Wednesday, June 10, 2009

LT271: Double Take

IT TAKES TWO

For me the double vision began with the book “Bad Twin” was released. The book itself is a cheesy detective story that I would have put down long before finishing had the LOST tie-in not been present. But it does get credit for clearly introducing the idea of twin brothers.

Since that book we have had lots of mirrors, reflections in the water and eyes, and loops. It would seem obvious by now that we should focus on the parallel universes and all the double meanings.

Then it hit me one day – we have TWO islands.

The thing that fascinates me now, but escaped me before is mostly the lack of discussion about the presence of two islands. One could argue that the second island was a mere convenience due to proximity, but after the island moved, well, the little brother island went along for the ride.

Are they connected in some way? A TIDBITS reader, MDJ, once proposed that they were indeed connected by the same land mass but part of the “bridge” is submerged. If that is the case (and a fine explanation at that), we still have a decent span of water between the two islands.

And to say they are a passing fancy, well, then why do the authors have so much time spent with the characters in boats going between the two?

Speaking of migrating back and forth…how did the polar bears get from the Hydra cages to the main island to attack Sawyer and Ecko?

It might be wise to revisit the “move”. Did the little island move too? Or was the movement in time and thus the “normal” little island just still happens to be nearby? Is there a connection to why the non-Flashers like Sun land on the smaller island?

It would seem that during the off-season it would be fitting to explore the second island’s purpose a little closer. Leave your thoughts on this topic!


THE LAW OF OPPOSITES


There is a lot of re-watching the past seasons goings on this summer. One observation worth mentioning is how LOST appears to be support the law of opposites.

Example, Kate gives Jack her real name. This is opposite of what she has done to everyone else off island.

Example, money has no value. Even Sawyer doesn’t want Nikki’s diamonds.

Example, by Season 5, John is Jack and Jack becomes like John.

This reminds me of a story from my days in Sunday School where it was observed that Heaven is a place of opposites. We make streets from concrete and horde our gold on earth, yet the streets are paved with that gold in Heaven. The whole value system gets flipped like a mirror image. Hmmm…

Could the mirror thing be a mirror of humanity? Some say the window to the soul is the eye.


BODY DOUBLE

If one of the Jacob’s is in possession of John’s body via some transference method, then would Miles be able to identify him since he can talk to dead people? Wouldn’t Hurley be helpful with this as well?

If so then both had better watch their backs!


WEAVING TIME

Here is one of the best shots of the tapestry:





I haven’t had time to examine in detail, but isn’t that a ship at the bottom? Is this a timeline of sorts?

Let's make this summer interactive - leave your thoughts in the comments link below!


Enjoy,
KC

Sunday, June 7, 2009

LT270: Chill Out

THE FRINGE

Have you had a chance to see any of the Fringe? This is JJ Abrams latest show that airs on FOX. The season has ended but you can watch on-line at the FOX network website. I’d give the show 4 stars out of 5. I watched the first couple of episodes and then commented to a friend that it couldn’t be recommended. A few weeks later I happen to mention it and he reminds me that I was going to pass on the Fringe. Guess it sort of grows on you.

Check if out if you are looking for something to watch off-season. At a minimum you will gain some more insight into Abrams approach to things. And Abaddon isn’t dead in that series…yet.

The real reason I bring this show up is that its title made me think of something. Remember how the producers promised that everything on LOST would be based on scientific theory? They warned us that this still included a wide range of topics and that some of the science stuff would be “fringe” science. Thus the connection between the two shows.

So we realize that time travel is fringe science. Yet there is a small group of scientists who would say that it is possible. Of course their reasoning usually includes the fact that “anything is possible”.

Has LOST gotten to liberal with its fringe science? You have to admit that the Time Jumps were bizarre. It was strange how some people jumped and others didn’t. Half the Ajira flight was thrown back 30 years and the half remained in 2000 and whatever.

My biggest complaint is that the time travel produced paradoxes. Again, the producers promised us no paradoxes. Yet here we have Aged Miles peeking in at Baby Miles. Any others have observed that we have three versions of Locke now. So much for promises, huh?

But now I’m reminded of something else…


BEN’S LIES

Ben is full of lies and Mrs. Hawking concurs. But is he really telling lies?

Consider his biggest whopper is “I was born on this island.” If you put that statement under the bright light of scrutiny, is it really a lie?

Could he have meant that he was re-born on the island? What about Richard’s comment that Ben would forget everything prior to his days as a Harry Potter impersonator?

My point is that maybe, just maybe, Ben IS one of the good guys, Michael.

Then this leads me next to this…


PRODUCER’S LIES

It seems the producers lied about time paradoxes. But what, if like Ben, they really didn’t lie?

The simplest way to prove the producers statements as accurate is to get rid of the time travel.

Woah! Hold on here. Get rid of the time travel? Why not?

Stick with me here. If I can offer an alternative explanation to what APPEARS to be time travel, then could we say the producers were being truthful? So let’s give it a try.

And now that leads to the title of this post…


MAN, IT’S COLD IN HERE

What if the show is utilizing cryogenics? Then the only thing dealing with time is the strange way the producers are displaying events with flashbacks and flash forwards.

Another term for cryogenic is suspended animation. That just happened to be the main subject of Episode 1 of the Fringe. Hmm…

Now consider ALL the references to snowmen, polar monitoring stations, Sayid grabbing a handful of ice, etc. And don’t forget the Dharma Wheel Room was freezing cold and requiring a parka for Ben.

Sure the show could continue down the path of turning a giant wheel, or stepping into a magic box, but really? What if the wheel is some giant thermostat that turns the temperature up or down? This in turn could freeze or thaw the Survivors.

Perhaps the best circumstantial evidence I can offer is the Hanso Foundation. That website is what introduced us to Joop and six areas of study. One area was entitled, “The Hanso Cryogenics Development Imperative.”

What if Pierre “Candle” Chang freeze our 1977 guys up and then have someone unthaw the bodies some 30 years down the road? What cold, opps, could, this explain? To begin with it might go a ways to explain why it appears someone isn’t aging – every seen that Mel Gibson movie?


NEED MORE PROOF?

Remember way back in Season 1 who we wondered if the crash of Flight 815 was staged? Some suggested the beverages or the oxygen masks released some knockout gas and then the beach site was arranged. Wouldn’t bringing someone out of suspended animation sort of be the same thing?

Ok, how about the fact that a group of people believed that the soul and body would reunite one day after death. Could this be a crude way for an early civilization to explain suspended animation before the term became commonplace around the Sphinx? Yeah, I’m talking about the Egyptians and there have been plenty of references to these guys.

This is why the Egyptians were very precise on their burial rituals. Mummification is what preserved the body until the soul returned.

And guess who was a major proponent of mummification? Jeremy Bentham. He left detailed instructions on how his body was to be mummified and it still remains on open display in some university…in London!

I’m just saying that this theory is no crazier than someone banging on a hydrogen core with a rock and suddenly certain individuals beam to another star date.

In fact, I would argue this is a lot more plausible than the time jumps which embrace the kind of science which we call….FRINGE.


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Enjoy,
KC