A FORD IN YOUR FUTURE

For the most extremely disappointed fans of LOST, they believe the entire series was one literary con-job on their entertainment viewing. There was no pay-off in the end after years of major promises. It was like waking up the next morning to find that your life savings had just purchased a quarter share of the Brooklyn Bridge.

So if LOST was representative of a long con, then the show's poster boy would be Sawyer. Of all of the main characters, Sawyer was the one who stayed most true to himself. He was the ultimate survivor because he looked out only for himself. And in the end, he got what he wanted from the island - - -  rescue and in the after life  - - -  Juliet. And he was never punished for his crimes or sins. 

James Ford was a mid-section survivor on Flight 815.  He had the charm of a Southern accent, but selfishness, machismo, and folksy use of oft-abrasive nicknames belied his sophisticated and tender sides as an avid reader and a caring lover—elements of his personality that started to become more apparent as he spent more time on the Island.

On the Island, Sawyer used his skills as a confidence man to accomplish various ends. He hoarded material possessions to leverage power, leading to his involvement in several dangerous missions. His acts of rebellion led him to, at various times, become the most hated survivor on the island, though he still formed an intimate  bond with Kate

Sawyer later developed romantic relationship with Juliet and his jealousy sparked a rivalry with Jack. He did not want to lead the survivors after Jack and Kate were captured, but Hurley convinced him he was the leader by default. He failed at it after giving it a try.

In an early attempt at rescue, Sawyer left the Island along with Jin, Michael and Walt on Michael's raft but was forced to return when Walt was kidnapped by the Others and the raft was blown up. He vowed his revenge against the men in that boat. Sawyer washed up on shore and met up with the previously unknown tail section survivors of Flight 815.

He used various cons to  gain control of all the guns and a position of power over the other survivors. He also used his hoarding skills to make people beg and feel uncomfortable around him. He would rather be alone than the center of attention. He was later captured by the Others,  as a result of Michael's betrayal. While with the Others, Sawyer and Kate were used as leverage to convince Jack to perform surgery on  Ben until he and Kate eventually escaped with the help of Jack.  During the time spent on Hydra Island and through the remainder of season three, Sawyer started an on-again, off-again relationship with Kate. Sawyer was asked by Locke to kill a man, Anthony Cooper, who was revealed to be the real "Sawyer" who Ford believed was the reason why his parents were killed. Locke could not kill his own father, so Locke trapped Ford in the Black Rock with Cooper knowing that if Cooper revealed his true self, Ford would kill him. Locke's plan worked, and he took Cooper's body back to the Others camp to be installed as the new leader, effectively dethroning an angry Ben. 

Sawyer would change alliances as the often as the direction of the wind. After Jack called Widmore's freighter for rescue, Sawyer joined Locke and a small number of survivors who thought Jack was wrong. They left for the shelter of the barracks. There, the freighter soldiers came and killed Alex, and blew up Claire's house. Sawyer rescued Claire from the rubble, but lost contact with her when she met Christian in the jungle.

When the survivors left the freighter  in the helicopter, when the fuel tank was hit and weight needed to be shed, Sawyer jumped for shore after he kissed Kate goodbye (also whispering her to tell his daughter he's sorry). This signaled the end of his romantic relationship with Kate. 

When he was on the island, he was part of a small group of survivors underwent time shifts as a result of Ben moving the Island. He led the small group until a final time shift, where they were stuck in 1974. Sawyer joined the DHARMA Initiative and eventually became their head of security. He began a relationship with Juliet, who knew the Dharma ways, and continued to live in the 1970s for three years until Jack, Kate and Hurley time flipped back to the Island following the crash of Ajira plane.

Sawyer joined the Man in Black upon meeting him, not out of loyalty but as a means of personal survival, although he ultimately betrayed MIB while boarding Widmore's submarine to escape the Island. The Man in Black however, had conned Sawyer into stealing the sub so that he could kill the remaining candidates with a bomb. After the explosion, Sawyer was knocked unconscious and brought ashore by Jack. While Jack was preventing the Island from being destroyed, Sawyer managed to escape on the plane with Kate, Claire, Frank, Richard and Miles. 

