WHAT MYSTERY ARE YOU?

Buzzfeed has created an major business model on goofy quizzes which yield no significant, tangible results except for sharing results in social media circles.

By checking off some random photo choices, a participant gets spit out a result.

The answers included:

"What are these rules of which you speak, Charles Widmore?"
"Michael Abbadon, who are you?"
"What the fuq did that bomb do?"
 "WTF is the island?"
"Why are pregnant women dying?"
"What's up with the statue?"

KATE AND BEN'S DEAL

We know Kate was supposed to be the lead character in the original manuscripts for the series. But in the rush of the pilot and early screenings, Jack emerged from an early dramatic death candidate to the leader of the survivors.

A pivotal plot point was contained in the episode "A Tale of Two Cities."

Jack, Kate and Sawyer have been captured by the Others. Unknown to them, they have been taken to a secondary island, Hydra, and held in cells (Jack inside the facility and Kate & Sawyer in outside polar bear cages).

Jack wakes up in a holding cell. He sees chains across the ceiling. He seems to be on some kind of table. He looks at the inside of his elbow, which has a band-aid on it where something had been injected or blood given. He tries to open some kind of hatch/door but it is locked. Some kind of electronic device used to "communicate" is on the wall, but it does not seem to work. Jack sees another door on the opposite side of the room, but when he walks toward it he collides with a glass wall blocking his way. Water is dripping from the ceiling. Jack tries to break the glass, unsuccessfully. He shouts for Kate, but there is no reply. 

Kate wakes up in a bathroom with "Mr. Friendly," Tom,  standing over her. He indicates a clean towel, a new bottle of shampoo and an unwrapped bar of soap, and tells her to take "a nice hot shower." She refuses to shower in his presence, but Tom laughs and tells her she's not his type; he then leaves. Kate sees that she too has a band-aid on her arm. 

Sawyer wakes in an outdoor  zoo cage. He looks around and sees speakers and a big tube with an unknown DHARMA logo. Also, he notices other nearby structures, including a cage similar to his, with Karl inside it. Sawyer tries to get answers from him, but the man does not respond. Sawyer looks around his cage some more and sees a strange contraption/button inside that has a large "button" with a knife and fork painted on it. He tries to figure it out, and pushes the button. A "Warning" sound goes off. Sawyer pushes the button again, the same sound goes off. As he is about to push the button for a third time, the prisoner in the cell opposite warns him not to. Sawyer pushes the button anyway, and receives a painful electric shock. 

We learn fairly quickly that Hydra station was for animal experimentation. It is also away from the main island, which adds another level of security and therefore danger to the castaways. Each castaway had been apparently "injected" with something in their arm. We would later learn that Sawyer has a chest scar, as Ben shows him that he is trapped on the island, that contains an explosive device set to go off with high blood pressure. Most people believe Ben was bluffing the con man, but Sawyer believed him enough to cooperate and control his anger and rage to escape.

It is clear that this episode shows the brilliance of Ben's evil mind. He has taken three strong willed survivors and put them into a situation where he can play each their fears, desires and self-interest off each other.

But the key plot point was the beach scene.

After Kate's encounter with Tom, she takes a shower. When she emerges, she finds that someone has taken her clothes and left her a dress instead. She puts it on, reluctantly. Tom and three Others bring her to a beach, where "Henry" is waiting at a covered table with chairs, freshly cooked food, utensils, and coffee, with a pair of handcuffs on the side. He tells her to handcuff herself or she gets no coffee. 

She asks "what did you do with Sawyer and Jack?" But "Henry" notices that she started the question with Sawyer and not Jack. Kate asks for her clothes, "Henry" tells her they burned them. When she asks why he's doing all this, "Henry" responds that he gave her a dress to make her feel "like a lady," fresh food to make her feel at home, allowed her a view of the beach because her friends are seeing the same beach, and utensils to make her feel civilized. He tells Kate that he gave all those things to her so she'll have something to hold on to, because "the next two weeks will be very unpleasant."

