Saturday, February 21, 2009

LT209: Tribute Show

WHERE HAVE I SEEN THAT BEFORE?

This episode was a walk down memory lane in many ways. The opening shot was of Jack’s eye and I swear we’ve seen that before. HA! Then Jack was waking up in the bamboo forest. Bonus points if you yelled out, “He has no scars on his cheek!”

The Numbers were again out in full force and it helps when you have a board full of numbers like this one:

And we see “23” in this photo in the Lamppost Hatch:



Notice the year is 1954 which the year the Jughead bomb was on the island. And the full date is 50 years (minus one day) from the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.

And more circular references were seen with the rabbit:


Hey, isn’t that the company behind Flight 815?


The gate the passengers boarded at was Gate 15. And check out the reading material:


I never knew comic books and flying went together so well. The last time the two were paired we got polar bears on the island. Now it seems this comic is about a plauge!

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Just had a crazy thought. With all these memories being revisited - include the guitar, a US Marshall, etc - was the show also telling us that the way the Oceanic 3 (we hope the rest made it) got zapped to the island...well...could this have been the way the first time too? Yeah, I know we had the fuselage on the beach but what if that wasn't quite the way it worked? We've always thought there were odds things about Jack's opening scene of the show in the pilot.

It just seems odd how they referenced so many things of the original flight. Perhaps Dharma was trying to keep the karma.


ARE YOU LOSING YOUR MEMORY?

The last episode, 316, was like all episodes in that ABC releases official promo pictures to go along with its press release. Here a few from last week’s show:




Do you remember these shots? I don’t think so. There could be a casual explanation for why we never saw these scenes. Being they were official promo shots why would these scenes not be seen? How did the “guy in line” find a seat behind Jack? What is Hurley focused on? Something tells me each Oceanic 6 person was encouraged to get on board. Were family member’s threatened?


MORE DHARMA LOGOS

We were officially introduced to the Lamppost Station. This was revealed on TIDBITS prior with no clue as to its authenticity. And we get another logo:



Remember one of the others was referred to as the Sheriff? She was the one that judged Juliet for her actions and ordered the branding. Seems Dharma has a thing for stars.


NEXT ON TIDBITS

We will delve a little deeper in the next post. The one item of interest to me is why Sayid never spoke when aboard the plane. We’ll ponder that and a few other things soon.

Enjoy,
KC

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

LT208: 316 Initial Thoughts

LIFE AND DEATH

Those are the two words that hang in mind after seeing this episode. I must admit that the preview for next week came on too fast to look away and let's face it, we sort of new "he" was going to live. Which leads us to resurrection themes.


ST. THOMAS

I told the wife about the painting that we had focused on the doubting part. Honestly, the Bible story Ben told doesn't ring a bell on the surface with me. But the line that stands out is, "So that we may die with you."

If only Jack had the faith, but then maybe the painting was about both stories of Saint Thomas.


WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH

The religion themes were running hot and heavy. This heading comes from John 3:16 passage and also was mirrored on John's suicide note.

Hey is there a contradiction since many religions teach that suicide is the one unpardonable sin?

Anyway, the note seemed to be saying that John wishes Jack had believed so that he would never have left the island in the first place. Why are these six people so important?


SHOES

Now the dangling white tennis shoe in the tree branch way back in the Pilot episode seems to come back full circle. And of course, grand dad would be holding on to them for Jack.


CONVENIENCE

Was the show a little too convenient? Part of the fun of this show is getting half hints so that we can unravel them. Ms. Hawking just spelled out the details. Oh, whose kidding who? There is a plenty to explain on how Dharma got this figured out. Why are there plenty of longitude, latitude measurements on the wag? What part does the pendulum have in the science of learning where an object has no absolute position is somehow available in absolute time?


LAUNDRY LIST

As you might have read, LOST was delayed on hour in Ames, Iowa, (I'm close enough for the reference to be made) so it is a bit late, so here are a bunch of random thoughts in my head.

FRANK - I liked the Jimmy Buffett-look better. But for some reason it was great to see him. His line about "So, were not going to Guam" was great?

AIRPLANE - Hurley seems to have wasted his money on those extra seats after all. But then who is flying the plane?

AARON - Let's just not talk about him every again, ok?

HURLEY - Just how did these final six pieces get put into play? Notice, no Desmond.

