor sets the island rules.
If there is a need of consistency in the story, the passing of the guardianship must be consistent. CrazyMom's magic and Jacob's acceptance of his role passed semi-god, supernatural powers on him to be the island guardian. Only then, could CrazyMom take human form and die by a knife blade. Likewise, Jacob died by a knife blade by Ben - - - which would logically mean that he already chose a successor and that person agreed to be the island guardian BEFORE Jacob was killed.
Much speculation can be had on the ceremony of succession. In Jacob's case, it had to do with drinking wine offered from the past guardian. The wine bottle was broken by MIB. So the act of drinking the wine is not a special precondition. Has there been any event that would lead us to believe Jacob passed on his powers to another being to run the island?
The only communion we saw Jacob have was in 1867 with Richard. There was no enchanted words given to Richard, just the touch of immortality. But again, Richard was "awakened" after Jacob's death outside the statue when Flocke appeared to him not as dead Locke, but as "Him." That had to be a reference to the MIB. Richard could be the successor, if not for the reason that he has lived on the island the longest, and did Jacob's bidding until very recently.
So the solution to the Adam and Eve discovery has created numerous answers to the dynamics of the island mythology. But one real disturbing problem is with Jack's discovery of the bodies in the caves. He was led to the caves by MIB as ghost Christian. The caves were the source of water (and this may be the same life force cave gone dormant.) But Jack said the bodies were a man and a woman, who died about 50 years ago. Except, Jack's medical conclusion was off by approximately 2000 years. That is a significant error.
CrazyMom was the island's enlightened guardian of the "life force" pool, who came across a shipwrecked pregnant Roman woman, Claudia. Claudia gives birth to Jacob, then unexpectedly, gives birth to a second unnamed son, MIB. CrazyMom immediately kills Claudia to take her two sons as her own.
CrazyMom keeps Jacob and MIB isolated and under her control. She claims to have made it so neither of them could kill each other. The boys have no concept of "death." They are unaware that anything exists on or off the island until they find other hunters in the jungle. When "people," a derogatory term she uses for other shipwrecked people on the island, she tells the boys that people are bad. But MIB was drawn to the people by seeing a vision of his late mother, who came to him in a strange spotlight. This was approximately 13 years after his mother's death. This one event leads MIB to rebel against CrazyMom and Jacob, to join forces with the other people as a way of finding a way home.
Now, who or what could project an apparition of a dead woman on the island? We are aware that the Smoke Monster is capable of changing forms and using the memories of individuals to create ghost interactions with the characters. It is also possible that CrazyMom also have the magical ability to project visions into individual's minds. She was the only one to "see" and interact with Claudia.
I don't know if the Smoke Monster existed before MIB body's was cast down the water into the life force pool. The boys were on the island for 13 years without any apparent encounter with anything strange. Jacob appeared surprised to see the smoke monster leave the cave for the first time.
So, the circumstances would lead one to believe that CrazyMom may have projected Claudia's ghost onto MIB. It could be part of her own End Game: how to create a successor guardian for the island life force. It made Jacob use his free will and "choose" to remain with her. Another 17 years pass until CrazyMom finds out of MIB's plan to manipulate the island energy to leave.
It is extremely interesting to note that MIB is in well chambers and in direct contact with the life force energy, but does not change into a smoke monster. When CrazyMom visits, he smashes MIB against the stone walls, knocking (or possibly) killing him. MIB "awakes" to find his village destroyed and his people dead. He seeks revenge.
But CrazyMom has planned ahead and convinced Jacob to take the role of island guardian. And through an incantation, Jacob receives full knowledge of the island and its properties. The literal torch of light was passed to him at that moment. Therefore, CrazyMom's duties to the island had ended and she could allow herself to die at the hands of MIB. In the end, she thanks him for killing her. Besides that pyschological scar, Jacob delivers a beat down to MIB. As part of the avenging CrazyMom's death, Jacob knocks out (or possibly) kills him, and lets his body drift into the life force cave. The place where CrazyMom described as giving life, death, rebirth. But she warned them never to enter it. It would be worse than death. And apparently, that is when the smoke monster was born.