After some experimentation, and with the help of a large rock Sawyer found outside the cell, he soon figures out the mechanism that delivers food and water. The water streams out a pipe into a trough, kibble falls on the ground as well as a large fish biscuit -- animal food. As Sawyer drinks the water, Tom returns and he puts Kate into the cell that Karl had occupied. He takes off her cuffs. She also has visible cuts from the handcuffs and Tom remarks "cut you up pretty bad, didn't they." Tom, noticing that Sawyer was able to obtain food, first congratulates him, and then mocks him by telling him that the bears figured it out in two hours.  Kate is in the cell across from Sawyer's, and he tries to make her feel better by joking around. She seems distraught, so Sawyer asks if she wants something to eat. Kate says yes, so Sawyer throws her a biscuit which she eats pitifully.

And the unsaid aspects of the beach scene hover over the rest of this story arc.

Apparently, if Kate was still hungry upon her return to the cage, then she must have not eaten with Ben on the beach. That would mean that Kate decided not to cooperate with Ben. But what was the proposal(s)?

We know that Ben had risen to power by being brutal and controlling of the Others. But as king, he wanted to solidify his kingdom with a queen. Juliet had refused his romantic overtures, so Ben killed her lover and vowed to keep her a prisoner on "his" island. We could assume that in the beach conversation, Ben made a similar demand: Kate would work with him (or be his consort) or one of her loves would die.  When Ben picked up "Sawyer's" name first in Kate's concern, Sawyer got the chest bomb. (Some could argue that was the plan all along since Ben really needed Jack to do spinal surgery on him.)

Ben had all the intel on Kate's past, so he probably used it against her. Criminal minds think a like, and Ben was a master of leverage. He could have used Kate's secrets to claim that he could turn her over to the authorities and receive maximum punishment if she did not cooperate. Kate was always a runner; a person who never wanted to face her responsibility or accountability for her actions. She also had in the past used then discarded her lovers when she needed to keep running from the law. Kate could have decided to cut a deal to "stay" on the island, i.e. to be Ben's double agent.

It would then make sense why Kate demanded to go on ALL the remaining missions. If she was Ben's inside spy, she could tell the Others exactly what the castaways were planning to do. Juliet was a later obvious choice as a triple spy, using Jack's affection for her to get herself into camp leadership and trust roles (as a medical professional helping Claire), but also to balance or confirm Kate's potential spy activities. 

The deal could have also been that Kate had to choose between Jack or Sawyer. Ben probably pressed her to choose Sawyer, since he needed Jack to turn his back his feelings on her. And it worked. Out of character, Kate made a move on Sawyer which Jack "conveniently" saw on the bear cage monitors. With Kate choosing Sawyer as her island lover, Jack was heartbroken - - - and fell in line to help Ben.

It would not have been out of character for Kate to sell out Jack by pretending to bond with Sawyer. But like all Kate's decisions, she did not follow through very long with Sawyer (only enough to escape from the Hydra station.) There was conflict in Kate's mind since she immediately started to plan a rescue mission, but it was Jack who told her to NEVER return. When she did try a rescue mission, we saw the shock on her face when she saw Jack playing toss with Tom in the Barracks yard. Jack was suddenly integrated into the enemy camp - - -  and he looked happy and content. Kate was shocked - - - and she was taken away with the impression that Jack was lost to her.

At that moment, Kate's "bad" decision in choosing Sawyer over Jack was apparent. It was a decision that would haunt her for the rest of her life. She would only "remember" the pain and deep love for Jack when she awoke her soul in the sideways afterlife. This is the only rational explanation of why Kate would be so clingy to Jack in the sideways church at the End. She got her one second chance to be forever in love with Jack - - - something that would have not happened if not for her "deal" with Ben on the Hydra beach.

TODAY IS "LOST" DAY

Variety reports that today is LOST DAY, because April 8, 2015 lines up with the Numbers on LOST.

Wednesday is being dubbed “Lost” Day by fans, as it’s the day that Hurley’s infamous lotto numbers — 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 — finally align on the calendar (April 8, 2015). The numbers really line up perfectly at 4:23:42 p.m., for those keeping track
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The series of numbers first appeared in the show on Hurley’s (Jorge Garcia) winning lotto ticket, though he was convinced that the numbers were cursed and brought him bad luck wherever he went. They would go on to become forever intertwined in “Lost’s” vast mythology, taking on a deeper meaning as the show went on.