BEN'S FACE - Uh...no one asks? Something in my gut says he tried to keep his threat he made to Charles Widmore and Desmond stopped him for getting to Penny. Oh, and what's Ben doing going back? I thought he was banned?

KATE - Is she just a little to odd? It doesn't seem like sorrow that I sense, something else. And notice how she turns to pleasures of the flesh when under stress. Why don't I ever meet anyone like that? HA!

SAYID - Ok, we know the woman escorting Sayid is a new character this season. Funny how he is in handcuffs when the last time it was Kate. Sawyer is going to love this twist.

MS. HAWKING - Her performance left me wanting, but when Jack tried to confirm Ben's truthfullness I just loved her answer..."I doubt it".


Last but not least...the show finished strong with the final scene...what looked to be a brand new Dharma VW van with a Jin wearing a freshly pressed Dharma jumpsuit. Nothing like a little music when patrolling the island with a loaded weapon. But it was nice way to finish things off.

You just don't get TV like this anymore.

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Will be back with the in-depth stuff on Friday.

Enjoy,
KC

LT207: Conversation With Readers

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I sense that we may start having a weekly posting entitled “A Conversation with Readers”. Ben is always sending comments back to me and it can make for some good posting to have a dissection of the stuff here. In fact every reader of LOST TIDBITS is encouraged to email me or post a comment at the bottom of each posting with any questions or comments or feedback. We can have a weekly “Conversation with Readers” blog!


First, thanks for the shout-out a few posts ago, I like being acknowledged for stuff.

You are welcome. When you write then we all have more to think about.


SAYID AND BEN

Speaking of, I think you misunderstand Sayid and Ben's relationship...the tension between the two of them was an act to gain Hurley's trust, and perhaps to mislead Jack about their relationship.

This made me thing of Sayid shooting the guy outside the Santa Rosa Mental Hospital. This makes me think Sayid has not left his bad days in the service of Ben behind. But I don’t know if it is an act per se since a) Sayid walked away, b) Jack doesn’t seem to need convincing every since he uttered, “Kate, we have to go back”, and c) the plan to lure Hurley in seems to have failed miserably.


BUDDY HOLLY

The thing about John's b-day and the song...it makes sense that the song is still on the air 3 years after it was made. Hell, it still plays on the air.

Funny thing is that I happened to be re-reading that very post and caught the same thing. So I did some more digging and discovered my mistake. In prior seasons we have seen John’s birthday on documents as May 1956 while the song was released in 1957. My bad.


DANIELLE’S HUSBAND

About Danielle's gun not firing, remember when she first met Sayid, she told him she took out the firing pin? Also, I don't think Smokey took over their bodies, or else Danielle wouldn't have been able to kill him with a shot.

I do recall that Danielle explained her forward thinking now that you point it out. So we can rule out the island not letting the gun fire like it did with Michael.

As for demon possession, let’s call it what it is, not being possible or a bullet wouldn’t have stopped the corporeal body…I’ll agree with you on that. So then what got inside their heads? We can’t even consider a manifestation or we have the same general problem. It almost seems like brain washing is our best choice. And this has some merit considering we have seen brain washing taking place with Karl.


FLAT EARTH


What was your point about the Earth not being flat? How does that have anything to do with Lost? It's like you wrote a History term paper and wanted to post it.

The flat earth was compared to an island, just like our island on LOST. The thing that makes LOST such a great show is that there are deeper levels beyond a 43-minute entertainment value…there is depth that is rarely seen on TV. I’m just trying to explore that.

But I hear you: more LOST and less history lessons.



BEN’S SURPRISE

Nice catch on the Ben reaction to Desmond...I didn't even consider Ben's motivation to kill Penny...I think he's got too many other things on his mind.

I don’t think much gets forgotten in that mind of his. He is probably thinking, “Great, two birds with one stone.”


HURLEY’S TRANSMISSION


Also nice catch on the Hurley recording thing...I'll have to check it out.

Thanks. Be sure to focus on the last two numbers, 23 and 42. If that isn’t Hurley then my name isn’t KC.

Furthermore, think of the implications of this is Hurley was the one to record the original transmission! It sort of takes me back to a theory that has died out where LOST was all in Hurley’s mind. Twist that a little bit with what we know now and it leads us to some strange possibilities!


108 MINUTES


I guess we can kiss goodbye on the flashes being 108 min apart theory...since those two flashes happened one right after the other.

