Not Penny's Boat

How did you get this frequency? Penny asks as soon as contact is made. Good question, and while we're asking about frequencies, who exactly is she talking to on that particular frequency? Could it be the fellows in the arctic station we saw briefly at the end of season two?

Were Greta and Bonnie monitoring Penny's conversation with the arctic boys? How would the girls know what frequency Penny was on?

Especially since the transmission seems to have originated from Penny's end. I also noticed that as soon as Charlie pressed the button for the incoming transmission, Penny immediently became aware of Charlie being in contact. This sort of rules out Greta and Bonnie spying on Penny without her knowing about it.

Whew, did that make sense? I suspect something fishy here. The Looking Glass Ladies clearly were up to something more than just jamming Mikhail's signals.

Speaking of signals, everytime I saw Naomi's SAT phone, it appeared to be trying to broadcast a signal from just outside Portland.



























Hmmmmm.

Just a coincidence, or are we more than six hours off course here? We are definitely not near Fiji.

Okay, I'm not gonna go into the whole underwater hatch that can block satellite signals thing here cause it does make for good television, but throw us a bone here D&C, tell us what else the Looking Glass is. I am dying to know since my favorite hatch, The Swan is now just a smoking hole in the ground.

And why do all the good looking girls keep getting killed off of this show? Geez, I liked Bonnie, it's a shame she couldn't of stuck around for a season or so.













So now Penny knows Desmond is on an island because Charlie told her so. Well, at least that's how it appears.

My Theory: I have long suspected Penny as knowing more and being more than we have been led to believe. I think Penny is the Cobra, rewatch "Razzle Dazzle" to understand what I mean by Cobra here.

Her showing up at the monastary at just the right time and Brother Campbell firing Desmond right when Penny shows up. Here is an excerpt from their dialogue.

PENNY: And how do you know so much about monks?

DESMOND: Cause I'm an ex-monk.

PENNY: Really?

DESMOND: As of last night. I was fired.

[Penny laughs again]

DESMOND: Ah, it wasn't that funny.

PENNY: I'm sorry I never I, I didn't know monks could be fired.

DESMOND: Oh they can. You know I was told under no uncertain terms that the abbey wasn't where I was meant to end up. Just a, step along a path. You know, God allegedly has bigger plans for me.

PENNY: Something tells me you don't entirely believe that.

DESMOND: I suggest that's because I don't.

PENNY: Well maybe they're right. I mean, just think, if you hadn't have got fired, we wouldn't have met, and then, how could you possibly help me unload these crates in Carlisle.

DESMOND: Did I say I was coming to Carlisle with you?

PENNY: Not yet.

Not Yet, Huh? did she know something here? I think she is in cahoots with Brother Campbell and Ms, Hawking. I think she is behind the effort to find the island, and I don't just mean using the boys in the arctic listening station. I think it might be Penny's boat.

Ah well, it's just a theory.

Power To The People

In the beginning of "The Empire Strikes Back" it only took a glance at the screen showing the shield generators for Lord Vader to know where the Rebel base was. He understood the importance of generating power.

Without a viable power source, this would just be a primative jungle isle, like Gilligan's Island. Our version of the professor, Sayid, would be stringing lines between coconuts for walkie-talkies. But that is not the case here, oh no not on "mystery - frickin' island", (if I can borrow a phrase from the late Shannon).

If anything, this island has an abundance of power. One of the first things I thought of when the losties finally got inside the Swan hatch in season two was - WOW, where does the electricity come from? I mean, every time they discovered a new station, there were plenty of monitors, computers and other gadgets that I figured they must have a pretty good electrical grid going on this island.

Initially I thought there was a giant generator humming along inside that 6 foot thick concrete wall of the Swan, but once that imploded there still seemed to be plenty of juice at the other stations still. So, that rules out the Swan as the power source.

I've Got The Power

Now as an electrician in a former life, brotha, I know a little something about moving electrons down a wire. They have the two main elements on this island to produce almost unlimited sustainable electricity. They have an abundance of magnetic material from which to manufacture generators (at least the rotors and stators, the steel they would have to import).
There is also a volcano on the island, and although dormant, probably still has some heat available. Either a geo - thermal vent or drill down to the lava bed and use the heat to create a steam plant to drive the generator. There seems to be an ocean full of water available to use.

So it is easy to understand how they are producing the juice to power the flame and the looking glass. But where is this power plant located? If not in the Swan, where? Sayid had a map showing where the DHARMA relays ran, why wouldn't he follow the wires to the source?
On the Blast Door Map was a notation that asked "Why so many DharmaTEL relays in such an untenable location?" A good question. I suspect there is yet another Station (Station 8) that has yet to be discovered. Maybe the "Power Station"?

Of course it could be a couple of giant hamsters on wheels they keep in their secret underground Lair...

So just what exactly are they doing with all this power they are making?

In the Swan there was a button, when you pressed the button you saved the world. but how? When Desmond didn't get back to the hatch to press the button in time, a large magnetic field captured Flight 815 and pulled it apart over the island. Was the purpose of the Swan to control a magnetic flux capacitor?