Viewers later found out that the numbers were the ones that Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) punched into the computer in his hatch on the island every 108 minutes for three years. And as any avid “Lost” viewer knows, there are few simple coincidences in the show.

Each number actually represents one of Jacob’s candidates for becoming protector of the island, which he determined via degrees on a lighthouse mirror. For many Losties, however, the numbers simply represent hours spent obsessing over trying to figure out what they meant.

While the meaning of the numbers did disappoint some fans, there’s no doubt the once-in-a-decade day will be filled with “Lost” binge-watching, reminiscing, speculation and, of course, venting about the mysteries that still plague viewers today.

A SAINT AND A SINNER

Of all the secondary characters in LOST, Helen Norwood would probably be nominated as the most important to the underlying mythology themes of the series. She was a saint compared to all the sinners.

Helen was Locke's girlfriend for a period during his life before the plane crash, whom he had intended to marry. (In the sideways world, they were engaged to be married in October, 2004) After Locke returned to the mainland in an attempt to bring back the O6 survivors, it was revealed that she had died of a brain aneurysm in 2006. 

Locke's relationship with Helen was a bitter triumph of self-destruction. Helen had the patience of a saint. She kept giving Locke chance after chance, but Locke refused to let go of his past. Locke's anger, frustration and revenge for how he perceived his life going so wrong clouded his judgment that the best thing about his life was right in front of him: Helen, who unconditionally loved him before and after his horrible disability.

Locke and Helen met at an anger-management support group of which they were both members. After his outburst at the group about their whining, Helen approached Locke outside and told him that she appreciated his candor and shared his frustrations. She also flirted by telling him that she liked bald men - despite Locke not being bald she said that she was prepared to wait. 

Their friendship moved to the bedroom fairly quickly and continued to blossom. During a meal at a restaurant, Helen gave Locke a key to her flat as a six-month anniversary present. She told him that she'd followed him and discovered that he was sneaking out at night to lurk outside his father's   house. The gift of the key was given on the condition that he stopped going there, to which Locke agreed.

Despite his promise to stop, Locke continued to spend long periods in his car waiting outside Cooper's house. Helen followed him again and shunted her car into the back of his, stormed over to his window and snatched his keys from the ignition. She threw the keys over the security gates in the drive and implored him to give up on his obsession and take a "leap of faith" with her. Shortly after, Locke moved in with Helen. Locke eventually started making plans to propose to Helen over a romantic picnic. Unfortunately on the morning of the picnic Helen spotted Cooper's obituary in the newspaper and that the funeral was scheduled for that day. Helen accompanied Locke to the funeral to support him. Some days after the funeral, Cooper revealed to Locke that he was still alive and convinced him to participate in a criminal financial scheme in exchange for a share of the money. Locke's suspicious behavior and a run in with gang members searching for Cooper led Helen to follow him again. She turned up at the motel, where Locke was meeting Cooper to hand over the money. She demanded of Cooper: "Are you him?", slapped him and berated him for his treatment of Locke before leaving to go back to her car. Locke caught up with her in the parking lot outside and pleaded for forgiveness, went down on one knee and proposed. Helen shook her head and drove off.

But Helen was with Locke in the sideways afterlife. Things seemed different. Cooper was in a nursing home, unable to speak or function, but Helen took care of him as well as Locke. She was not demanding but supportive. Helen was the embodiment of a good partner: kind, charming, witty, loyal, trusting, helpful, and nonjudgmental. 

Helen was the best thing in Locke's life, but he failed to realize it.  In all relationships, there are fleeting moments where a couple becomes a couple, connects as a couple, and lasts as a couple. There are few if any second chances at romance with a person spurned during a first encounter. Locke had several chances to make things right but he failed over and over. 

Helen deserved better. Much better. She was like a guardian angel who gave Locke a glimpse of what he life "could have been" if not for Locke's delusional self-torment issues.

Helen also deserved a better ending in the series. We are told she died after breaking up with Locke. She died alone. She did not meet Locke in the sideways church to share or rekindle their affection for eternity. So, despite doing nothing wrong, Helen's soul is apparently trapped in a purgatory of Locke's own creation. That's a sad fate for a character who did nothing wrong to deserve such treatment.

