Long Live Locke.: S3Ep14 - Exposé (Nikki and Paulo's one and only flashback):
I listened to the official ABC podcast this week and have paraphrased what was covered...
-The idea for Nikki and Paulo came up at the end of Season 1. But they felt that it wasn't right to introduce them until this year.
- 'The fans kept asking about the background people, and then we gave them the background people, and then everyone's like 'Who the hell are these people?' However, they feel like the pay-off was worth it. yeah I think it was totally well done to give us a focus on background people, integrated into the scenes & events we have already seen. made the presence of background people more plausible - by showing how a shift in focus could give us their story. different people, whole different story...
- They liked getting to see all the 'iconic moments from Season 1' seen from the perspective of 'somebody you didn't realize was there.' yeah I think that was very cool. since we know there are other people we have not been following. to see their point of view. esp the contrast that these people did not feel any call from destiny, anything magical or mysterious about the island. they find the hatch and do not explore. Paulo hears the Others talking and does not make anything of it. their show is not a mystery, just a straight up drama of stealing diamonds, crashing, looking for the diamonds... Without the point-of-view (esp of Locke) and the framing and music, the same ~mysterious~ things do not become the story.
-It was Damon Lindelof's idea to bury them alive. I thought this was well written. bracketed by Nikki's final utterance, misunderstood: what did she say?
Sawyer: She stumbled out of the jungle...face planted...said something like "plywood"...and...and sayonara.
Hurley: Actually, I think she said "power lines."
'powerlines'? 'Paulo lies!' wh makes sense... but at the end we learn she said 'Para-lyzed.' haunting.

FROM THE BOARDS
- SO GRUESOME! Loved it!
- I'd take this episode over another "omg, Sawyer isn't very nice" flashback any day. It was campy and fun and really good television.
-A celebration of the craft, and a nod and a wink to the conventions that go along with getting something out on the air week after week. A very personal gift from the writers. As has been said before, very meta and self-referential; if you can provide the requisite suspension of disbelief, a unique sit-around-the-campfire for those who are committed to going along for the ride.
- Nikki and Paulo served their purposes: 1) to fill out the cast of island survivors yes and remind us that their lives are just as complex as those of the main characters and 2) to take us through the history of the show by another course yes nice, tying some loose ends along the way. This show has always resisted the idea of "heroes," the kinds of people who are in some way better than the rest of us; this show is about everyday people trying to get by, and the stories of the survivors we know are not inherently more meaningful than those of the survivors we don't. yes good.


The Bastard Machine : All my "Lost" "Riches" in one convenient post!
-I thoroughly enjoyed the Paulo & Nikki espisode because, even though it didn't advance the story, it was well-written and just downright fun.
...
-Doesn't "smokey the monster" remind anyone of the monster on the TV show "The Prisoner"? i.e. the giant white weather balloon that roared? "Sorry, we don't have a budget for a good giant monster, we spent all that money on sweat-proof makeup for the actors- um, here! We'll computer generate some smoke! You're welcome!"

Long Live Locke.: Before The Kate Hate Train Rolls Again...:


comment from lucia:
-there are all these lies, jack is uncomfortable around aaron, sayid is out there killing for ben.kate seems to want to protect aaron. maybe im just a silly girl, but i want them all living adventures on the island and not some grim future were kate, jack and aaron go back to the island to fulfil some kind of island destiny (remember that weird psychic who sent claire off to the island?), and everybody else is dead. i think they should be through with killing original losties. i dont want anymore deaths. these last two episodes made me sad.
i want to believe in a brighter future, and locke is my hope.


Completely 'Lost': THROW MOMMA FROM THE PLANE:

FF Kate has a child, which she has apparently heisted, although we don’t know why.
Kate will not let her mom see her son, for reasons unknown. And Kate will not resume her relationship with Jack, because he does not want to see her son, for reasons unknown.
The song Kate was listening to at The Barracks was "She's Got You" by Patsy Cline:

I've got your picture. She's got you.

-What happened to Clare? Why won't Jack visit Kate and Aaron?
My sense is that in the next 4 weeks we'll have a few more flash forwards, we'll learn who the final O6 is, we'll learn more about the boat ppl and maybe who the boss is (Charles Widmore, or the mysterious RG from Naomi's bracelet), and maybe how the 6 are chosen, etc.

links for post-episode comments & recap:

Portal:Episodes - Lostpedia episode page unlocked & filled in quickly after episode airs

TWoP Forums : Lost General Gabbery immediate comments

Dueling Analyses: Lost - Washington Post blog - Celebritology with plentiful comments incl confident answers from Quiz Master

All About Lost | TV | Entertainment Weekly [Doc Jensen] teaser for each new episode, then a recap

Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine [sfgate.com] : Lost sharp commentators eg hickc, lieber, kd9, tiger stripes ..

The Watcher - Lost | Chicago Tribune | Maureen Ryan

What's Alan [Sepinwall - NJ Ledger] Watching?

Tuned In - James Poniewozik - TIME

and 2 blogs that seem sharp:

Completely 'Lost'

Long Live Locke.

YouTube - Lost S03E11 - Van Jumpstart with Shambala
Brilliant part of Lost where Hurley and Charlie jumpstart the van and the radio fires on with Shambala by Three Dog Night! "Ah, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"
gorgeous. so happy. & beautiful dog Vincent right w them, excited going for a drive

wkp: A vehicle w a manual transmission may be push started. Most vehicles w automatic transmissions cannot be started this way bcs th hydraulic torque converter in th transmission will not allow th engine to be driven by th wheels. By pushing th car, th wheels make th gearbox rotate. engaging a gear & clutching in may make th engine start by th power of th turning wheels. A too low rolling speed may result in the engine not being able to start.

.: Entry and Exit from the Moon
For this to work, there needs to be a mechanism that will allow the particles of people and objects to shift from our matter to mirror matter and vice-versa. Whenever someone arrives on the island accidentally, they first endure some sort of electrical storm. So we'll assume that anomalous electromagnetic fluctuations while the moon is passing by you on Earth are capable of shifting your particles.
[Since the Others seem able to come & go, recruiting Juliet etc, there must also exist] Controlled means must for shifting.
The sub seemed capable (if Locke shifted the sub while the sub was in the ocean in our world and the hatch was open, he would've been soaked). and he was?* in epis The Man from Tallahassee. hmm. so is this suggesting - 'if Locke shifted the sub - that Locke left the island (the mirror matter universe) and shifted back into our world, then shifted back again, all before walking down the dock leaving the sub (at least seemingly) to explode behind him?
The Looking Glass would be a target for sub alignment. Line up the sub in one of our oceans, wait for the short window, and shift to the moon pool. the pool within the Looking Glass. The materializing sub is hidden from the naive residents of the DHARMA initiative.
Likewise, controlled entry by parachute would make sense if you are able to shift while aligned with the atmosphere of the moon.

*Wrap-up: Why might this work? huh this "why might work" sxn no longer there. there last nite, gone today. glad I excerpted it.
... it can explain minutia, like the need for parachutes and a sub, how Naomi's story could have a semblance of truth, daylight before the crash, Locke getting wet in the sub...