It was somehow linked to the time travel that Desmond experienced, yet would that have happened only by turning the key, or would it have happened if he allowed the Swan to continue to melt down?

There was a great movie years ago called "The Philadelphia Experiment" about the Navy using a giant magnetic field generator to make ships invisible. The USS Eldridge was the test ship and it did sort of Phase out for a second and become invisible, but caused death and destruction to the crew. Check it out, it's a cool movie.

Even though apparently the island was somehow hidden from the world long before DHARMA got there and built the Swan. So it's not the same experiment, but still had to be a very real reason for pressing the button.




I thought it was interesting that these symbols came up that TPTB described as saying "UNDERWORLD" , what the hell does that mean? and if this Station melts down, then how come there are other symbols that appear besides the numbers?



What do these symbols mean? Is there only one meaning to a meltdown? or can something else happen here?




I can understand the numbers on the flip wheel as they are involved in the countdown sequence, it's just the other symbols that don't make any sense to be there. Unless they have another meaning.



So many questions, and I don't think we're gonna get the answers. Since the Swan is gone and the show is going to focus on "DEFEND THE ISLAND" drama, I've got a feeling the show is going to start moving away from the mysteries and become more action oriented. Guns, Outsiders, Drama, Action, Shooting, Chases etc. I can already hear the network executives screaming "we want more action and less talk" to Damon and Carlton.

Personally I really want to know more about DHARMA's work in the Swan. I was really intrigued by the whole numbers mystery. I suspect I will be disappointed and let down and LOST will turn into "Prison Break".

Can you tell I really liked Season 2? In all of Season 3 did the Swan station even get mentioned once?




Big smoking hole in the ground, end of a cool storyline. They had a whole season to tell us the effects of the sky turning purple and what did we learn? NOTHING. So there you are. Tonights post doesn't even have a theory. Just file this one under Ramblings of a LOST mind. Some of these things were just kicking around the back of my mind for a while and I needed to see it printed to see if any of it made any sense.



Don't get me wrong, I really am excited about the new season and can't wait, but I fear that the show will be taking a turn in a new direction. More off island stuff, more action, less mystery.

Namaste,
hatchling23

S-4 Prediction

"Dude, Now that you've killed the guy who was your entire reason for living, and got payback on Tom for shooting you on the raft, what are you gonna do?"

"Well Staypuff, I been thinking about that. I think I 'm going to Disneyland."

"Seriously Dude, aren't you, like gonna stick around for the next three seasons?"

"Nah, now that the shows gonna get all dramatic and serious, I can't use my snappy nicknames anymore or even call Kate Freckles."

"Bummer, Man"

"Well, now that they added about 20 new faces to the cast, they gotta free up some cash and that means they gotta dump one of us, and since you're the comic relief, you get to stay."

"So, Like, how long you gonna stick around?"

"Just until the boat people land and I kill a couple redshirts, then I'm outta here."

"Sorry, Dude."

"Yea, as my buddy Frank Duckett said, "It all comes back around""

The Orchid

First we hear the all too familiar whispers, then: "Welcome to Station 6 of the Dharma Initiative. Station 6 or The Orchid is not a botanical research unit." That's how it starts, just another orientation film, except instead of Dr. Marvin Candle or Mark Wickmund, we get Edgar Halliwax. But wait there's more.
"The field you have elected to study is highly volatile and potentially dangerous." Really, something on LOST island could be dangerous? Huh!
If you haven't seen this video, you need to, it's a real clue into: Dharma, Experiments, Time Travel, Twins and of course white bunnies. Not that they need any help to multiply. Here's the link: http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Orchid














We see as Halliwax as he is speaking to the camera, a glass beaker falls off a ledge behind him and another bunny suddenly appears on the shelf where the glass beaker sat.

Here is a snippet of the conversation between Halliwax and his off screen assistant.
Halliwax - what the hell? OH GOD!
Asst - it's 15
Halliwax - Don't let them near each other!
Halliwax - When did you set the shift?
Asst - negative 20
Halliwax - How Long?
Asst - 9 minutes, but we're still learning.

Learning about what I'd like to know. "Set the shift" implies a device or a machine with some measure of controls. It also implies a time or space shift. Since the bunny appeared unexpectedly and in an unusual place, I'll wager that the second bunny 15 came from either 9 minutes in the future or 9 minutes in the past. That is why Halliwax was so freaked out over the two bunnies not getting too close to each other or coming into contact.

He also mentions the "Casimir Effect". Another interesting bit of physics. Instead of my trying to explain it, since I barely understand the concept, I'm going to crib the info from Wikipedia, (don't give any grief here, It's a blog, not a doctoral thesis, I can plagerize if I want to).

Casimir effect and wormholes

The Casimir effect is an outcome of quantum field theory, which states that all of the various fundamental fields, such as the electromagnetic field, must be quantized at each and every point in space.
Exotic matter with negative energy density is required to stabilize a wormhole. Morris, Thorne and Yurtsever pointed out that the quantum mechanics of the Casimir effect can be used to produce a locally mass-negative region of space-time, and suggested that negative effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel.

