Liberty's Lost

Dead is Dead

2009-04-13T10:40:00.001-07:00

Well what do you know? Ben does have a human somewhere deep down inside. I think you are right, Andy. He has ‘Mommy issues”. His mother died when he was born, and his father made his life miserable because of it (his father blamed him for her death, as I recall). So now he can’t stand the idea of a baby having its mother killed. Before seeing this episode, I had figured that it was Desmond who beat him up, but I wasn’t sure if he was successful in killing Penny. I was afraid that he needed to get out of the country fast.

I don’t think that it was really Alex that Ben saw, but rather an apparition. She wasn’t acting like herself, and she knew too much of Ben’s plan to kill Locke. I think it was the Smoke monster trying to get through to him. Of course, that raises the question about Claire. I have been thinking that she is still alive, having had no reason to believe her dead. But she was not acting herself either. Still, I don’t think she was an apparition of the smoke monster.

The woman who had arrested Sayid didn’t say specifically that she worked for Widmore, just that she was hired by the family of one of the men Sayid killed to bring him to them, and Sayid was killing men who worked for Widmore. More likely, Widmore hired her to make sure that he was on the plane, because he knew of Lockes mission, and he was helping him.

Naturally, Ben was going to tell Locke he knew we would rise from the dead. Ben is a natural liar. Somehow be really believe what he told Sun, that Locke being alive scared the living daylight out of him. I wonder if he will keep his word to Alex/Smoke Monster.

Four more episodes this season. The last one will be two hours.

We now have a new mystery to ponder. “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”

Whatever Happened, Happened

2009-04-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

OK. It’s catch up time. This post should have gone out over a week ago…

In this episode, we are faced with the philosophical question, “If you could go back in time and kill Hitler (or in this case, Ben) when he was a child, would you?” (Sorry for succumbing to Godwin’s law there). Sayid, apparently, says “Yes”. Kate and Juliet say “No”, he is only a child, and not yet ‘evil’. If Jack is to be believed, he is not answering the question, choosing to hide behind the assertion that ‘whatever happened, happened’, and that no decision he makes will change that. This way, he can deny responsibility for Ben surviving, and also avoid the responsibility for killing him. A sort of ‘Have your cake and eat it, too’. Still, I would have to place Jack closer to the “Yes” side. Of course, Jack “IS” responsible, because by not helping Ben, the ‘Others’ helped him, and completed his turn to the dark side.

He’s Our You

2009-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

So the big question is “Is Ben dead?” I don’t believe that he is. I have too much respect for the writers of the show to introduce that big of a paradox. With Ben dead, state of affairs in the present time would cease to exist, at least until the timeline was restored. Ben, Frank, and Sun would not be on the Island. No, I believe that the shot to his chest is not fatal. Ben will be found in the forest, brought back, and treated. And this will end up convincing Ben that Sayid is a born killer, as he stated to him in one of the flashbacks.

As soon as Sayid told Sawyer that he knew why he was there, I think I knew what he was going to do. So I can’t say that I was surprised. But it was pretty surprising that he got the gun and shot him right in the chest. Like I said, somehow, Ben has to survive the shot, so I didn’t expect it to be such a good shot.

The Dharma people are going to be crazy-mad at Sayid. Thinking that he is one of the hostiles, I am sure they are going to break the truce now. Meanwhile, I wonder how long Sayid can hide from both the Dharma people, and the Others. I don’t recall if Sayid and Alpert every met.

Namaste

2009-03-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

Namaste (Sanskrit) is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". - Wikipedia

Everyone is accounted for now. Frank, Sun, and Ben landed with the rest of the planes survivors on the small island, and Jack, Kate, Hurley & Sayid are back in 1977. Despite Sawyer’s thoughtful approach to leadership (one that I am sure comes from being a successful con artist), I think Sayid showing up the way he did will turn out to be more than Sawyer can handle. Too bad, because I think I like Sawyer being in charge rather than Jack.

We saw Ben as a boy. I wasn’t at all surprised by that. The baby, however, turned out to be Ethan. So, either the Others spared him when they took over, or else they abducted him before then, something that we have known them to do on a couple of situations.