Flashes Before Your Eyes/Theories - Lostpedia:
#Penelope knows that to find Desmond she needs to detect a large electromagnetic anomaly because Desmond told Donovan all about The Island and The Swan. Donovan and Penelope must have spoken, probably sometime after Desmond left on the race (or within 3 years of that time), so she set up the Listening Station.
# The reason we did not see Penelope until the second season finale is because she was not looking for Desmond until after the hatch exploded. In the original timeline, prior to Flashes Before Your Eyes, Desmond was lost and Penny moved on (or something to that effect). In the new timeline, Penny is able to look for Desmond based on the above note. So, prior to that episode, nobody was looking for the Oceanic survivors, but thanks to Desmond, that changed. This fact was so difficult for the average viewer to see because not only did the hatch explosion change the past, it is also the event that the Listening Station used to find the island. The hatch explosion basically served two huge purposes towards getting everyone rescued.
no theory involving the ring. I wonder if we will see it again.
no reason it needs to reappear significantly - just the way the camera followed it when Desmond threw it into the water - makes me want it to figure later..

ok so mirrormattermoon seems like it may actually be what the writers have in mind. or, if not, it is not likely to be surpassed in elegance by their mythology. mirror matter seems almost certainly to be involved. the moon within earth, specifically, may not be quite what the writers have imagined (wld be remarkable if it is, the exact match). there were repeated pictures of the moon in the film in room 23 in Not in Portland, just watched.

-if this is the actual mythology (is that the right word? the setting - where & what the island it and how it has unusual properties, incl difficult to find), it does not 'ruin' the show - does not answer aspect of what will happen: still do not know what the writers have planned for the characters, and especially how it will end. how will the adam & eve skeletons show, as lindelof said would, that the writers knew from the beginning what the end would be?

-and why were the Others so hostile to the crash survivors, killing & kidnapping? why not just be nice, gather them in? well I guess it's clear that they are not an unknowing community of people collected by the island. they - or at least Ben - have some specific knowledge and some specific motivation. what? what are they doing?

these seem to me at the moment the outstanding questions (that I would like to look back at, after the show ends, and be able to answer) -motives of the others -adam & eve skeletons tying in to the end
-oh and a specific that I'd like to know: why Richard Malkin told Claire that her baby must not be raised by an other *and* put her on the plane that would crash on the island where the others are.
-meanwhile also how Naomi comes to have photo of Desmond & Penny

LOST on Earth's Mirror Matter Moon

. mirrormattermoon by MikeNY

LOST on Earth's Mirror Matter Moon

or, Adventures in Wonderland Via Theoretical Physics — Not in Portland (name of an episode) In Starboardland

This theory proposes that the island is on a tiny moon of mirror matter.
The island is literally all there is except for the surrounding ocean.
-Given Desmond's report of always returning to the island, it's likely that only the islands we've seen exist on the moon. The rest is covered in water. Juliet: "So they have a boat — sailing in circles will keep them busy."
-The sun in the sky would be Nemesis or another mirror matter star at roughly the same location as our sun. In fact, there's a video by Speaker (a LOST insider) that features a dark sun.
Because the moon was trapped by Earth's gravitational field when Earth was forming, it continues to orbit the gravitational center of Earth (which is invisible and can be passed through without much friction).
Every 144 minutes, the moon slows near the ends of the elliptical orbit and gets within 0.2 miles of the surface of Earth (sea level). The rest of the time it is gliding through Earth beneath its crust.

According to physicist R. Foot,
"Mirror matter... would be completely invisible to us! If you had a rock made of mirror matter on your hand, it would simply fall through your hand and then through the Earth, and it would end up oscillating about Earth's centre."
(the giant foot? paying homage)
The book of theoretical physics from which I've borrowed this info and which seems to be the key source of info for the show: Shadowlands: Quest for Mirror Matter in the Universe - by Robert Foot .

Mirror matter (aka shadow matter or Alice matter, after Lewis Carroll's works) is a hypothetical form of matter that is not antimatter, though it may account for what we call "dark matter." It is thought to be distributed throughout the universe. While mirror stars and planets have been proposed, we would hardly be aware of their existence without the aid of careful measurements. The key is that "our" matter and mirror matter don't interact all that much, which allows mirror matter to exist in an almost parallel universe, and mirror matter is invisible (or dark or black) to the eye (unless the eye is composed of mirror matter).
The particle interactions of mirror matter are "right-handed," whereas the particle interactions of our matter are "left-handed."
In the words of Locke in Episode 1: "Two sides: One is light. One is dark." Note which hand each stone is in, and the messianic cross formed by the scars and his right eye. our world - left handed - light.
So the two types of matter don't talk too much, save for a couple of exceptions, the most interesting of which allows the electromagnetic force to be felt across the "worlds" through the sharing of photons.

The thrust of this theory is that through an electromagnetic storm and precarious timing, the passengers of Flight 815 (and others before and after them) have found themselves on an inhabitable moon of mirror matter that is orbiting Earth's center of gravity.



• Entry and Exit • The Orbit • Locations on Earth •
Whenever someone arrives on the island accidentally, they first endure some sort of electrical storm. So we'll assume that anomalous electromagnetic fluctuations while the moon is passing by on Earth are capable of shifting particles.
[To go from the Earth world to the island world, you need to change your matter's handedness from left-handed our world to right-handed the island. If you can pull that off somehow, you suddenly vanish from Earth and appear in the right-handed "mirror matter" world. Suppose this moon thing (although invisible to us on Earth) happens to be a few miles below your plane when you and the plane change to right-handed matter. Poof, you disappear from Earth and appear up in the sky above the island. -answer by MikeNY in comments]
The overall story here is that the moon has been "collecting" people, when their location and the natural fluctuations of the moon and Earth are just right, for a very long time. The people collected throughout history who have survived constitute the Others. We'll see that two of the locations fall on land, in Africa, one in Ethiopia at the southeast outskirts of the old Egyptian Empire, and one in Mozambique -- we can see these as "seed" locations for the Others.
• Locations on Earth that the Moon Slowly Brushes Every 144 Minutes •
Ethiopia & Mozambique as seed locations, Fuji as spot where flight 815 disappeared, and nearby: the destination of Amelia Earhart and Noonan when they disappeared. cool. also offers account for the 'catching' of Yemi's plane, the Black Rock (slave transport ship). -Desmond's sailboat? was also near Fuji, I think.
NOTE: The timeline indicates when and why Naomi arrived, Jack and Juliet were to leave by sub cool - to pass from island to earth, it needs to be when moon is near sea level (every 144 min), the failsafe was triggered, etc. wait what does the triggering of the failsafe have to do with (does it need to be when) the moon is nearing the ocean?



• Smoke Monster •

The smoke is light from our world "kinetically mixing" with photons on the island.

Foot proposes a way for the two types of matter to interact... "kinetic mixing" via the exchange of photons:"If there is a photon-mirror photon transition force, then now an ordinary electron can actually interact with a mirror electron. ... The net effect of the transition force is to make mirror electrons interact slightly with ordinary electrons."
The smoke always takes the shape of clouds of light: faded at the edges and often drifting.

What would produce light at that depth in the ocean (or underground in Africa)?

Answer: Bioluminescent sea creatures, mining equipment in African mines, and subs and little robots like the ones Naomi mentioned. ROVs? = remote operated vehicles, eg mandmade robots on sea floor (?)

Let's look at the position and orientation of the island at some moments when the smoke monster has appeared (this stuff and the remaining incidents are noted in the timeline above).