Now where on the island is there a source of electromagnetism? Hmmmm...












What's in a Name?

The Station is named as The Orchid by Edgar Halliwax, yet he is wearing a lab coat with The Swan station logo. Is this a clue? I did a little research...
It seems that the man known as the Father of Orchid Classification, John Lindley, who lived and worked in the early 1800's, discovered and named many of the Orchid variations. Wouldn't you know that one of them was named the 'Swan Orchid', Cycnoches Lindl. Probably just a coincidence, Huh? I gotta give it to these writers, they do read a lot.

Here are some quick snippits of images seen in the video:









Gerald De Groot












Man on bicycle riding around barracks.

Dharma Headquarters?





My Theory:

I think the Orchid was attached to the Swan station, as evidenced by the blast door map. There is a section that clearly was attached to the Swan and is shown as cut off with a big X through it.

The incident probably occured here. I think Dr. Candle was caught in one of his experiments or used himself as a test subject and out of the box popped Mark Wickmund, maybe on a second try out popped Edgar Halliwax. Maybe Wickmund tried to touch Candle and lost his arm and killed Candle in the process.

Clearly they were experimenting with trying to stabilize a wormhole. Something went horribly wrong and they had to put a cap on the magnet. maybe the wormhole opens every 108 minutes unless it is discharged somehow, thus the computer in the swan. When Desmond turned the key he closed the wormhole but got sucked inside first and sent back to 1986 for a brief time.

Jacob plays into this somehow, maybe a product of a bad experiment, maybe he is still in the wormhole and can only phase in occasionally, maybe this is where the voices (whispers) are coming from.

I can't wait to read your theories on this.

Namaste
hatchling23

There and Back Again

One of the enduring mysteries concerns the comings and goings from LOST island. We've seen plenty of evidence that it is indeed possible to leave and return to the island.

Ahhh, but how?

In Ben's flashback, back in the happy days of the DHARMA initiative's reign on the island, new arrivals were seen walking down the dock and being greeted with Leis and Namastes. We also saw Juliette arrive in the same way, being greeted by Ben upon her arrival. So this is probably the normal way people arrive, although as I stated in an earlier post, I don't believe this is how large equipment arrives.

If there was an airport available, I believe it would have been utilized earlier and also to bring in people. So I am left to assume they had to bring in the heavy equipment some other way. That dock doesn't look long enough and the lagoon deep enough for a Freighter ship so I'm curious to know how those VW vans got there.

The Arrow station, supposedly the storage facility, was not located near an airstrip or dock. not very convenient for transportation purposes. I don't really think we've seen all of the Arrow station anyway, I think there is more there than meets the eye. Horace Goodspeed had the Arrow station patch on his overalls and he was a "Mathemetician", so it's unlikely he was working in shipping and receiving.

When Juliette was questioned by Sawyer about what they were constructing on the Hydra Island, Juliette jokingly said it was "for the aliens", and obvious joke on Sawyer's line in "Live Together, Die Alone" when he joked with Kate about the others being aliens. But then Juliette said they were building an airstrip.

Hmmmm....

How is it possible for an airplane to fly to this hidden island? Wouldn't the electromagnetic anomaly affect the aircraft and it's navigation system. If not why wouldn't they have built on much sooner, say back in the DHARMA days? Curious because the PRD's (periodic supply drops) were still taking place and the pallets in the jungle had obvious parachutes lying next to them. This would indicate an airdrop.

Let's change directions for a moment, 108 degrees.

We know Ethan and Richard were off the island in order to recruit Juliette. We later saw them on the island .(this is all after the Purge took place) so we know that Ben and group still can make the round trip. Although after the Purge it seems odd that Richard and Ethan would have access to off island resources (Herarat Aviation).

When Alex asked Ben why he just doesn't let the losties go, he answers; "I can't". Now there is some wiggle room for double meaning there, but I took what he said literally. With the submarine blown up, Ben can't let them go because he can't actually access The Looking Glass Hatch to let the losties go (except maybe one or two people via scuba gear).

Picturing Ben here as Ramses and Jack as Moses: "Let my people go" Yet in the original story, Moses never made it to the promised land and in LOST the first person we see off the island (flash forward) is Jack (Moses).

We know that the others on the island assumed that it was possible or even normal to travel off island. Even though Ben told Juliette it was only an illusion to keep order, there still must have been a way to do it for real. Mikhail fully bought into the illusion as he seemed surprised that Bonnie and Greta weren't on assignment in Canada as Ben had told him (although it would have seemed odd because as communications officer he would have been the one to receive messages from them if they were off the island), and a curious anomaly, Mikhail was told The Looking Glass was flooded by Ben, so where did he think Desmond was going to go?

Changing directions back to 325 degrees again.

