LT259: Upon Further Review

FUNNY FEEDBACK

Anon writes, “Perhaps we haven't seen smokey/cerberus yet because the *incident* that may form him/it is yet to happen... they still need to stick the fork in the outlet...”
Good call. I just got the feeling Smokey had been around as long - or longer - than Richard. However, when they were walking around those tunnels, it just seemed like Smokey was going to jump out. I wonder how he would have reacted with coming across the Three Stooges (Ben, Richard and John)?

I’m still giggling with that description, “stick the fork in the outlet”, and mostly because you are probably more accurate than you realize. Keep writing those comments and emails!


LIAR, LIAR

Richard told Sun he watched them all die 30 years ago. Oh, really? The Purge isn’t until 1992. So is he talking about the Incident. Then how does Horace get to the Purge Pit?


WET WALT

We discover you have to swim to some tunnels. Others can be “flushed”. Is this why Walt was all wet?


SAWYER TO 1977

Will the old Sawyer find John’s father and make sure he doesn’t con his family this time?

But try this on for size: the man who conned Sawyer’s family was…Sawyer. Which would mean he actually then killed himself in the brig of the Black Rock. No wait…that won’t work.


QUIZ SHOW

Poor Hurley. Tell the truth, did you know that answer to all those questions Dr. Cheng was asking? I didn’t know it was Jimmy Carter as President, but calculating my birth year in reverse was tougher.

Do you recall when Hurley first arrived in 1977 he worried to Sawyer that someone might indeed question them? In fact, the question he most worried about was the “who is the President” question that in fact Cheng asked him. Talk about déjà vu.


THAT LOOKS FAMILIAR

The Compass Paradox is getting people a bit upset.

Is it a loop or should Richard have like 200 of these things by now? And did you know that a compass will not work properly around high levels of electromagnetism? And do you recall that the summer LOST game involved the Maxwell Group whose company logo is a compass?

There are clues here, but I’m still not sure even what to look for.


DIVE, DIVE

Who thought the submarine wasn’t going to make it back to the mainland? It just seemed to me that something was going to wrong. Especially when they got ready to leave and the captain radioed to check on engines 2 and 3 – 23, get it?



So what was wrong with Engine 1?


A POSSIBLE LOST REVIEW ITEM

It has been awhile since TIDBITS had done a segment of the LOST REVIEW. That is where we rewind some past episodes looking for a unified theory. I’ll jot this one down and probably look to the off-season to research it. For now, the thing I’m interested in is to review the “advice” we have seen.

Specifically, was Locke right to not push the button.

Ghostly Walt said “Don’t push it”.

Ghostly Harper said, “Kill Daniel and Charlotte”.

Ghostly Horace said, “I’m building a cabin for the Hostiles leader”.

I’d like to review these pieces of ghostly advice knowing what we know now. We can also consider the implications if John had just kept pushing the button. Anyway, something to look forward to. Let me know if you have any ideas on this and I’ll save them for the LOST REVIEW.

As for other LOST REVIEWS, it seems like we will have our hands full with the two-hour season finale next week and that should keep us interested for another week after that.

Be sure to keep TIDBITS bookmarked, for we don’t go away just because the show does!


FINAL OBSERVATIONS

Why is Hurley lugging that guitar case around?

Someone has suggested that Charles and Eloise are brother and sister. I gave it no thought until Richard made some comment about “love can be complicated”. Eww!

Why was Radzinsky so worried about Kate’s whereabouts? And why did Sawyer feel inclined to keep that a secret? And so what if Sawyer draws a map…is it me or don’t the Hostiles move around quite a bit?

I’m still frustrated because it should be 2008 in my mind…not 2007. That 30 years later and 30 years later bugs me.

It appears the best decision John has made in a long while is to drag all the Hostiles with him. There is power in numbers. Of course, it could backfire.

And what’s up with that, “Ben, you’ve never seen Jacob” comment that Locke made? Weren’t we sort of showed that Ben could see him or was he just lucky when he looked at the rocking chair? Man, we have seen him. Ben’s nothing! Put me on that island! HA!

Instant poll: If you were allowed one solid punch in the face, would you spend it on Radzinsky or Phil?

Is Sayid the new Danielle? Has he been playing Rambo these past few days and just waiting to help out when needed? Hmmm…


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Enjoy,
KC

LT258: Follow the Leader Initial Thoughts

BLACK ROCK SIGHTING

This episode began with Richard working on one of the ships in a bottle. I assume it was a copy of the Black Rock. My hope was that the show would feature that mysterious ship. Instead it focused on everything but that ship...or did it?