• The timeline says about the time the pilot was yanked out of the cockpit, the island was exactly upside down at the bottom of the ocean at the Americas South location. Deep sea subs routinely go on scientific missions to the ocean floor in this region of the ocean and they all have hydraulic arms at their bow that could grab the pilot. So the arm grabs the pilot and then drops him when the moon moves away from the area (taking the ability to interact with the island with it).
  
• Day 50, before noon. Eko is photographed while Charlie is in the tree. The island happens to be in exactly the same position as it was when the pilot was grabbed. So it makes sense that submersibles might show up again. Because the island is upside-down, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) would be launched from the bow of a sub and then descend, breaking through the ground of the island.
• Eko's death on Day 72. The timeline says at 11:52 am the island was nearly upright (12°) and briefly overlapping with Earth 0.24 miles below ground in Ethiopia. So here's the best guess for what killed Eko: an excavator-like mining machine with lighting in the cabin and strung throughout its arm.
  
  
  
  

..........

.

. mirrormattermoon.blogspot:
Days are shorter because this moon rotates faster than Earth, it's invisible because it is dark matter, the smoke monster shows what happens when our world and the island world interact with each other, and Benjamin Linus is supposed to be on the right-handed moon because Benjamin means "son of the right hand"nice and Linus was a son of Apollo. so Ben is "son of the island."

theory here does not mention the numbers. these were heard by two guys at listening station, being transmitted over South Pacific. (one of the guys was in the hospital w Hurley, the other is Sam who died & whose widow Hurely met.) Danielle heard the numbers being transmitted in the same place ~ at the same time (16 yrs ago). and the numbers appear on the hatch and have to be inputted into the computer there -- this last may just be an intention reference to the numbers that were being transmitted, which somehow guide one to the island? (some kind of coordinates?)

Other points, consistent w theory:
#The whispers are actually people speaking on earth (in subs or mines) as the island moves by. This would explain their intermittency and why they seem to swirl around. coool.
# Backward speech
# Charlie crosses with the opposite (and wrong) hand before dying huh. well Orthodox Christians cross with the other hand, vs Catholics. but yes Charlie was Catholic. ..nb Desmond before turning the failsafe key crossed himself w his right hand (wh is what I do, Eastern Orthodox style, but is the wrong hand for Catholics? as mentioned re Charlie when dies)
# Rabbits, chess games, episodes entitled "White Rabbit" and "Through the Looking Glass"
# The Looking Glass underwater station— the idea obviously being that you typically enter this world of Alice matter through the Looking Glass station.
# Boone — not a philosopher, but the BooNE experiments at Fermilab regarding dark matter
# Mikhail has only one eye. Here's part of R. Foot's description of Miros, a fictitious mirror matter world: "Miros is a planet made of mirror matter — atoms composed of mirror electrons and mirror protons and mirror neutrons. Miros is somewhat different from Earth though. It's a bit smaller with deeper oceans, but there is life on Miros. The people of Miros are a bit strange, they have very large feet and only have one eye ... Thus, Miros isn't much like Earth which just illustrates that microscopic symmetry of particle interactions does not translate into a macroscopic symmetry."

Wrap-up: Why might this work? Because:
... it is inspired by science and pseudoscience
... it explains the snowglobe*, the title sequence [While the moon revolves around the center of Earth, it also rotates about a central axis, just like the title logo], the Apollo Bars, the giant foot, and the smoke monster with a single explanation based on published speculation on mirror matter.
... it can explain minutia, like the need for parachutes and a sub, how Naomi's story could have a semblance of truth, daylight before the crash, "island time," Locke getting wet in the sub cool, the timing of Naomi's arrival, why the monster takes pictures with a strobe, Mikhail's single eye, the exact shape of the smoke monster, and so on.
... it makes extremely specific predictions (e.g., about the smoke monster).
... it also explains the psychic** phenomena with a minimum of additional assumptions.
... it can be explained with one dramatic shot at the close of the final episode (and none of these details need to be explained). [a single shot that transitions from the Earth to the moon (as the Earth dissolves) to the rotating LOST logo superimposed on the moon.]

Thanks to lostmio for pointing out the flash animation on oceanicflight815.com; the glow in the screenshot nicely captures the atmosphere of the moon, which would pass above sea level on Earth as the moon reaches each end of the ellipse


* Comic book -Spanish translation of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends #1 - Lostpedia: On the next page of the comic book, there is an image of a castle or fortress in the middle of the ocean surrounded by a giant, glass dome.
DESMOND [laughing] "Do you think I did it on purpose? I was sailing for two and half weeks, bearing due West and making 9 knots. I should have been in Fiji in less than a week. But the first piece of land I saw wasn't Fiji, was it? No. No, it was here -- this, this island. And you know why? Because this is it. This is all there is left. This ocean and this place here. We are stuck in a bloody snowglobe. There's no outside world."

The unusual EM field on the moon causes speeds healing, increases longevity, and affects fetal development. **Psychics (specifically, people attuned to EM fields) can do "psychic things" on the island, like project themselves from different places and times... Jacob is dressed like a guy from at least 100+ years ago, and looks a heck of a lot like John Locke. So let's assume he is a guy from 100+ years ago, either sitting in the same rocking chair or else projecting from somewhere in our world. Being in the past but able to communicate with Ben in the future could permit Jacob to take actions that affect the present. Jacob could set in motion events that steer certain people that Ben has vetted to the island. Jacob would be scared of light and-or EM fields because they facilitate interaction between his world and the island, and allow the situation to become frightening and slip out of his control. Finally, if Locke is the reincarnation of Jacob (or, say, his descendant) that would of course be super-cool.

LOST begins with an opening right eye. in the mirror matter universe containing the island, where particles have right-handedness.
Will it end with an opening left eye back on Earth our universe, where particles have left-handedness or a closing right eye when the island is destroyed?
In the end, this is just a proposal. I owe a great debt to posters on The Fuselage and DarkUFO, who have, at the minimum, given these ideas some resonance and offered amazing and intelligent feedback. I'd love your feedback, positive or negative, specific or general.