One thing puzzling me is the submarine (Galaga). It appears to have three places to dock, The dock where Locke claims to have blown it up, the dock at Hydra station, and the Looking Glass Hatch. Travel to and from the island via submarine is slow and still doesn't explain where it goes to pick up people off island ( and like I said, it still wouldn't be able to bring in heavy equipment). I suppose the heavy equipment could have been air dropped, but I wouldn't want to be standing around when they dropped the cement truck off.

Juliette was given a sedative because as Richard put it "The ride gets a little bumpy". She arrives at an airport to leave and gets off at her destination from a submarine. Hmmmm... Why not give her the sedative right before she gets on the sub? And how did she get on that sub? I believe they put her on the sub at The Looking Glass.

I'll bet Naomi was flying around out there every day for weeks or months before the island came into phase as she flew over. Her group probably knew they were close to the island location, maybe they monitored the Arctic boys phone call to Penny. If so, they would have a plausible cover story to drop in on the island. (oh, we were just looking for Desmond.) Speaking of the Arctic boys, wasn't it interesting that when they picked up the signal from the island it had a direct connection to the Numbers. Look at the screen, pictured.


7418880 is the product of the Numbers:

4 × 8 × 15 × 16 × 23 × 42 = 7418880

7 + 4 + 1 + 8 + 8 + 80 = 108

Hmmmm... 108 again, I sense a theme here.

I think The Looking Glass is the key. Other than just a signal jammer, this station must have a significant purpose. The signal was on autopilot and apparently everyone thought it was flooded, so why were Greta and Bonnie there? Why place it under water? To hide it? The island is already hidden. Maybe under water the electromagnetic interference is diffused? What hid the island before The Looking Glass turned on it's jamming signal? Why didn't anyone triangulate the signal coming from the broadcast tower? I know, I have more questions than answers.


My Theory:
The Looking Glass is the rabbit hole. It is a stable portal to the outside. It is the Time Tunnel. Controlled arrival and departure is via The Looking Glass. People pass through to get on and off the island and this station controls when and where in the time stream they come or go. Sure you can arrive on the island by air and sea (sailboat, slave ship, balloon, airliner, beechcraft, parachute) but these are rare and random occurrences and only during the islands synching into phase with the current dimension or timeline.

Think of the Opening Logo of the show. It is out of focus (phase) and slowly comes into focus (phase) and only for a moment can you see and read it clearly ( access the island) before it goes out of focus (phase).

Whoa, that's out there.

I appreciate all your input on my theory.

I have just started a new job and it's keeping me hopping like a little white rabbit, so I will be updating a little slower than usual until I settle into my new job.

Namaste,
hatchling23

Time After Time

Remember Captain Kirk? If he didn't let poor Edith Keeler die, he would have created a paradox and erased his own future. The Guardian of Forever (pictured here) said: "Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before." This was my early exposure to the concept of TIME TRAVEL. I mean I've watched hundreds of shows since then including The Time Tunnel, various Outer Limit episodes and Quantum Leap just to mention a few, but none captured my imagination like that first time.

I think one of the inherent mysteries of LOST island is Time Travel.

There have been many different clues scattered throughout various episodes that allude to time travel. Many people have also tried to tie this in with alternate dimensions or additional timelines. I believe there is only one timeline. I think it is fluid, in flux and always changing the present. everyone in this reality changes with it without realizing a change has even taken place. They have no fixed point to reference to see a change has taken place because they change with it.

Charlie can't swim, now Charlie is a junior swim champion and nobody objects, because to them the first reality is gone. Something transpired in the stream of time that changed everyones perception. We are television viewers and do have a fixed point of reference, so we remember Charlie saying he can't swim.

I really enjoyed Ray Bradbury's story "A Sound of Thunder" in the context that it illustrates how going back in time and changing one thing creates a ripple effect that alters the future. This is described as the butterfly effect. But this only explains what happens when a change in the past makes ripple changes from that point forward in time ( theoretically then, nothing prior to the event change would be altered ). History up to that point would have remained the same.

This is the concept of Linear time. In this concept time moves only forward.


My Theory

In Lost Island Time, time is not linear, it is "ALWAYS", no beginning and no end, it is Circular.

Imagine the Ourborous, make a change to any part of the circle and the whole circle is affected. Any point in time changes and all time changes to accomodate this. If you are part of the stream you do not realize you change also, as you are always in a state of change.


Fate as a Force

Ms. Hawking was not concerned for the fellow in the red shoes, because he would have died anyway.

If not in the construction accident , then a slip in the shower and a broken neck. In order for the ripple of change to complete the Ouroboros circle, he had to die. Otherwise there would be a bottleneck of change either stored up until he died or it would have flowed backwards, changing the past, somehow, someway he had to die. If the universe couldn't have accomplished his death in the construction accident because of some interference, it would have made a course correction and killed him some other way.

Charlie was only going to cheat death so many times until the universe corrected for him. Every time he cheated death with Desmond's help something in in the circle changed. Perhaps the ripple didn't go in one direction, maybe it went the opposite direction around the circle, affecting his youth before coming back to the spot on the circle we call the present. Thus his youth is changed to make him a swim champion, and everyone else in our reality doesn't know any different.