We know that ship has something to do with the island's history, but figuring it out...well, that is what makes this show so much fun!


TIME JUMPS

It was nice to see one of the time jumps come into play. It also helps to timestamp when John got shot. I love movies where we get to see the replay from another perspective and it sure was great fun. Of course, we get a mystery around every corner as to when John explains to Ben that he knew when to arrive at the Beechcraft because "the island told me".


RICHARD

I would say that Richard gets more mileage out of every line he utters than any other character. We had Ben describing him as an "advisor for a very, very, very long time". There is that hint at immortality.

But then the twist that I felt was better than the ending scene: where Richard looks to Ben and says something like, "I think John's going to be trouble". For as predictable as the show has been this season, that line I never saw coming. Never. It floored me because the implication is that Richard is on the side of well...gee, not sure which side now. Ben's side? Ilena's? Ms. Hawkings? Dharma's?

That line was so out of character to what we have seen prior, but it almost looked like Richard was considering a coup with the help of BEN! Oh no!

Have you noticed how Richard is one of the most confused people on the island? How can that be? Yet he always seems surprised and what is being told or shown him. Very odd. I wonder if we have completely misread this guy.


HORACE and RADZINSKY

Wimp! Come on dude, lead! Now we think Radzinksy is going to be sent to the Swan Hatch to push a button. Heck, he may even volunteer to do that since he loves this project so much.

But there are some confusing points involving these guys. First, why do they need to evacuate if they don't drill? If Radzinsky is so willing to drill at the Swan station, then why does he allow people to leave if he is convinced not to believe the warning? Is Rad in charge or not?

Something as major as a possible meltdown would lead me to think that someone should pick up the phone and call Ann Arbor.

And one other thing under this topic...is Horace a Dharma guy or not? I ask because later, as a ghost, he tells John he is building a cabin for Jacob. Does Horace lose his leadership role and defect to the Hostiles? But he gets killed in the Purge, so no, he must remain. Then why would he be building a cabin for the Hostile's leader?


THE TUNNELS

Fine, tunnels are cool. But these aren't just tunnels. These are like...well...Egyptian tombs seen on Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Richard sort of ticked me off with that comment to Jack about, "How do you think we are got the bomb in here? Duh!" Excuse me, Richard, but why don't you tell me because I didn't figure it out and no, neither Jack nor I thought it was under the waterfall. So talk, smarty pants.

Not sure exactly how many times, but with all the jungle walks and tunnel treks...did you think Smokey should have showed up at sometime?


NEXT TIDBITS

All in all, I liked this episode a lot. It left me puzzling over concepts that hadn't teased my brain quite this way in some time. And I like that. There should be plenty to discuss in the coming days so keep checking about. We try to post every other day is the plan.

Before I hit EXECUTE, let me leave with a couple of early stage theories that are forming:

** Role Reversal

We've noticed how Jack is like John (and it was said as much this week). We've noticed how Sawyer has become like Jack (even took his girl). So I had a thought about Locke: what if he has become like Jack?

What this implies is that John is moving back to science. He sense Jacob isn't real, but a religious creation to pacify followers like many religions. I think he wants to call the bluff. Whose bluff? Right now it appears to be Richard's bluff. John is gaining a scientific value system while Jack is gaining more faith. What fun!

** Memories

We've seen a lot of jumping around and it seems the memories range from 100% recall to a vague feeling of Deja Vu. So if Jack is right and they return to Flight 815...won't there be some remanents of the events? I expect he would become a better man.

Also, you have to wonder why Kate didn't bring up the obvious: she would be in handcuffs. She seemed to regret only that the feelings between her and Jack would be gone. So in usual Kate-fashion, she runs back to Sawyer...sort of.

Ok, that's plenty for now. See? My brain did get kicked into gear with this one! Excellent.


Enjoy,
KC

LT257: Hunting for Theories

MISSING JUGHEAD

Forget the calendar for a minute and go back to when Desmond crawled under the Swan hatch and turned the Failsafe Key. What that key may have triggered was Jughead, the bomb.

Here is how it might play out: Daniel or through his death gets people to finally pay attention to what he was warning them of. So they stop the drilling on the Swan Station. Dr. Cheng modifies Daniel’s plan to blowup the station with Jughead by at least rigging the bomb to the station – for those just in case moments.

When Desmond turned the key, he detonated Jughead. Remember the comments about the concrete wall being the thickness of those in a nuclear plant? That could be for the leaking of Jughead that we observed.

Didn’t they say the Swan Hatch imploded on the show? Atom bombs implode.


THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SHOW

Ok, I just watched an old episode of Mythbusters and the gas can scene at the motor pool is a no-go. Jack shooting the barrel of fuel would not have caused that explosion. In fact, it seems very unlikely it would have done anything but put a hole in the can for the fuel to spill out. “Take that! Fuel on your shoes!”

Anyway, the guys at Mythbusters tried igniting fuel on the ground with a cigarette and it wouldn’t. See fuel is not flammable – it is the vapors that ignite. Either way, you need lots of heat which bullets in Jack’s gun are not burning and you need vapors.

Hey, I just call them as I see them.


HITS AND MOSTLY MISSES

Juliet Burke is her married name (ex-husband, now dead husband). Theory: Juliet Hawking.

Miles can hear the dead…as in Dead Daniel. Time for a father-son talk and get that Failsafe system built.

Is it 1977 off-island or 2008? Daniel says 77 but when the island was skipping through time, it remained 2004-05 in the helicopter. But then the people in the helicopter left the island when it was 2004-05. But Ben and Tom seemed to move off island and…wait…Ben did move 10 months.

There was a hidden clue on the show (I think the brainwashing video) that said, “Only fools are enslaved by time and space.” If you put this in an anagram engine you come up with: “Desmond lay at belly of cave, also is Penny.” Theory: we have our Adam and Eve. After all, “I’ll never leave ya, Penny!”


NEXT ON LOST

Here is one teaser promo pic for tomorrow’s episode, “Follow the Leader”.

Reminds of something from the latest Dan Brown movie.

Next on TIDBITS will be the Initial Thoughts post after the show on Wednesday.

Enjoy,
KC

LT256: The Variables of Time

LOOK CLOSELY

When Daniel and his mother go to lunch and she hands him his present, look at Daniels wine glass. You can enlarge the picture below to get a better look. It is a rabbit.

What is the meaning and purpose of rabbits? The one thing that comes to mind first is their rapid reproduction patterns.


WHAT HAPPENED, WELL…MAYBE NOT

I’m pondering on LOST (surprise!) and the concept of “what happened, happened” appears to be wrong. It seems as if the past can be changed! So those beer-infused evenings with friends spent wondering what it would be like to back to high school and do it all over again knowing what we know how…well, that might not have been that far off.

On the surface, this possibility seems impossible. However, scientific theory on the fringe says it might be more realistic then our minds are willing to permit at this point in time. (Just look at the way we have to explain why time travel will NOT work…we always have to use time measurement descriptors to disprove it. Odd!)

In mainstream religions like Christianity, the concept of God is one without time. It gets described as God living in the past, present and the future at the same time (ah, there we go again with that final word of “time”…let’s go with “same event” which only halfway solves our challenge). Anyway, science says time travel is a “maybe”, Christians claim that God is without time is a “definite”, so that leaves just us common mortals to convince.

It got me thinking then to those times where my skill set would take a sudden jump up in performance. Maybe I was looping. For example, I plugged quarter after quarter into Space Invaders back when and was stuck on maximum score for months. Suddenly one day my score would shoot up to a new “maximum”. This seems to be the case with anything you practice: one plateau for a bit and then a significant leap forward occurs. Or were we just looping and some course correction caused this?

Follow me for a bit. It seemed like one lifetime through early 1980’s. But what if it wasn’t? What if it was a loop along the lines of Eastern religious doctrines? The only noticeable sign of looping are those occasional “leaps” forward in various activities – video games, promotion at work out of know where, the girl you tried to impress finally pays attention, etc. Hmmm…

Ok, forget real life for a second, but apply these concepts to LOST. It seems Daniel has figured out this very hypothesis I’m writing about. We are video taping events for TV, but to the people on the island, like Sawyer, you still get the feeling that to him it seems like 35 continuous and strange years. After all, what real impact does the calendar have on a person’s life?

Consider that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that I refer to often. It is the one where the crew keeps repeating their same final decision even though each loop is slightly different. The differences are course corrections. Even attempts and finally Lt. Data figures out the pattern of “3’s” is so out of whack that it must mean something. So the moral of the story is look for patterns and clues that will guide you to a decision that is opposite your natural inclination, right?

Speaking of 3’s…we have not had a shortage of 3’s lately on LOST. I’m wondering if this isn’t the start of my Star Trek theory. Especially after last episode’s tribute to the series and the executive producer of LOST being involved in the new Star Trek movie. Could it be that simple and we just need to re-watch past episodes?


WIDMORE’S WATERY GRAVE

Charles Widmore shows up at Daniel’s place in Essex, Massachusetts, just as the news is airing a story about finding Oceanic Flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean in the Sundra Trench. Take about timing!