92 comments
-I've read many inspiring theories, but I think this one has the best chance of being correct.
-I agree with John. Hands-down the best I've read.
-"Throw some mirror matter in the vicinity of earth and this is what you get." This is brilliant work.
-"I expect this entire thing would be explained with a single shot that transitions from the Earth to the moon (as the Earth dissolves) to the rotating LOST logo superimposed on the moon."
Not to sound overly enthusiastic, but you may have just "ruined" the show with that sentence. Amazing job.
-This study blew my mind, so thanks for connecting the dots dude. It's really good work. Kind of gave me an extra shot of confidence in the show's mythology.
-The second you get to the explanation of the monster is when I believe the theory falls apart. Time and time again the smoke monster has shown itself to have at least some form of rudimentary intelligence, think about when Juliet had the fence turned on and it gave up its pursuit, and that just doesn't seem to mesh with your belief that it's the interaction of non-intelligent light particles.
--MikeNY: Thanks for the criticism. I assume you mean that the monster demonstrates knowledge of the island and the characters. Indeed, the monster explanation is probably the most contradictory to the interpretations that I've come across. So your point is well-appreciated. Why it would be stopped by the sonar fence, makes sense (I think). If the particles interacting with the island's particles can be stopped by the sonic barrier, so should the hypothetical squid on the "other side. wow, well thought out and presented theory *and* uncommonly gracious in response to criticism.
-About the smoke monster having intelligence. Correct me if I'm wrong but would it not too see 'smoky' versions of the characters as some of its light photons reach them (or someway similiar).
Remember Juliet and Kate hiding in the rain from the Smoke Monste flashing at them. IF scientists remotely controlling a deep sea exploring robot found these (albeit weaker) smokey characters (of the islanders)would they not be immensely intrigued by and try and follow and photograph them? If our world could see bits of the mirror world that could explain the apparent intelligence. Ps: Bravo. This is the most explanatory, clever and interesting theory on Lost I've yet seen. Well done!
--MikeNy: Paul, Thanks! You make an excellent point. The island should be visible (maybe smokey, maybe ghostly) through the viewports and cameras, and it should stimulate interest. I'd be surprised if the model is exactly right (or even very close) because so many assumptions are made. Nevertheless, Eko being scanned on Day 50 may have demonstrated just what you're suggesting: a follow-up visit from the same people as on Day 2. 48 days later You can add multiples of 24 days to predict later encounters with the same smoke monster cool.
-There's also what Rousseau said. She's spent over 16 years on this island. She may be crazy, but when she says that the monster is a security system, I'm inclined to believe her. ROVs, submersibles, tiny robots, and bioluminescent fish don't exactly fit the definition of a security system.
--MikeNY: Ironically, the smoke stuff motivated the rest of the theory, but many readers find it to be the weakest part of the explanation. In my conception, the smoke explanation is integral to the theory. It leads to the approximation of the radius of the orbit, as well as the length of the days, clarifies how Naomi's story about the robots could have a semblance of truth, and fits (IMO) really well with the hydrothermal vents. The thing is, in Foot's book, photon—mirror-photon kinetic mixing is given such prominence that I would be surprised if the show involved mirror matter (and so many apparent related Easter eggs) but left out such an obvious way to add a mystery to the show. In other words, if I want to posit that the show is about mirror matter, I think it's only fair to explain the smoke monster in the way that I've tried to.
-Lindelof or Cuse teases about what the monster is..saying that it's pretty SIMPLE, maybe only to annoy viewers, but a squid would definently amount to "pretty simple". But that's one of the best things about the show, it appeals to many aspects of our knowledge, understanding and ideas of the world. yes. The idea of mirror matter seems even more plausible taking into account the writers affection for using actual mirrors, character mirroring, and symbolic mirroring woven into a lot episodes.
-I just watched the Other 48 Days and wonder if maybe in the first few seconds of the episode lies a clue... After the tail crashes and we are underwater, the view comes up and out of the water, only the image is upside down and it looks like the view "falls" out of the water so to speak. Now the logical side of me says they are just showing the effect of disorientation, but with this theory in the back of my mind maybe it's a "clue"?
--MikeNY: That's a great find that I never noticed when I saw the episode. A poster named jane_eris earlier raised what I think it is you're talking about... For a few frames, the island is upside-down. It could represent Ana Lucia's POV as she is upside-down for a moment. But it IS strange, and that explanation isn't very realistic IMO. Still, odds are they flipped the camera for a second. Perhaps it was deliberate, but I think it's hard to say.
-I came across your theory last night, and I think it is a brilliant idea. I had already come to the conclusion that mirror matter has to be essential to the plot, and you added some very thoughtful ideas to that. While I'm not too sure about some of the concepts, I think you've hit on the big point. You should know that there's a poster on alt.tv.lost who has thought for some time that the Losties are inside a hollow earth. Certainly the reflected cityscape [reflected skyline in the water for the season 4 promos] is the perfect analogy for such an "underworld." Your moon theory surprised me.. however, moon fits in perfectly with Apollo, the multitude of rock clues (moon rocks?) and certain plot and dialogue references ("Moonlight Serenade," "I go out walking after midnight, out in the moonlight..."). Prior to reading your theory, I hit upon the idea that Charlie's Driveshaft ring, which reads "DS", actually stands for Dexter Sinister (Latin for right and left). cool. By the way, I think "Portland vs. Starboardland" was an excellent thought, and makes me wonder about the title "Left Behind." coolagain. Recall that Sun also gave Jin a list of English words before he left on the raft, and we hear him struggling with the words "port" and "starboard."

The Economist - Lostpedia
-The Economist is a British magazine that deals with politics & economics, famous for publishing all articles anonymously, the collective voice being valued over an individual's.
-Elsa may be a reference to Ilsa Lund, the tragic female lead in Casablanca, a movie that centers around political intrigue, clandestine love affairs, and a cafe.
-The cafe Sayid and Elsa meet is called "Die Mauer" (the wall) -- a reference to the Berlin Wall.
-The scene where Kate sees Sawyer's shoes walk through the door from under the bed is an iconic scene, mirroring Sawyer's backstory in Season 1 where a young Sawyer sees his father's shoes from under the bed, walking into his room after he shot Sawyer's mother, and sat on the bed to shoot himself. (Juxtaposition)
-After being called "Tubby" by Miles, Hurley says: "Oh awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer."


Lost": Spoiled Bastard.
Sawyer practically proposing to Kate...
K: How long can we play house?
S: Why don't we find out?

'Lost' Dueling Analyses: The Economist - Celebritology
-3:16 on the island and 2:45 on the rocket these are not stating the time of day, right, but rather are measures of the inutes since the launch of the rocket: the rocket's transit took 3min16sec on the island, while the rocket itself was in transit for only 2min45sec.
nah I guess that's not right, since that would mean that *more* time passes on the island while *less* time passes off. and that's backward (well at least as far as the talk, wh all seems to be about time off the island being ahead. so maybe the watches were regular watches giving the time of day (not stopwatches). ok this point is unclear (and I shld have been talking hours: minutes rather than minutes : seconds) The Economist/Theories - Daniel's experiment - Lostpedia: Were the time shown in the clock the times of day, such as 3:16:22pm and 2:45:04 pm, or were they stopwatches, synchronized at the moment of launch? .. posits they were clocks and not stopwatches. We do not have confirmation, and if they are stopwatches it changes things.
-Re: time on/off the island - think of it this way... we, in TV land, have spent 3-4 years watching "Lost" and the plot involving the Losties and the Others and everyone else has only advanced 100 +/- days.
also, the whole thing about Naomi's and Elsa's bracelets. I don't think that it was the same bracelet per se, but identical bracelets given to two members of... what? Abaddon's crew? This obviously makes me think that Naomi and Elsa are linked (they're working for the same person or group), that both of them are bad guys, and that for some reason these bad guys are underlings to something bigger that Ben is trying to destroy.

