LT307: Reader Mailbag Time

FLY AWAY

I received this question the other day: How was Kate able to board when she was on probation?

Kate was on probation for 10 years. In less than one year she was then boarding a plane and heading out of the country. That does seem odd, but consider that Ben had Mr. Norton as his lawyer. Not every lawyer is good enough to talk a judge into an exception, but maybe this one is good enough. Also, consider the real-life story of a man who was released from his prison sentence in order to attend a Kansas City Royals baseball game with his brother and father. So it does happen.


STRAIGHT SHOOTER

Another reader asks, “Why didn’t or couldn’t Ben kill Widmore?”

There are a lot of possible answers to this question. They could be each other’s constant. Keep in mind that in a deleted scene Ben flashes to the Tunisia desert and sees himself. I wonder if Ben hasn’t done this mind and physical travel several times and needs a constant. But my favorite explanation is that Leaders of the island can’t be killed. Recall that Ben tells Hurley at the pit that this is where he shot John but that was silly and he should have known that. Leaders can’t be killed.


GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

A faithful reader of TIDBITS writes, “Is LOST really just a game?”

It could be. If it was a single game I would vote for backgammon. There are 15 pieces per team and 24 spaces on the board…flip 24 to 42 and you have a LOST link. You can double down which is what the man on the golf course suggested before Sayid killed him. There are a lot more similarities such as you can only get hit when a piece is along (live together, die alone). Really ponder that last sentence because Goodwin, Ethan, Alex, Eko and many others die when they are alone on the island. Of course my favorite tie-in to backgammon is the Jacoby rule.


LISTEN CAREFULLY

An old-timer (HA) asks, “What about the Whispers…are they important or not? Has anyone figured them out yet?”

People do spend time search for the whispers and then post their best guesses on several websites if you want to read some dialog. Do I think they are important? No, not important. They play some role, but I doubt we will discover many answers to the mysteries in them. The role they likely play is just another confirmation of the fact that people exist in various states and planes of existence. My favorite explanation is that the Whispers are the Survivors whose voice remains from a time loop, but the body isn’t present. It is clear the Whisperers are watching events and communicating between themselves…even if the events don’t fit a particular scene. The better question might be, “Why do the Whispers show up only at critical times? Why wouldn’t they just appear when something mundane is happening like Kate taking a shower?”


NEXT ON TIDBITS

I’m going to try something a little different and hopefully fun to read. I’m calling it, “LOST RETOLD”. It just a fuzzy idea in my head but for now the idea is to retell the LOST saga in chronological order with a twist. Maybe I’ll get one chapter per week out on TIDBITS.

Until next time…


Enjoy,
KC