LT255: Using Your Senses

WHAT DID YOU SEE?

Did you see the opening credit for LOST had stars added to it? And the USS Enterprise is sailing through the letters. This is tip of the hat to JJ Abrams movie coming out soon, Start Trek.

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Did you see the magazine on Faraday’s couch? It was “Wired” from August 2003. It includes an article on the validity of time travel.

And as a side note, “Wired” magazine recently did that feature on Hurley and JJ Abrams. Hurley’s deal was some game using numbers – imagine that. Abrams was an interview that had some interesting revelations about how his projects work.

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Did you see Kate walking away from Jack and Daniel when they were on their way to the Hostiles? My mind said, “Oh, she’s giving them some space so Jack can work his magic and get some answers.” But then she appears again getting in close range of the conversation. Not sure what to make of it, but it caught my eye and seemed worthy of mentioning.

Oh, and she did the same thing with the Hunting Party. We never did see how Kate was captured but we saw everyone else.

And that one-on-one breakfast with Ben. Don’t forget the producers told us that the original plan was for Kate to be the leader of the Survivors.

When the Survivors were using Claire as bait to catch Ethan, Kate also disappears during this scene. What’s up with her mysterious “breaks”?

Kate has always had a tendency to be in the middle of every major mission. And too often, she ends up goofing things up, “Sorry Sayid, I broke your transmitter when I dropped it out of the tree”.

I’m just saying…keep an eye on that one.

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Speaking of eyes, did you notice what color Ms. Hawking’s eyes are? Blue. And Widmore’s? Blue. Recessive alleles tell us that Daniel has to be blue eyed. Consider that Widmore was slapped for saying he was Dan’s father. So, maybe only in figurative terms, but in reality there is a Mr. Faraday running around.


WHAT DID YOU HEAR?

Remember the metronome ticking away at Daniel’s piano? Daniel knew the exact number of ticks just like Rainman. But did you hear his count was 864? That’s 108 x 8 = 864. And you thought the numbers didn’t mean anything!

What mother in the history of time has ever told their child that they can NOT take piano lessons no matter how badly the child wishes? LOL!

Actually I’m starting to wonder if the Numbers are a sign that a person is on the right track. If you stuck around after LOST to see Michael in that cop show “Unusuals”, then you noticed that his character kept seeing the number 42. I took it as a sign that I was suppose to watch the show, but exercised my new-found-Daniel-like free will and wrote a blog entry instead.

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Did you notice the grant amount that Daniel won from some industrialist? $1.5 million pound – another Number!

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Did you hear Daniel say he wanted to use Jughead to destroy the matter under the Swan? First, that won’t work with an atomic bomb. Second, how does Daniel know about the Swan as he has never seen it? I’ll give him some leeway on the Orchid hatch and its power, but seconds after seeing that tooth go through the skull of a worker, Daniel is tell Dr. Cheng he knows the exotic matter under the Swan hatch is 10,000 times more powerful.

How does he know this? When he arrived Desmond had already turned the key. When he was doing those time flashes he saw the top of the Swan hatch, but never got inside and sure didn’t know about the contents beneath it yet.


WHAT DID YOU FEEL?

Did you feel the submarine was a better option of escape than going to the beach and starting over? Speaking of feelings, did you feel the way Juliet looked at Kate when it seemed she was about to hang with Sawyer a while longer?

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Did you feel creepy when the doctor said that the nurse would watch little Charlie at the hospital?

Sorry, but with the events of late, no way is my kid getting out of my sight. Anyone recognize these two people? Doesn’t the redhead remind you of anyone?

And isn’t Widmore standing outside the hospital? Is this kid never to be seen again?


WHAT DID YOU TASTE?

Did you almost taste the pound cake and punch when Sawyer invited everyone over?

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Did you get that bad taste in your mouth this episode? I mean talk about a paradox: go back in time and get shot by your mom before she even gives birth to you. No wonder Miles wants his daddy to remain in the dark.


WHAT DID YOU SMELL?

Did you smell those rabbits roasting over the fire pit? Yummy.

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Did you smell Indian food when Ms. Hawking took Daniel sans Rachael to lunch? Didn’t Sayid have an incident with an Indian restaurant?


WHAT DID YOU THINK?

I’m a bit taken aback at how prevalent the theory is that Daniel is dead. Didn’t we see Ben “almost die”? And John? And Mr. Patchy? And a surgeon is just a rock’s throw from Daniel. I’ll admit it looked like a kill shot, but you know what I mean.

Besides, he can’t die. Don’t you think the video he makes with Dr. Cheng/Candle still has to be made? Or is Daniel’s death the final proof that one can change events? Hmmm…

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Michael, a faithful TIDBITS reader, points out the gun play was totally out of whack. First, you think all Dharma janitors are issued keys to every door, jail cell and gun vault? Are they required to dust in a gun safe on a regular basis?