? (episode) - Lostpedia: Eko then tells Locke that they will go to the question mark, stating that Ana-Lucia told them in his dream to find it. Locke responds with a look of skepticism, to which Eko asks him, 'Have you ever followed a dream?' Later, as the two are arguing about symbols on the map that Locke had copied from memory, Eko steps on a Virgin Mary statue, and the two stumble before the burned plane with the heroin smugglers. Eko asks what made the plane fall and Locke answers that it was 'Boone who made it fall'. He then ads in a nonchalant derisive ~ self-mocking tone that it was 'a sacrifice that the island demanded'.
I skipped to the last few episodes of season 2
so I was wondering how he had become the skeptic to Eko's man-of-faith. , no longer a believer in meaningful dreams and sacrifices that "the island demanded." I figured it was bcs Ben told him the button does not really need to be pushed... and it appears that's right:

John Locke - Lostpedia:
("Lockdown") ... Locke was thrown into a state of self-doubt when Ben claimed that he never pushed the button and that nothing happened, though his faith in the Island's abilities was bolstered a bit with a conversation with Rose, who made it clear that she was also aware of the Island's healing properties.
In "?", Eko had a dream in which Ana-Lucia and his brother Yemi told him to help Locke and to go to the "question mark". Eko asked Locke to help him find Henry, who had escaped. Later in the jungle, he told Locke that they are really in search of the "question mark." Locke refused to tell Eko what the question mark is, so Eko knocked him out with a headbutt. When Locke awoke, he showed Eko his sketch of the blast door map, and Eko decided that they must find the question mark as shown on the map. Then, they arrived at the Beechcraft in which Boone died. Locke mocked his past ideas and implied that he still blames himself for Boone's death.

Lost - Lostpedia:
Lost is the subject of this wiki site, Lostpedia.

All Portals Analysis • Cultural References • Dharma Initiative Members • Episodes ...
.... • Survivors Camp

"This show is about people who are metaphorically lost in their lives, who get on an airplane, and crash on an island, and become physically lost on the planet Earth. And once they are able to metaphorically find themselves in their lives again, they will be able to physically find themselves in the world again. When you look at the entire show, that's what it will look like. That's what it's always been about." - Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, IGN interview, January 16, 2007

Philosophy - Lostpedia #Honorius of Autun:
Honorius Augustodunensis, also known as Honorius of Autun, was a popular Christian theologian and philosopher. His work, De Imagine Mundi, contains a passage that reads:

There lies in the Ocean an island which is called The Lost. In Charm and all kinds of fertility it far surpasses every other land, but it is unknown to men. Now and again it may be found by chance; but if one seeks it, it cannot be found, and therefore it is called The Lost.

• This would explain why attempts to find the island have been unsuccessful; one can only find it "by chance."
• "Charm" is a word that has been used historically to refer to magic and other supernatural phenomena.
• The island would have to "[surpass] every other land" in fertility in order for a previously sterile Jin to conceive with his wife.

[ TV t a t t l e . c o m ]


3 "Lost" episodes cut from this season will roll over to next year
Even though "Lost" producers are condensing this season from 16 to 13 episodes, the three leftover episodes won't be forgotten. "We haven't figured out exactly when we'll put those other three on, but we're not eliminating them from the show," says Carlton Cuse. "You will get those three episodes downstream." PLUS: Damon Lindelof has gladly forgotten about Dharma.

Ausiello:What came out of your meeting with ABC today?
Cuse: Damon [Lindelof] and I are going to try to make five more episodes before the end of May, which is ambitious. But we've found ourselves in a situation where we had eight episodes of story planned, and we're going to try to fit that into five hours of the show. Even though it's going to be very hard to execute, we felt like any less would be doing a disservice to the story we had planned. We really want to give the fans the best possible experience and ending... to Season 4.

Any chance that the first of the five episodes will air the week after that last pre-strike episode — thus eliminating any scheduling gap?
Cuse: No, there's probably going to be four weeks between the airing of the first batch of episodes and our new episodes.
Ok. so I think the situation is: there were 8 'pre-strike' episodes (of wh 2 have aired). then there were going to be 8 more later ~ maybe fall, depending on strike. wh wld complete 16 epis season.
Now, since the strike ended, they are going to rush to make 5 more episodes. so that this run will be 8 + 5 (with just a few weeks imbtw) and that will complete the 4th season, with only 13 episodes.
and then somewhere in the next two seasons, planned to be 16 epis each, there will be an additional 3 episodes:
What will happen to the three "lost" episodes? Will they roll over into next season's 16, or will they vanish forever?
Cuse: Damon and I remain committed to producing the 40 additional hours of the show that we promised. We haven't figured out exactly when we'll put those other three on, but we're not eliminating them from the show. You will get those three episodes downstream.

"Everything I've forgotten about the Dharma Initiative is best left forgotten," Lindelof said. "The good news about time away from the show is that you remember the good stuff. If you've forgotten about it, it's probably best not to be reminded. We're looking forward to executing the resolution of Season 4. Who are all the members of Oceanic 6? What happened to everybody else? What is the secret the Oceanic 6 are keeping and why are they keeping it? And who are these freighter folk?"




Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Writers' strike officially over!
The three-month-old strike came to an end Tuesday night, with writers voting to go back to work after gaining a piece of the digital entertainment pie. "These advances now give us a foothold in the digital age," said WGA president Patric Verrone. "Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet." Added Les Moonves of CBS: "At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry." (Read statements from WGA and AMPTP)

4-2: "Confirmed Dead" 2008.02.07 - TWoP Forums p50:
-Also, my vote on the mystery kid in the photos is Walt. They've covered his growth by making his 'image' taller, but they'd be hard-pressed to explain the actual kid's aging if they were to bring him back in physical form. Michael has already tried to pawn Walt off on his mother in flashback; maybe he did it again.
there we go. that's what I'm talking about. and yes, finale of season 1 Michael at airport calling his mother, I tht again: why does no one think that is Walt in the pictures in his grandmother's house?
...
-As far as who's ultimately responsible for sending the Boaties, I think the Dharma Initiative is defunct... they were wiped out when the Others took over the island. But I also think that Hanso, Widmore, Paik, and Oceanic are all connected, and I think they're the ones trying to find the island so that they can start it up again. (Atropos)

Amazon.com: Lost - The Complete First Season:
An absolutely astonishing debut season,

May 31, 2005

By	Robert Moore (Chicago, IL)

LOST has generated critical praise almost as strong as BUFFY, a core of fans nearly as passionate, but unlike BUFFY managed absolutely stunning ratings. It is one of the few instances in recent television history where what is arguably the best show on TV also managed among the strongest ratings. In fact, LOST would be considered a cult show based on the number of websites that it has inspired and the passion of the fans, except that the ratings instead make it a mainstream hit.
It is almost impossible to acknowledge everything that LOST does well in the space allotted here. Above all else, it is a superbly written show, not merely on an episode by episode basis, but in the way all of the episodes mesh with one another. The continuity is the best that I have seen in a long time. For instance, the first time we see one character in the show, she is rubbing her wrist. Later, we learn that she had been a prisoner of a U. S. Marshall and had obviously gotten rid of her handcuffs just before we first met her. Almost any detail like that will be dealt with at a later date. But the scripts are just as strong on character development, humor, excitement, and adventure.
Structurally, the narrative shifts between the efforts of the survivors to adapt to and understand the island on which they are marooned and flashbacks that explain the personal history of each character. Some people object to this, wishing instead that they focused exclusively on the events on the island, but I think that this is wrong. If you focused merely on the events on the island, it would be only an adventure story right - what I tht it was & so was not int, but through the flashbacks we learn so much about what makes the people tick that the series becomes as much a character study as an adventure.