My wife said the same thing with the last episode. Sara, a reader of TIDBITS, and her friend are going to be disappointed. Which reminds me to point out again that a friend of mine thinks it is strange that the people who comment the most on TIDBITS is named Ben, Sara and Michael.

Theory #844 on the flashes…I think I posted this once, but some are curious if the Others aren’t controlling the flashes. They feel that Juliet seems to be talking when it happens like there is some keyword spoken and WHAM, the island moves. Not much support to this theory but then in the history of religion there is a group that believes that God merely spoke and things came to be. Hmmm…


THE BLACK AND WHITE THEORY


You don't have to waste your time with any more black and white stuff, they've got it all on the Lostpedia website.

You sure are a tough critic. But I’m listening. I’ll wrap it up quickly.


LET’S GO DOWN THIS HOLE


I agree that it's incredulous that Rousseau's partners would've gone into the temple.

One thing to consider is how recently the French team had arrived. If we recall back when the Survivors first fell from the sky they seemed to make some rash decisions too until they learned to be a bit more gun-shy. If you re-watch that scene they all stood there with little intention of going in the hole…until their friend called out to them. There is something powerful about a friend asking for help. Plus they were likely suffering from a wee bit of post traumatic stress. I’ll give the writers a pass on this.


CHRISTIAN AND DEMONS


Christian IS creepy...I don't even want to know how he's involved in all this.Any news on them saying anything just before a flash? It seems like as soon as they're in peril, a flash occurs...Is a god or demon controlling the flashes for them?

Nothing confirmed on the Others controlling things with a keyword, but I’m keeping my eyes and ears open.

God or demon controlling things…read my final post on the Black and White theory (coming soon) and you’ll see we are heading in the same direction.


FAMILY TREE


Good idea on Charlotte being Ben and Annie's daughter, but Charlotte would have to be much younger...Ben must've been born in the late 60's, and by appearance, Charlotte late 70's. Charlotte could be Annie's sister maybe?

We know Charlotte is 25 years old as her birthday is July 2, 1979. We know Ben was born somewhere in the 1960’s but no exact date has been offered. That is cutting it a bit close, but could be as much as 19 years apart. Many people have kids before 19 years old. And I only have a gut feeling that in more primitive societies (is Lostville primitive enough to qualify), the child-bearing is usually at a younger age. Plus, the Dharma Initiative wanted people pregnant.

Recall that Ben felt 16 was too young to be “dating” for Alex, but once you are an adult…I’m just saying the window of opportunity was there.

Or maybe…this is going to be wild, so hope you are sitting down…is it possible that these time flashes are “adding time” to life on the island? I mean, is it possible to consider that between say 1984 and 1986 that five years of time passed for the island inhabitants? Remember time is an illusion and owned by the observer, so could it be that time on the island is like double-time? Or would that be half-time?



MICHELLE ASKS…

Do you know where the church Eloise it at is located? Is it in Los Angeles?

The church is located in Los Angeles in the show. This is why Desmond showed up because Mr. Widmore told him to find her in LA. This seems to contradict with the instructions given to Desmond by Daniel, but watchful viewers have pointed out that Los Angles has an area of town known as Oxford. In fact, that investigative report delivered to Sun with the box of chocolates mentions an Oxford City Cab company in LA. So it could have been that Daniel got “cut off” (which happens a lot) before explaining which Oxford. Or it is just another freaky coincidence for the benefit of the show.


NCJL SAYS…

I've heard a few other people say that they think that Thomas is Widmore's son. That makes Aaron a descendent of Christian and Widmore.


How interesting, NCJL! It sort of reminds me of those arranged marriages but in this case an arranged child. Now if they had named the kid Damien, that would have really be spooky.

This would make Aaron 25% Shephard and 25% Widmore. How about that for a family gathering every Thanksgiving?


FINAL WORDS

It is always a pleasure to hear from readers.

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Enjoy,

KC

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

LT206: Words are the Source of Misunderstandings

DOUBTING THOMAS

In the church where Ms. Eloise Hawking is spending her time we can see this painting hanging on the wall:



This painting is entitled, “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas”, and depicts the events of a Bible story. The story is that Thomas missed an appearance of Christ after his resurrection. He told his fellow disciples that didn’t and wouldn’t believe their claims until he could actually touch the wounds Christ later appears and tells Thomas to reach out his hand and touch Him.

