LT41: Season Three Begins

TALE OF TWO CITIES

Clever editing #1: Opening shot of the close up of an eye…just like the Pilot. Just whose eye was this?

Clever editing #2: Opening scene of somebody going about their day…just like Season 2 with Desmond.

VOLCANO OR METEOR?

When we discover the village on the island it appears that it was built inside a crater. Was the crater caused by an inactive volcano or a meteor falling?

THE PLANE CRASH

It was neat to see this from the Other's perspective and now we know that it was a surprise to them!

Ben (ex-Henry) ordered Goodwin and Ethan to the crash sites to gather names. We can assume the research files started after this event. Remember all the talk about taking just the "good ones", so their research department is pretty quick.

Now this information seems to make the numbers and connections even stranger. I had formed the idea that the Others had orchestrated nearly every move, but it seems that this plane just happened by at the wrong time. This puts Fate in charge instead of the Dharma group. Interesting.

We also learned that the crash was in the daytime…not the evening as many have calculated. Is this a time warp issue?

Another factoid is that Ben gave Ethan and Goodwin three days to come up with the list, yet we know from "The Other 48 Hours" that the tailenders were attacked on the second night…before the lists were due or research could be accomplished to determine who were "good". Are the writers not doing their homework or are we just thinking too much?

DON'T COUNT THE NUMBERS OUT JUST YET

This is a close-up of Jack's crossword puzzle and his pager from Episode 1. Notice the numbers on the pager. Sharp eyes! So, maybe the numbers are still in play here. Or maybe the numbers are fate. Isn't fate what we label something we can't explain? So, maybe the famous formula's numbers – that is held in secret – are the answer to what we call Fate. Remember Charlie wrote the word "FATE" on his taped fingers back in season 1. Hmmm…

MUSIC OF LOST

I liked "Downtown" playing in the opening scene. It is Fate or the Numbers that this song was written by Tony HATCH in real life. Hey, I can't make this stuff up!

When Juliet was selecting some music to listen to, we are shown the CD rack. The only readable label was a CD called "Self Sufficient". We also noticed that she selected Talking Heads CD case, but Petula Clark was the CD inside.

TESTING, ONE, TWO, THREE

Toothpicks were the test. Jack was given sandwiches that Juliet inserted toothpicks into. Carl used a toothpick to pick the lock. The toothpicks are a test and the subjects learn to use what tools are available to them. If they succeed, they are moved up a level. Remember that Sawyer was given a rock that was needed to trip the machine for a fish biscuit. Way to use your head, Sawyer! And fish biscuits! Yummy!

THE NEW HATCH

The Hydra hatch has been found. See the logo in the back. This mythical creature would grow a head back each time one was cut off.

You can catch the logo behind Jack and also see it on the large pipe near Sawyer's cage.

LITERARY REFERENCES

A book club, of course. They were reading Stephen King and our top-notched research department here at Lost Tidbits proclaim it to be a copy of "Carrie". It makes the line from Season 2 so much more sarcastic when Locke gave their prisoner a copy of "The Brothers Karamazov" and Ben said, "Don't suppose you have any Stephen King?" HA!

Some people are suggesting the older lady in the book club is Mrs. DeGroot.

THE SAWYER ESCAPE

Why the heck would Karl tell Sawyer to run the other way? With time to think about it, I wish Sawyer would have started the way Karl suggested and then doubled-back to see what Karl was up to.

Consider that if this was a "test" of some sort for Sawyer, well, the Others sure let themselves take a beating quite a bit. What could worth that much?

Or maybe it wasn't a trap, but just a stupid plan by Karl. By the way, Karl or Carl does not show up on the partial manifest that people have assembled.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Jack was working on a crossword puzzle while waiting in his car. Here are some of the words used:

Necessary EvilsVital statisticsLSATAcesatomHeroesAmebaeEssential Fal____Raft

HEAD GAMES

In case you think that the mind games being played on our survivors is only the product of television writers…then check out this link: http://www.prisonexp.org/

This website discusses an experiment in 1971 at the Stanford Prison. The objective was to learn what happens to good people in an evil place.

THE LOST EXPERIENCE GAME

The Lost Experience has come to an end with a final video from Alvar Hanso himself. As Juliet said on the show – Alvar confirmed that there are two distinct versions of the Dharma Initiative – his and Dr. Mittlewerk's sadistic approach. This could be the last communication ever from Alvar since he suggested he was being held prisoner in his own house by Mittlewerk's henchmen.

Just in time to return to the show and see the "NEW" version of the Dharma Initiative in action. From what has been suggested about this new breed of Valenzetti Formula Freaks…it is going to become very unpleasant for Kate and the whole bunch of passengers from Oceanic Flight 815.

THE SAILBOAT

In the promo for episode two, we learn that Ben didn't know the survivors had a sailboat! Now think this through with me…Desmond crashes on the shore and Kelvin drags him to the hatch where Kelvin says he works for Dharma. Kelvin hides the boat in order to get off this island – he has had enough of the button pushing.

The Others don't know about the boat…Kelvin would never speak of it on camera, so to speak, so we can assume that Kelvin, Radzinsky and Desmond are NOT Others.

Without the knowledge of the sailboat, and no apparent catalyst for the crash…just what were the Others up to in Othersville? What we do know is that they kept the medical hatch running, the Pearl viewing station appears to be used (cigarettes left behind), and "volunteers" in the Swan hatch were required to keep the electromagnet from going off. In short, they were still running these experiments. They had produced a shark and a polar bear. The island security system was still running – including the cloaking device from the outside world.

So, while the Others are clever…they don't know everything. That could come in handy next week when Sayid leads the rescue team. I still think it will be quite the moment when Ben gets to reverse the torture role on Sayid!

Enjoy,
KC