Time has no beginning and Time has no end. Make any change and that change resonates through all of time, forwards, backwards, all around the circle.

Time and Paradox

Imagine building a time machine, stepping in a going back ten years and killing yourself. If you killed yourself, then how could you have built the time machine ten years later? This is a paradox and could only be possible in Linear time.

In Lost Island Time, you could not build the time machine, or travel through the circle to a point 10 years earlier, because the time stream is in constant flux. that moment you want to go back to doesn't exist, other events have altered the time stream and it updates them constantly. Even if you could go back to that moment 10 years earlier, the mere fact of you arriving there would eliminate the other you, because that other you is now the present you.


This is why Desmond didn't run in to past Desmond in 1996. He simply replaced past Desmond in 1996.

The Novikov self-consistency principle applies (named after Dr. Igor Dmitrievich Novikov, Professor of Astrophysics at Copenhagen University). The principle states that if you travel in time, you cannot act in such a way so as to create a paradox.


Maybe the Captain of Naomi's Boat will be called Novikov?

The whole idea of being enslaved by time and space is because we perceive time as linear. Just as we perceive the universe as finite. Time is endless and events don't necessarily affect things in only one direction in time

Dimensionality

There is still room in my theory for more dimensions, they are not exclusive of time, but go along with the flow of everything else. This might be where Jacob lives, or where the whispers are coming from, I don't know. I'd actually like some reader feedback here so I can formulate my theory on the whispers better ( some future article).

Now my head hurts...

I got started on this by reading an article on EYE M SICK's excellent website. Check out the link to his site on the right in my LOST links. Lots of great theories out there, and I'm sure you have time to read them all between now and January.

Namaste
hatchling23

Mr. Indestructable

We meet this guy for the first time on a black and white TV monitor in the Pearl. My first reaction was, how did Snake Plisskin get on LOST island? Locke's comment, delivered as dry as toast": "Well, I guess he'll be expecting us."

Yep, as Sayid found out the hard way, our crafty russian cyclops was indeed awaiting them. So Mikhail got in the first shot, but it's been all uphill from there for him. First he fights with Sayid inside the Flame station and loses. Then he gets taken prisoner and marched out to the fence where Locke gives him the bums rush into the sonic fence.

A very cool scene indeed with Patchy foaming from the mouth and bleeding from the ears and Oh Yea, stopping to say "thank you" to Locke.

HUH?

Thank you for what? and why was Ms. Klugh so eager to take a bullet back at the flame?

Now I suspect Patchy knew he wasn't gonna die by being tossed into the fence. He was just putting on a show for the tourists. But the next time he shows up is miles and days away within spitting distance of where Naomi parachutes down into the trees. I mean Hurley's flare barely burns out and there comes Patchy scampering out of the jungle all surprised as hell that the losties are there. Hmmm.

Here comes ass whupping number two as Jin lays the Kung Fu law down to the cyclops. I was actually cheering on the edge of my couch as this was happening. Patchy shows he's a bit of a klepto as he tries to five finger the SAT phone but Jin catches up and Patchy decides one time is enough and coughs up the phone.

So the next time our mystery russian shows up he is barrelling into the other's campsite who happen to be on their way to the Temple. Wait a minute, they didn't decide to leave until after Patchy got his brains scrambled at the fence, so how did he know where to find Ben and the gang?

He didn't have a walky, because he obviously hadn't contacted Ben. As soon as Ben lays eyes on him he asks him why he isn't dead.

Now comes ass whupping number three. Oh how delighted I was watching Locke beat the snot out of Mikhail. Yea Baby! Nobody stepped up to help Patchy, even though Ben asked them to.
By the time Ben tells Mikhail to go to the Looking Glass, he appears to be mostly healed from Lockes beatdown.

Next our intrepid island communications man dons his diving gear and goes in search of our hero rock star. What does he find instead? That he's been pawned by Ben all along and his own communications have been jammed. (He also thought Greta and Bonnie were in Canada, that will be a whole other column)

So here it's Desmonds turn to inflict damage on Mikhail. Let's see, maybe a spear through the chest, hey it always worked in Bond movies. They are designed to kill 1200 lb sharks, so you think it would slow down Patchy? no way...

This guy with his chest fully ventilated with an extra airhole and about 90 feet of water pressure above him he manages to swim out to the side of the Looking Glass and sets off a hand grenade, but not before showing it to Charlie and waving goodbye.

This is the Super Soldier Mulder and Scully were looking for all those years ago.

Is it goodbye? I honestly don't think so. It would be a hoot to see Patchy survive again. I want to see more losties kick his ass. I bet Kate or Sun could take him, and Sawyer hasn't had his turn yet.

