LOST TIDBITS: LT178: Reader Feedback

FROM MY INBOX

In the past week we have received a lot of comments and emails about two topics more than the rest: Jack being the shark and Island Mythology. Being a Saturday and cold outside, it seemed like a good idea to “interact” a bit with some of the reader’s observations.

SHARK SCHOOL

One comment in particular summed up the Jack is a shark tidbit: “If there actually is one [a shark], you're building a pretty good case for who it might be. “

Before I respond, let me point out the reader is Ms. Wendy. She has her own LOST blog which is entitled “It’s About Bunnies!” There is always added attention given to any reader who ponders on LOST in a blog, right?

Ms. Wendy goes on to write, “I keep going back to the whole Cobra/LaShade thing from "Expose", in that there might be a "mole" that has been amongst them all along.”

To do a little follow-up on this…Expose is the TV show within LOST that Nikki was an actress on before her untimely life in a grave (is she dead yet?). The father figure in Expose, Mr. LaShade, is exposed as the bad guy, The Cobra. This revelation is given to the viewers by a character named Corvette (played by Niiki). She was killed for coming to this conclusion. However, unnamed sources tell me that the word “Corvette” will come up again in Season 5. This adds another layer of possibility that Expose was revealing more than the fact that Nikki was an actress. This strengthens the idea that a mole does still exist within the survivors and as you know, by bet is on Jack.

And let’s remind ourselves of Corvette’s catch phrase, “Razzle Dazzle!”. According to the dictionary this phrase means, “Elaborate action or maneuvers designed to deceive an opponent.”

Hurley happens to find the script to the episode on the island where Mr. LaShade is identified as the Cobra. To quote, “this big bad guy" whose identity "has been shrouded in mystery for four seasons". This is Season 5 coming up for LOST. Will the Cobra on the island be a Shark? Is the Cobra a reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve?

My theory is that Jack is the shark, snake, and wolf in sheep’s clothing. Jack is Mr. Woolstein. And this could be why Tom tells Ethan that “Shephard isn’t on the list” because he is under an alias on the list perhaps? After all, Mister LaShade is an anagram of “See Dharma List”. Hmmm…

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Again, thanks for the feedback and be sure to check out her blog, “It’s About Bunnies!”, at http://mswendy.wordpress.com/. You will find, without surprise, a post about rabbits. She explains a correlation between Dr. Marvin Candle holding a rabbit in one Comic Con video to the real Candle (Pierre Change) holding a baby in another Comic Con video. Interesting reading.

ISLAND MYTHOLOGY

Another very popular section was on the Underworld and how the writers of LOST use mythology to create the island’s mythology. It seems that hardly a day passes where my ear or eye doesn’t catch some reference to the Underworld including some movie promo for that Lycen-Vampire trilogy.

One poster writes (edited), “I believe this is mythology too. The Pillars of Hercules are the borders of the known world. They could be on the island. Hera would not allow certain births on her island. Newly deceased went to Hades with Charon. If you could not pay you had to walk the shore 100 years. Heroes returned still alive. What about Echidna and her kids. Zeus let them live to challenge future heroes. They are immortal and ageless. There was a nymph named Echo who spied on Hera. The broken statue was maybe Cerberus. Pithous was a hero freed from Hades by Hercules. The original colony of Hades had another small island nearby. Could it be the Garden of Hesperides ( a distant blessed island)? Hercules killed Antaeus by holding him aloft and crushing with a bear hug. Like Echo. Antaeus was invisible when he touched his mother (earth). One of the levels of the underworld is frozen and is home of the traitors and those who commit fraud. Lots of levels of the underworld. Depends on what you did. What do you think?I know they time travel. Maybe they are protecting the Pillars of Hercules. Dharma found it.”

First, let me reply by suggesting you should send me your research more often! It does seem as if we should take greater notice of the Countdown Clocks message: Underworld.

I do agree with the expanded points made in the post. We have really ignored an important part of the LOST story and that is the temple. For some reason, temples seem to fit nicely with ancient mythology, doesn’t it?

We have heard plenty of references to Apollo and Cerberus, so there is no reason to doubt there isn’t a parallelism. When we stop and think about some of the stories of mythology – like turning oneself into a swan – they seem like fables. But if LOST is using it as a guide then our questions need to start being phrased like, “Who is Zeus?”.

Good stuff…keep the feedback coming.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Tomorrow I’ll share my final piece of the Biscuits and Gravy theory: The Whispers. It’s a little far-fetched. But let’s see what you think about it. It does demand a follow-up and if possible there will be two postings on Sunday…the second being some analysis of Whispers to see if it fits with my theory.