He sits down and admits to planting the plane. Finally, we have 100% confirmation of the most likely theory to this mystery.

Consider for a moment what Widmore had to do to accomplish this fake plane:

1 – Find a plane of the same model that was in decent condition and hadn’t been gutted out yet

2 – Get it painted to look just like Flight 815

3 – Find 300+ bodies that wouldn’t be missed

4 – Transport it from purchase, to paint job, to delivery vessel

5 – Take it to the Indian Ocean and drop it off

6 – Arrange for someone to “find it”

He had to do all this without anyone noticing. OK, someone found some receipts but those people are as secretive and resourceful as Widmore. Now ask yourself, “Why”?

1 – To end the search party looking for the original plane

2 – To make it appear that Ben is behind the fake plane

3 – To convince Daniel he should go to the island

With a plane going down in the Pacific Ocean, I can’t believe the search and rescue lasted too long. After a few sweeps looking for debris, what else could be done? It would have ended on its own and it wouldn’t have been successful, so Reason #1 is out.

Part of Reason #2 involves hiding the island from everyone. Well, Charles couldn’t find the thing in twenty years, I’m thinking the fake plane ruse was a bit over the top to accomplish a mission that was clearly being accomplished prior.

And Reason #3 seems weak considering a little nudge from mommy dearest is all it took for Daniel to agree to jump on board the Freighter.

So let me offer Reason #4: it is the real Oceanic Flight 815.

If you find yourself asking me, “How could there be two versions of the plane since the other one is on the island shore?”, then you have missed a season or two of LOST. There is two of everybody lately.

A major piece of evidence to support my reason is that fact that the video of the Indian Ocean plane was broken into three segments in the same spots as the Island plane. How could Widmore know this if he couldn’t find the island and examine the Island plane?

I believe both are real versions. I believe the science behind this suggests time looping which if we took video record of each loop would leave any observer with the same headaches the viewers of LOST experience. You can go back home again – just like Dorothy and Alice.


TIME CLUE

Mark my words. The fact that Ms. Hawking doesn’t know what will happen in the future any longer tells us that something has already changed in the past.

This might also explain why Ben is lost as he is beginning to realize the differences in his current loop from past loops. Someone is “changing the rules”. He knows it, but it must be frustrating to know say “Out for Revenge” is going to win the Kentucky Derby and then watch some longshot take home the roses. Ok, better example: for Ben to watch his daughter die this loop when never before that has happened. Yikes!


TIDBITS MAILBOX TIME

Synchromystic Librarian writes that my observation of changing picture frames and other prop “errors” are clues to the riddle of LOST. His or her claim is that the quantity of these production errors are too numerous to overlook. The Librarian points out that this view of the clues is like a “multiverse” which has been debunked by the producers. Well, I’m starting to believe 180 degrees opposite of what those two producers tell us lately.

I’m not sure the term “multiverse” is quite accurate in what I’m thinking. Maybe it is and the term is just mystifies me on how one would synchronize everything like some library card catalog system, but I like the term “loops”. One universe, but we just re-experience it over and over again. This would seem to fit the shows seasonal taglines: Redemption, Everything Happens for a Reason, Who Would You Be and so on.

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Michael asks, “Were you thinking that Daniel was literally going to get those people back on the plane or were you thinking in the figurative sense as they would be accepting their impending futures if they plane were not to crash?”

Dude, I rarely know what I was thinking at any given time. But to try and answer your question: I was thinking literally. I mean Daniel takes some action, the sky flashes a bright light, and wham, the passengers are back on board. Ask yourself, “When does everything start to change?” If you answer is when the plane began to split into three parts, then that is when the Survivors will return. If you think it was when the plane went off course, then that is when they will return. Could the “beginning” be when they boarded the plane since they seemed to have been ushered on? Then that is when they go back.

And if you read the above sections, you’ll see that at the “point of change” the plane will then proceed to still crash…to the bottom of the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific. This is why we should focus on the story of the Black Rock which also had eyewitnesses that said the ship left this way, but ended up crashing that way. (Think the Scarecrow giving Dorothy directions in Wizard of Oz)

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Keep commenting and emailing, and I’ll be sure to eventually address your questions or research your ideas.


ONE MORE MENTAL BLINDSPOT

The logo to LOST shows the skyline of a city in the water where it should be the tree line of the island. There is little chatter about this on the message boards and probably because we don’t have a suggestion on what it could mean. But let’s not forget this visual clue. For now, I’m only going to point out Charlie Heston riding his horse on the sandy shores and coming across a buried statue. Hmmm…



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Enjoy,
KC