Second, Faraday is a man not prone to violence and often afraid of his own shadow, but here he is in a big hurry to get to the Hostiles and he wants to stop and pick up a gun?

Third, at that close of range, someone should have taken a hit. And when did Jack find time to practice his target shooting while being a doctor?

Fourth, it just didn’t make sense. They could have gotten away had they hustled and they didn’t need guns to go meet the Hostiles. I think it was Kate who suggested it and yet she was just out there with them. By now, the Hostiles should be use to Kate bringing them delinquents.


NEXT ON TIDBITS

You can read about what would happen if Daniel did stop the Incident for occurring. And we will examine why Ms. Hawking is suddenly in the dark about the future.

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Enjoy,
KC

LT254: The Variable Initial Thoughts

CAN YOU PREDICT THE FUTURE?

Can we predict the future of LOST? In this episode of LOST? Yes, you bet!

Charles is daddy to Daniel - knew it. Teresa was his lab assistant - check. Daniel was losing his memory - yep. Desmond lives - yeah, yeah.

So you might assume that I'm going to rate this episode as sub-par. Wrong! Didn't see that coming now did you?


DEEPER LEVELS

I like this episode because of the reason I like LOST: it has deeper levels then what appears on the surface (this is a pun in there somewhere). While we are getting answers by the boatload lately, there is still a hidden agenda that runs just out of reach of our grasp.

For example, Eloise shooting her son. Come on, you can't say you called that. And we a-l-m-o-s-t got the reason why, but Widmore kept her from saying why outside the hospital.

Also consider the underlying theme of sacrifice as Charles can't interact with his own daughter.

Likewise the sacrifice of Teresa in the name of Daniel's research.

And the mysterious conversation with Eloise and Penny where she tells Penny that for the first time she doesn't know what the future will hold.

The biggest mystery of late is still not being discussed much, but who are these Dharma people? How do they know the future? Why are they guardians of the world? On what scale is this being played out.

Yeah, plenty of "hmmm..." left in this show!


FIXING THINGS

Daniel's big promise is to use the variables (people) and get Oceanic Flight 815 to land at LAX. How is he going to get the people back on board that plane?

I was watching and thinking if I was Jack: Oh great, I get land in LA in order to bury my father, watch my ex-wife marry another guy and pour myself into my work for the rest of my life.

Or if I was Kate: Oh great, Daniel can put me back in handcuffs in order to stand trial. Super!

Sawyer: he seems to have figured out that there is nothing to go back to.

Hurley: could see him wanting to get back on board as he promises himself to do things the right way in terms of handling his money.

Jin: Yeah! I'll be on board with my wife sitting next to me. Of course, I'll be sterile and never have my "own" daughter.

Daniel had better make sure everyone WANTS to get back on that plane.


I'M NOT INTO CUTE

Not that much into the cute scenes but you'd have to be grumpy to have seen little Charlotte with her hand in the chocolate jar and not have thought, "Aaaaawww". Hee-hee. And now we know what she meant about some scary man coming up to her.


HELLO RICHARD

I'm still not buying that three people with guns can waltz into the Hostile Camp.

Or does this imply the Hostiles "knew" Ben was coming and went out to meet them?

Or is Kate such a good tracker that she led the group down a path that isn't every monitored? Nah, that was a stretch. They could have easily marched him into camp with hands in the air and then pulled out the guns. Or left them behind all together. That scene just didn't fly.


QUICK HITS

* Why was Miles intent on keeping his identity hidden from his father?

* How do people know there are 864 beat on a metroanome?

* So Desmond did take a bullet but love (and a lot of adreneline) seemed to push him on to defend Penny

* Why did Radzinsky change into black jumpsuits?

* Did you like Daniel telling his mom, "I can make time"?


NEXT ON TIDBITS

We are going to drill deeper ourselves in the next post of TIDBITS, so be sure to check back about every other day. Plus we will have some more LOST REVIEWS ready to go soon, reader email to share, and the easter eggs from this episode.

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Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT253: ARMS – Accidental Random Memories

ACCIDENTAL

It irks me to propose a question with no answer. But it happens enough that it deserves repeat mention. What I’m talking about is things change. Are the changes an accident by the prop department or are they intended and are some kind of clue we are missing?

The popular example is the picture frames on the house that Miles does his Ghostbuster thing. Let me know if I need to repost the images, but hopefully you recall that between the time Miles goes upstairs until he comes back down the picture frames on the wall along the stairs are changed.

I’ve always enjoyed this “prop accident” because it can’t be a prop accident. It is one thing to shoot days later and maybe put the pictures back up on the wall in the wrong location, but to swap frames with a photo seems like more intentional work that accident.

Ok, I admit this subject isn’t that interesting unless it really is intentional. Then what is it telling us? That multiple universes exist and the world as we know skipped to a parallel plane?

Yeah, we heard all this chatter before and it was almost out of my mind when I came across another example in the last episode.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

Check out the above picture and the TV remote moves. Same deal with the plate and his arm. I know, I know, sometimes it takes several shots of the same scene before they get it right, but this scene just didn’t seem that tough to get it right.