We now know that in 1867, Jacob and MIB, at their beach scene before the Black Rock shipwreck, were guardian and smoke monster. For approximately 2072 years, the two beings had co-existed in a form of a truce. Jacob continued to bring people to the island, and MIB continued to eliminate them either directly or through manipulation to bring out their evil. It took more than 2000 years for MIB to make its first attempt to "kill" Jacob with Richard. Why the sudden change? Who were the people just before the Black Rock? Was there an event that caused MIB-Smokey to want to kill Jacob to leave the island? Or was this the point when Jacob got fed up with guarding the secrets of the island, and looked to find a successor like his CrazyMom did.
This back story tells us that the concept of time stands still on the island. That the only rules are those made by the person in charge. CrazyMom set the island rules. Then Jacob set the island rules. Now, Jacob's successor sets the island rules.
If there is a need of consistency in the story, the passing of the guardianship must be consistent. CrazyMom's magic and Jacob's acceptance of his role passed semi-god, supernatural powers on him to be the island guardian. Only then, could CrazyMom take human form and die by a knife blade. Likewise, Jacob died by a knife blade by Ben - - - which would logically mean that he already chose a successor and that person agreed to be the island guardian BEFORE Jacob was killed.
Much speculation can be had on the ceremony of succession. In Jacob's case, it had to do with drinking wine offered from the past guardian. The wine bottle was broken by MIB. So the act of drinking the wine is not a special precondition. Has there been any event that would lead us to believe Jacob passed on his powers to another being to run the island?
The only communion we saw Jacob have was in 1867 with Richard. There was no enchanted words given to Richard, just the touch of immortality. But again, Richard was "awakened" after Jacob's death outside the statue when Flocke appeared to him not as dead Locke, but as "Him." That had to be a reference to the MIB. Richard could be the successor, if not for the reason that he has lived on the island the longest, and did Jacob's bidding until very recently.
So the solution to the Adam and Eve discovery has created numerous answers to the dynamics of the island mythology. But one real disturbing problem is with Jack's discovery of the bodies in the caves. He was led to the caves by MIB as ghost Christian. The caves were the source of water (and this may be the same life force cave gone dormant.) But Jack said the bodies were a man and a woman, who died about 50 years ago. Except, Jack's medical conclusion was off by approximately 2000 years. That is a significant error.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
INITIAL DESCRIPTION
The series was originally described as follows:
The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were 1,000 miles off course when they crashed on a lush, mysterious island. Each person possesses a shocking secret, but they've got nothing on the island itself, which harbors a monstrous security system, a series of underground bunkers and a group of violent survivalists hidden in the shadows.
And the Pilot episode was described as follows:
The 48 survivors scavenge what they can from the wreckage of their plane; the survivors' pasts threaten their ability to survive as a group; a transceiver is discovered in the wreckage and hopes for rescue soar.
Today, we have only a handful of plane survivors left (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Claire). It is not the survivors pasts that threaten their ability to survive as a group, it is the island present. Any hope for "rescue" has been lost a long time ago. Even when six made it back to the main land, they decided to return with no plan on how to be rescued again.
Maybe the "shocking" secret of the island will be revealed before the End. Maybe not.
We may have to live with the prospect that the initial mysteries will never be answered by TPTB.
What is the mysterious security system? What were the underground bunkers? Who were the survivalists hiding in the shadows?
The years of speculative research into areas of science and fiction may have been for naught. Gone will be the explanations involving wormholes, event horizons, Egyptian religion, concepts of the after life, space portals into time, time machines, black magic, quantum physics, twin planets, parallel universes, inter-dimensional beings, nanotechnology, mind control, spirits hidden in plain sight.
The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were 1,000 miles off course when they crashed on a lush, mysterious island. Each person possesses a shocking secret, but they've got nothing on the island itself, which harbors a monstrous security system, a series of underground bunkers and a group of violent survivalists hidden in the shadows.
And the Pilot episode was described as follows:
The 48 survivors scavenge what they can from the wreckage of their plane; the survivors' pasts threaten their ability to survive as a group; a transceiver is discovered in the wreckage and hopes for rescue soar.
Today, we have only a handful of plane survivors left (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Claire). It is not the survivors pasts that threaten their ability to survive as a group, it is the island present. Any hope for "rescue" has been lost a long time ago. Even when six made it back to the main land, they decided to return with no plan on how to be rescued again.
Maybe the "shocking" secret of the island will be revealed before the End. Maybe not.