It is almost a reverse life lesson. Locke, whose bad behavior and choices, hurt so many other lives but he was rewarded with eternal life with his island friends. Meanwhile, Helen, who took care of people, was kind and loyal to a fault, gets nothing for being of high moral character.

LIFE OR DEATH

What would you choose: life or death?

Probably 99.9 percent of us would choose life.

But what if you were so troubled that you felt that in death you would receive new life?

This is the contradiction that is the daily headlines. Suicide bombers attack innocent people under the belief that they will have a better life in afterlife. Some teens under horrible torment of bullies, self-esteem issues, too high expectations and peer pressure weigh that option.

There is also the question of faith. Individuals believe in either an afterlife or not. People hope that there time on earth has a more infinite meaning.

LOST attempted to explore those themes.

It is hard to tell whether Locke convinced himself that he was better off killing himself than trying to help the island or his friends. Recall, he basically mucked up everything in his life, including his relationship with Helen and Jack, who he considered his rival and probable best friend.

It is hard to tell when Sayid came to the conclusion that he was better off dead when he took the submarine bomb and tried to leave the ship. Recall, he had lost his Nadia, then Shannon, in tragic accidents. He was an outsider and an outcast. He may have gotten along with a few island castaways, but he never fit in.

In the big picture of LOST, the writers did dance around to the side that there is hope in death.

The sideways world has to be considered a lukewarm attempt to show the afterlife as a continuation of the human lives we all live, day to day. The sideways purgatory or weigh station to paradise/heaven mocked the same struggles of real life, but with no lasting consequences except perhaps feelings of personal regret or remorse (as with Ben who decided to "stay" on to work out some of his issues with Rousseau and Alex). But that is the odd part about LOST's vision - - - each individual is his or her own judge and jury on what sort of afterlife they will be rewarded by the unknown gods (such as Jacob, MIB, the island, or some other supernatural power).

Though we were told that the island contained the power of life, death and rebirth, the sideways world showed us that it was each individual who controlled their own destiny.

OUR JACK AND JILL

There was an untapped undercurrent in the show which could have dramatically changed its course.

And it reminds us of an interpretation of an old nursery rhyme.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

There are several different tales about the origin of "Jack and Jill." One of the most popular versions involves French royalty. Many believe that the rhyme about Jack falling down and breaking his crown refers to the king of France, Louis XVI, who was beheaded during the French Revolution. And the "Jill who came tumbling after?" That would be his dear wife, Marie Antoinette, who also lost her head in the French Revolution.

Juliet could have been the Island Queen if she had accepted Ben's advances. But since Ben killed her lover in order to control her, that relationship was DOA before it began. Ben's relationship with women was more torturous than normal. But even afterward, Juliet held a lot of sway among the Others, possibly because she stood up to Ben and lived to tell. She was smart, she knew how things worked, and she could navigate her way to manipulate even Ben.

Jack was the leader of the survivor camp. Over time, he began more assertive and controlling as he made unilateral decisions on missions. He became the focal point of the Others ire. So much so that Ben tried to convert Jack into an Other, an ally. It almost worked as Jack stayed in the Others camp after Kate and Sawyer escaped the cages.

Both Jack and Juliet had similar fates of the French nobles. Both died on the island, at the hands of the island politics.

TROUBLED RELATIONSHIPS

As with the previous post on Jack and Kate's relationship, the other controversial pair ending was Shannon and Sayid.

To the vast majority of viewers, it made no sense.

Throughout the series, Sayid was shown pining for Nadia, a woman from his home land. A woman for whom Sayid tortured, then let escape - - -  turning himself into a cold blood killer (by taking out a superior officer to allow her to escape.) After the war, Sayid spent his entire life trying to find Nadia, considered by all to be "the love of his life." He went so far as to work for the CIA, a dirty deal to double cross a childhood friend in order to get a chance to meet Nadia. So, Sayid was deeply in love with Nadia.