Let's look at Mikhail for a moment. Was he born on the island? NO. It was clear both from the russian literature scattered around the Flame and from confirmation from TPTB that everything Mikhail said was true except for him being a member of the Dharma initiative. So this means Mikhail was recruited to the island. This rules him out as an island native. So where exactly does he get his super regenerative powers? I Don't Know. He seems to be quite literate and fluent in multiple languages ( he understood Naomi), always a good thing to have in a communications officer. Is he dead? I Doubt It.

Whats my theory? Well, I think the island gave him extraordinary healing powers because at some point he made a sacrifice ( his eye ) to the island. Maybe in the fight with Dharma, I don't know when, but at some point (much like the island gave Desmond foresight) he was chosen.
I think Richard Alpert might also have been chosen, after all he doesn't appear to age. Although this might have been not intended. Mikhail was chosen to defend the island, and until he accomplishes his mission, he will not die.

Universal Course Correction

As reader Cheryl pointed out I was mistaken in my belief that the skeletons in the cave were wearing Dharma uniforms. A quick replay of "House of the Rising Sun" proved the skeletons were guessed by Jack to about 50 years old. Hmmmmm.

Now I would have to say that makes the possibility of these bodies those of Amelia and Fred. Intrepid global aviators of yesteryear. Interesting that the aircraft they flew on their voyage ( Lockheed Electra) was almost identical to the one Eko's brother crashed in. I wonder if the plane was intended for a different purpose and repurposed when the Eko storyline came along?














Was this just a little inside joke by the writers, and we will never know who they were, or will this be a relevant piece of the mythology? Remember they did have the two stones, one black and one white, a recurring theme in this show.

Namaste
hatchling23

Riddle me this, Batman

So much stuff to think about. Does it all count? or are some of these just dead ends?

It's a puzzle, but I can't seem to make the pieces fit together. How does the Jacob piece fit into the Smokey piece. I keep sorting through fragments of items and wondering how they relate to one another.

On a number of occasions we've heard the whispers. I've read the transcripts and it seems as though losties are watching losties, but from a detached point of view.

HUH?

What the hell are these whispers? Is this place haunted? Should we be calling the boys from "Supernatural" over?

All these fan sites are asking is who is Jacob? I want to know What is Jacob! Is this a trapped native? Is it the Island spirit itself? It looks like Locke with a bad wig, but who knows. If Ben can see Jacob clearly, then he would recognize him as Locke, so I don't think that's who it is.
Besides I don't buy into the time loop theory. So many theories suggest time resets or loops and this all happens over and over. Nah, I don't buy it, The Black Pearl oops I mean The Black Rock would keep crashing over and over. I think that by inference from the Others themselves, Jacob must have been on this island before the plane crashed. Remember Ben and Juliette arguing about Jacob healing her sister? That was prior to the 815 crash so how could it be Locke or Jack as some theorize??


Smokey sure is an enigma. I had to laugh out loud the first time I read the nanobot theory. This thing was supposedly created in the 80's? The incident happened in 1984 so they built a sonic fence to keep Smokey out. How would they know that a sonic fence would keep Smokey out? Does anyone seriously think anybody on the planet had nanobot technology in the 1980's? I think maybe Dharma used the 'Virus' as a cover story to keep their folks from wandering around and getting pummeled by Smokey (Cerberus).

When these guys from Naomi's ship come parachuting onto the island, I think Smokey is gonna whup the snot out of 'em.

TPTB have now said that Desmond really did travel back in time to 1996. Hmmmm. Mentally, Spiritually, or Physically? Did he create a new timeline? John Locke was in the Hatch when it imploded, why didn't he go back in time? The picture that Naomi was carrying seems to indicate there was some side effect to Desmond's trip. There have been a number of clues that there is indeed something going on with time or reality changing. I hope these aren't dead ends.

Two skeletons. But wait, they are wearing Dharma uniforms. HUH? I don't think the polar bears dragged them there, and since they had the marbles in their hand these two must have some kind of significance to the story. oooh my head is starting to hurt.

How the hell do all these puzzle pieces fit together?

Feel free to post comments, I'd like to read what you think.


Namaste,
hatchling23

Kudos to the LOST team

There are really three things that take this show from ordinary to the level of extraordinary.


Amazing writing - these guys are able to create a very textured and layered story. And raise the bar almost every week. Sure there are some little sidetracks to the story (Nikki and Paulo) and even a few dead ends (Anna Lucia and Eko) but even then, they manage to tie in enough island mythology to keep the story chugging forward. It's great when we see something in season three that nicely wraps up a question or mystery from season 1. With one exception (Jack's Tatoos, seriously - who cares) We know this is all building to a payoff.




Terrific Acting - Wow, they have the best casting people. I actually loathe Ben, although I think Michael Emerson deserves an EMMY. Elizabeth Mitchell is awesome, The opening scene of "Tale of Two Cities" was one of the best scenes of the year. Likewise when Juliette stared down Smokey at the fence, I was blown away. Terry O'Quinn always seems to give a very believable performance as Locke (my favorite character) and I think Josh Holloway has been perfectly cast as Sawyer. Almost all of the cast has grown into their roles and as an ensemble are the finest cast working today. My only exceptions would be Claire, who must have something coming in a future season, because she hasn't done anything yet, and Daniel Dae Kim, who was so good in "Crusade" and yet hasn't had his own episode to show off here yet.