One wonders if the painting was selected to emphasis resurrection of John Locke/Jeremy Bentham. Ben’s van contains an anagram of “reincarnation”. Perhaps the suggestion is that Locke is the savior? The Bible story of Doubting Thomas can be found in the Book of John.

This painting was done by Caravaggio and is on display in Germany. Yes, a lot of countries have been mentioned in LOST, but not all. So when we get a repeat hit, it catches my eye.

This painting is part of a three-panel project. The other painting is called, “The Inspiration of Matthew”. We have two Matthews on LOST. One of the minor Other characters and mysterious Matthew Abaddon.

The third panel from the Baroque master is called, “The Sacrifice of Isaac”. Desmond actually mentions this Biblical story when he was preparing to be a monk. The healer near Ayers Rock is named Isaac. And last week Christian defines the word, sacrifice, for Locke.

The writers may be trying to focus us on the name Thomas. You might recall that LOST has a few characters with variations of this name. Tom is the Other who doesn’t enjoy watching Kate shower. Tom is Kate’s childhood friend. But the only formal use of the name Thomas is Claire’s boyfriend and father of Aaron.

Granted this Thomas seems to be a minor character, but let’s not forget his role with Aaron who many still believe will be a major influence. His status in the mythology of the island is elevated when you consider that TWO of his paintings are owned by Charles Widmore. Were you aware of that? Below is a comparison of Thomas’ work in the apartment he once shared with Claire and as seen in Widmore’s office.


The second painting done by Thomas is seen in Widmore’s home. Call me over-analytical, but this elevates Thomas from being a deadbeat dad who doubted his ability and his girlfriend (who happens to be Christian’s daughter) to be an artist whose work is admired by Mr. Meanie himself.

Or maybe the intention was to just introduce the doubting concept. Things are usually quite different then they first appear on LOST. The two people who spend the most time at the church are Ms. Hawking and Ben. So maybe they doubt their plan will work, or doubt each other, or we should have doubts regarding their intentions. Could Ben really be planning to regain the leadership position of the island? Is Eloise consumed with saving her son that she would do anything?


MIRROR IMAGES

This should have been mentioned earlier this week, but better late than never. The Dharma Wheel that Locked turned was accomplished while wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt.


This is a mirror image of Ben’s parka wearing room last season.

What could this imply? Christian scolds John for not being the one to turn the wheel in the first place as he was instructed. This means that Christian wanted John to go down into the cold room. With Ben as the substitute did Christian’s plan get thrown off its axis and now to correct it John has to go into the hot room?

And let’s not overlook the fact that John went down the well mostly because Charlotte mentioned it. Yet, Charlotte is warning everyone to get away from this place of death.

Now you see why this wasn’t mentioned earlier…we’ve got enough questions to deal with!

One last thought…Ben mentions that he can’t return to the island after he turns the wheel. Yet it seems he is preparing to do so. One could argue that he is preparing the Oceanic 6 for return and he might not be joining him, but that just doesn’t seem likely. We also get a sneak peek into the future that John leaves the island and ends up dead. So, if cold is to hot, then dead is to undead. To put it another way, if John leaves and dies from the hot room, then Ben returns and dies to the cold room. Or something like that. And this would ensure Ben is not a liar which seems important to him because what he meant to say is that if he turns the wheel he can’t return to the island ALIVE.


EAT, DRINK AND BE VERY…

Someone wrote a post that I stumbled upon that claims that every single episode of LOST contains a scene which contains a water bottle. Let me restate that, every single episode places FOCUS on a water bottle.

I don’t have the time to re-watch every episode today, but I did do a little digging on the suggestion. The place to start was the episode, The Little Prince, and of course it did include a water bottle. But it was impressive to see how they camera did focus the attention. What I’m trying to describe is how a camera shot will linger or zoom in or some other technique to focus our attention. Here is the shot from The Little Prince:


If you are a long time fan of LOST TIDBITS then you know we have discussed the various types of beverages and how the drinks does appear to be the main focus in the scene. The whole story begins with the stewardess asking if Jack if his drink is alright. Kate is offered seconds on board the flight as well. She actually refused the offer and later mentions that she didn’t pass out like everyone else did.

We have noticed how several beverages are yellowish in color (think Mikhail’s tea and Hurley’s father’s drinks and scotch from Widmore). Water is not yellow, so maybe the combination of color and drink is the clue.