Christian is looking more and more real each time we see him. I think we can safely say that he is not a ghost. He seems to have a plan on how to reunite everyone. My guess is that someone (or some two?) is going to have to go back to 1977 to bring them back. How are they going to do that? Turn the wheel again? Meanwhile, what is Locke going to be up to?

LaFleur

2009-03-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

I guess I missed the mark. My assumption that Locke jumped forward in time along with the other islanders was based on the assumption that all the islanders would jump pretty much together, and that Ben was singled out not to join them because the Island rejected him. Also, that Locke did not wake up in a smashed coffin, but standing in the water. However, that does not appear to be the case. It looks like Ben, Locke, and the pilot, Frank, at least, did not jump. As for Sun and Sayid, we still don’t know. Did they jump, and land somewhere separated from Jack, Kate, and Hurley? Or did they crash with the plane. Ben was warned by Mrs. Hawking that if everyone did not return together, the results would be unpredictable. Perhaps Locke will need to leave again, to come back with the rest.

Whatever it was that was killing pregnant women when Juliet was brought to the Island, apparently hasn’t started happening yet. It must have something to do with “the event” that was mentioned in the training film in season 2.

So now Alpert has met with Locke and Sawyer in the past. He sure does keep his secrets, doesn’t he? It appears that he was the others leader in the ‘50’s, and is still their leader in ’74. And yet Widmore claims to have been their leader once, and Ben eventually becomes their leader. And yet Alpert is still around in 2003. I wonder why he is so cool about it. His will be an interesting story, I think…

An observation about timing. When Locke turned the wheel, it sent the rest of his gang back to 1974 (I believe that’s what I heard someone say), and it sent Lock off the Island, and 3 years into his future (although, at the point that he turned the wheel, it was probably thousands of years in to the future, because his friends were looking at the four toed statue). This conveniently catches everyone up, because the Oceanic Six have been off the Island for 3 years, so now everyone with the correct age, relationally.

I usually don’t rewatch the previous weeks episode, but this time I did. And I caught something that I missed last week. When Locke met with Walt, Walt told him of a dream he was having. That Locke was on the Island, in a suit, surrounded by people who wanted to hurt him. At the beginning of the show (after the crash), someone reports to Ceasar that they found a man who no one remembered seeing on the plane, standing in the water, wearing a suit. Sounds ominous.

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

2009-02-27T10:51:00.000-08:00

I am trying to work out some issues with timing, regarding Widmore’s departure from the Island. Ben grew up with the people of the Dharma Initiative, and join the Others as an adult (perhaps around 20?), when he helped them wipe out the Dharma workers. When was that? The ‘70’s? Possibly. That would put Ben in his 50’s? Let’s assume he instigated his coup early on. So Widmore would have been tricked off the Island right after that. Penny would need to have been born right around that time, because I estimate that she is in her 30’s. Then Widmore would need to have risen to the top in the business world. It’s tight, but it fits.

However, I had been assuming that Widmore was working with the Dharma Initiative, which would have meant that he was already off the Island before Ben’s coup. I forget what I was basing this assumption on, but it seemed that he had a number of Dharma connections. Am I wrong about this, or am I just piecing the timeline together wrong? With time travel in the story now, this could be a real tough one to piece together.

Widmore is starting to look like he is less evil than we were being led to believe. If he was associated with Dharma, I am willing to consider that possibility. Of course, I won’t take his word for it just yet. It is quite possible that both sides are evil. Keamy, his henchman, did kill Alex in cold blood. Question is, how much was Keamy acting on his own, hand how much did he have Widmore’s blessing?

Locke changed his mind about trying to get Walt back to the Island. I don’t think he needed to try to get him, as Walt was let go by Ben, and the Island didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

It appeared to me that Ben talked Locke out of suicide because he needed find out how Locke was planning to get everyone back to the Island. Once Locke mentioned Hawking’s name, Ben had what he needed. And he didn’t want Locke around when he got back to the Island, because he wanted to come back as the leader again.

Is the time shifting still going on? Once the plane was in range of the Island, the islanders aboard just disappeared. Of course, with the pilot gone, the plane crashed. I think they went some short time into the future, because when the new survivors found Locke, it appeared that they were already settled in. They had found one of the hatches (the Hyrdra, I believe). Ben is still unconscious, though, so it can’t be too far in the future.