Solid Production - With few exceptions , this is one of the best produced shows ever. In light of the HD, you tube , freeze frame age, these guys have shown amazing continuity. Anagrams, clues, and props are spot on and believable. They have added everything but the kitchen sink to this island and it still floats. At one time I thought they were winging it, but I'm pretty sure they have devised a master plan and it will work. Just don't pull a Sopranos and it'll all be okay.

I've heard them describe this show as a mosaic, and we only have half the tiles. I've read so many theories about LOST and I haven't seen one I believe yet. I just don't think we have enough pieces yet to put it all together. Every theory I've read leaves out a few things or fills in blanks or makes assumptions (Jacob explanation anyone?). The only thing for sure is that it's not Purgatory.

Namaste
hatchling23

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind.

How could you keep an island hidden?

I've been pondering this thought for some time. Even back in the days of Sail, there would be some intrepid British or Spanish captain who would have stumbled on the island. Besides the Black Rock, there would have to have been other shipwrecks here. The Samoans or Fijians were pretty adept sailors themselves, having found every other little rock sticking up out of the water in such a large ocean ( Easter Island? 1600 miles from anywhere), how could they miss an island that is 8 or more miles long?

Not to mention in today's world, where every square inch of the globe has been flown over, photographed, surveyed and charted to an astonishing degree. Kind of hard to hide an island from a satellite taking thermal or infrared temp photos of the ocean. The island would jump out from the surrounding colder water.

I really puzzled about this when Desmond took the 'Elizabeth' out after he (killed) or knocked out Kelvin (no body) and sailed off from the island on a heading of due west. Now even taking into account the magnetic properties of the island, it is still possible to sail a boat without a compass, especially at night. Sailors have followed the stars for thousands of years and used sextants to plot a course during the day. Desmond was an experienced sailor (why else attempt to sail around the world?) and would be pretty capable of maintaining a due west heading.

So when he wound up back on the island after two and a half weeks, well, let's just say that doesn't make much sense. Desmond said "We're in a bloody snow globe, brutha" was a pretty good line, but not an explanation. Also, what ever happened to that sailboat anyway?

The other thing bothering me is the supply drops. Supposedly they had to be intitiated from the flame as per the "Supply Drop Protocol" as seen on the screen where Locke was sniffing around Mikhael's computer in the Flame.
Is there more than one area where supplies are dropped? Why make the people living in the barracks go all the way to the Swan station drop? I guess the guys in the Swan station would have to make quite a few trips to haul their supplies back to the hatch. And why are they getting supplies in this manner anyway? Is this something that started after the incident? Wasn't there a road that went to the Swan? I think one showed up on Roger Workman's map.

If Dharma were still operational, Why not just drive the supplies out to the Station? The Virus or Sickness you say? well, how about hauling an entire pallet of supplies back to your hatch while wearing a Hazmat suit in a tropical jungle? Sound like fun? you bet. This just doesn't make sense to me either.

There had to be another way to get stuff to the island. Nobody brought VW vans in on a submarine. All the building materials, large appliances and mainframe computers would have had to be brought in by ship. They would have needed Caterpillars to build bunkers and cement trucks to build at least the Swan and the Pearl. You remember that concrete that John Locke said must be 6 feet thick around the magnetic core of the Swan? Well it ain't made out of Quickrete, I can tell you that. There are obvious tunnels running around the island (remember Razzle Dazzle (Expose´), when Paco was stashing his goodies in the crapper?, Ben and Juliette came out of a tunnel and looked up to see the Pearl hatch open).

I liked the way they handled the hidden island thing in King Kong, Shrouded in mist that never changes, shielded from view. But this island has some spectacularly sunny days with unlimited visibility, including stars at night. How exactly could the Looking Glass block a GPS signal to Naomi's SAT phone anyway?

In TTLG when Jack is sitting in his apartment looking all forlorn, surrounded by maps all over the floor, I thought it seemed a little strange that he couldn't figure out where the island is. Come on, as soon as I heard that the numbers were being broadcast from Hurley's friend in the loony bin, I right away thought they were coordinates. No, I'm not some math or numbers geek, it just sounded like Hurley said the numbers were repeating over and over. Why else broadcast a repetitive series of numbers? It sounded like a distress call and what else would you give but your coordinates so you could be rescued? Type these into Google maps and you find a piece of ocean in the South Pacific in a tropical climate that would be perfect place to park an island. 4º 8' 15" / 162º 3' 42"



Speaking of Jack, in his Flash forward he is taking flights over the Pacific every weekend with his 'Golden Pass'. Since the implosion of the Swan station, how exactly does he think an airliner is gonna get sucked down to the island? If it happened at all, wouldn't the place be littered with airliners right now?

Since I'm on a little reality check here...