If water bottles are the hint we have had plenty of clues. Boone started the importance when he stole the bottles from the airplane. This led Christian to lead Jack to an alternate water source. I can’t tell if water is the Klugh, er, sorry, clue…or if the bottles are the clue. Any ideas?

Speaking of Boone, this leads me to what people eat. Mostly because The Little Prince brought it back to the forefront, but chocolate is the food group that has my attention now. It links us back to Boone offering Shannon a chocolate bar the day of the crash.

Here are some related and perhaps random things to chew on:

Alice in Wonderland uses food and drink as a literary device in heavy doses.

The food drop and why only once?

Ethan offering Claire a drink from his canteen and she commented it was bitter. Kate mentioned the shower smelled like sulfur. Could the water supply be tainted…like with radioactive waste from a Jughead bomb?

Do drink and food cause people to behave differently or is the sharing of food and drink important? Desmond and Jack share a water bottle at the stadium. Actually, they had their own but it was observed that it appears the bottles got switched!

Hurley and Ben share a chocolate bar.

Kate and Sawyer share an Apollo bar and then see a black horse.

The Blast Door Map mentions heavy water.

Water bottles and generic produced goods like chocolate bars are a mainstay of the military during war and domestic emergencies.

Claire’s baby isn’t moving until she eats the food offered by Jin. Hurley refused the offer.

A common theme of the Underworld is that if you eat or drink there, you stay there. Making a commitment to drink something is very common in a lot of stories where commitment is required like drinking blood in Lost Boys or Legend (by the way if you know those two movies weren’t they great?!).

I entitled this section Eat, Drink and Be Very…because I have no clue as to what the food and beverages leads to. One thing for sure, Merry does not seem to be the appropriate word.

Do you have some theories on the food and drink? Post a comment or send an email if you do.


NEXT ON LOST

We don’t do spoilers here at TIDBITS, but next week’s episode is entitled “316”. I’ve been waiting for this one ever since the Dharma Special Access videos mentioned it. The off-screen marketing of Ajira Airlines includes that embedded frame of a man holding a sign that reads, “John 316”. I just get the feeling that this episode is going to connect some more important dots for us.

For fans within my viewing area, next week’s show is bumped an hour to make room for a basketball game. For TIDBITS readers this means a delayed post of my Initial Thoughts.


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Enjoy,
KC

Monday, February 16, 2009

LT205: The Black and White Theory II

This is a series of posts that examines the black and white theme of LOST. Be sure to look back over the previous titles for each portion of this theory.

THE PREMISE

The Black and White Theory begins with the idea that the science community and the religious community and not being introduced in LOST in order to determine a winner. Instead, these two schools of thought are meant to compliment. If this theory holds any water then we should begin to see how the show is an exposé on the meaning of life. Wow, that sounds like a lofty endeavor for a prime-time TV show even as I write these words, but let’s have some fun exploring the possibilities.

IN THE BEGINNING

The scientific and religious communities have a long history of tug of war. These opposing forces begin their struggle…well…in the beginning. One of the more recognized religious books, The Bible, begins this debate with the story of creation.

Immediately the two communities are out of step with each other. Bible scholars suggest the planet is about 6,000 years old and the scientists generally agree on five billion years old. That is quite the discrepancy and the view any one individual holds is generally an issue of whether one is a man of science or a man of faith.

Out of the gate we have a conflict. But this theory is based not on their opposition to each other, but to the reconciliation.


THE WORLD IS FLAT


Both communities agree that the written language first appeared around 4,000 B.C. The earliest writings indicate that the view at that time was that our planet was flat. Earth was described as being an island that floated on the oceans. Interesting enough, the history of natural science begins with a theory that is reflected on LOST.




The accepted belief was that earth was a flat disc which was covered by a dome where the sun and stars were hung. We see this depicted in the first Orientation film on LOST.



The earliest Mesopotamian writings contain these descriptions and can be considered as scientific evidence of a sort.

Around 1200 B.C. Moses wrote the book of “Genesis” and describes the firmament as the place where God placed the sun and stars. King David repeats this information. Isaiah writes of “God dwelling above the dome of the earth.” One might suggest that the Hebrew language may have been limited in its available terms, but actually the word “disc” and “ball” were both available and in these quoted examples, the author selected “disc”.

