Wednesday, July 2, 2008

LT102: Hold On A Minute

HURLEY’S EVENTS

When Hurley had his surprise Welcome Home party, his father took him off to the garage to show him the Camaro he had fixed up in Hugo’s absence. Hurley sits in the car and freaks out when he sees the LOST numbers on the car gauges.

But hold on a minute, later we notice that Hurley is driving that Camaro and crashes it before going off to Santa Rosa Mental Hospital for a second time. Did I get the order of events correct? Did Hurley get over his fear of the car? Does anyone really recall somebody at the mental hospital saying, “Welcome back Hugo”? I don’t and that seems a little odd to me.

And consider that Hurley’s rental car in Australia broke down with those Numbers as well. Something tells me Hurley wouldn’t have gotten within ten feet of a second car that had the Numbers.


NAOMI’S EVENTS

When Naomi arrives to the island she is carrying a picture of Penny and Desmond. Later Charlie informs Desmond that Naomi’s freighter is “NOT PENNY’S BOAT”.

But hold on a minute, was Naomi then looking for Desmond? If so, she found him and didn’t really say anything to indicate that her mission was over. Since the picture had two people on it, then could Naomi have really been looking for Penny instead of Des and we just assumed her objective? We assume Charles Widmore gave Naomi the photograph, so was he aware that Des was on his magical island?

Charles Widmore should only know Desmond’s whereabouts due to the race he held – best guess anyway. Or he knew that Penny was searching for him and was sort of tracking her ship and figured where she was, Desmond would be also.


ALL EVENTS

We have already analyzed in previous LOST TIDBITS how Jack’s scenes appear to have a bit of looping involved. So maybe the same holds true for Hurley and Naomi. In this case the flashbacks wouldn’t be a chronological timeline, but a looping timeline. Anyone notice other looping possibilities, just leave a comment and I’ll post it.


LOCKE’S LEGS

The first miracle we witness can be debated. Just surviving a plane crash might have been enough to qualify as a miracle. But if not that, then John Locke’s legs would be the next candidate and that surely qualifies. So, let’s review for a moment…he goes from wheelchair to walking due to a plane crash. That has always can of bothered me.

Even if the crash jarred something back in place, he still would have to go through physical therapy and re-learn how to walk, strengthen his leg muscles and even then probably walk with some sort of noticeable limp.

And also notice how John doesn’t seem to be half as smart before the crash as he is after.

The answer? Nanotechnology. Scientists are saying that the next decade or two will bring about a marriage of humanity and technology like we’ve never seen before. The term “beyond human” is being thrown around.

Any other “improved humans” walking around?

Well, we could begin with Adam and Eve…in concept anyway. Some believe they were created to be immortal until they committed that first sin. That would be the goal of scientists then, “immortality”.

And we have Ethan Rom. His name stands for “Other Man” which pretty much sums things up when you view in light of technology advancements. Or, combine his name with comic books by Marvel from the show and you might end up with a comic book character named “ROM” who was half-human and half-machine.

If you dig around the popular term of human plus machine you will come across the father of Transhumanism is John Desmond Bernal. John, Des, and Bernard? I think Desmond is named after this guy as a clue. This scientist was known for his view that we should push ethics out of the way in order to remake mankind.

Gilamesh is the clue in a crossword puzzle that John was working on. The oldest story known is about the search for immortality.

So what do these clues point to? LOST is a big experiment. Think of Ben dismissing off-handedly when John asks what these stations are for. Ben says something like, “Oh just a bunch of silly experiments.” Maybe Linus doesn’t even realize he is a rat in a maze.

Think of other oddities like Walt’s face on a milk carton. Granted, it was a dream, but the mind still has to be aware of certain facts before it can incorporate them into a dream…right? So, the world knew Walt was on the plane, so why would he be shown as a missing person? It just doesn’t fit right. But what if Walt really did end up missing at some other time?

All these things point to a big experiment. Following is my proposal of events and we get a second answer – how the plane crashed and had survivors with barely a scratch.

The airplane, Flight 815, was a big deep freezer. Maybe the survivors are still asleep in some lab somewhere still and the entire show are their dreams? I’m thinking of the book title, “Do Electric Sheep Dream?” Anyway, most likely they were put into some frozen state and became test subjects. Locke was healed. Rose was healed. Other tweaks were made. And then they woke up the subjects on a beach. Remember that this island has the ability to release gases into the air that seem pretty widespread and effective. Remember that Charlotte and Daniel wanted haz-mat suits on…as did Kelvin Inman.

Well, that’s my guess and I’m sticking to it…until the next LOST TIDBITS.

Enjoy,
KC

Sunday, June 29, 2008

LT101: Games and Other Theories

IT IS ALL A GAME

A few months back, there was an edition of LOST TIDBITS that explained a theory about LOST being a video game – sort of a virtual reality game. It had some interesting concepts, but didn’t quite seal the deal for me.

But I’ve been revisiting the theory again and wonder if it might be better to leave the virtual reality part out and just proclaim LOST is a game.


THE RULES

The game of LOST starts with no rules and the objective is to discover the rules.

Search on “Eleuis”, “Mao”, or “Zendo”. They are all card games based on the same premise. One player makes a secret rule of which card can be played on top of another. Based on inductive reasoning, the players attempt to guess his rule.

These games are all considered to be modeled after the problems faced in real-world scientific methods.

Zendo, in particular, has a twist where Spectators make final decisions to player moves based on the rules. It is similar in that fashion to Dungeon Masters in the popular D&D series.