We may have to live with the prospect that the initial mysteries will never be answered by TPTB.
What is the mysterious security system? What were the underground bunkers? Who were the survivalists hiding in the shadows?
The years of speculative research into areas of science and fiction may have been for naught. Gone will be the explanations involving wormholes, event horizons, Egyptian religion, concepts of the after life, space portals into time, time machines, black magic, quantum physics, twin planets, parallel universes, inter-dimensional beings, nanotechnology, mind control, spirits hidden in plain sight.
Monday, May 10, 2010
QUOTATION COULD APPLY TO LOST
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." --- Mark Twain in "Huckleberry Finn."
Thursday, May 6, 2010
S6E14 RECAP
L: Lo! - - - There were several attempts to create an amazing or surprising event, i.e. the death of three main characters, one secondary character, and a bunch of red shirts. Even though many viewers were moved by the Jin-Sun Looking Glass like death scene had lost much of its impact since the Jin and Sun characters were mainly background figures for a long time. The snarky return of the Jack and Sawyer banter over the disarming of the back pack bomb could have been great but it was rushed. The "heroic" Sayid taking the bomb away from his friends on a suicide mission was also muted because Sayid lost his character when he became a Flocke zombie in the Temple. The surprise fatality was Frank, whose pilot license expired when Flocke convinced the castaways to head to the submarine to escape. If anything, the Flocke multi-layered con job coupled with the pig head naivety controlled the episode.
O: Obnoxious - - - The entire submarine and bomb sequence was poorly constructed and lacked the substance needed to make a great plot twist.
S: Story line - - - The overall island story line continues to stall around the reshuffling of the deck of characters into smaller and smaller piles of background red shirt humanity. This episode only literally "trimmed the herd" of characters heading toward the finale. It really did not confirm anything, maybe to some who thought Flocke may not be the "evil incarnate."
T: Time line - - - The non-overlapping time lines from the island and sideways worlds is still bothersome, for if leakage is occurring from the island, it is not in real time. The leakage appears to happen if one gets a head injury, which creates some memory portal back to the island universe. If each world is a self-contained universe as it has been presented, then there is no need for the sideways time line. The whole sideways story arc may be the writers crutch to end the LOST saga without answering any of the island mysteries that have built up in the previous five years.
O: Obnoxious - - - The entire submarine and bomb sequence was poorly constructed and lacked the substance needed to make a great plot twist.
S: Story line - - - The overall island story line continues to stall around the reshuffling of the deck of characters into smaller and smaller piles of background red shirt humanity. This episode only literally "trimmed the herd" of characters heading toward the finale. It really did not confirm anything, maybe to some who thought Flocke may not be the "evil incarnate."
T: Time line - - - The non-overlapping time lines from the island and sideways worlds is still bothersome, for if leakage is occurring from the island, it is not in real time. The leakage appears to happen if one gets a head injury, which creates some memory portal back to the island universe. If each world is a self-contained universe as it has been presented, then there is no need for the sideways time line. The whole sideways story arc may be the writers crutch to end the LOST saga without answering any of the island mysteries that have built up in the previous five years.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
S6E14 SUB PAR
The sub dock on Hydra station is clearly in a harbor or cove. One would not expect the sub to immediately "dive" while in a shallow area. Story construction of the action within the submarine-the-bomb-the aftermath was poor, blowing up freighter poor. As one person noted a long time ago, at least the writers are consistent with their basic medical-legal-science errors.Also, Flocke in Terminator mode cannot be killed by conventional weapons. Widmore's men should have known that, but kept firing away, being picked off like ducks at a carnival shooting gallery. Why Flocke did not change to Smokey to wipe them out is unknown, unless he wanted some target practice prior to leaving the island.
How Flocke "knows" that some candidates are still alive is also unknown. His reaction was such that he thought that the submarine would at least surface first (that's why Claire was surprised that the submarine "sunk" but in reality, subs do go underwater.) Flocke storms off the dock vowing to finish what he started; it was almost a curse that instead of moving pieces around to do his bidding, he would have to finish the game himself.
And that huffing gets back to the weak plot line that the whole Lost experience was merely a game between supernatural beings, and the main characters merely toys, pawns or red shirts. In the game of backgammon, the whole purpose is to "remove" your own pieces (characters) from the board (island) as fast as you can after getting them into the "home" position.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