But that is just one side of the story. Sayid's attraction and affection for Nadia was clear. But what was Nadia's true feelings toward Sayid. As a child, it would seem she had a crush on Sayid. Even in the school yard, Sayid was different: strong and a provider. But when there was political change in Iraq, Sayid would wind up on the other side: with the Guard, while Nadia and her family were in the rebel camp. This basic ideological divide would doom most couples.

But even when Sayid was ordered to torture her to get information about the rebels, Nadia seemed to forgive Sayid. As a result, Sayid's heart overwhelmed his training and rank to allow her freedom. However, some could argue that Nadia was using her past relationship to manipulate Sayid to grant her freedom - - - a ruse, a classic spy move - - - not out of love but necessity.

But the latter evidence seems to contradict this faux spy story. When Sayid was rescued as part of the O6, he was met at the airport by Nadia. They embraced. They began to start their new life together in LA. Now, various theorists don't understand how this even happened . . . why the airline would find a stranger, such as Nadia, to greet Sayid in Hawaii is a mystery. Perhaps the CIA knew her whereabouts under a protective custody program, but not an airline.

One theory has it that the O6 never made it to the awkward press conference in Honolulu. That when the freighter was blown up, the survivors were in bad shape. Penny's boat was actually a trailing shadow craft to pick up survivors for Widmore so as to reprogram the brains in a virtual reality "rescue" so as to have them volunteer to return to the island to fight Jacob/MIB. If Widmore could "fake" an underwater crash site including passenger bodies, then he could easily brain wash island survivors.

When Nadia was killed by a motor vehicle in a cross walk when Sayid was pulled by Jacob, Sayid was totally lost. He had lost his one, true love. He was a broken man. He could never love another woman. He turned into a zombie - - - easily manipulated to become Ben's assassin under the guise of getting revenge of those who killed Nadia. (This also shows a direct link between Jacob's influence to Ben's missions with Sayid.)

Even back on the island, Sayid never forgot about Nadia. So it was a shock to find Sayid winding up with Shannon in the End.  They only had a week long island affair. It was spurred by a matter of convenience and loneliness. Shannon's brother, her one protector, had died. Sayid was still seen as an outcast within the group. Shannon was in need of finding someone to take care of her since she was accustomed to the life of luxury. She used her one commodity, her beauty, as currency to find another man to be with her. But when she was killed in the jungle, Sayid was cut down to his core in emotional grief. Some think that Sayid's physical relationship with Shannon could have clouded his long term memories, or that he was actually re-living the terror of losing Nadia all over again.

Sayid was doomed at that point. Any woman he loved would die in his arms. He thought it was his fault. He could never love again because the pain was too great. In order to cut out the pain, he had to cut out his own heart - - - die and be reincarnated as an empty soul.

But when the cast was reunited in purgatory/heaven of the sideways world, the image-character of Nadia was present. But she was married to Sayid's brother, who was in trouble with the mob. Sayid had to "fix" it - - - to make Nadia happy. It was like the one woman he loved he could never have - - - but there was no evidence of that in the "real" world. So in that respect, Nadia's soul must have bonded with Sayid's brother while she waited for him to show up in the next level of existence. That must have paved the way for Sayid to release his feelings toward her, opening up the possibility of finding his second love, Shannon. But that is a weak appraisal of the overall Sayid-Nadia story line.

A week of passion with a different stranger is more important than a life long longing over a love that you finally found after years of searching? Sayid and Nadia were together in LA. They were happy. They went to Hurley and Sun's parties. So why did that love and affection carry over into the next world?

Sayid and Nadia's relationship was troubled from the beginning. He was a soldier, she was a freedom fighter. He was a poor boy, she was from an upper class family. He was repressed by his emotions, she was outgoing in her beliefs. In a world where opposites attract, they would be a perfect pair. But in reality, opposites often cause conflict in their own relationship. Deep, lasting relationships have as a foundation core similar values, goals, beliefs and mutual dreams. Perhaps Sayid's feelings toward Nadia were a dreamer's lust for something that could have been instead of actual love.

And in that regard, Shannon was the only person Sayid knew who loved him for what he truly was - - - she knew his background, she knew about all the bad things he had done, but she still took him in and loved him. Even that short term bond between two troubled souls could have a lasting impact.