How could a freighter be only 160 kilometers off shore and the island not show up on radar? I was in the U.S. NAVY and believe me, we could see a one hundred and sixty kilometers away from our ship with on board radar. Especially when you consider Naomi was aboard a helicopter and she said she thought she was over open water ( lets not delve into the absurdity of flying a helicopter at night over open ocean looking for someone).

This is one of the core mysteries of this show. How is the island hidden from view? Here's hoping TPTB have a good explanation and that they give it to us somewhere in the next 48 installments of this incredible show.

Namaste
hatchling23

A Map to LOST Island?

During the course of these three seasons, I have been at times baffled, surprised and sometimes confused, but always entertained. I have never been bored watching LOST. I do in fact sit on the edge of the couch watching and listening for clues, hints, and any kind of giveaway. Sometimes I think I catch something, maybe an anagram or a name, but it usually turns out to be wrong.

I certainly have never seen any show so analyzed and dissected as this one. I for one love getting on the fan sites (thanks DarkUFO and Doc Arzt) and rehashing the show and the many subtle clues thrown in by the writers. Of course this is the lead in to this weeks column.

You see, I'm LOST. I mean I have watched every single episode of season one and two twice. I watched every episode of season three once and will get the DVD's as soon as they come out. But after three seasons and we now know halfway through this journey, I'm still confused.
Is it a show about redemption, time travel, or relationships? or all of these?

One week we're in Shambala and the next we have a catholic priest building a church on the island. I got a real chuckle after the statue with four toes appeared. Suddenly the message boards were speculating it was Atlantis, then Walt's comic was sure proof they were in a snow globe, not to mention all the sidetracks and wild theories spun of in every direction.
I've got to hand it to these writers for keeping us all guessing. It must be hard to inject so many different mythologies and symbolistic references, not to mention they must be about halfway through their book of obscure philosopher names about now.

Visions and Smoke Monsters, Four toed statues and guys who don't die or age, Beechcraft and Black Rocks in the jungle, Hell , I can't even think of all the tangents and blind alleys we've been led down. Trying to sort out all of these references, hints clues and mysteries requires a lot more room than just sketching on the back of the blast door.

This weeks mystery topic is about 'Finales'. After watching the ending of the Sopranos and feeling a really stiffed, I really hope the LOST crew can be a little more creative than that.

I wonder... (insert dream sequence music here)
If this show hadn't been picked up for a second season, how would LOST have finished after just one season? Would we have had the raft kidnapping? Would we have had an explanation for Smokey, who at the time was really just a Tree Shaker? Hmmmmm.

I wonder if the original idea really was Purgatory. Remember "Gary Troup"?, maybe because the audience figured it out so fast, they moved to plan B. I'm getting really cynical in my increasing age. If I'm watching a formula cop show and I recognize the rehashed storyline, sometimes I'll blurt out what is in the next scene (my kids always ask "how did you know that") because in Hollywood there really are no new ideas. Just the same ol' same ol' in a shiny new wrapper. LOST however, is unpredictable, and I like that. I have been burned recently with a number of shows that I bought into, invested an hour a week getting to know characters and following a good plot line only to have my show yanked after one season, and without a good wrap up. Firefly, Crusade, Surface, and Threshold were all yanked after just getting interesting. At least the bastards who axed Firefly had the good sense to finish it off with a great movie (Serenity). In fact it should be a prerequsite for any series that has an ongoing story that if they get axed after one season there has to be a movie or at least a good two hour or two part finale that wraps up the damn storyline. I am still chomping at the bit over 'Invasion' which admittedly was real slow with the reveals and the story dragged a bit, but was really building to a terrific mystery. I almost got burned again with 'Jericho' fortunately that show got a reprieve (hopefully one of my many emails to the CBS VP of Programming had some effect) although I did not send any nuts. I have none to spare.

But back to LOST, how would we have experienced all the amazing things we've seen in seasons two and three if this show had ended early? maybe someday, when all is said and done we will find out if they really did have this all mapped out from the beginning or if are really being taken along for a ride, a making it up as we go along type of thing. Because how could Twin Theory, Time Travel, Alternate Timelines, Different Dimensions, Atlantis, The Wizard of OZ, Alice in Wonderland, Shambala, Stephan Hawking and his merry band of Philosophers all fit into one story?

If they pull a Sopranos on us and don't explain the mysteries, eventually they will not be able to get viewers to watch this type of show in the future. Who will waste an hour a week knowing you're getting your chain yanked and this story will stop abruptly. Serial dramas will lose out to more Reality show dreck. Because people do have short attention spans and want resolution. By the end of this episode they want to know who will move on to the next round, or be booted off the island or win the million dollars, not yanked along for thirteen weeks just to have the rug pulled out from underneath them.

So Carlton and Damon, let's hope you really know who the skeletons are and why the statue has only four toes. You can pull a Deus Ex Machina like they did in Star Trek ( you know, make up some B.S. technology ) or you can try to make it believable, but just don't leave us hanging.

Namaste
hatchling23