In the sideways world,  Sawyer was an edgy police detective rather than a crook. Eventually, he was reunited with his lover Juliet at the hospital while investigating Jin's shooting. They moved on together with their friends at the church.

So Sawyer was one of the few characters that got all he wished for: rescue from the island; no ramifications from his past criminal behavior; and an after life reunion with Juliet who was taken from him by Jack's dumb plan to set off an atomic bomb to stop the time shifts.

CONCEPT OF TIME

In our modern society, we see time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years. It is linear. There is a beginning, middle toward the end. But throughout history, there have been cultures who viewed time differently.

The ancient Mayans believed in three different time periods, and took great significance when they time lines crossed paths. The first was cosmic time, charting the constellations, stars, sun and moon to create highly accurate predictions of future solar events. The second was a biologic time, the gestation period for human reproduction (9 months). The third was the seasonal clock which forecast the planting and harvest seasons in relation to the light and darkness of each sun and lunar cycle.

One of the issues with LOST itself was how the series dealt with basic elements of time.

The passage of time was a recurring theme in the series.  Characters traveled in time coming and leaving the island, and skipped randomly through time over a series of episodes. Time also serves as a general recurring theme, with frequent references to time and appearances of clocks and watches.The show's format was also a non-linear narrative. LOST consistently played with time by presenting events out of their chronological order. Initially, action alternated between current events on the island and pre-crash flashbacks. Later episodes featured extended flashbacks and and flashbacks to on-island events. Later, the series featured flash-forwards and physical physical time travel occurred in Season 5.  Then there was the concept of mental time flashes which Desmond had of future events. Then, the action alternated between on-island events and events from the characters' after life which we called the sideways world. 

Within the series, time was explained as a river stream, following not in a straight line, but meandering about (so there is a possibility of circling back in a specific time line). Time was also explained as a loop; that certain events would come back around again (such as the survivors re-living events in their past in the island present.) But what most viewers believe is that we live in a linear time existence: we are born, we live X number of years, then we die. LOST never explained how this common concept of time was true or false in the LOST universe.

There is a common expression that "you only have one life to live."  It is a speech that each individual must live his or her own life to the fullest, because there are no "do-overs."  But in the LOST story, there appeared to be several instances of characters being able to "do over" their past mistakes, or change their regrettable existence. Now, this is clouded by the intervention of a sideways after life world which may or may not contain the island time as a subset of an alternative reality.

So the concept of time cannot give us a definitive clue of how the LOST universe was constructed or how it operated in relation to the flashback events.

PYRAMIDS

The science community will always have debates about ancient history. One of the most diverse debate is how various ancient cultures from around the world created the same type of massive structures when they had no contact with each other.

Science researchers have found massive pyramid structures in Egypt, central China, Mexico and South America. Some archaeologists believe that these ancient people found that stepping back stones to form a pyramid would be the easiest way to make a large structure because its base is wider at the bottom. However, others point out that the same people did not make pyramid shaped houses, granaries or other basic structures (went more to a box form of walls.)

Then there is a debate about what the pyramids purpose was to those ancient civilizations. Most believe that these towering structures were used as astronomical observatories to align important cosmic events such as the solstice or equinox to the planting or harvesting cycles of the land. Many believe that these structures served as the centerpiece of community rituals, including religious ceremonies. Other historians believe that some of these structures were made to show the power and authority of the king against his own people and other tribal rivals. Pyramids were symbols of power, wealth, control and status.

In Egypt, the consensus is that the pyramids were used as tombs for the kings. However, no modern science expedition found any Pharoah remains inside the pyramid itself; the temple and burial complex usually was found around the main pyramid structure.

The pyramids are tied to ritual beliefs. Apparently the Pharaoh believed, like any commoner among his people, that every living body was inhabited by a double, or ka, which need not die with the breath; and that the ka would survive all the more completely if the flesh were preserved against hunger, violence and decay.