Perhaps the producers feel they are the Dungeon Masters. Or maybe the island is the DM. Or it could be Locke. The point is that one of the participants is interpreting the rules or discovering the rules as the game is played.

Who can forget Ben’s utterly, “he changed the rules”? Did “he”? Or was just a new rule finally discovered by Ben?


DOUBLE VISION

Here is another theory to wrap around your brain: Twins.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…you’ve heard it before. The book was called “Bad Twin”. We think we’ve spotted a couple of sets of twins as extras.

But this time, I’m not talking double. This time I’m talking single…but two people.

If this theory has merit, then Jack and Christian is the same person.

Jack is real and Christian is not real. Or at least many parts we see on the show are not the real Christian. Dad drinks. But then, so is Jack eventually. Was it Jack who walked in to AA but found it easier to create a persona of his father and have that person walk into the rehab meeting?

Both get fired from the same hospital.

**

And have you noticed how in the flashbacks things seem to be a little contradictory? For example, in Jack’s flashbacks with his father…he seems to be keeping secrets about Sarah in one episode and then in the next he’s wishing Jack a happy life (and a new watch).

As a boy, you get the feeling Jack’s dad believes he won’t be a good doctor and then the next it seems as if he tells Jack he couldn’t hold a candle to his ability.

Or when he is mean, but then sounds like a loving father in an Australian bar with Sawyer.

Or when he tells Jack to give patients some hope, but then gives Jack none in the next interaction.

But it might fit, if you look at these two opposite perceptions as if they were those told entities sitting on each shoulder. You know the ones – devil on one side, angel on the other. Jack is playing both sides out in his mind.

**

Now test this with another survivor: Claire. At one time it seems the psychic one time won’t read her palms to save his life. Then another flashback he reads it. He says stay in Australia, then go to LA. Raise him yourself, but then go ahead with the adoption.

**

The next challenge is figuring out who everyone’s imaginary friend – the other voice in their head.

Mark it down. You heard it here first. The only “real people” on this show are sitting in Santa Rosa Mental Hospital late at night sharing a bottle of whiskey someone snuck in.


JEREMY BENTHAM

Do you think that when Locke leaves the island to visit the Oceanic 6 that he will lose his ability to walk and return to a wheelchair?

Michael might be the answer to this question. The island’s reach seemed far enough to keep him from killing himself by jamming the gun, so it surely is powerful enough to keep Locke/Jeremy walking…if it wants to.


FRINGES

I’ve got some good feelings about the new Bad Robot show, “Fringes”, this fall on FOX. Here is the write-up on episode pilot:

When all the passengers on a plane die, FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates the events and while on the investigation her partner, John Scott, almost dies. A desperate Olivia looks for help and finds Dr. Walter Bishop but he cannot help her because he has been institutionalized. The only way to even question him is with the help of his son Peter.Olivia continues her investigations leading her to Nina Sharp a manipulative executive. Olivia, Peter and Dr. Bishop will begin to discover what really happened on the Flight 627 and begin to uncover a larger truth.


FIND THE ISLAND


We do know when and where Ben went at the time of turning the Dharma Wheel.


The island, I propose, seems to remain the same to those on the island or within its event horizon. But to outsiders, it jumpted 10 months into the future. It can’t be found or accessed for 10 months until time catches up. Does this mean that time is suspended on the island until then? It could be that we see very little of the island next season since everyone is a statue.

When time does catch-up, the spot the island left won’t be the same spot – most likely – because the Earth is constantly spinning and shifting. But the location of the island should be predictable, relative to its starting point, and discoverable.

We have been told the bear was in the Tunisia desert…just like Ben. This is opposite the South Pacific. We really do know the antipode (see previous post) for the island before and after the jump. By the way, the antipode to Portland, Oregon, is the North Pole region.

And maybe Tunisia was made mention only because of the continuing Star War crossovers.

Antipodes as 108 minute time spans with the earth’s rotation puts one of 15 jumping points directly on Sydney, Australia…and the Tunisia desert…

Now this ups an interesting conflict. If the island will not return to the same location, how then did two “time jumps” get two things (Ben and the bear) off the island to the same general location?

I mean the bear wasn’t in the room with Ben. Charlotte seemed to find the very dead bear before the turning of the wheel. This means we had a prior turning of the wheel…by a bear? I’m so confused!

Purists will point out that Ben actually landed in the Sahara Desert. It is so large that it possible they are close enough to be related. Or does the imply two jumps that were close to the same antipode but not precisely?

Consider as well that the bear could be a future event. The series could end with a bear lunging into the Dharma Wheel room as the wheel turns.


SEARCHER NOTES

Penny’s ship searched a radius of 6,000 miles. Here is a visual guide to the search area:



COINCIDENCE?

Coldplay just released a new album with a song called “LOST” on it. The next tract is called, “42”.


ANOTHER UNIVERSE

I’m not sure how a show will handle two Sawyers with the added challenge of being in two universes, but one theory suggests this is precisely what is happening.

Galaxies we discovered had the nickname “floating islands”. It takes a powerful telescope to see another universe and we don’t use lenses to see that far since they distort. We use mirrors. The snow globe analogy is used in science to explain how the various galaxies don’t run into each other. Our galaxy is the Milky Way. Out place in the universe is mapped out on something called the Cosmic Tree.

Islands, mirrors, snow globes, candy bars, and trees…all very heavily played themes on LOST. So the show must be about parallel universes. I’m hope the other me is rich.

Enjoy,
KC