Lost (Season 3) | ''Lost'': Lingering questions from the finale p3 | Doc Jensen | Entertainment Weekly

LOST: SEASON 1
Introduces the world. Establishes a central conflict between castaway visitors and the Others, the seemingly hostile inhabitants of the Island. Ends with the discovery of The Black Rock, a symbolically loaded landmark that speaks ironically to various deep themes.
PLANET OF THE APES
Introduces the world. Establishes a central conflict between castaway visitors and the Apes, the seemingly hostile inhabitants of the world. Ends with the discovery of the Statue of Liberty, a symbolically loaded landmark that speaks ironically to various deep themes.

LOST: SEASON 2
The dramatic arc of season 1 is revisited and reinterpreted through a separate group of castaways, the Tailies. A subterranean-based culture is discovered, one that blends science, religion, and doomsday weirdness. A character of monumental importance (Desmond) appears at the very beginning, vanishes, and then shows up at the very end to activate a bomb. The season ends with an explosive event that sets the stage for a time-travel story in the next season.
BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES
The dramatic arc of the first film is revisited and reinterpreted through a new group of astronauts. A subterranean-based culture is discovered, one that blends science, religion, and doomsday weirdness. A character of monumental importance (Charlton Heston's Taylor) appears at the very beginning, vanishes, and then shows up at the very end to activate a bomb. The movie ends with an explosive event that destroys the world and sets the stage for a time-travel story in the next movie.

LOST: SEASON 3
A dramatic change of setting and focus: Three castaways — Jack, Kate, and Sawyer — are abducted and relocated to the world of the Others, where they are held against their will in a zoology facility. A time-travel storyline introduces the possibility of a circular framework to the entire saga. The climactic conflict hinges on the future survival of the Others how so?, the ostensible antagonists of the first two seasons.
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES
A dramatic change of setting and focus: Three protagonists — a trio of refugee chimps — travel into the distant past of their ''Others,'' the humans, where they are held against their will in a zoology facility. The time-travel storyline introduces the possibility of a circular framework for the entire saga. The climactic conflict hinges on the future survival of the entire super-sentient simian species, the ostensible antagonists of the first two seasons.

Uncanny, huh?

How Should "Lost" End? - TWoP Forums
p1 Apr07
-Other clues the creators have dropped include saying that people are going to be astonished at the solution to the 'Adam and Eve' skeletons mystery oh good they said that? which suggests to my twitching sci-fi antennae that those skeletons will turn out to be two of the Lostaways. Perhaps all of them will go back in time, found their own society, erect the statue etc., and turn out to be the island-born Others' ancestors. oooh that's good. The series will turn full circle and close with some grace if it turns out to be something like that.

... not yet read imbtw ...

p12-13 (just onto 14 pages currently) Jan08
good fr cmmter Atropos:
At this point, I'm expecting one of two endings.
1) A reprise of the opening scene from "A Tale of Two Cities," with something else (an ocean liner, maybe) crashing or getting ready to crash, and the 815 survivors taking the place of the Others as the older, more mysterious group on the island ("Sawyer, Sayid... infiltrate their camp and find out how much they know. I want lists in 3 days.") ok, good, eerie, possible.
2) An epic 2-hour finale dealing with Jack and Kate's journey back to the island, intercut with flashbacks (possibly moving farther and farther back in time) filling in missing pieces of the island's history nice. last scene or two would deal with them arriving on the island, but some sort of time discrepancy has caused them to show up 50 or 100 years before the crash of Flight 815, possibly even before the arrival of the Others. They shack up together inside the caves, and we realize at the end that "Adam & Eve" are actually Jack & Kate okay, good *(the black and white stones would have to be worked into this scenario somehow, of course, but on that I'm completely clueless, and don't even care to venture a guess...)
I can't lay claim to the "Tale of Two Cities" thing, that was actually in some magazine article I read several months ago that included descriptions of a handful of prospective endings for the series. The second one is more or less mine, though (not that it's all that original, mind you).
I think the heart of the show has always been with Jack and Kate, so it's logical to assume that it would end with them. Darlton have stated on more than one occasion that they represent the "ultimate relationship" on the show, and they even said at one point that Adam and Eve were the most direct clue they've given so far to the show's endgame. They said they had to include those bodies, because otherwise people would accuse them of making things up at the end. huh. well then. I mean, that almost feels like we know. sort of. ok, have to relate the pregnancy problem, the Dharma Initiative's interest...
I think there is going to be a time/time displacement element introduced at some point, but somehow I don't think it's going to be a HUGE facet of the mythology.
--There are plenty of ways that Adam and Eve can be central to the final season of the show without them being Jack and Kate--
Absolutely... I only meant to say that my theory was consistent with Darlton's statements about Adam and Eve, Jack and Kate, etc... not that it was the only theory that was.
Adam and Eve could actually BE Adam and Eve, for all we know. (Now THAT would be an ending).
-Dramatically, to me, it makes the most sense for it to be Jack & Kate. It will be a let down if it's anyone else. It just wouldn't have the same impact. Jack & Kate found Adam & Eve afterall. That's too Full Circle cool to ignore.
*Anyway, didn't Jack pocket the black & white stones that they found on the skeletons? How fucked up is that? The stones are only in FutureJack's pocket because PastJack puts them in HIS pocket after finding them on FutureJack! nice. It boggles the mind!
I hope we get a shot of Jack grabbing the black & white rocks as he leaves home to go back to The Island.


-The island is the earth before humans existed, before humans stripped the earth of its own living self and healing powers. mmm I like it.

...p6 -Didn't we get an explanation about the animals (polar bears, sharks) from the fact that Dharma had a zoology station, and those big bear cages that the Others kept Kate and Sawyer in? That's one of the mystery resolutions I was actually fine with.
..p7 -A storm hits the island, and the Losties see a ship off the coast, heading their way. They get all excited... RESCUE ! The ship veers off to the south, they run towards it, and as they see it being carried by massive waves towards land, Hurley says something like "are those sails ?", and the last shot is Sawyer making out the words on the side of the ship... H.M.S. BLACK ROCK.

Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine : Lost
covers season 3 (& end of season 2)

Nov06: Let's kill more people on "Lost." In this order.
..The Tailies. I think one of them is left. Hey, thanks for stealing Season 2.
..Jin. No we did not just kill off all the People of Color. Sayid stays.
Everybody else can stay. Charlie's funny most of the time. Locke and Jack are the two forces driving "Lost." Ben remains an enigma we need to see. Sayid still rocks - and is quite literally the rock of the show. Desmond is another great character. You can't kill Hurley. You just can't. So let's pare the cast down, cut the flashbacks and turn this mother out.

"Are You Kidding Me?": Lost
That's the quote from Charlie when Vincent the dog brings him the Virgin Mary of Heroin. yeah. (and TiG's caption on pic: The first one is always free.)

Lost: Didn't See That Coming
May o6 - so don't know if it's an intentional echo or not back to Hurley season 1 reacting to Sun's "Stop it! Leave him alone!" Charlie: "You speak English?" Hurley: "Didn't see that coming."

'Lost' Dueling Analyses: Confirmed Dead - Celebritology:
-Lost is as much 'mystery novel' as it is science-ficiton, fantasy and drama. so, the reference to Lewis could be a red herring, which is ultimately the fun part of reading mystery novels and watching Lost in the first place. i think lost is much more connected to reality than the traditional sci-fi, parallel universe explanations. they're not going to cop out in a Dallas-dream-sequence sort of solution (which is what saying it's parallel universe does). the series will try to figure out a resolution to the 'man of science vs. man of faith' dilemma which became the guiding force of the show at the beginning of season 2. there won't be an entirely logical, reality-based explantion for the mysteries of the series, but the explanations won't be entirely sci-fi, fantasy either (we'll find out that both Locke mystical and Jack logical were wrong).