The pyramids of Egypt, by its height, its form and its position, sought stability as a means to traverse death; and except for its square corners it took the natural form that any homogeneous group of solids would take if allowed to fall unimpeded to the earth. The symbolic nature of the pyramid pointing to the sky, or aligned with the constellations, are clues to the ancient philosophies.

But most science teams cannot understand how these massive structures were built. Even today, with modern machinery and crane technologies, it would be very difficult for the 2013 construction crews to build a pyramid with such precision and in the time frame that the ancients completed their work. So the speculation is that the ancients had help or technology that we cannot comprehend. Pyramids are a lasting mystery hidden in plain site.

In LOST, we go into the walled temple structure with two outside court yards. We are taken into the magical pool inside the temple, where there are columns of Egyptian hieroglyphs which appear to be prayers to the underworld gods. But it is interesting to note, we never see an actual pyramid on the island. What happened to it? Or why was it not built?  The people brought to the island once built the massive Taweret statue that was destroyed with the Black Rock hurricane ship wreck.

If the pyramids were the "space ships" for the spiritual soul to go to the underworld or heavens, then that could explain why there was no pyramid on the island: it was not needed. The island was the destination. Except, that does not explain why modern men who did not share ancient Egyptian beliefs, would have this island was their destination, alive or dead.

RANDOM QUESTIONS

I sat down at a blank computer screen and began to type LOST questions as they came to mind.

The results:

Who were the Others?
Maybe candidates, but not all listed in lighthouse.
Who was Widmore? An Other
Who was Eloise? An Other.
Who was Ben? Son of a  Dharma janitor.
What was Dharma? A research organization.
Why was Dharma allowed on the island? Unknown.
Who was Jacob? Island guardian
What is an island guardian? Unknown.
What does he protect? the light source.
What is the light source? It is life, death and rebirth.
What is it made of? Unknown.
How does the light source work? Unknown
What is the smoke monster? Unknown
How is the smoke monster used? as a security system
Why does the smoke monster attack people? Unknown
Is the smoke monster controlled by someone? Unknown
Who is Desmond? a lost sailor
Why was he chosen? Unknown
Why did Desmond have to push buttons every 108 minutes? Unknown
How did Desmond stop the counter? he used the fail safe key.
What did the fail safe key do? Explode then implode the station.
How did Desmond survive the explosion? Unknown.
Why was Desmond found wandering the jungle naked? Unknown
What was the virus? Unknown
What were its symptoms? Unknown, but may attack pregnant women.
Why did pregnant women die on the island? Unknown.
Who built the Temple? Unknown
What was the Temple used for? Worship, presumably to Jacob.
What was special about the temple waters? Unknown, but brought Sayid back from the dead.
Why did Sayid come back from the dead but other people did not? Unknown
Why did the smoke monster need dead Locke’s body? Unknown
How did time travel work on the island? Unknown
What was the FDW connected to? Unknown
Why did people who turned the FDW turn up in Tunisia? Unknown.
How did the people create a sideways purgatory? Unknown
When did the people create a sideways purgatory? Unknown
Why did people live complex lives in the sideways purgatory? Unknown
What was the island? Unknown
How did it move through time and space? Unknown
What was the purpose of the island? Unknown.
Who built or created the island? Unknown
How did Alpert become immortal? Jacob gave him a gift.
How did Jacob give Alpert immortality? Unknown.
If Jacob was immortal, how did he die? Stabbed by Ben, burned by Flocke.
If Flocke was the smoke monster, how did he die? Shot by Kate, kicked off cliff by Jack.
If Jacob and Flocke were immortal beings, did they really die? Unknown.
Why was Aaron born twice? Unknown
What came first: the island or sideways world? Unknown, but most assume the island world.
Who was the man (or woman) behind the curtain? Unknown, but some suspect Jacob or Eloise.
Why did the island heal some people and let other people die? Unknown.

A KEY

How immortal beings such as Jacob or the smoke monster (MIB/Flocke) could have become moral (an apparent requirement in order to "leave" the island existence) is unknown.

But here is a new theory I thought may explain it. It merges a couple of given facts such as the Numbers and Jacob's authority over the island.