So the time shifting may still be going on. Do they still need to get Aaron back? How about Desmond? And why didn’t Ben disappear, like the rest of them did? Is the Island rejecting him?

I looks like Locke really was dead, and that the Island resurrected him. What does that say about Christian? Is he a ghost, or is he resurrected? He looked pretty solid to me. Before you ask, Andy, not everyone gets resurrected, as we can see by all the dead bodies all over the place. Adam and Eve in the cave (first season), the drug smugglers on the plane, the Dharma people in the ditch, and Ben’s dead father, found in the VW van.

316

2009-02-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

Things are moving quickly, now. When Ben was told that he had 48 hrs (several episodes ago), I was wondering how they were going to drag that out for the rest of the season. Now I see that they didn’t. Most of them are back on the Island now. The Island let them back without Aaron. Is that because Aaron is less important? Or is it a numbers thing, get as many back now as possible, and go after those left behind later? As I mentioned in my sidebar at the right, “Why are they there”, I originally thought that Aaron was important to the Island. However, now I wonder if the psychic just used Aaron to get Claire on the plane, and that Claire is more important than Aaron is.

Speaking of Aaron, the obvious question is, “what did Kate do with Aaron?” But for me, the real question is why she is so mysterious about it? She absolutely did not want to talk about it with Jack. Naturally she would feel guilty about abandoning Aaron. But it seemed to me that she is covering up something. I can’t see why she would be so cagy if she gave Aaron to Claire’s mother. Or her own mother. I can’t think of who else she would have given him to. Did she put him up for adoption? Still doesn’t seem like enough to make her act that way, but maybe. Also, what convinced her to give him up and go back to the Island anyway?

Frank, the pilot, was supposed to be the pilot on flight 815. Now he, too, is going back. Was his flight schedule manipulated by Ben? Or is the Island at work there?

Ben said, when he was about to move the Island, that whoever moves the Island can never come back. And yet he is going back. Probably because he wasn’t the one who was supposed to move it in the first place, but Locke was. But then, that begs the question, why does Locke (or at least, his body) get to go back. If Locke was supposed to be so important to Jacob, or the Island (if they are separate entities), why did the Island want Locke to move the Island and leave?

Some of these questions will likely be answered in this coming episode, as well as why Ben was all beat-up and bloody. He probably was trying to kill Penny, and Desmond beat him up for it. Was he successful?

And, oh yeah, why flight 316? 3 isn't one of the numbers.

I read that this next episode was supposed to air before the last one, but they switched the order because they felt it made more sense, and because it was “cooler”.

This Place is Death

2009-02-17T10:46:00.001-08:00

Jin made a mistake giving his ring to Locke as “Proof” that he is dead. The only thing that the ring could prove is that he made it back to the Island.

And of course, the ring is used to prove that Jin is still alive. And Locke didn’t even have to break his promise. He let Ben do the proving.

Just as I suspected, Faraday’s mother is Mrs. Hawking, the woman who spoke with Desmond about time. Desmond recognized her, but I didn’t see any recognition on her face, so maybe their meeting is in her future. One observation that I would like to make about that: Mrs. Hawking had told Desmond that you can’t change the past. If you prevent someone from dieing one day, they will just die the next. And true enough, Desmond kept saving Charlie’s life, only to have him facing death again. And eventually, Charley did die. But not before turning off the radio jammer, which allowed the boat to come and get the 6 off the Island. And that, therefore, is why they were not supposed to get off the Island. If Charlie had died earlier, like he was supposed to, they never would have gotten off the Island. So Desmond IS different. The rules don’t apply to him (as Faraday said), and he can change the past. But should he?

We saw how Danielle killed the rest of her party. We were told earlier that they were affected by a sickness. Now we saw that they were brought down a hold, and were changed by that. It seemed to be the same hole that Locke was almost brought down. Now I have more questions about that. How does that change them? If Locke had been dragged down the hole, would he have been changed? Why, if Locke is so important to the Island, did it want to pull him down there? Why didn’t it try again later? Is the smoke monster even affiliated with the will of the Island? And why does the smoke monster smash some people, and drag others?