Another nagging thought is that by Season 5 the producers know we look for this sort of stuff. How tough can it be for someone to rewind the last shot and take a look at how things were positioned?
Or things like this happen in the natural course of filming the producers are giggling at us for over analysis. But that is their fault as well for if they wouldn’t give us two weeks between episodes to wait we wouldn’t be spending our time re-watching frame by frame!

RANDOM

How many people would you guess are involved with the Dharma Initiative in 1977? 100 or more? We get a dozen just with the returning attractions. I see at least a dozen faces running around during that fire? Kitchen help, maintenance crew, and security alone would add another 30 or so. Now add in the research teams doing those “silly experiments” at each station and we have to pushing about 100 people. Oh, don’t forget all the construction crews at several stations.

Yet we learn that only 40 died in the Purge.

Doesn’t this imply that the Dharma Initiative had advance warning and got all non-essential personnel off the island? Doesn’t it explain why Miles mother thinks her husband died when she took her son off the island?

Could this explain why Dharma is building stations in the No Go Zone in violation of the truce?

It goes like this: Daniel warns Cheng who is convinced. They get as many off the island as possible. They also proceed with station plans because some know the future from Daniel and they must be ready when the next version of DI comes back along. Namely, the children of Dharma. Think of Tiny Toons in reverse.


MEMORIES

Recall the scene were Miles was reading a Sports Illustrated magazine? Well, here are some interesting factoids:

-- The issue was dated March 14, 1977

-- The cover is a shot of new Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda

-- The nickname of a baseball manager is “Skipper” as on a boat

-- Lasorda was born on September 22 – same date as Flight 815 crash

-- Tommy was replacing Walter Alston who had coached the Dodgers for 23 years

-- Alston had won 23 post-season games

-- Alston’s nickname was “Smokey”

-- The title story is “A New Boss in L.A.” – could that be an indirect reference to someone? Ms. Hawking?


LOST REVIEW: Tabula Rasa

The third episode of LOST is entitled, “Tabula Rasa”. This is the theory proposed by the philosopher John Locke during the Age of Enlightenment. The literal translation is “clean slate” and implies everyone begins life with a clean slate and then life’s experiences are imprinted on it.

In our ongoing search for a unifying theory, I would propose that this supports the computer hypothesis as well as the philosophy/religion hypothesis. The philosophy angle is obvious since the phrase comes from a man who happens to share the name with a major character on LOST.

The computer angle is that when a computer loses power it begins with a “clean slate”. Memory can be blanked, erased and…changed. And nothing “imprints” quite like a computer.

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In this episode John Locke fashions a whistle in order to retrieve Vincent, Walt’s dog. Of course it works and Locke allows Michael to be the hero to his son.

Ok, how does this fit in with any ongoing theory? Um…I’m sure there is some psychological theory behind why people whistle, but the reason was given for this whistle: to call a dog.

Hey, what if people could whistle to their computer? Would that strengthen a theory? Well, you can. The people at developerWorks describe it this way:

“Set up an unlock code for your screensaver and whistle as you approach your desk -- no more bothersome password typing. Check your e-mail every time you whistle, check for your cell phone's unique tones, and send yourself an e-mail when your phone rings.”

Was John actually whistling to the supercomputer, the island? Hmmm…

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This episode gave us our first example of missing body parts. By this point we have had several body parts featured starting with Jack’s eye in the opening scene. And Kate was rubbing her wrists. John wiggled his toes.

The producers offered their usual cryptic thoughts on this subject. Cuse said, “Is there any connection between the loss of Montand's arm, and the fact that Dr. Marvin Candle has a fake hand?”

Lindelof adds, “Eh, I dunno, is there? We also found a glass eye in the Arrow Station. People just lose body parts I think easily on the Island.”

This tidbit was offered back in 2005 before we learn HOW Montand loses his arm. So is there a connection to Montand and Candle? I mention this because many are suggesting the Incident is how Dr. Candle/Cheng might lose his arm, but now I’m wondering if he doesn’t stick his hand somewhere it doesn’t belong!

And Lindelof’s comment about how people easily lose part parts brings to mind something about a Mr. Potato Head commercial I saw recently. Or was that Toy Story?

Anyway, I’m still wondering if really odd behavior, words and events aren’t somewhat attributable to a virtual reality computer program. The reason is that it is difficult to get every detail correct. When the overlooked aspect is discovered it only then stands out like a sore…well, thumb. Otherwise, we are left grappling with how “normal life” would explain body parts easily falling off people.

To be fair to the other hypothesis I do find a connection to religion in that many people are punished for this sins by the loss of a body part. For example, we have an eye for an eye (Mr. Patchy) and a hand for a hand (Dr. Candle).

We can conclude then that missing body parts might a piece of evidence for the religion hypothesis explaining all that is LOST.


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Enjoy,
KC