MIB was locked on the island's time and space. It could not escape. Jacob was the island guardian, which also could be called a jailor. Jailor's have the keys to the prisoner's cells. Jacob could be considered a jailor to MIB.

The importance of Jacob's numbering system should not be underestimated. It went through the entire series. It was the ultimate clue. Yes, it represented the candidates, but it had to represent more than that because there were more than one hundred prior candidates who did not achieve what either Jacob or MIB desired: escape. One would hope that the candidate numbers would have more meaning than just being numbers.

The numbered candidates could symbolically represent parts of a lock's tumblers, the pieces of metal that move when the proper key is inserted to open the mechanism. Now, if Jacob numbers his candidates, it is either Jacob or the island automatically sets the island's "locking mechanism." The island itself was described as a Magic Box. Magic Boxes would need to be secured from devious people. When the candidates arrive at the island, it is their destiny to "open" the lock in order for Jacob and/or MIB to escape.

The random order of the candidates selection to become island keys came from Jacob scouting them as children, then coming to them with his touch (marking them as elements of the island key). Once they arrived on the island, the game was to determine the order of the candidates in order to unlock the island. It would seem neither Jacob or MIB could control the order of the key, because they were frustrated by the lack of results over the centuries of people being brought to the island.

The only logical progression for the key cuts would be the order of when each candidate died. We know the order from the beginning: Locke (which could be considered a clue for this theory), then Sayid (even after reanimation), Jin, Jack, then most likely Sawyer (if the Ajira plane did not have enough fuel to get home) and then Hurley (who would have become immortal when he accepted the island guardianship).

One might realize a flaw in the theory which is that Jacob and MIB "died" (i.e. escaped) before Hurley would have died. But they could have been trapped like Michael as a whisper, a spirit attached to the island, until Hurley died which would release all the lost and trapped souls into the after life.

LOGIC PUZZLE

If the series climax was really about the Jacob-MIB struggle, we must examine the evidence of that alleged struggle:

1. Crazy Mother stole Jacob and his brother from their real mother just after child birth on the island.

2. Crazy Mother set down a rule that Jacob and his brother could not harm each other, ever.

3. Crazy Mother forbade them from making contact with the other people on the island (which were the remaining crew from the Roman ship that wrecked on the island with Jacob's mother on board).

4.  Jacob's brother went to go live and work with the Romans. He decided that he wanted to leave the island and thought he found a way by digging pits to tap into the island's energy source.

5. Crazy Mother visited Jacob's brother and confronted him on his plans. Jacob's brother refused her demands to return to her camp.

6. Crazy Mother, a middle aged woman, destroyed the entire Roman camp, much in the way we would observe the smoke monster do to the barracks.

7. Jacob's brother was enraged by Crazy Mother's actions, so he confronted her and killed her with a knife.

8. Jacob vowed revenge on his brother, and did so by hurting him near the light cave stream. His bleeding body was washed into the "Heart of the Island" and a smoke monster rushed out - - - and Jacob would later find his brother's dead body in the jungle.

9. Jacob buried Crazy Mother and his brother in a cave ("Adam and Eve").

10. The smoke monster took the form of Jacob's brother (The Man in Black or MIB), but he could shape shift into many forms, including dead individuals.

11. The MIB smoke monster continued to follow Crazy Mother's rules that it could not harm or kill Jacob, so the smoke monster sought out other people to stab Jacob ( like Alpert and Ben). Albert was thwarted because he allowed Jacob to speak to him; Ben had a conversation with Jacob but somehow his stab wound was allegedly fatal.

12. Jacob apparently continued to follow the rule, trying to get other people to kill MIB, including Sayid, but his attempt was thwarted when he allowed MIB to speak to him.

13. Once Jacob was "dead," MIB took the form of John Locke (Flocke) and then tried to recruit people to kill Jacob's remaining candidates.

14. Once Jacob was "dead," the smoke monster convinced Desmond to "deactivate" the heart of the island (by uncorking it) which would free MIB and destroy the island.

15. Jack, who assumed the guardian role, returned to the heart of the island to rescue Desmond and to re-cork the island to stop its destruction.