-How about this? The island as the biblical Eden. Humans were banished and the Island hidden, but people have managed, through a mix of accident and technology to "find" it again. Obviously there would be various factions driving to harness its unique powers, preserve it's hidden nature, or destroy it as an unacceptable challenge to human free will. I think unlikely as an answer, but int.
--Of all the crackpot theories for the overarching explanation of 'Lost' (they're all dead, they're in a parallel universe, they're stuck in a time loop, etc., etc.), yours is the first one that seems actually plausible to me. hmm. well there was Adam & Eve. but anyth else that specifically ties in with, suggests Biblical Eden?

-Another Locke as Jesus thought--Sawyer had a very "Doubting Thomas"-like moment when he wouldn't believe Locke was shot until Locke/Jesus showed him the actual wounds. Of course, in the Bible, this scene took place after Jesus had been resurrected. Which could be more fodder for the theory that Locke is dead, or was dead.
-Maybe the reason Locke's walking around with a bullet wound is the same reason he's WALKING around to begin with? nice. when he first gets up after the crash, epis 1, that's his resurrection.

-I think both Locke and Ben had a look of real surprise that Hurley knew about the cabin, and possibly could see Jacob. As Ben demonstrated when he mocked John when he at first couldn't see or communicate with Jacob, only "the chosen" get to see Jacob... probably goes for the cabin, too. right.
-Note the power shift towards Hurley; when Locke is telling Sawyer not to execute Ben, Sawyer and Hurley exchange a look and Hurley clearly nods to Sawyer, effectively saying let it go.

-Personally, I don't think the submerged plane is a plant. I think the producers and writers are into a divergent timeline idea, as per the Charlie jumps in the pool/Charlie doesn't jump in the pool idea hmm? what pool?, and the Flight 815 that was discovered at the bottom of the ocean was another version of the castaways' plane, one that went down under different circumstances and which was piloted by the Jimmy Buffet-guy. ah int. In which case he was looking at his own submerged corpse on TV, and maybe that's why he had such a strong feeling that wasn't the guy the newscasters thought it was? Because I gotta admit, I had the same reservations about the wedding-ring clue as the guy on the other end of the phone. heh.

-Faraday's trepidation with his environment and fascination with the light you mentioned above. He seems either to not trust the island environment or to be surprised to find it, well, livable.

-Question: what is Miles' connection to Oceanic 815? For the other 3, we see in the flashbacks either an unexplained emotional response to the discovery (Faraday), an obsession with the discovery (Lewis), or actual connection/knowledge of the flight (Pilot). I don't recall the crash coming up during the Miles flashback... did I miss it?
- Miles I'm not sure about, maybe him finding African drug money
-The problem with the Miles/Ana Lucia connection is that Miles ups the ghost busting price because he learned the woman's grandson was MURDERED, not shot by a cop. That said, I agree there has to be some prior connection for Miles with the Island, as it is with the rest of the rescue team.
-if there's a connection between the ghost that Miles spoke to and any of castaways
how come no one wonders if dead boy is related to Michael & Walt? ah here go:
-Here are some of my thoughts on the episode: (1) Michael is the mole on the freightor -that explains his name on the credit plus the myriad of interviews indicating that he is returning to the show; (2) Charlotte is Annie - bulletproof vest; hunting for Dharma relics; familiarity with the island; lack of fear when falling into the pool of water after releasing herself from the tree (is this the same pool where Kate and Sawyer swam in the first season) because she'd swam there as a child?; (3) The pilot who was killed by the smoke monster in the show's pilot was actually the co-pilot; we don't know what happened to the pilot but he is presumably dead (the actor who played the co-pilot was a regular on Alias and is now on Heroes and he is a friend of JJ Abrams) (4) I thought the boys room at the Grandmother's house showed pictures of Walt. Remember, Walt's mom died and who knows what happened (or will happen)to Michael, his father. Walt is truly dead and Miles finally released his spirit.

4-2: "Confirmed Dead" 2008.02.07 - TWoP Forums p43
-And the pictures at Grandma Gardner's house...First shot of the picture, it is in a fancy wide frame. Then after the ghost is exorcised, when we can see the group of pictures, it is in a skinny gold frame (or vice versa, but definitely 2 different frames). Anyone have screencaps? Are we supposed to really pay close attention?
-Before. After. Hmmmm.
-Whoa, that difference between the picture frames is really odd. It it were just a mistake by the set people, the picture would be different too. To keep the picture the same but change the frame is really odd. Perhaps Grandma uses the few moments alone to redecorate the place? Does the time change (the gold frames look more modern) while Myles is up there doing his exorcism, or are we in parallel universes (da dum)? Very weird.
-The surrounding pictures are different as well, I believe.
-It's not just the picture in the middle. It looks like all of the pictures have been rearranged and/or reframed. The picture to our left of the main one is definitely a different picture, and the one above might be the same picture, but it's a different frame. I cannot believe this could be accidental. So what's going on here? Did the ghost change things? Did Miles move from one universe to an almost identical parallel universe?
-I wonder if the change in the picture frames was just meant to be a subtle signal that things have changed at the house. That the grandson is gone now or "confirmed dead." Although I know it's dangerous to say that anything on this show is "just" anything, I do think that sometimes the things we see (perhaps Adam & Eve for example) are there to support the themes of this show as much as the plot. (Like all of the images of eyes opening, or of black and white are thematic elements, rather than plot points.) sure. In any case, I am now pretty sure that the dead kid isn't someone we're supposed to know, that the emphasis on the pictures was because of the changing frames, whatever the meaning.
-I agree. I think it is possible that the kid (and/or the grandmother) may have a connection to someone we know (Henry Gale; Rose; Eko; even Abaddon, perhaps why not Michael & Walt?), but I agree that the point of the scenes seems to be to tell us that something has changed by reason of whatever Miles did.
-I'm starting to think that as well. Usually, if they focus on a random image of someone, it's going to be someone important, but perhaps the important thing is that the frames changed, showing that the room Miles walked into isn't the same room he walked out of, or at least it's not in the same time.

-Someone noted that Miles was listening to a newscast about no survivors of 815 (as were all four of our new arrivals). oh. was he? so he's not an exception. all four were getting the news.