The Little Prince

2009-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

I guess I’m losing a little respect for how good Ben is at manipulating people. First, he completely blew it with Hurley, and then, after getting Jack, Sayid, Sun, Kate & Aaron all in one place, he admitted to Kate that it was he who sent the lawyers to get the maternity test on Aaron. Of course, he may have figured that without Hurly, getting Kate on board would have to wait, but I can’t help but think that he handled that poorly.

I like the way they are using the time jumps to visit various events in the past. This will allow them to nicely tie up several loose strings.

Jughead

2009-02-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

The biggest supprise in this one, I think, is meeting Widmore on the island. That sure does answer a lot of questions, or at least, half answers them. I would still like to know the origin of the Others. They seem to be from civilization, rather than an indigent population, however, at the time 50 years ago, they were already thinking of the Island as 'theirs'.

I just had a thought. If the person who moves the Island can never go back, did Widmore move the Island once?

Alpert gave Locke a compass to show him, as a way of gaining his trust. However, it didn't seem to be enough to get Locke the information he needed on how to get off the Island. Locke did tell Alpert to go and see Locke when he is born in a few years, which we know he did, from the episode 'Cabin Fever' last season. Wasn't one of the items Locke had to choose from as a child, a compass? But he chose the knife instead, disappointing Alpert. I forget, did Locke tell Alpert about his time traveling in private, or was Widmore present also? If Widmore was present, that explains how he knew to send his agent, Abaddon, to check up on Locke as he grew, too. (Remember from 'Cabin Fever', Abaddon was the 'orderly' who convinced Locke to go on a 'walkabout')

Faradays mother seems to be important now. Desmond needs to find her now, so I am left wondering if she is someone we have already met. Faraday is big into time travel. There also happens to be an older woman who is knowledgeable about time travel; the woman, Ms. Hawking, who tells Desmond that the past is the past, and he can't change it. Could Ms. Hawking be Faraday's mother?

What about that hydrogen bomb? How does that play into the story?

Because You Left/The Lie

2009-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Up until, now, we have had strong indications that time travel was going to be a big part of the answer to what is going on with the Island. However, we have not actually had physical time travel before this episode. All we have seen was Desmonds' consciousness bounce back and forth in time. That and a very old polar bear dug up in the Sahara. Things are definitely getting interesting.

The show started with the original Dharma people constructing the Orchid station (in the '70's), where we see Faraday in a construction uniform. Apparently, Faraday has been interested in time travel for quite some time. Do we read anything into the fact that he didn't look any younger? Or are we to assume that the beard is hiding his age?

I am a little confused about how we are to interpret the Islands 'Moving'. From the helicopter, the group escaping the Island clearly saw that the Island had moved. It was no longer there. We also learn the there is a time displacement that went with the move. However, from what I could see, it isn't the Island that is moving through time, but the people. So two things have happened; the people started moving through time and continue to do so at some interval (108 minutes, perhaps), and the Island moved through space, only once, as far as I can tell. Perhaps I am being too anal, but the scientist in me doesn't like that.

After the plane crash, when Ethan shot Locke, Locke must have made some impression on Ethan, because he knew his name. So after 812's crash, when Ethan infiltrated the survivors, why didn't Ethan recognize Locke?

It looks like Sawyer is beginning to take on a leadership role. I wonder how he likes that.

I am happy to see that Alpert is not all-knowing. He tells Locke that then next time he sees him, he will not know him. So Alpert is human. Could time travel be the reason he doesn't seem to age?

In order to stop the Island from bouncing around in time, they must bring everyone back. Does that include Desmond? Will Penny go with him? How about Ben? He supposedly can never return to the Island, and yet is sounded to me like he needs to return, too. If Penny returns with Desmond to the Island, and if Ben returns, will he try to kill her there? Also, I don't know if I believe that Locke is dead...

There's No Place Like Home

2009-01-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

When last we watched, we learned why the Oceanic Six (Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Hugo, and Aaron; well, 5 of the six) have been lying about the plane crash. We also learned that the Island wants them all to come back (or at least, Ben say's that the Island want's them back). It has been appying pressure to Jack and Hurley. Jack seems to be having mental breakdown and emotional issues, along with an alcohol problem. An Hurley has been having 'visitations' from the dead, and is still being haunted by the numbers. I wonder if any of the others have been feeling the pressure to return. Kate, on the other hand, has been told by Claire in a dream, not to bring Aaron back to the Island.