16. When Jack replaced the stone in the light cave, MIB allegedly became a mortal human being, who would die at the hands of Jack and Kate.

So what were the magical rules that the two "brothers" had to play by?

It would appear that the stone cork in the light cave magically tethered MIB to the island. The cork also kept the island from destroying itself.  This means that MIB/smoke monster was a prisoner on the island. That would also mean that Jacob, who could go off the island to recruit candidates, was not so trapped by the island cork. Logic would then assume that Jacob was not a smoke monster. However, we saw Jacob take other forms, such as his child self, before and after his death at the hands of Ben, just like a smoke monster. We also know that Jacob was immortal, living for centuries without aging.

When the cork was removed, the island began to destroy itself and allowed MIB to break the invisible chains. At this point, MIB was still a smoke monster. It was only after Jack re-corked the island did MIB actually became human (he could bleed). So the sole mechanism to give MIB human mortality would have been the removal then replacement of the stone cork in the light cave.

However, MIB continued to try to kill Jacob's candidates. So, it may have been another rule that if there was a island guardian (a jailor), even though the stone cork was removed, MIB still could not leave the island. But MIB had no rule against killing the candidates - - - he apparently did so with the Others, Dharma and some of the 815 survivors. (Some may say he may have only manipulated people to kill each other off.) Besides, Jacob broke the rule when he killed his brother so that pact was gone. (And probably true because Jacob hid in sacred places that the smoke monster could not get into such as the cabin protected by ash ring or the Tawawet statue.)

When did Jacob become immortal? It seems his immortality was granted to him when Crazy Mother gave him the island guardianship. And if immortality is part of the powers vested in the island guardian, then why did Jack die? Because he transferred his power to Hurley. But then, why did Hurley die?

That would mean that Hurley's death meant that he had to transfer the island guardianship to another person. But that begs the question. If the prisoner, the smoke monster was dead, why would there be a need for a guardian anymore? Unless, of course, there were other imprisoned smoke monsters on the island. And if there was no further reason to guard the island, why would anyone be left on it? Would not Hurley want to get the Others back to their families and their real homes?

The Jacob-MIB conflict still does not make clear, logical sense. If the smoke monster could not enter the light cave and tip over the stone cork to set itself free, then Jacob, being tired of his guardianship duties, could have just quit and left the smoke monster alone on the island. Since we were told only Jacob could bring people to the island, the smoke monster would be forever trapped on the island.

The puzzle pieces to Jacob still don't quite fit together. Was he a man or a smoke monster? Was he immortal or a magician? Was he truly killed or did he turn into a smoke monster trapped on the island as a result of his death?

WINNING HAND?

The most televised poker tournament on Earth finished this November. The World Series of Poker in Las Vegas draws more than 6,000 poker players for the dream of a $8.3 million first prize and the title of the world's greatest poker player.

In Texas Hold Em, it is a game where a player drawing the best cards may not win the hand. There is an art to bluffing, betting and folding in this high stakes, high pressure event. It feeds the classic American story of the underdog going from rags to riches.

At the island's story line conclusion, this is the hand that the viewers were dealt:

The Ace, the most powerful card, has to be the smoke monster. It could change shape. It was immortal. It could kill without hesitation. It could not be killed (conventionally).

The King turned out to be Hurley, since he was the island guardian (and the one who allegedly make up any rules he wanted to).

The Queen was Kate, the last female figure left at the climax of the series. She is the one who allegedly made the fatal shot to take down Flocke (which supposedly allowed the Ajira plane to leave the island with several people on board).

The Jack was Jack because a) Jack is the name of the card, and b) a Jack is not as powerful as a queen or king, but a valuable soldier in battle. One can sacrifice a jack if one has a king or queen left.

The Joker is a wild card, and Sawyer was the wild card in the end. He could have gone evil with Flocke. He could have gone good with Jack. But Sawyer only went for Sawyer - - - all he was concerned about was "getting off this damn rock." He did not help either Jack or Kate in defeating Flocke, but he did agree to "take" Kate off the island (which really wasn't a promise to a dying friend but a tag along okay).

Were these the characters you thought would be the end players when the series ended on the island?