-A few people up thread mentioned the shot of Naomi possibly meaning she is still alive. I don't know. I got the feeling the shot was put in to underline the irony that she was the one who was supposed to save the other four and now she's dead. In a way, it even reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode with the person trying to escape prison by being buried with the last person who died at the prison, and as they wait, they discover that the person they are waiting for is in the coffin with them. Ah, the irony - I love it.
--------------------


...WashPo commenter Quiz Master-I think all the flashbacks we saw were indeed flashbacks. The only one I think we don't know for sure is Miles since there wasn't a TV program or newspaper, etc in the scene mentioning the crash or the discovery of the plane at sea. There was a calendar in the house that said 2004 ok (the Oceanic flight crashed in Sept 2004), so we know it's about the time of the crash, but no definite date. Probably about the same timeframe as when we see the Pilot and Daniel F in their flashbacks. right. the first & last of these 4 scenes had first Daniel and finally the Pilot watching news reports re 815. (& Charlotte had a newspaper Le Journal de Tunisia with the headline *15: Retrouve.) ...we're getting our "New Character Introduction" Episode as usual. Each New Season usually opens with a shot where the viewer can't really at first decipher where we are or what's going on, an unknown perspective (Jack's eye, Desmond in the Hatch, the Others' Book Club, Under the Sea).
...we know that Abaddon was creepily saying that there were no survivors on the island. He was also saying it in such a way that meant that know one was supposed to talk about the fact that there actually WERE survivors on the island, and they both know it. The way he said it, how could ANYONE actually believe he was telling the truth? I think Screwtape at 12:48 had a pretty good post on this. =
--Just thinking aloud, but perhaps Abaddon's intention in repeating the line "there are no survivors of flight 815" was a not-so-subtle communication to Naomi--who is clearly a highly trained mercenary of some sort--that she is to execute the flight's survivors or otherwise see to their elimination?The writers clearly want Abaddon to be perceived as sinister, and perhaps the objectives of Naomi's mission are to 1. locate the island; and 2. eliminate the survivors. Maybe she's a "cleaner" sent to "clean up" (read: kill anyone involved in) botched covert ops?
---what if the someone Kate had to get back to is Abbadon or someone like him: someone the Six had to make a deal with in order to get off the island? In that case, perhaps Kate isn't one of the six because the "Rescuer" wants to keep her--she's essentially the sacrifice that allows the others to be free. This would explain why she wouldn't want to take Jack's call (not supposed to be in contact with him?) and why she was anxious to get back to "him" (to avoid detection for breaking the rules).

-How has no one mentioned THE COW!

just watched Deus ex Machina - 19th epis (in a week?) yes Locke is the best character, my favorite. most fascinating. sad. wry - "they made boxes." (All the Best Cowboys)
Jack reminds me of my brother. he's like a guy from the world I grew up ~ was born into ~ wld have lived in if had not Stopped ~ Locke a man in the world I found myself in.
from the little I've seen, Desmond is the one I'd want to be in love with. fr neither of those worlds. gentle Scot ~
Sawyer's sometimes a kick, Charlie is adorable, Hurley is a sweetheart.
Michael. Walt - love that shrugging gesture: "Why you not helping us?" (to Sawyer). also: "You owe me $75,000" (Hurley: You'll get it.") & I like Vincent, he's a good dog.
Sayid.
Claire is really nice. Kate ~ ... I liked Cassidy.
I was not so int in Sun & Jin but was moved by Sun's flashback about preparing to leave.
all of the flashbacks have been good.
are those, plus Boone & Shannon, all the main characters of season 1? middle sxn survivors.

Outlaws transcript - Lostpedia

CHRISTIAN SHEPARD: Don't let the air conditioning fool you, son. You are here, too. You are suffering. But, don't beat yourself up about it. It's fate. Some people are just supposed to suffer. That's why the Red Sox will never win the damn series. I have a son who's about your age. He's not like me, he does what's in his heart. He's a good man, maybe a great one. Right now, he thinks that I hate him. He thinks I feel betrayed by him. But what I really feel is gratitude, and pride because of what he did to me. What he did for me. It took more courage than I have. There's a pay phone over there. I could pick it up and I could call my son. I could tell him about all this. I could tell him that I love him. One simple phone call and I could fix everything.
SAWYER: Why don't you?
CHRISTIAN SHEPARD: Because I am weak. This business that you have, will it ease your suffering?

JACK: That's why the Sox will never win the series.
SAWYER: What's that?
JACK: Huh?
SAWYER: What'd you just say?
JACK: I said that's why the Red Sox will never win the series.
SAWYER: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
JACK: Just something my father used to say -- went through life knowing that people hated him. Instead of taking responsibility for it, he just put it on fate. Said he was made that way.
SAWYER: Your daddy, he a doctor, too?
JACK: He was. He's dead. Why do you want to know about my father?
SAWYER: No reason.
aw. does sawyer ever tell jack that his father said he was proud of him?

How can Swayer know the name of Jack's Father?? [Archive] - Lost-Forum.com:
Episode 23 Exodus
Sawyer to Jack:
And this guy, Christian, tells me he wishes he had the stones to pick up the phone, call his kid, tell him he's sorry, that he's a better doctor than he'll ever be -- he's proud, and he loves him. I had to take off, but something tells me he never got around to making that call. Small world, huh?
good.

Confirmed Dead - Lostpedia
--For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Confirmed Dead/Theories

Where did the wreckage in the ocean come from?
Why was Daniel so upset when he learned flight 815 had been found? crying in front of tv. yes this is a qstn I have. engages me. (hmm: saw suggstn th women w Daniel was Kate, in a flashfwd ~ wh wld be int, for tough defiant Kate to end up w nervous Dan ~ but, unlikely she wld not oblvs to the news rprt re Ocean 815 and why he was crying)
How were Daniel, Miles, Charlotte, Frank "a headcase, a ghostbuster, an anthropologist, and a drunk" (and Naomi) selected for the operation?
--If the freighter people are Dharma Initiative who avoided the purge, why is 1)Daniel so emotional about the crash, 2) Miles working as a con-man/ghostbuster, 3) Frank calls the Oceanic hotline rather than his Dharma supervisors?
--it looked like the plane wreckage in the ocean was right-side up. The model plane Frank dropped into the aquarium landed upside down. cool. (the little plane landing in the aquarium felt evocative; I'd like to have signif) I think Frank was already questioning the position of the plane in the ocean before video of the pilot appeared on the screen
--chosen because each of them is the most qualified person in the world in dealing with a specific aspect of the island. Frank's obsession with 815 makes him the world's top expert on the subject, and similarly Charlotte is an expert on the Dharma initiative. Miles' psychic powers make him the most suited for dealing with Jacob/island ghosts/the monster. Daniel has a unique intuitive understanding of physics/electromagnetism.

Why are they searching for Ben?
Where did the freighties get a picture of adult Ben if he has been on the island since he was a child? (and where did Naomi get the picture of Penny & Desmond)
Who is Ben's "man on their boat"? *

"Lost": The Spoiled Bastard.:
..Also, what people are on the plane at the bottom of the ocean?
But just for general impressions, I'm all in. Loved it.

-Loved it oh so much, too. My brain is properly scrambled. Most intriguing (after the underwater images of Oceanic 815) ... the girl from the helicopter going to the excavation site in Tunisia finding the remains of a polar bear and a Dharma insignia. Hmmmm. So, they're Dharma people looking for vengeance on Ben for the purge? Or are they not Dharma people, just on hunting expeditions for Dharma sites?
And Daniels is in on it. Naomi's ~boss~ Matthew Abaddon played by Lance Reddick, mostly known for his role as Cedric Daniels on The Wire But The Others have a guy on their ship. In light of the fact that there are only 5 episodes of The Wire left, it blows the mind to think that there are 46 episodes of Lost to go!

*-Ben has a guy on the ship, not The Others. Important distinction, because dollars-to-donuts says it's Michael on that ship. It'll be good to have him back.

4-2: "Confirmed Dead" 2008.02.07 - TWoP Forum p1s
-"I've got a man on their boat." Of course you do, Ben, of course you do.