In 400 A.D. Saint Augustine wrote, “But as to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth, where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours, that is on no ground credible.” In other words, the official view of the church was that world was flat and to think that the world was round and that mankind has settled on the opposite side of the planet was absurd.

Augustine further wrote, “It is too absurd to say, that some men might have taken ship and traversed the whole wide ocean, and crossed from this side of the world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region are descended from that one first man, Adam.”

Using the most limiting estimate of earth’s existence (Biblical view of 6,000 years) reveals that for the first 4,000 years the scientific and religious communities were in synch with the belief that the world was flat. Without assigning blame, all observable evidence suggested an island to the scientific observer. The religious community embraced the idea because outside the dome provided a convenient place to find heaven and hell.

Even today there exists an organization called the Flat Earth Society who still embraces the world is flat and offers the United Nations logo as proof.


The important thing to notice is that the religious and scientific community agreed even if for different reasons. It is my proposal that when a truth is discovered that both communities will be in agreement. Similarly, I expect the truths about LOST to be realized when both the Man of Science AND the Man of Faith are on the same page. However, it is important to note that the mere agreement by both sides does not mean we have discovered a fact. The flat earth theory is proof of that.

“Why do you find it so hard to believe?”
“Why do you find it so difficult?”


HINDSIGHT IS 20/20

Around 300 B.C. Aristotle was the first to suggest that the earth may indeed be round. It would be years before his suggestion was taken seriously. Aristotle is often recognized for his contributions to logic, but he had an equally important impact on the natural sciences.

**

Before moving on with this topic, it should be pointed out that Aristotle is considered the father of Western philosophy. His works was then advanced by people with very LOST sounding names like John Locke who coined the phrase, “life, liberty and the pursuit of property” (later changed to pursuit of happiness by our founding fathers).



Other students of Aristotle’s philosophies include Rousseau (Danielle) and Edmund Burke (Juliet’s late husband). When Walt is studying his book of birds and trying to get his parent’s attention, Brian and Susan are discussing a client of hers named Berkeley. George Berekley is a follower of Aristotle. Additional proponents of Aristotle include Thomas Hobbes (connection to Locke in LOST) and David Hume (Desmond).

**

The first clue to the scientific community came from the Greeks who advanced sailing. It was simple observation as they noticed that approaching ships revealed the tops of their sails, then the entire sail and finally the ship. This led to a simple conclusion that maybe the earth wasn’t as flat as once thought.

The science community and the religious community were at odds again. However, hindsight reveals that the religious scholars noted that some Hebrew text did use the word for “ball”. Job 26:7 states that God was "hanging the earth upon nothing", rather than a supported flat disc. Religious writings around the time of Moses (and not included in the Bible such as the Book of Enoch) state the earth was round. The Bible did not exclude the possibility of a round earth. It was the church leaders who focused on isolated texts.


CONCLUSION

Hindsight then reveals that the original flat earth theory was wrong. But over time, both the scientific and religious communities fell back into agreement. I offer this as evidence that eventually the two competing sides do and will compliment and confirm each other. I further suggest this is the underlying message of LOST.

My Black and White Theory is that Locke, our man of faith, and Jack, our man of science will reconcile their views and discover the truth meaning of life on their island and our world.

In the next series of my Black and White Theory we will explore more of the scientific side of the show. My hope is these posts will strengthen the proposal that the black and white theme was introduced as the first theme of LOST for a reason.

**

Jack shows Kate the wound, and she grimaces.

JACK: Look, I'd do it myself, I'm a doctor, but I just can't reach it.

KATE: You want me to sew that up?

JACK: It's just like the drapes, same thing.

KATE: No, with the drapes I used a sewing machine.

JACK: No, you can do this. I'm telling you…if you wouldn't mind.

KATE: Of course I will.

Kate picks up a little sewing kit.

KATE: Any color preference?

JACK: [laughing] No. Standard black.




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Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

Sunday, February 15, 2009

LT204: Que Sera, Sera

WHATEVER WILL BE, WILL BE

Daniel suggested that one can’t change the past. But that doesn’t keep him from trying. We observe his first attempt in sending a dream message to Desmond from pre-crash 2004. And we learn that he attempted to keep Charlotte around a little longer by giving her some advice back when the Dharma Initiative was in full force.

But was we learned Daniel is correct. One can’t rearrange their past. The question remains whether now one can pre-determine their future? The possibility seems to exist as even Daniel quips to Locke, “We’re beyond science here”.