The Island has been moved, so even if they all wanted to go back, they don't know how to get there. And even if they knew 'where' the Island is, they don't know 'when' it is. Although, presumably, if they all got together, the Island would bring them back. They will have to do it soon, though, if they are going to get Locke there with them, as carrying a coffin around is bound to raise some eyebrows.

Sun is getting devious. She used the Oceanic Airlines settlement money to buy a controlling interest in his company because she blames him for Jin's death.

Jack learned that Claire is his half-sister, and Aaron is his nephew. So his inability to be with Kate, because of Aaron, is part of the problem that he is having.

Desmond and Penny are together, but Desmond was not on the plane, so he is not one of the "Six". Ben has sworn to kill Penny, to get revenge on Widmore for having Alex killed (for some reason, that was breaking the rules).

Left on the Island is Sawyer (he swam ashore, after jumping out of the helicopter), Miles (the ghost whisperer), Daniel (the Physisist), Charlotte (the anthropologist), Lock, Claire, Bernard, Rose, Alpert, Juliet and the Others (sans Ben).

Dead are Keamy (the ass-hole mercenary), Micheal, Danielle, Alex, and of course, Charley.

It is not clear whether Jin is dead or not. He was jumping off the boat when the C4 exploded. I don't recall what happened to Frank, the helicopter pilot. Did he die in the helicopter, or was he rescued along with the others by Penny?

So are we ready for Season 5 yet?

Cabin Fever

2008-05-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

My goodness! How old is Richard Alpert, anyway? So he has been watching Locke all his life. One thing that this tells me is that whoever has been manipulating everyone to be on flight 815 knew that it would crash on the island, and that these people would survive.

Matthew Abaddon, the orderly, was also interested in Locke (he advised Locke to go on a 'Walkabout'). Abaddon appears to work for Widmore, so Alpert and Abaddon are not working together (unless Abaddon is a spy, working for the others). With these guys pestering Locke all his life, it's no wonder he thinks he has some destiny.

We also saw that Locke has had a fascination with knifes since he was a child. I wonder which object he was supposed to recognize as belonging to him.

In the cabin, Christian looked pretty darn real to me. I still wonder whether he is really dead. Of course, if he was alive, how could he convince Claire to leave Aaron in the woods like that? As a ghost, perhaps he is manipulating her supernaturally or something...

Am I going to have to go back and figure out whose side each minor character is on now? Alpert is with Jacob, Abaddon is with Widmore(?), Christian Shephard is with Jacob, Libby is with Widmore, Kelvin Inman is with Widmore (Kelvin is the one who taught Sayid to torture, and Desmond to push the button). This is one big chess game between Jacob and Widmore, and I don't know who to root for.

Something Nice Back Home

2008-05-06T18:27:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the late post. I was dealing with family matters this week.

I don't know that I was really too impressed with this episode. We saw Jack together with Kate. We saw Jack's slide into mental and emotional instability. And we saw Jack begin his drug addiction.

The most important thing, in my opinion, in this episode was when Claire saw her father. We have recently been shown that ghosts may be real on this show. Although I don't know why Claire would leave Aaron like that, I think she is ok for now, and that Christian is going to tell her that Jack is her half brother.

When Jack said to Kate that she is not related to Aaron, I think we were meant to think it is ironic, and that Jack doesn't know that he is related. However, I believe that he does know. I think Claire found out from their father, and she told Jack. That would begin to explain why Jack didn't want to see Aaron at first. There was some kind of emotional baggage there.

Now, what is the deal with who raises Aaron? At first, Claire is told that no one but her could raise him. Now that Clair is unable to, we learn that Jack, specifically can not.

The Shape of Things to Come

2008-04-27T15:56:00.001-07:00

Well, we now know that Sayid is working for Ben voluntarily, although I’m sure we all agree, he was manipulated into his volunteering.

Ben was somewhat surprised when he awoke in the Sahara, wearing a winter coat. I wonder how he got there.

I wonder about Ben’s comment that the rules have been changed. Why were there rules? What were the rules? Surely there wasn’t a rule against killing. Perhaps personal attacks (killing Ben’s daughter) was supposed to be against the rules. Were the rules formalized? Did Widmore recognize that there were rules? Or was Ben just assuming the rules? In any case, killing Alex definitely resulted in a change in Ben’s attitude. He is definitely more aggressive in the future. Are we supposed to sympathize with him now?

Widmore said to Ben that the island was his, and that Ben took it away from him. I was assuming that the island belonged to Hanso, and that the Widmore connection was a bit more subtle. Perhaps Widmore has a stronger connection to the Hanso foundation than I thought.

Is the body of the ship’s Doctor another example of time travel, or were the people on the ship lying to them when they said the Doctor was fine?

Meet Kevin Johnson

2008-03-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't think they have done that before. Only one long flashback in the episode. At first I wasn't sure if it was pre- or post-crash, as Michael was in an accident before.

I am a little unsure about the timing, though. Is one month enough time for all that to happen? This is what I was able to put together:

Ben showed Jack a newspaper from the mainland when they first took him hostage. The date was Nov. 29. Michael had just been given a boat before that. So Michael and Walt left about a day or two before that. Desmond called Penny on Dec. 24. So that makes it about 4 weeks for Michael to get Walt home, feel suicidal, recover from the car crash, get on a boat, get out to the area of the island, and wait while Naomi parachutes onto the island, punctures a lung, and heals from that (OK, she healed fast).

I am not surprised that Mr. Friendly told Michael that Widmore put the decoy plane out there. I still don't know if it was Widmore, or Ben.

Ben sure does like lists, doesn't he?

I hope Danielle is not dead. It seemed that she and Alex were somewhat minor characters, but the way they ended the episode, with Karl and Danielle being shot, and Alex not sure if she is in danger, it looks like she may take on some importance soon.

Libby: Ghost, or Michael's guilt? Miles knew Kevin wasn't Michael's real name. Did a ghost tell him? Did I miss any subtle clues?

Ji Yeon

2008-03-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! I didn't see that comming. Both flash-backs and flash-forwards in the same episode, those devious devils.

Did anyone notice the year on Jin's headstone? 2004. It's Dec. 24, 2004 on the island now. So Jin only has a week to live. Provided, that is, that he really is buried there. Maybe he is still on the island, and the world thinks he is dead. But then, Hurley and Sun were talking like he is dead, so...

Andy, about an hour after I read your theory that Michael was the informant on the boat, I saw a picture of him on the boat, with Sayid and Desmond, so I wasn't completely supprized about that.

So it seems that Ben is behind the fake 815 discovery. That makes sense. Since he wouldn't want the island found, the discovery of the plane would stop any continued search for it. Still, blaming Ben would be convenient, and Widmore isn't really trustworthy either, is he?

Did I miss anything?

Some "behind the scenes" stuff... I read something a while ago about this episode. After filming all the Jin & Sun footage, the film was ruined on transport to LA, and so it all had to be re-shot.

TV Guides "Lost" Article

2008-03-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

There is a good article in this weeks TV Guide about Lost. One quote from the article is "Not since Year 1 has ABC's Emmy-winning dram been this consistently thrilling." There is also news about the post-writers strike episodes. "The producers' first order of business was to condense what were supposed to be the season's final eight episodes into what Lindelof calls a 'lean, mean' five. Those installments begin airing April 24". As the 8th episode is schedualed to air March 20, it looks like there will be a month break in our Lost viewing.

Anne, the first part of the article is safe to read, but there are spoiler in the interview portion, so beware.

The Other Woman

2008-03-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I knew immediately when seeing the title that this was about Juliet. However, I thought it referred to Jack/Juliet/Kate. Interesting sidestory which shows us why certain things were done when the plane crashed.

Ben certainly knows how to push Locke's buttons "has the revolution started yet?"...It hadn't, but with Ben out it might.

I still want to know if Claire died or if Kate took Aaron.

Finally, my theory about Ben's source on the boat...Michael.

The Constant

2008-03-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

Wow! This one reminded me of Slaughterhouse Five, or the final episode of Star Trek, the Next Generation. I'm not sure how this fits in to my theory (see my post, Some notes from Season 3) that Desmond will change things in the Looking Glass, but I feel I am on the right track.

Note that the the pilot had to follow special a heading to get back to the ship. Ben also gave Michael a specific heading to get away from the island. Was the heading that he gave Michael the correct heading, or did he give him a false heading. I think he probably gave him a good heading, because if he didn't want Michael and Walt to get away from the island, he wouldn't have needed to give them directions at all. They would never have gotten away from the island on their own.

I like how Desmond finally talks with Penny. She is still searching for him. This is setting up some later developement in a future episode, when Pennys people will possibly show up on the island (maybe next season?).

I wonder about Daniels note in his notebook, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."

Eggtown

2008-02-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took so long to update this. We are really close to releasing our new web site, and I have been working overtime lately.

I got an email from Andy. Some of his comments about this episode were:

One of my big questions was answered last week and another HUGE one was created (how did Kate end up free and why is Aaron off the island when Claire isn't?)

I am puzzled about who could be the remaining Oceanic 6. We know that Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid are the first four. They can't be counting Aaron...can they? I think we're gonna find out Sawyer got off...but that leaves one more. I suppose they could make it be Jin and Sun and leave Sawyer on the island.

Yes, is was nice to have the question about Kate's freedom answered. Aside from that, I can't say that I was much interested in the flashforwards until we learned about Aaron (I must say that I guessed that it was Aaron about 5 seconds before she said his name). Does that mean that Claire dies? And why does Jack not want to see him? Does he feel guilty about Claire's death?

The big question now is the identity of the last two. I am not sure they are counting Aaron, but I don't think we can exclude him. So there are one or two left. If it is one, It may be Sawyer. If two, I am hoping for Sun and Jin. I think Desmond may be getting off the island as well, but since he was not on Oceanic 815, he wouldn't be one of the "6".

We also know now that Ben eventually gets away from Locke, so we may be seeing him pulling of some coup soon.

In the flashback the previous week, Miles was using his ghost whisperer skills to get money hidden by a dead man. Now in this episode, he is extorting Ben for 3.2 million dollars. I wonder what he needs the money for?

The Economist

2008-02-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Some interesting developments in this episode. I don't know what they all mean, though...

What was the significance of the bracelet Sayid took from Naomi?

Interesting experiment with the projectile, and a 30 minute time delay. Anne, it look's like you are on to something with the mixed up time flow around the island. Probably ties in to the fossilized polar bear in the desert. And Desmonds' flashes, too?

What's the deal with Jacob's moving cabin? It moved once before, too. When Hurley was running away from it, and then it was in front of him. I noticed that Locke seemed to have a renewed confidence since his encounter with Walt. But when the cabin was not where he expected it to be, that confidence was shaken, and it showed. Ben piked up on it, too. I'm sure he will exploit it later.

Random thought. The people on the boat are not with Penny's people. I assume they are enemies. The boat people are also enemies of the "Others". Does that mean that Penny is on Ben's side? Or are there three, or more, separate groups.

What is it that Ben has on Sayid, to make him kill for him? I assume that he is holding some people hostage? And did Sayid go back to the island when he got shot, or did Ben leave the island? Something that I figured Ben would never do. And what about Nadia?

Sorry Beck. I haven't got a theory to tie all these questions up yet.

Confirmed Dead

2008-02-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

I must admit, I am a little confused about tonights revelations. From the flashbacks, we know that the new-comers had their suspisions about the fate of flight 815. But Oceanic 815 was not the reason for their mission. And yet they stumble across the survivors while on their unrelated mission? I was out of the room at the time that Naomi was discussing the team members, so I may have missed something there. Did they say why those people where chosen for the mission? Was it because of their convictions of the 815 crash?

An interesting side note. That polar bear skeleton they found in the dessert, with the collar from Dharma on it. How old was that skeleton? It seems time travel might not be such a stretch on this show. Oh yah, and ghosts are real, too, since Miles was talking to them. So maybe that's what Jacob it?

Interesting that Ben didn't know what the monster was. Did he even know that there was one? He didn't seem to know what Locke was talking about (although he is an expert liar).

The Beginning of the End (Season Premier)

2008-01-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hurley said "I'm one of the Oceanic 6". So six of them get off the island. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and 3 others. So the question is, is everyone else dead, or still stranded on the island? If they are still alive, why don't the 6 tell anyone about them?

I was doing some thinking about the last episode. The question about why Jack was so shaken up about the death of someone who was neither friend nor family. I was thinking that perhaps it was someone who Jack believed wasn't supposed to die for some reason. Of course, we now know that Jack and Hurley (and presumably the other 4 as well) are keeping silent about something, and they are feeling guilty. So perhaps the person who died killed himself because of the guilt, and that amplified Jack's guilt.

So if everyone else is dead, what does Hurley need to do to help them? Tell their stories? Go back for them?

Notice that Hurley said about "It" wanting them to go back. I wonder what odd things happen to them after they are rescued. Odder than the things that he would hallucinate, considering that he knows that he hallucinates. I assume that "It" is the island.

I still think it is possible that at the end of the season, after seeing all the problems that result from it, Desmond will flash back to the beginning, and stop Charley from turning off the jamming signal.

Oh, yeah. And why wasn't Kate still wanted by the police. Did she get a pardon for being a survivor?

Any thoughts?

(Later...) I just had another thought (yes, Andy, it did hurt). There was a cover-up about the crash, presumably by Oceanic. They claimed they found the remains of flight 815 on the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps the six were convinced to go along with the cover-up, and not tell the whole story. Which could mean that the rest of the survivors are still on the island, waiting to be rescued.

Season 4 begins Jan. 31

2008-01-20T19:46:00.000-08:00

This season, Lost will be on Thurs. instead of Wed., so plan your weeks accordingly. The trailer looks fantastic. (watch out Anne, the trailer may have spoilers)

The producers of Lost decided to split the last 48 episodes into three seasons of 16 episodes, instead of two seasons of 24 episodes. The reason for this was so they could air each season uninterrupted. However, because of the writers strike, they currently only have 8 episodes of season 4 so far. So it looks like the season will be interruped after all. The question is, will season 4 have a break between the first 8 episodes and the last 8, or will season 4 be 8 episodes?

Lost Reference

2007-10-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Does anyone watch the new show on NBC, "Chuck"? The show is ok, not great. The main character, Chuck, works at a Buy More store (like Best Buy), as as tech nerd (like Geek Squad). An old college friend works for the CIA, and steals all the secrets from the CIA, NSA, etc. and emails them to Chuck in a special "download-straight-to-brain" format. Every now and then, Chuck will see something that triggers a memory. Anyway, in this weeks episode, while rattling of the secrets he has stored in his head, he mentions that "Oceanic flight 815 was shot down by surface-to-air...".

Some notes from Season 3

2007-09-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

In the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes", Desmond appears to travel back in time to before the events on the island. The question is, has he gone back in time, or is he reliving the past in some kind of flash-back? A related question is, does he have “premonitions”, or does he periodically go back in time so that he can make the changes that he has been making?

Desmond’s premonitions appear to have started after the destruction of the Swan station. But if he is merely having premonitions, then the flashbacks in “Flashes Before Your Eyes" are showing us when he first started getting premonitions. His meeting with Charlie on the street while Charlie played the guitar and his recollection of the outcome of the football game on the television in the pub were premonitions and not previous experiences. He did not go back in time. If this is the case, then the destruction of the hatch had nothing to do with his premonitions, he was having them before going to the island. But then why did they seem to be a new ability of his after the destruction of the hatch?

I prefer to believe that when the hatch was destroyed, Desmond was thrown back in time, and has become somehow become “unstuck” in time. He periodically goes back a day or two in time, and relives it.

The reason I feel this is important, is because of Jack’s “flash-forwards” in “Through the Looking Glass”. During Desmond’s flash-back, he is told by a disturbingly knowledgeable shopkeeper, Mrs. Hawking, that he is “not supposed” to marry Penelope. Locke is frequently talking about his destiny, and what is “supposed” to happen. When Jack calls the boat at the end of “Through the Looking Glass”, Locke says that he doesn’t understand, that this was not supposed to happen. Finally, in Jacks flash-forward, he tells Kate that they were not supposed to get off the island, and that they need to go back.

My theory is that after their rescue, Jack and Desmond are going to get together and discuss whether they are supposed to be of the island. Desmond will agree with Jack, and suddenly find himself in the back in the Looking Glass. He will stop Charlie from disabling the signal jammer, thus preventing contact with the rescue boat. This may also have the side effect of preventing Charlie’s death again.

When will this happen? Probably not until the end of season 4.