Something tells me that Charlotte might not be a complete lost cause. Or maybe I’ve been watching too much of Heroes where no one seems to die.

Speaking of Charlotte…a couple of posts back it was suggested that Charlotte might be Annie who offered Ben a chocolate candy bar. In hindsight, I want to retract that suggestion since the age difference just doesn’t match up since Charlotte seems much younger than Ben. However, I can now throw out there that Ben and Annie had a child…named Charlotte…whose mother often told her not to eat chocolate before dinner like she did as a child with her friend and future husband, Benjamin Linus. Remember the line, “I can’t remember my mother’s maiden name.” Hmmm….


THE FUTURE’S NOT OURS TO SEE

If I were editing, one future that would have made a great cliffhanger would have been to end the last episode with Sawyer holding that rope leaving us all to wonder what became of Locke!


It would have left us time to debate and would have made a great opening for the next episode. But hey, they didn’t ask me.

Speaking of being blind-sided…did you notice Ben’s reaction when Desmond walked up to the church where Ms. Hawking was lighting candles? I’m not sure what to make of Ben’s expression, but it could be one of these thoughts were running around in his mind:

“I’m happy to see Desmond because now I can find Penny and kill her.”

“She’s Daniel’s mom?!?!?!”

“How did Desmond know who Daniel’s mother is?”

“I must send Widmore a Thank You card for getting Desmond here.”

“My plan is working perfectly.”

Speaking of a future I’d like to see…Sun has turned into such a jerk, that I’m glad the wedding ring is going to lead her back to the island and her probable death. Hey, what goes around, comes around.


AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…

There sure seems to be a lot of praise for Charlotte’s death scene but I still feel like I must have been watching a different show. If anything, it was Daniel’s presence that seems to make it have some punch to it. (B-)

Nadine needs to get a new agent as she lasted about 108 minutes max. But her one line, “I am going to get separated from my group and killed by a monster now” was so on the mark that if we had a “Best Supporting Actress With One Line” award, she would get it. (A-)

Jin left me with mixed reviews. For a guy who has to use body language to convey his lines he does an outstanding job. But that quick study of English stuck out like a sore thumb a few times. Now if we discover in a future time shift that between the Freighter going down and his finding a piece of flotsam that he spent six weeks studying English from someone who looked an awful lot like Nadia, then I’ll stand corrected. However, I did find myself examining his face makeup and found it very convincing. (B+)

Ben once again delivered his usually top-notch performance. My favorite had to be when he pulled the van over and demanded a Thank You from his ungrateful passengers. He’s cool about not revealing too much, but if I were him and heard Jack commit to pulling the trigger, well, I would have pulled over and sent them packing as well. Face it, when Ben can make you actually feel sorry for him it had to be a convincing acting job. (A)

But the prize goes to John Locke. He has the same mystery persona that Ben has to exude and doesn’t quite get the same level, but his witty quips easily make up for that short coming. The real reason for the prize was that scene at the bottom of the well. You could just feel the conflict of wanting to be a good solider versus not wanting to die. (A+)

Speaking of acting jobs…let’s get Miles some more dialog lines and the young Danielle is much more entertaining than the older version. But how does she get rouge for her cheeks?


LESSON OF LIFE

This season of LOST has taught me one thing: be careful what you choose to do because it could come back to haunt you. Yeah, Sawyer’s shrimp truck victim said it first, but it really has hit home this season. Just imagine if you were thrown back to your past and had to face some of those bad times over again.

But a critical flashback event might have been missed by many. I’m referring to the French Team arriving on the shores of Mysterious Island. One of them had a walkie-talkie that was repeating the numbers. Now you’ll have to go to ABC.com to have a listen, but do it. The message they are listening to is the loop of the Numbers being repeated. Ok, we knew that is what led Danielle and Company to the island in the first place. But listen to whose voice it is speaking those Numbers!

For those who want to just trust me…it is Hurley! Talk about your past coming back to haunt you! This is suggesting that Hurley somehow teleported back in time and recorded the original tower message. It then caused the French boat to crash, tortured Sam and Lenny, and caused Desmond to crash his future flight. Of course the good news is used them to win millions. We have to notice that Hurley doesn’t seem to be aware that he recorded the message or was cognizant of the Lottery numbers, but go now and listen to the recording…it’s Hugo.


**

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Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC