LOST TIDBITS

Still LOST - Chapter 1

2011-07-31T13:59:00.001-05:00

Washington, D.C.

“Open up! Police!” June shouted over the blaring music.

Agents June Avery and Ron “Encyclopedia” Brown stood on either side of the front door, with their Glock 22’s drawn. A bead of sweat trickled down June’s nose. She felt her heart beating in her chest. She focused on slow and deep breaths. An informant had provided information that this residence was the location of their suspect. On the other side of this door was her man.

The street was quiet except for the loud music that came from within the house. The evening sun threatened to duck behind the trees along the boulevard. June squinted when she glanced at her partner. He gave her a quick smile of confidence.

June thought about the months of work it took in order to be standing on this front porch. This is what she worked for. This was show time. She tightened the straps on her bullet-proof vest. She reminded herself that in the field it was best not to think, just act. Let your training take over, all of that. She took another deep and measured breath. She flipped the weapon’s safety off.

June shielded the sun from her eyes as she looked at her partner. He nodded once. She extended her arm and pounded on the door. “Police! Open the door now!”

No response over the deafening song.

She counted to three, nodded once more to her partner. Agent Brown reached for the door handle. He tested it. It was unlocked. He shot an uncomfortable glance at June. She shrugged and reminded herself it was best not to over think the situation, just react, indecision kills. She led the way into the house.

Agent Avery scanned the west side of the entry with her weapon and eyes. Agent Brown swept the east side for threats and identification. The adrenaline subsided a bit, as the partners processed their surroundings. They found themselves in a well-lit large entryway whose striking feature was the massive stairway that lined the west wall. Three doors on the ground level offered the agents a choice, the middle one being the source of the music. The pair tip-toed across the white marble floor, each step produced an echo sure to give their surprise away.

The agents flanked the doorway. Agent Avery snuck a peek around the corner and discovered a dark hallway. The room at the end of the hallway was lit. She hand signaled to Agent Brown. Brown slipped into the hall while Avery followed close behind. Her eyes strained in the darkness. They moved towards the room at the end of the hallway. She recognized the room was the kitchen. And someone was moving around in there.

A few steps from the kitchen, the agents paused for a look. A trim, average-height man with closely-cropped hair stood at a counter with his back to them. From the rear his dark clothing appeared to be fashionable, covered in part by an apron. The kitchen was whiter than most operating rooms, accenting his black clothing. He seemed oblivious as he hunched over his task. June raised her weapon.

The agents exchanged hand signals, and June led the charge into the kitchen. “Police! Put your hands in the air!”

Nothing.

“Let me see your hands, Slick! Turn around slowly!”

She wasn’t sure the man heard her over the music. The man lifted and titled his head. He froze in place for a moment then spun around.

Avery shouted, “Gun!”

A single shot exploded over the music. Utter disbelief covered the man’s face as he clutched his chest and slumped to the floor.

Agent Brown cautiously moved forward, his gun trained on the motionless body. He stooped to check the pulse. “He’s dead.”

Detective Avery was paralyzed. She had never killed anyone before. She had never even fired her weapon in the line of duty before. Time seemed to stand still. The totality of the situation threatened to overwhelm her as she struggled with the reality of the situation. A voice cut through the fog in her mind, “Avery! Avery!”

She tried hard to clear her head. “Yeah, I’m all right,” she managed. June lowered her weapon.

Detective Brown blew out his breath and frowned. “Where’s the gun?”

“W…what?”

“You said you saw a gun. Where is it?”

Really LOST - Prelude

2011-07-24T21:42:00.001-05:00

In 2004 a television show called LOST mesmerized audiences around the globe. The show engaged audiences and united viewers in ways never done before. The main theme of the show was redemption. The message was that faith will win out in the end, free will is a desired trait, we live and die together.

And yet everyone missed the point, myself included.

I may be more accountable than most since most of those six years of LOST was spent writing a blog, at least twice per week, all year long. Well, if you are on this site then you know that already. I still scold myself for missing it.

LOST didn't end the way I had hoped for. Not the show, but how I saw it. The opportunity of a lifetime was presented to me and it meant missing the final four hours until a month later. Six years invested and I'm going to see the final four hours as a rerun!?!?

The ending wasn't what I had hoped for either. It was confusing, but then the entire six years was a mental obstacle course. But I should have seen it!

After I got caught-up on the missed hours upon my return to the country, a wave of depression hit me. There was a void in my life. So I did the only reasonable thing a LOST fan could do. I still thought about it. Did a bit more research but that fell to the wayside soon enough. It was over. There was no more to talk about. I wrapped up this blog.

Oh, I've ushered a few stragglers who missed the boat and opted for a DVD marathon. That was nice to coach them through the story. But over time even the YouTube video, "Demons", failed to make me cry any longer.

But I do miss the nicknames Sawyer would hand out.

And I do miss the provactive scenes with Kate.

And I do miss my friends on this blog and the message board world. It was fun thinking together.

***

This short version of my story is getting long, so...

One day out of the blue, I was looking through some of my old notes - especially those left as "open" topics. Then I noticed something and a theory started to form in my mind. This blog has posted a number of theories about the show. But this theory was very...um...real.

So I've come back to share with you my revelation.

This effort is going to be in serialized fashion. At least once per month I'll post a new chapter. If you hook into the RSS and other feeds you'll get an alert when a new post is made.

And as before, I encourage feedback, suggestions, corrections, helpful hints, etc. Sort of like a team effort.

***

So what is this revelation? Well, that would spoil it. But I have given it a name. I like to call this theory the Really LOST Theory.

Let me know if you have ANY interest in reading Chapter 1. And spread the word to any LOST fans who also might have missed the real meaning of LOST.

Enjoy,
KC

After Lost: A New Direction

2010-06-04T16:03:00.004-05:00

Well, we made in back into the country after a month. The final four episodes have been viewed and my first thought is "Wow! What a ride it has been!"

There are plenty of commentaries on the web about what, who, why and when...wait, scratch "when" as there is no when were we are now. HA! So I'm not going to post another follow-up to the series unless you have specific questions to something.

HOWEVER...I am considering continuing this blog under a new name "After Lost". The idea is to play off the term "afterlife", but with the LOST twist to it.

THE CONCEPT

The concept is to continue the LOST story on our own. Every two weeks on a set day (schedules are nice for readers to schedule and expect to read) you could find another "chapter" of the story.

Other posts might be added to as background, discussions, and related topics. The plan is to post items related to the viewers of LOST with the structure coming from my own storyline.

If you are interested, leave a comment. If one person likes the idea then we can kick it off and see where it goes. Maybe it will grow in popularity, or maybe not. Let's find out.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I will comment on the LOST series as a whole: I loved it. Television needed a show like this and the writers, actors and producers did a great job with it. The bar has been raised fro TV and let's hope more shows like this will be coming soon.

So if you like to "think about it", leave a post with your support and ideas.

Enjoy,
KC

LT351: Fade to Black

2010-04-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

Six years of being LOST.

LOST TIDBITS began as a newsletter distributed by email.

After Season 2 someone introduced me to blogs and TIDBITS went on-line.

I've met readers from several countries and several states. I've met readers who shocked me they were into LOST. Readers have met me and were shocked to discover I'm the "KC".

I heard about a group at an insurance company who used to meet at lunch and used my newsletter as their discussion guide!

An email hit my inbox once from a professor at a college asking for permission to use it in some kind of American Media course!

I've made friends who I'll never meet named Ben, Adrian, a series of initials and Anonymous.

My wife and I even planned a vacation around LOST to see locations in Hawaii. I recall a stranger walking up to me there and asking if I was in the Dharma Initiative! I was wearing a Dharma hat and had forgot it was on for a nice little shock!

I've been lucky enough to have stood where Penny and Desmond stood to have that famous photograph taken. I've been to Daniel's college and Mrs. Hawking's church. We've seen the dock and the strange rock formation.

It's been a good run. The book, "Bad Twin", was a decent read. The jigsaw puzzles and games have been great. It is going to be missed.

Now it is time for LOST TIDBITS to fade to black.

It is the ultimate cliffhanger, huh?

Five episodes remaining and I won't even be able to watch the greatest show in TV history wrap up! Fate can be cruel.

As destiny would have it, we will be in place soon where the "stars are upside down" and the television is in a language I can't comprehend. Eventually I'll see the end, but it will well after you do and people will have moved on to some other cultural phenomena by then.

Fate can be fickle.

So with a short time before we leave, college finals and lots of strings to tie-up...LOST TIDBITS has reached its end.

And maybe this is a preview of the show's ending?! HA! But this is life and I promise if ever given the chance to loop through these events again, I will course correct things so TIDITS could wrap up LOST with you. But until I find my constant and for the time being I have to take solace in the fact that everything happens for a reason.

Thank you for the ride. It's been great and I've enjoyed every hour of my life this show has made me think. Hope you have enjoyed LOST TIDBITS. I'll miss it and I'll miss you, the readers. Good bye.

Enjoy,
KC

LT360: First Impression: Happily Every After

2010-04-06T21:05:00.002-05:00

Woah.

Cotton candy.

Never have I felt like I got so many answers and then realized I got nothing. Like poof. The more I thought about it the more I realized there were no answers. Like cotton candy.

And I liked it.

Consider the titled, "Happily Ever After". Oh, really? That ending escaped me. Did that mean that starts Desmond on the path towards a happy ending because I didn't see him reach one. One might argue the coffee date was the happy ending, but with Mrs. Hawking around, nothing is going to be happy for Desmond.

PAST TIE-IN'S

Readers of TIDBITS know that I do not like past references and tie-in's for the sake of having them. For example, the 60-year old Scotch. I can do without that.

Or Desmond staring at a sailboat - that was much better as it was referred to implicitly instead of explicitly.

However, some were very good - for example, did you notice at the opening scene where Zoey is saying they gave him some shot. When they showed his arm she applying a bandage and it reminded of the time the Others were drawing blood from everyone they captured. That is a quality tie-in.

HE'S SPECIAL

So Dez is one of the few people on earth who can withstand an enormous pulse of electromagnetic energy. Interesting, but you can't make a living at it. But it allowed Desmond to see enough of the past (or was it the future) to come on board with Widmore's plan to...well, welcome to LOST.

SAYID

This show is a master at cliffhangers as Sayid walks out and invites Desmond for a stroll...and Desmond says YES. How odd.

Remember how Desmond could foresee Charlie's ways of dying? Maybe he can see even more of the future and following Sayid is the way it must be.

DANIEL

Oh, I've missed Daniel Faraday. Nice to see him back and a great explanation to the journal. I was so hoping he had written, "Desmond is my constant!"

So what are we learning? Is it that things we call Deja Vu is really our memory of a past "loop"? And some folks can recall more of the past than others can?

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

This episode seemed to really focus on love. I hadn't seen that coming. Was the message, "Follow your heart and all will be right"? Why then are so many people working to keep Desmond from his true love?

At one point I was convinced that Desmond had to return to push the button...but this time do not run away. His orders would be something like, "This time keep John Locke away from the computer!" But we didn't really end up there, did we?

MORE QUESTIONS

What is Desmond going to do with the manifest from Flight 815? Who are the "they" he is going to show it to? I figured he wanted to find Charlie's dream girl, Claire, but then that line about "they" threw me off track. Hmmm...

Wonder who Penny's mother is (making her a half-sibling to Daniel-Charles-Eloise)? Wonder if it matters.

What is Widmore's plan for Desmond?

What is Sayid's/Locke's plan for Desmond?

What is Jacob's plan for Desmond?

Can someone tell me where we've seen George, the driver, before? Do you get the feeling he works for Widmore or the "other" side?

GRADE: B+

Perhaps it was the pleasant walk down memory lane with Charlie, Daniel and Penny...but I liked this episode. Again, it made me think until my brain hurt. Simple is not my thing and this show is anything but simple. Can you imagine coming in on Season 6 with a curiosity? Yikes!

Anyway...never have I liked the feeling of getting so much while getting so little. This episode almost convinced me that this show could go on for another season. And for that, I give this episdoe a nice grade. Not great, but very, very strong.

Enjoy,
KC

LT359: First Impressions: The Package

2010-03-30T21:07:00.002-05:00

I'M LOST

It is amazing that after ten episodes into the final season that I still don't have a single clue as to the end game. I keep waiting for one single "Ooooooh!" moment that will explain everything from the dreams to the polar bears to the purpose of life. But one moment can't probably explain all those things (unless we are shown this has all been a drug-induced dream of Hurley in the mental ward). So, one then expects to be given little tidbits of understanding as the layers are peeled back.

But once again, we have more layers added then removed.

WHY WIDMORE WANTS JIN

Uh...I have no clue really. Ok he knows that Sun and Jin are partners (married in one timeline and dating in other). So?

Is Widmore aware of the names on the cave ceiling and wants to gather them one by one in order to keep Locke Black from leaving? If so, when his sub scooted up to the island they saw more of the candidates on the beach and didn't bother getting them...which would have been much easier.

IT'S ALL ABOUT TIMING, RIGHT?

Without knowing specifically why Widmore wants just Jin, he does grab him. And he does so when Locke is away from his camp. How did he know that Locke was going to be away?

Maybe Charles planned to go to this island to grab Jin and the plan was wait it out until John left camp no matter how long that took. That sounds like a really poor plan. Someone was bound to step on a twig, make a noise, and expose their presence. Anyway, they got lucky, let's say. John leaves and Jin is grabbed.

But on the sub Charles complains to Zoey that the timing of grabbing Jin is all wrong - they should have waited until he was in the jungle on his own. Agreed. How much easier that would have been without ticking off Locke and Company. What if just one of John's groupies got away? This is what they call a plan???

I guess its hard to get good help these days.

MAN BEHIND THE IRON DOOR

During commercial breaks the wife and I guessed who it was. Aaron was my pick.

Desmond was an obvious choice. Walt seemed viable - the thought was that he is "special" and might be able to combat Smokey.

It was Dez. And Sayid knows. He has a long swim back, but no matter, he doesn't feel anything which Locke points out is good because of what was about to happen. I can only think he meant the long swim! (Boy, I hope I'm joking, but something tells me I'm not!)

THE PYLONS

I'm jumping around on this episode, but didn't you think that Sayid - the communications expert - was sneaking around and working to shut those things off? I was waiting for some humming noise to indicate the power was turned off and Locke would turn into a pillar of smoke and squeeze the snot out of one of Widmore's people. Maybe all of them including Charles.

I was let down. But at least we got a promise of the war is here and one very scary stare down by Locke.

MR. PATCHY

The show is cute on how they keep old story facts around - like Mr. Patchy being shot in the eye. Cute, but not relevant.

What it does serve to do is remind me on how messed up everyone's lives are even in this alternative timeline. Sun is have relations with Jin outside of marriage, Keamy finds out and rats him out (how he knew is another point), so Mr. Paik pays him for the information, to be delivered by daughter and her lover, who can't clear customs (Mr Paik can close bank accounts not in his name, but can't get them through customs?), so they have to detour to a bank with Mr. Patchy as escort, but not before Sayid is abducted only to kill Mr. Patchy, Keamy and Omar.

Eh? It is liking those tribute movies that are based on a 1970's TV show. All the catch-phrases and familar momentos are mentioned, but add little to the plot. By the way, has any TV show gone to movie been done properly? Ok, Star Trek in most cases.

GRADE: C

Do you get the feeling they had really one or two episodes of things to tell us this season, but decided to drag it out over 16 shows?

I dislike the tribute to Season X (like Sun saying she was pregnant after being shot).

I dislike the craziness of Sun being hit on the head...did you notice there was only one tree in that entire field and she looks away at that moment...and losing her ability to speak. What point did that provide or prove? Was it the irony that Sun and Jin arrived with her speaking English and now only Jin can speak it? Plus I hate when the script does things like, "It's usually only temporary." Then why bother with it? I must have missed the objective.

I like Claire being used like a pawn by Locke. He pushes the right buttons and we now have to keep an eye on her when she is around Kate.

This gets an average C because it is LOST...or it would have gotten even a lower grade. Mostly because we didn't get anything new. Richard obviously returned. Hurley had one cute line. Sawyer and Kate continue a relationship they can't have. Everyone wants Sayid in their foxhole. Widmore plays as many games as Ben and Locke. We get it. What we didn't get was anything new - no Revelation...and if this Biblical story is going to wrap up we must get to the Book of Revelation. Don't this writers read? :)

SAVING GRACE

Ok, here are a couple of points this show made me ponder that saved the day.

First, the Oceanic 6. Remember how we couldn't quite figure out who the 6 were? Did it include Desmond or was the sixth person Aaron? Neither we brought to the island like the other 5. I point this out, because it seems now that John Locke's loophole was that if he could return the Oceanic 6 to the island, he could use them to leave.

This makes me think that the Oceanic 6 have a Golden Ticket of some sort - to come and go. This also means no one else does! This also implies that Sun is the Kwon on the cave ceiling and not Jin!

More on this later in the week.

**

Second...the shoes. I got to this because Sawyer asks (finally) a good question, "Why don't you just turn to smoke and go over there?"

SIDENOTE: Why aren't people in Locke's group defecting each and every night? Come on, people! This guy is death! Of course, where would they go?

Ok, back to transportation: Smokey can't travel between islands as Smokey. That's interesting. So how did he kill the remaining passengers of Ajira 316? Do you recall him rowing over, killing, and returning for a day trip? Did he send someone over to do his dirty work? I don't know who it could have been.

So I get this image of John do a lot of paddling in the past few days. It could have been before Widmore arrived even. It reminded me of Locke rowing to the main island with Ben after the Ajria 316 crash. There, they met up with Sun and Frank. So why is Sun so afraid of Locke now? She seemed fine with him before. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but what made her doubt him?

Ok, I'm getting to my second thought: the shoes. When we paddled over with Ben he took of his shiny black Christian shoes. When he got to land, he put them back on. There is something about shoes that Smokey doesn't like - at least over water.

Then I recall the Others walked around the island barefoot.

And how Locke first crashed on the beach from Oceanic Flight 815 and he was shoeless. They were sitting nice and neat next to him, but off his feet.

Then remember that Sawyer has a habit of being barefoot at the wrong time. He has stepped on something maybe two or three times. That has always made my Oddity List because it was so out of normal.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this other than to proclaim, "The shoes are key!" Maybe if you slip those slippers off, Locke can't touch you. Better than even a ring of ash. I said, Maybe!

**

Give me some time to dwell on this and I'll follow-up with these two last observations. The teaser to next week included the word "Death" so I'm already looking forward to it. That's kind of sick, now isn't it? HA!

Enjoy,
KC

LT358: Easter...Islands

2010-03-28T19:08:00.002-05:00

EASTER EGGS

That time is about here, but we are referring to the kind found in LOST. I have a site I use for these things and here is the visual:

The write-up for this photo reads, “While in prison, Richard’s Bible was open to a page with this chapter and verse. The page contains a story of Jesus encountering a man possessed by a demon and ordering the demon leave the man’s body without harming him.”

I disagree. The reason you read LOST TIDBITS is because we think differently! Ok, seriously, these guys see the top of the page reads “St Luke 4 37”. But the visual is clearly the upper-right verse, 4:24 which reads, “And he said, Verily I say until you, “No prophet is accepted in his own country.” I sense this was the real Easter egg since that is the quote Ben Linus made while prisoner in the Swan hatch. Doh!

COUNTERFEIT

The Bible warns that the Devil will not be as obvious as black and white. That would be too obvious. The key to misleading someone is to encapsulate your lie in some truth. Right now, I’m thinking “…a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down…” but that’s a whole other issue I’m dealing with!

We get a big dose of counterfeit this past episode. For example, the Man in Black touches Richard while in the bowels of the Black Rock and it appears to awaken Richard. Just like we saw Jacob touches John Locke after his fall. Technically this isn’t a counterfeit, but an exact duplication. The key is that it is hard to tell the two apart. This has lead to many theories about Jacob being the bad guy in reality.

Another example is the phrase used “it’s good to see you out of those chains”. John Black will say the same thing in a few centuries. Ok, it sort of is the same guy talking, but notice as well how it meant something different each time it was stated.

Here is a better example: the Man in Black instructs Richard to kill Jacob “before he can talk”. The only time that was said was when Jacob’s disciple, Dogan, was instructing Sayid.

Have I told you that both actors for Jacob and the Man in Black were in the TV show, “Supernatural”? Jacob plays the devil and MIB plays War – one of the apocalyptic horsemen.

BAPTISM

Jacob is teaching Richard a lesson about the value of life.

It reminded me a lot of the practice of baptism. The religious themes are loud and clear. Some denominations require baptism to reach Heaven while others view it as a symbolic gesture. Either way it represents the burial and resurrection of Christ. Now is a good time to remind you of the Biblical character with this reference: John the Baptist.

BLACK ROCK CRASHING

A few minor details to note:

The painting in the auction house is of the Black Rock during a storm.

Last week we see the Black Rock lifted high on a wave to explain how it got so far inland…and how the statue broke.

But in the season opener we have Jacob and Man in Black on the beach and they see a ship at sea. We assumed it was the Black Rock, but maybe not!

At the auction they said the last voyage was 1845, but last show it was 1867 when Richard was in prison. That was the year dynamite was invented so I think we have a correction being offered. Or it could have left Portsmouth, England in 1845 and take 22 years to get to the island? Maybe.

CANARY ISLANDS TRIVIA

Richard lived on the Canary Island of Tenerife. This island is known for its pyramids which some believe prove a connection between the Egyptians and the Mayans.

Canary Islands gets its name from Canaan – the land of the Israelites. It literally means “those who worship dogs”. Did someone say Vincent? Cerberus? And of course the Egyptians had gods in the form of dogs like Anubis.

The people of the Canary Islands claim to have seen a vanishing eighth island in their chain of islands. Did someone say “8”? A mysterious island that disappears? Hmmm….

These islands was also the location of a famous plane crash in 1977 – the year of the Incident on LOST.

**

Ok, that’s it for now. Oh wait, did anyone else think of the movie “Ghost” when watching Richard reunite with his wife? I was waiting for Isabella to jump into Hurley’s body and then Richard would have to kiss Hurley. Oh yuck!

Until next time…

Enjoy,
KC

LT357: A Conversation With Mike

2010-03-24T20:27:00.003-05:00

MIKE WRITES

A reader of LOST TIDBITS emailed me with this analysis that I thought would be good to share.

**

I had high expectations to this episode since it was Richard’s first and probably only centric-episode and I’m pleased to say I wasn’t disappointed. It was also nice not to see any flash-sideways story lines during this episode since they have been kind of boring and in the end they will probably be a) a “What If?” storyline/alternate universe that shows what happens to these people if they didn’t crash or b) the true ending of the series if all the flash-sideways parts are put together.

Hopefully the writers/producers throw us a screwball and go in a completely different direction to throw everyone off. Anyway, that’s 7 weeks away and there will be plenty of discussion on that later. On to “Ab Aeterno”.

Likes:
This was probably one of the best episodes this season. I won’t say it’s the best one in the series and I’m holding off of putting it in my top 5 or 10 of all time (yet) but this episode did answer a lot of questions for us which makes it very important (though the answers may be very minor and some of them were assumed already but after tonight they are officially answered). Some of the questions that were answered:
“How was the statue damage?”
“How did the Black Rock end up in the middle of the island?”
“What was the history of the Black Rock?”
“Who is Richard and what’s his deal exactly (aging, purpose, etc)?”

I could probably nit-pick and find more but Richard has a long past with the island and his story hasn’t been told until now so any sort of information about his past is bound to answer some questions.

Though it wasn’t a direct answer, we did get a lot more information about the island and also the battle between Jacob and MIB here. It is explained that the island is between our world and hell/an evil universe/purgatory/etc and that Jacob and the MIB intentions are to prove each other wrong that humans can be corrupted because it is in their nature. Yes, this has been discussed on message boards and it’s what we have been assuming for awhile but now it’s said on the show so it can be official (this is just like if Flocke was the black smoke monster situation that started last year). Jacob’s metaphor of the bottle of wine was another good and important scene. We will probably get more of an explanation of the island and Jacob/MIB but so far this episode has told us the most.

Though he has been on the fence for me over the last couple of seasons, I think Richard has joined the ranks of my favorite Lost characters. Locke, Daniel Faraday, Desmond, and Mr Ecko will greet you sir.

Dislikes:

I was hoping that Richard was even older and from the Egyptian times of the island. Though over the last couple of seasons there have been hints of him tied to the Black Rock thus squashing my hopes. I just want to see an Egyptian episode sometime!

Overall:

The acting, camera work, and story of this episode were great and it all fit nicely together. Also, bravo to Nestor Carbonell who knocked it out of the park this week. Hopefully the writers/producers can keep the momentum of this episode and the rest of the season will be just as great. Next week is a Jin/Sun centric-episode and they haven’t had a good one in a long time so here’s hoping they can end their last one on a high note.

Speaking of centric episodes, there’s 8 more episodes left (I’m counting the series finale as 1) so who do we all have left to cover.

(Minor Spoilers below):
Official:

Sun and Jin (next week)
Hurley (2 weeks away. Come on, his name is in the title.)

Probable:
Desmond (if we ever see him again. I’m kind of mad they are limiting his character this season. Maybe it’s because of the lawsuit last year.)
MIB (Jacob got one last year, so it’s only fitting that MIB gets one and I would almost put money on it that it will be the final episode.)
Frank (Maybe, it’s a long shot. Do we really need to know anything about his back story?)
Claire (They will need to explain why she walked off in the night and her being alone for 3 years)Ilana (Probably but I don’t really care about the character and her back story)

Grade: A-

MY RESPONSE

I think I've found my ghostwriter when we travel in a few weeks! Ok, down to business...

NO SIDEWAYS

If we take the name of the episode, then the events shown to us could all be pre-Earth. That's right, pre-Creation. I'm beginning to wonder that instead of looking for an end game on LOST, that we should consider all this as the pre-game!

The concept is that all the homage paid to the multiple religions and cultures and people is simply a way of saying that many people were given the chance that Adam was given...and all failed. Or something along those lines.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Yes, we did get answers. Consider this however: what if the answers we already presumed correctly were merely the writers giving us what we predescribed on message boards and blogs? In other words, this answers don't matter!

For example, the LOST community had pretty much guessed Richard was a passenger aboard the Black Rock ship. So, the writers confirmed it.

So I am focusing more on the surprise answers that are mandatory to finishing this story.

HISTORY OF THE BLACK ROCK

Since you brought it up...did you know that the owner of the ship was Magnus Hanso? That's a relative of Alvar Hanso - the guy who financed the Dharma Initiative as first told to us in the Swan Hatch Orientation film.

I do not know if Magnus was the ship's captain but in this episode we hear someone call out, "The captain is dead" when Smokey attacked them.

The ship's first mate - whoever that might be! - kept a log and this was somehow taken off the island and winds up in an auction house some 150 years later. It is at the auction that Charles Widmore buys the first mate's log book. I'm guessing this helped him find his way back via submarine.

This name dropping is to show us that the writers had this whole plot planned out well in advance. It also tells me that the Hanso's and Widmore's are connected. So now is a good time to remind everyone that another partner in this trinity (HA) is Mr. Paik - Sun's daddy!

WHAT IS THIS PLACE?

Charlie first asked this question and this week's episode provided some clues.

In Fundamentalist circles there is a pre-Heaven and a pre-Hell. I like to think of them as holding cells, but that probably is from my ornery side. They are officially called "Hades" and "Abraham's Bosom". When the Messiah returns a second time, the souls are moved from here to their final places: Hell and Heaven.

Catholics have a single holding cell called Purgatory (which is an acronym for Gary Troup, author of LOST-linked book, "Bad Twin"). Everyone goes here to pay penance as the old priest mentioned to Richard in his jail cell.

If my guess about these events being pre-time (Latin: Ab Aeterno), then we are actually talking about a pre-Heaven. I'm not sure we are ever given an official name for this place in the Bible but it is where the angels existed with God including one angel named Lucifer.

Earlier I have been suggesting the LOST story is moving towards End Times like in Revelation. But now I'm more convinced this is Pre Time and the angel, Lucifer, leaves Paradise and takes 1/3rd of the angels with him.

SPOILERS

TIDBITS normally doesn't do spoilers, but these are well publicized and not very revealing, so I included them. But now these comments:

Desmond - did you know that his name is listed in the credits of every episode so far in Season 6 and yet we saw him only briefly on the plane? I'll bet you a boot at the Hessen Haus that Desmond is who is locked behind that door on the sub. Father-in-laws can be such a pain!

While thinking about Desmond...remember Mrs. Hawking said that if Desmond didn't keep pushing that button the world would end and "God helps us all"? She was right. Desmond was keeping the cork in the bottle, just like the Dharma Group was doing before him.

Ilana - I feel that she is more important than you are giving her credit for. For example, how did she get her faced messed up? It seemed she was in some Third World hospital and how about her being someone different when those wraps come off!?! Her relationship with Jacob doesn't appear to be as old as Richard, but there have been mentions about "mothers" and "fathers" where these two are concerned.

**

Well, thanks for writing and I hope I gave you something to think about in response.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Be checking back for more TIDBITS this week when we can discuss things like:

- In Sawyer's episode all the clocks seen in every scene were set to the same time!
- While the sideways flash appears to be parallel, I can prove they are not 2007-08!
- Aaron is not a good son!
- The MIB and Jacob are not the Devil and Christ!
- Why the Survivors are not dead as Richard claims!

If you enjoyed this post, let me know by clicking one of the ads. It let's me know you are reading, you like it, and I get compensated a few pennies for the effort. A win-win for everyone - unlike on the Island of Misfits.

Enjoy,
KC

LT356: Ab Aeterno - First Impressions

2010-03-23T21:14:00.004-05:00

THE SUNDAY SERMON

I feel like I just sat through a Sunday service. To be fair, the story of LOST does not require a religion. It is the story of good versus evil. But then that concept always leads one back to gods - one good and one evil.

Let's break down this sermon a little bit...

THE GOOD GUYS: JACOB

Many feel that God speaks in riddles, half-explanations and makes impossible requests. On the surface, His instructions can seem almost contradictory. Say hello to Jacob. While Jacob may not be THE God, he is a manifestation of him.

Consider the motives behind Jacob's actions. He tells Richard that he brought him and others to the island in order to show the Man in Black that people will choose good. And yet, time and time (since the Adam and Eve skeletons in the cave?) each person fall short of the required faith.

Before we elevate Jacob to deity, let's remind ourselves that his power is limited. He can not return Isabella to Richard. He can not absolve Richard of his sins. But he can grant immortality. It looks like we will have to see a few more episodes in order to figure out all the rules of this game - much like every member of a congregation has to do!

One more observation: Jacob is rarely there when he is needed. Again, a common complaint of God's followers. Interesting.

THE PENDULUM KEEPS SWINGING

Every since Boone died and Aaron was born in the same instance we have witnessed a foreshadowing of the concept of a pendulum. The dictionary defines a pendulum as "a body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to measure time".

On this island the force of influence is good and evil. Or one might argue it is one's own nature. Decisions...consequences.

As Ben turns back to good, Richard turns to evil. Tick-tock, tick-tock.

THE BAD GUY: MAN IN BLACK

I enjoyed the re-quotes such as "I see you are in chains." His words are clever, full of half-truths, and full of undisclosed conditions.

And we learn his role is to kill Jacob.

The wine analogy was very helpful. The evil is kept bottled up and the island is the lid. Now I can't quite rationalize how some of it seeps out in the form of black smoke, but the concept is understood. If the cork comes off we could be unleashing the forces of Hell upon the Earth. This is very similar to the concept of the Bible's devil being kept at bay in the bottomless pit.

There must be days when the Man in Black (and Satan) wake up and just wants to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. But there are rules like Job. It seems to me that Richard was protected by some force and this is why he did not die while below deck in the Black Rock.

OTHER NOTES

We are going to have a number of topics to discuss this week such as:

* The Black Rock crushing the statue
* The priest compromising his position for a few silver coins
* Magnus Hanso
* Rules we can construct such as to escape from hell one must kill the devil
* Hurley, dude
* Rules like Jacob must invite you inside - so was Ben invited?
* Who controls Jacob and the Man in Black

GRADE: BACKSLIDING

I give this episode a B+.

The show was nearly an entire flashback for Richard...and long overdue. I appreciated the story of love which required sacrifice, but how that commitment can blind one to rage and end in tragedy. It is a very thin line we walk along and that was depicted very well.

Ab Aeterno means "before time" and in religious circles it is used to described events "outside of time" such as Creation happening before time began (well, as we know it). These almost seem to suggest events prior to mankind...the events that lead right up to Adam and Eve.

It wouldn't surprise me if the two beings on the island agree to a challenge. A challenge where the two sides agree that the next person's decision - to serve good or to serve evil - will determine the fate of mankind. That would have to be Adam and Eve and we know how that turns out. So it seems Desmond was, after all, indeed, saving the world. He was putting off that final challenge. He was keeping mankind afloat for another cycle in order to finally find one person who would choose good and we could avoid the sinful nature we find ourselves plagued with today.

If the opening scene of Season 6 is any indicator (along with the history of mankind), then it appears hope does not float. It sinks to the bottom of the ocean along with the island. In this story, truth wins and the truth hurts. Because unlike the movies, the good guys do not win.

Very strong episode, but now I am ever so depressed.

Enjoy,
KC

LT355: Recon - First Impressions

2010-03-16T21:23:00.002-05:00

Reconnaissance: A French word meaning "recognition"; a military term meaning preliminary survey to gain or collect information

So here is my own reconnaissance of each character:

SAWYER

Without Oceanic Flight 815 going down the life Sawyer would have led was to be a cop with Miles as his partner. On one particular job the code word "LaFleur" seemed to pop into somebody's head and they used it. Of course, with Oceanic crashing, it seems to have been a good alias for Sawyer to use as he moved up to Head of Security for the Dharma Initiative along with partner, Miles. This scene was a good sign the writing was returning to its elevated levels.

Pre-crash Sawyer went to Australia to kill the man he thought was Cooper/Sawyer. In this second timeline he goes there to perform recon. His obsession is the same, but his life's work is vastly different. The key is to remember that at the core, Sawyer remains the same.

CHARLOTTE

Very strange role for her in this episode. When she went searching through his dresser drawer it was all wrong. Why was she curious? She had to realize that for one of the few times in this guy's life she got him to speak the truth...so why doubt him? No one said she had to throw herself at him.

That left me convinced it was her reconnaissance work - someone hired her. Was it Miles? I'm guessing so. And so after that, Charlotte was going to be done with him anyway. Yet, I didn't buy it. I know it says 2010 on my calendar but what friend asks another to sleep with a guy so you can find out more about my partner? And what friend says, "Sure, what's the harm?" Yeah, right.

KATE

I think Kate's life is in danger. John Black knows she hasn't sold her soul to him yet. And I think he realizes he isn't likely to get it - she's too independent.

If she could wish one person dead, it would be Jack. "Thanks so much for bringing us back here, buddy boy!" Even I hate Jack for doing it...so far.

CLAIRE

Can't really talk Kate without talking Claire. First, she is impressing me more and more as an actress. This role is challenging and she is doing a nice job with it. Her appearance really freaks me out. I almost believe Locke when he tells Kate she is crazy. But something tells me not to fall for her act.

Chills went down my spine when she held Kate's hand. Minutes later she is trying to kill her. Then after a chat with John, she's all hugs. She's either Sybil-like or John is using her to soften up Kate.

How exactly is Kate going to sleep at night?

SAYID

Again, fine acting job. He is done for - he is sick. But he has enough humanity left in him to respond to Kate's question of is he alright with a pleading, "No." But not enough humanity to do anything but sit on a log and watch Kate nearly die.

These characters are creeping me out!

ZOEY

Am I the only one who thought she looked like Tina Fey? It didn't take a rocket science to figure out she was lying. So why exactly did she drag the bodies to the pile? Knowing either side of her deceit it makes little sense to do that.

JOHN BLACK

A preacher told me once that the Devil can't help but lie. His followers have the same problem. Imagine being the Devil and you send out your troops for a little recon and when the report back you know they are lying? Would you always then expect the opposite of what you were told? It must a very confusing life when everyone around you is lying. This is where the Bible says, "a house divided against itself can not stand." Many wrongly assume this is a warning about division within a church, but it actually a verse of encouragement for we now know that eventually Satan's house will fall because it can't help but be divided by its very nature.

This is a perfect foundation for Season 6 - who can trust who?

I appreciated John's directness. I am the smoke monster. Ok then. For this reason alone, I believe Sawyer's life is in mortal danger.

**

There is another concern with the script. Smokey apparently can make it to the Hydra Island. He went there and killed the remaining passengers of Ajira Fligh 316. So why couldn't he do his own recon? Widmore's people may not have arrived yet, but now that they are there, go have a look. The only reason I can fathom is that John was testing Sawyer's loyalty - which he stated as much. Yet, the Devil has to know that his followers are bound to lies, so does he really know that Sawyer was lying? Wonderful paradox. But is it enough to explain why Smokey didn't just drift over there himself? Hmmm...

**

Have you noticed how Smokey can use John's memory of his past life? Smokey didn't have a crazy mother...John did. Smokey doesn't shout, "Don't tell me what I can't do", but John did. And yet we know it is still Smokey in that body because of his twisted psychological play on Claire. I wasn't as bothered by him manipulating Claire half as much as how he seemed to enjoy sharing his evil doings with Kate. "Sure, I gave her something to hate."

And this to John's ability to spin any event into his own style of rationalization and you've got yourself an Emmy! Can they share it with Ben? In the replay before this episode I watch the final 5 minutes. When they showed Jack noticing Ben with his shoulders drooped...well, what great body language.

JOHN'S FOLLOWERS

By choosing to leave the Temple they have converted. Yet, Cindy asks, "What happened to the others at the Temple?" The children are theoretically unable to make a choice. Why do I sense that Kate and Sawyer are not the only ones in this group still riding the fence? Or is it possible to changed sides and this is what Cindy is contemplating? If so, I fear her life is in danger.

Speaking of the kids, did you see the boy is still dragging that teddy bear around?

WIDMORE

I honestly can't figure this guy out. He is in fear of John Black evidenced by those nifty temporary sonar pillars. But is that who he really wants dead? Or is Widmore trying to prove his candidancy for Island Caretaker?

GRADE

B+

The show got back into the groove that left my head spinning during each commerical break. I was so confused I thought I saw Charlie, Juliet, and Penny in the commercials!

We got new questions, but they weren't as frustrating as before...more like new mysteries like what's behind the locked door?

The play on past flashbacks, current sideways flashes and island events is becoming an art form for the writers. There were no obvious "made up rules".

But the show misses the "A" because:

* Sawyer can't operate a submarine any easier than fly a jumbo jet
* Claire might really be insane and I just don't like that
* The followers of John should be commiting suicide one by one at this point after realizing what they did...except for a few who really are infected by now like Sayid
* I didn't like John's walks to the beach for a chat with everyone

The + was for the great lines in this show:

* Take me to your leader
* Yeah, I think you are that stupid (that's a reused line if you remember - Jack said it last time)
* Because of that I had growing pains
* Aaron has a crazy mother too
* The Little House on the Prairie tribute where Michael Langdon also is known for playing an angel on "Highway to Heaven"

All in all, it was a strong episode. It made my head spin like the good old days. The eye-rolling on my part was limited. And the acting was above average.

Enjoy,
KC

LT354: Catching Up on Things

2010-03-14T14:14:00.001-05:00

THINGS I BET YOU DON’T KNOW…YET

Principal Reynold’s name was written on the ceiling in the cave.

The book Ben finds while rummaging through old tent’s is “The Chosen” and is about two boys in a story that combines science, religion and a father-son relationship.

Miles’ “listened” to the dead two times in the last episode. First, when holding the bag of Jacob’s ashes. The second, when listening to Nikki and Paulo talk about their diamonds because at the time of their burial Miles wasn’t on the island yet!

Widmore accepted John “The Devil” Black’s offer of anything he wanted and Widmore wants the island…bad. And on cue, here he is returning the exact same way he was sent off. Mark my words, when Widmore comes ashore he will share some secret handshake with John Black, wink, then turn around and finally kill Ben. Of course, Widmore could just be there to offer a ride off the island.

One side note about the submarine…the crewmember said something like, “There’s people out there.” Widmore quickly encouraged them to continue on. Why is that line important? Drats…there are still things we don’t know…yet.

IS IT MAGIC?

How did Miles dig up the diamonds without anyone noticing? Even if he did manage before Ben was shackled or after his escape, how did no one notice the graves were disturbed?

Think we will see Dogan alive again? If my magic meter is working properly (yeah, it looks like a Dustbuster!), then the stuff Jacob poured into the water at the beginning of the “Lighthouse” episode might save his, well, his neck.

RELIGION VERSUS SCIENCE

Way back when…I mean WAY back when, the producers promised us fringe science. Even the most liberal interpretation of those words will allow a lot of crazy things including reanimation. But when John Black points a finger and the shackles fall off Ben’s ankle, um…is that sort of like bending spoons? Is that even fringe science or hocus pocus?

But then any religious person will tell you that followers have Christ have it within them to move a mountain (or island?). Perhaps religion is merely unexplained science. If that becomes our new definition of “fringe science”, then anything goes with supernatural deities like Jacob and the Man in Black.

If we open our minds to these possibilities, then let me suggest that if the Man in Black can occupy John’s body, then Jacob may have the same ability. Further, one of the characters might have Jacob in him right now! I vote for Sayid who is merely getting close enough to John Black to extract his revenge for the Bible says, “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”

Now this brings up a nasty little big of having Jacob within Sayid: that Sayid Jacob killed Dogan. Some might say that this is not behavior becoming a good deity. However, if the course of the universe is set and what has happened will happen, then Dogan’s death was inevitable and Jacob is merely keeping the sequence of events in place…while enduring himself to John Black.

ISLAND CARETAKER

We’ve moved from The List to The Candidates. Ilana explains that there are six candidates remaining and the job of the candidate will be to take over Jacob’s job of protecting the island.

By the way, did you hear that some country (I think Australia actually) hired a real-life caretaker of some island? True story. I regret not applying for the job.

Let’s review the previous caretaker’s duties:

Task 1: Pick an assistant
We know Jacob is on the island with the Man in Black when the Black Rock appears on the horizon. If Jacob is the caretaker, I’m not sure what job position is held by the Man in Black. Around this time, Jacob’s tasks include giving Richard immortality and he hires Richard as his “executive assistant”.

Benefits: Housing
The Caretaker is given a cabin fully stocked with painting supplies, jars of weird stuff (is that what is poured in the water pool?), and a table and chairs. Who could want more? If you do, then you also get a beach house in the base of an old statue.

Task 2: Recruit a replacement
Jacob must spend his time getting a candidate to replace him before he dies.

Benefits: Vacation
The Caretaker is given some vacation time off the island.

Now who wouldn’t want this job?

Speaking of candidates, Ilana mentions six people remain (out of 108 applicants). Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, a Kwon, and…well, I think she said Frank was a candidate at one time. I think Sayid is off the list in her mind since she knows what he did in the Temple. That leaves one more spot: Kate? Evidence indicated she is not. Ben? Please! How about Vincent? Hey, don’t forget the dog!

Before you scoff at the idea of Vincent being the chosen one, remember that Douglas Adams – he who said “42” was the answer to life, the universe and everything – told us that mice were actually running our planet.

So the partial list of candidates is reunited together and what a motley crew it is: Ben, Richard, Miles, Lapidus, Ilana, Hurley, Sun and Jack? Who saw this grouping in Season 1?

READER RESPONSES

Let’s get to the Inbox…

TALK ABOUT JULIET:

There is some banter about the alternative timeline was not established by the bomb going off (Michael writes). A few posters rebut this by pointing out that Juliet mumbled, “It worked”, and that seems to be a clear reference to the bomb.

KC’S THOUGHTS:

First, I’d like to point out that Juliet said those words while in Sawyer’s arms after it did NOT go off. Let’s face it, had the bomb gone off, Sawyer would have needed a pooper scooper to hold Juliet and not his two strong arms! How could she have thought “it worked” if Sawyer is sitting there right next to her?

I really do feel that the bomb did not go off, but that a flash of light transported the group to another spot along the timeline(s). It seems to be the only way all events we have witnessed could have transpired. Juliet’s reference wasn’t then to the bomb exploding but that she saved her buddies.

As for when the alternate reality begins (or is determined), I’m with Michael…there is still a point ahead in Jack’s life on the island that determines the sequence of events we see. It means they go these other route living with the deals they’ve made, but altered from what we have seen previously. It will mean Jack sacrifices his job as new Caretaker and that Jacob will be re-established as the Caretaker in 2004 like we found him. Only to do this all over again! Loop, dude, loop.

**

WELL-THOUGHT-OUT THEORY

Adrian writes about his theory. Well, he points us to a link to read about his theory. Check it out at; http://lost-looking-glass.blogspot.com/2010/03/seeing-red-and-ponderings-on-life.html

KC'S THOUGHTS: Post me some of the points if I fail to get over these anytime soon. Hey, I’m a busy guy! HA!

**

CORRECTIONS

I’m corrected that Dogan’s son didn’t die in the auto accident. Good catch, JC. Wait, JC? Those initials remind me of someone…

**

I HATE INTERRUPTIONS

Beany agrees that worthless interruptions to the regular schedule LOST time are bothersome. Worthless like those Cyclones who can’t win a game if their life depended on it. Or those Presidential news conferences. Priorities, people!

Oh, and nice to have a fellow Iowan reading TIDBITS. Go Hawkeyes!

**

DOUBTING THOMAS

An anonymous writer and Ben echoes my sentiments about the writers losing their consistency and setting us up for utter disappointment.

KC'S THOUGHTS: I think I posted something above if this was Season 2 or 3, I would have quit watching.

But then Thomas touched the wounds in Jesus’ hands and repented for every having doubted. I think St. Peter even denied Christ three times. So hey, even the disciples struggled, but faith carried them through. So hang in there…if you do, I will.

**

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Enjoy,
KC

LT353: Dr. Linus - First Impressions

2010-03-09T21:15:00.002-06:00

THERE'S A LADY WHO'S SURE

Ilana stepped front and center this week. While always a strong personality, it was moments with Sun and Ben that cemented her place as leader. She probably has the most faith of anyone. She's one of those glass half-full people who thinks everything that glitters is gold.

I enjoyed her revelations of being touched by Jacob and looking up to him as a father. And in the end her faith won the day as she not only forgave Ben's selfish act of murder, but also seemed to truly forget. A rare quality for sure.

But tell me...did the thought cross your mind that the moment Ben accepted her offer that Smokey was going to appear and swallow him up?

'CAUSE YOU KNOW SOMETIMES WORDS HAVE TWO MEANINGS

The writers were playing the double meaning to the hilt...a little too much in my mind. They would leave the alternative reality with Arzt commenting that Ben was quite the killer. Then flip back to the island to Mr. Killer himself.

But it was the play on meanings that made this episode enjoyable. The moral debate of blackmail a professor or save the educational dreams of a student was interesting.

AND MY SPIRIT IS CRYING FOR LEAVING

As the show flip-flopped between the alternative timeline and the island events, Ben was flip-flopping as well. He was thinking, "Should I stay or should I go?"

When offered the job of island Caretaker he clearly accepted the tempting offer. However, this island is about redemption and while helping Sun with the tarp is a small gesture it seems as if Ben is on the road to recovery. And just in time with that sinister submarine coming in fast.

IN MY THOUGHTS I HAVE SEEN RINGS OF SMOKE THROUGH THE TREES...

...and the voices of those who stand looking.

Man, is LOST just a retelling of Stairway to Heaven? We still need some answers to the Whispers. Who exactly is standing around and watching? Is this some assembly of Olympian gods watching the mortals struggle with free will?

AND A NEW DAY WILL DAWN FOR THOSE WHO STAND LONG

This episode was about renewed faith. The band of beach bums reunited not only with lost friends (Jack, Sun and Richard) but with their core values. Ben was the centerpiece, but every character on that beach was beginning to entertain hope and to solidify which side of the fence they were going to stand on.

I enjoyed Frank's revelation of over-sleeping as to why he missed piloting Oceanic Flight 815. However, the writers should be cautioned not to just throw out willy-nilly explanations. Hopefully they will weave the answers into the entire show's storyline. For example, having shown Frank as a heavy sleeper prior to this explanation would have been nice...and shown the answers were thought out and not simply manufactured on the fly.

IF THERE'S A BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW, DON'T BE ALARMED NOW

Pretend you are Ben. Shackled. And the wind and noise of Smokey appears. That noise is the jungle is John and yet only Ben heard and saw him - or so it seems.

Locke is as devilish as they come. It was clever to to suggest he went back to the statue to look for Ben. It was wily to offer Ben the job. It was deceiving to suggest his salvation would be found on the Hydra Island.

In the end, Ben was very alarmed at that prospect but only because someone accepted him. Had Ilana not extended that fig leaf, Ben would be paddling to his damnation.

YES, THERE ARE TWO PATHS YOU CAN GO BY...

...but there's still time to change the road you're on.

That's not the most evangelical Bible message we've ever heard, but the show is suggesting that one can change their path, their destiny.

However, the transformation has been nothing short of miraculous for Jack. Here he was sitting next to a stick of dynamite knowing (ok, believing) his life was protected. But wasn't it just a few island hours ago he was smashing the very mirror he offered as proof of Jacob's purpose to Richard?

And that is my main criticsm of this season and this episode. About a third of the Temple folks flip sides on a dime. Jack goes from ticked off Jacob is voyeur and then the next minute he seems to be some kind of disciple.

Even Richard seems to be flapping in the wind. And while some might point out this show offered the most answers to date, I could argue not one was a surprise. The writers had best take care or we could be changing the road we are on!

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL

The message was clear: hold your ground. Stick to your guns. Don't waver. And one day you will have that stairway to heaven.

As we enter the final stanzas of this composition I'm hoping the characters begin to heed this advice and make some commitments. Or will they be tempted to compromise and become just a bit tainted with manuevers like getting out of monitoring detention?

GRADES

C+

It improved from last week. But the real knocks are:

* The answers revealed were already known (think Widmore returning)
* We know the good versus evil theme and we know the good guys always win
* There was feeling of filler like a long guitar solo between versus two and three

So this episode gets an average. The + is for the points listed above and the fact I really, really like Led Zeppelin. Let's just hope the show doesn't come crashing down like the Hindenburg.

Enjoy,
KC

LT352: Contemplations of a LOST Addict

2010-03-08T07:47:00.003-06:00

CAN YOU GUESS MY NAME?

It is obvious that LOST is wrestling with the eternal theme of good versus evil. While we have been offered a name for the good side (or have we?), the evil side goes by many pseudonyms such as my John Black, Flocke, and Man in Black.

That got me thinking about the Rolling Stones tune and the many names that the Bible uses for the Devil, Abbadon, Satan, Beelzebub, etc. How clever for the writers to continue this similarity with the Bible by offering multiple names for our evil island persona.

If next episode we hear the character ask, “Can you guess my name?” I’m going to point out that the next step in the Bible prophecy is a major and final war. Now why does that sound familiar?

MAKING DEALS WITH THE DEVIL

“James, what if told you that you could have anything you want?”

I think James would answer, “I want Juliet to be alive.”

So he gets his wish. And we know these things (sort of) because we have been shown this outcome with James. It is the part we call sideways flash or the alternative timeline. My guess is James got EXACTLY what he asked for: Juliet is alive. Only she married Jack and had a son named David. Be careful what you ask for.

Hurley will then ask to be lucky and he is.

Kate probably asks to be free…but forgot about the “on the run” part.

Claire just wants her baby back and presto! She has the baby, but is alone, about to deliver on someone’s front lawn and is only sure about one thing…his name.

Jack wishes only to not be like he father. And he isn’t a drinker or probably not a cheater or as John Locke will find out if Helen gets him to call eventually (big IF)…he probably isn’t half the doctor his father was.

You can’t always get want you want. But if try sometimes you might find, you get what you need.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Did you notice Claire was singing her song, “Catch a Falling Star”? The same song her dad use to sing and that Kate would sing one day to Aaron.

That symbol on the wall that opens the secret passage way means “Protection”.

Sundown, the last episode title, was leading people to think it was Sun-centric. The name and the fact that the order of featured characters was the same this season as in Season 1. But the trick was on us as this was Sayid-centric and another pattern we thought we discovered was wrong.

**

Enjoy,
KC

LT351: Sundown - First Impressions

2010-03-03T04:44:00.003-06:00

OFF THE RIM

Flipped on the television at the scheduled time only to find a basketball game had bumped LOST from its time slot. ARGH!

Further punished because the game went into overtime. DOUBLE ARGH!

So this episode, Sundown, created a mood for me that was similar to the fans at the game who sat and watched shot after shot clank off the rim - foul. I don't even care for the 70's song that shares this show's title! But finally, it came on and we settled in for another brain massage.

OVER THE TOP

It has been explained to me that some people watch movies and shows merely to be entertained. But I like movies and shows that make me think. For examples we can consider Die Hard versus The Matrix.

Last night's show was more Die Hard and a bit over the top for me.

The fight scene with Dogan and Sayid was "cool", but what purpose did it serve? Was there really an intention from Dogan to kill Sayid?

Will the LOST producers have to apologize for stereotyping Asians as martial arts experts? Seriously, where did this bank middle manager, family man attending piano recitals, suffering from a loss of a child guy pick up martial arts? If we wanted to be picky one might wonder why an interrogator from Iraq learned such excellent hand-to-hand combat? Yes, it was nice eye candy, but provided little after the initial sugar buzz wore off.

**

In similar fashion the raid of Smokey on the Temple was cool. But it was over the top and I'm left wondering what purpose it served to show that much CGI graphics on a show that promised from the start to only use plausible scientific theories as its basis. Hmmm....

FOCUS THE SPOTLIGHT

On the mental side of the equation I did like the spotlight being focuse on the concept of free will versus predestination. Most will agree with me that when a supernatural being is pushing events a certain way, us mere humans lose a lot of ou free will.

We learned Jacob probably allowed or did kill Dogan's son in order to force him into a deal with the angel.

Then half of the Temple Dwellers, and Sayid were "forced" into a deal with the devil.

As Rush sang:

All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage.

So true with LOST last night.

REDEFINE GOOD

This week LOST took the word "good" and completely redefined it. It seems "good" is evidenced by your willingness to kill evil. Oh really?

Now maybe that wasn't the new definition as Sayid was put to the test with that knife, but it was protrayed that way. I'm reminded of John being asked to kill his father, Cooper...again, as a test of his goodness since daddy was an evil man. Really?

Most people would agree that killing is allowed in war and self-defense (even though these compromises really make you gut check your core values). But stabbing even before one speaks? Seems a little situational ethics to me.

GRADE

C-

Maybe I've over analyzed this episode. And I'm way too far into this story to back off now. But if this was aired in Season 2 or 3, I might have been watching Biggest Loser last night instead of LOST.

It just served as a reminder as to why this God and Devil stuff that humanity has chained itself too over the centuries makes me mad. We have all had a time when we raise our fist to the air and said, "Why God?!" This episode reminded of those times when we learned a good god offered a Pet-Cemetary-like resurrection of a child in exchange for a life of penance. And then the same deal is extended to Sayid it seems.

So my displeasure is probably more due to my deeply-rooted guilt complex than anything else!

Well, that and the fact that once again LOST left me with more questions than answers like:

* What's up with that line of ash that John Black can't cross?
* Why was John able to cross it eventually?
* Why is Claire so messed up?
* Whose really dead and whose not?
* Why a special knife to kill John?
* Why is Claire mad that Kate cared for Aaron?
* Why is Kate alive after giving Claire a chance to kill her if she is so upset about Aaron?
* Why can't Smokey sense Kate was in the pit?
* Why can't Smokey go through walls?
* Why didn't someone else kill Kate since she joined Locke without making a choice?
* Why didn't Sayid kill Ben?
* Why is Jin in the storage locker?
* What is the full meaning behind the "scales of good and evil"?
* Why did the Others so quickly abandon their cause?
* Why did the death of Dogan allow Smokey access into the Temple?
* What isn't Miles noticing who is the living dead with his gift?
* Where is God through all of this?
* Why was it too late if John spoke first?
* What is Sawyer doing with his time in the cave?
* Is Hurley complaining about being hungry?
* What is the significance of sundown?

Be sure to check back on TIDBITS for some proposed answers. And hopefully we won't have to wait for the final buzzer to sound before getting some getting some answers.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know that by clicking one of the ads when you finish reading.

Enjoy,
KC

LT350: Strangers, Blondes, and Offspring

2010-02-28T07:55:00.003-06:00

NUMBER 108

Wallace can have the meaning of “stranger”.

Henry Gale has the meaning “ruling stranger”.

Ben used the nickname Henry Gale which is sort of double play on words. We know that Ben wasn’t recruited as much as he volunteered for service. And if one wants to point out that Ben’s participation started when he was a child and healed at the Temple then even more we can point out that he wasn’t selected. Both time he was delivered by someone – his father to Dharma Docks and by Kate and Sawyer to Richard.

Yes, he is/was the ruler, but he was a stranger in that he was outside the normal group. I’m thinking Stranger in Strange Land especially since Heinlein has been referenced before.

So who then is the “outsider” coming now? I think this disqualifies Widmore. Could it be the young boy? I’m leaning that the boy being a young Jacob. Oh, here’s an idea: what if Smokey works only to keep the balance? Now that John Black is getting established, maybe Smokey now manifests who Jacob wants. Hmmm…

Ok, back to Stranger. The best candidate for this role seems to someone who was not really invited in, but stumbled onto the island. Or maybe I should say he crashed onto the island (just like the real Henry Gale did). Or maybe I could just say, “Welcome back Desmond!”

BLACK ROCK THOUGHTS

One of the earliest mysteries was how in the world it got so far inland? Some suggested a major storm and that is plausible. But wouldn’t it be easier if the Black Rock ship sunk and drifted down to settled on a sunken island!?!

THE BLONDE BOY

Jacob is a leading contender for this new character. But let’s not forget that Aaron has blonde hair and way back when it seemed he was going to have an important role.

Also consider how much that a) Claire doesn’t want him to return to the island evidence by her showing up in Aaron’s bedroom to say as much to Kate and b) how much Claire wants Aaron back in her arms. I don’t think we saw all that transpire in recent episodes without it coming full circle for the Shepherd family.

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

Imagine that Christian ends up being the Man in Black. We’ve seen Jacob travelling the globe, why not the Man in Black?

Now here’s the crazy part: Christian as the Man in Black had children: Jack, Claire and now a grandchild, Aaron.

Evidence #1: He has definitely been pushing Jack in the direction he wanted his son to go.

Evidence #2: The sort-official Missing Pieces has it all starting with Christian telling Vincent that his son has work to do.

Evidence #3: When Christian met Sawyer in that Australian bar he dipped his finger in the drink and tasted it…just like John Black did!

Evidence #4: When Christian was on the island he was very dead, but in that manifestation he said, “We need to bring the family back together.”

This then suggests that the big battle is over Jack. John Black already has Claire under his influence. And he is Christian already (according to this theory). Jack is the last piece of this game for John to get. Well, there is one more and that fits nicely into the stranger coming back…Aaron.

It would be a clincher if Aaron’s last name (or middle name?) was Wallace. Perhaps Claire’s mother remarried a Mr. Wallace along the way.

Hey, I entitled this section, “Crazy Theory”, for a reason!

Oh, one more related point: the Bible does have a verse that has preplexed scholars for years. It says, "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose...There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

So, it isn't completely out of question for the Man in Black to be of some "alien" nature and also have fathered children. Yeah, weird. To be fair, some scholars have noted that a certain people used to call themselves "sons of God" so maybe this is just a reference to those people integrating into another tribe of people. Who called themselves "sons of God"? Why the Egyptians, of course! And there is little debate that whoever these "sons of God" where, their offspring were a unique lot of folk being giants and all.

Isn't LOST great? It makes you think.

**

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Enjoy,
KC

LT349: I Think We're Going to Need to Watch That Again

2010-02-25T19:55:00.006-06:00

LOOK AGAIN

I mentioned that my hope was to see whose name was found at position 108 on the dial in the lighthouse. Here it is:

Wallace? Don’t miss “Friendly” at 109. If Jack had not freaked out he would have seen into the life of Wallace. Wonder what he would have seen?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Is that 08 or 108? I can't quite tell but it deserved to be pointed out.

There is a Rousseau at position 20. That could mean Danielle or her husband or even Alex. Austen is found at position 51 and she is not crossed off like the others are. Linus is at 117 and is crossed-off, so either he is disqualified or dead.

Most circular things have 360 degrees so we can assume that Jacob has been peeking in at 360 people.

I noticed that Jack’s name is written slightly different than the rest. And the house he saw is not where he went to visit his mother. Maybe 23 stands for Christian?

Could all the flashbacks we’ve seen be the things that Jacob saw in the mirror? It might explain why at times a person seemed to be on the good list and then not on the list. Think Ana Lucia and a few others who were hoped to be good. Maybe they were waiting for Jacob to take another peek into his mirror and see. When we (and Jacob) saw Ana Lucia shoot the attacker in cold blood, maybe that doomed her.

Michael is an excellent example of this as he waffles between idiot and caring father.

CHEERS

Jack’s mother has a little helper but Jack doesn’t seem to be a drinker. Too bad, because he could have asked for a glass of MacCutcheon scotch. This is the choice of drink for Widmore, Cooper and maybe Jack’s father. This feeds into the theory that Dharma (or whatever name we can put on this “group”) is everywhere.

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

Jack’s son, David, is practicing some Chopin.

You can see the song title. It is the same piece that young Danielle was playing at the piano when his mother gave him the talk about spending his time a little more productively.

And it was clear, but should be mentioned in case someone missed it…but Jack said he read “The Annotated Alice” to his son when he was little. Now David is reading it for school.

SILLY RABBIT

Did you notice Jack found the key to the front door stored under a rabbit? The writers just can’t seem to let these themes go.

A very similar rabbit was hiding a key that Miles found when he let himself into the apartment as a child.

CUT ME, MICK

Sorry, a little Rocky flashback of my own. Anyway, the appendix scar is very interesting. I put this in the same category as the bleeding on the neck that Jack noticed in the airplane bathroom. How can he have these and not remember them? It seems as if EVERYONE – including mother – is pushing Jack down his path of destiny.

TIME TO PICK TEAMS

It appears that the teams are beginning to take shape. Hurley and Jack on Team Jacob. Sawyer and Claire on Team Locke.

Do you wonder if Jacob wasn’t forming a team from all of the Oceanic 6? It seems possible that by bringing them back to the island, this was their choice. On the other hand, John Black (my name for Smokey Locke) is trying to get his team to leave the island.

Something made me wonder if Jacob and Blackie haven’t been fighting for years in some place. Dad gets tired of their constant fighting and says, “Look, you two go to this island and when one of you wins, you can return home. Until then, you two stay there and fight all you want.”

STAR WARS RETURNS

Hurley used a little Jedi Knight trick on Dogan with that, “I’m a candidate and I can do whatever I want. YOU go back to the courtyard.” Nice one.

Now let’s consider what this implies. First, Dogan knows that Hurley and the rest of the candidates doesn’t know. Well, not until Jacob informs him. But when Hurley learns of his elevated status, Dogan backs down. What if only one becomes the Protector…will Dogan look up Hurley and slap him around for being bossy? HA!

WHO IS COMING BACK?

The question of the week is “Who is coming back?”

The early results show Widmore in the lead. Aaron is close behind. Daniel is mentioned as a possible…shall I say, candidate? Desmond should be included since we have seen him only as “ghost rider” on the plane.

I’m almost 108% sure it is Charles Widmore.

**

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Be sure to check out the comments in the past few postings. I have to moderate them so they show up a tad late, but they are worth reading. Or wait until I can address them in a posting.

Enjoy,
KC

LT348: The Lighthouse – First Impressions

2010-02-24T05:42:00.001-06:00

I GUESS I DO

Jack’s response to his mother’s question, “Don’t you remember?” when she is explaining he had his appendectomy at age 7 or 8.

Don’t you always remember a major event say after the age of say 3? My tonsils were removed and I recall the playroom at the hospital, the ice cream, and even a little planter someone sent gave me.

So why doesn’t Jack remember?

CAN’T WE JUST…GET THROUGH IT?

So Jack has a son in Timeline #2. I didn’t pick up any clues as to who mommy is in the house, but the money should be on Sarah.

Isn’t David another one of those Bible names?

I’m flashing back to Jack living with the Others and spending some time playing the piano.

Of course the lesson to all this was “You have what it takes”. This is each generation trying to reverse the prior generation’s mistakes. We’ve all done our own little “course corrections”, huh?

WE WEREN’T LOOKING FOR IT

Lots of life object lessons in this episode. You can only find something when you are looking for it. There it was, right in front of them, and they never saw this structure. Reminds me of a certain cabin Hurley once went looking for.

Are you as frustrated as me with the way Jacob goes about getting his will accomplished? Again, that reminds me of something I hear in church a lot about God’s will and how we don’t always understand it all the time but are assured that everything works out where God is concerned.

YOU’RE NOT REMEMBERING THINGS RIGHT

Mr. Hatchet (you know who I mean) seemed pretty sincere when he tells Claire that she has her facts mixed up. And yet, her brand seemed pretty real to me. In reminds me of a couple of brandings: Juliet and Sayid.

So the Others grabbed her, but her to the test and discovered she is infected. I agree with the Others. And as with Sayid they don’t seem able to do anything about it. They need someone else to do their dirty work. That reminds me of John Locke having Sawyer kill Cooper in the Black Rock.

HE’S MY FRIEND

My son kept pushing the concept of THREE tonight. He thinks there were only three members of the French team infected at one time. He thinks Smokey divided into three parts at the sonar fence while chasing Juliet and Kate back to Othersville. And it seems that John is currently looking for three candidates to complete his team.

RATINGS

LOST has got be backing to thinking about the show long after the credits have scrolled on the screen. I like that.

The writers definitely have fine tuned the art of cross-referencing the characters and events between the two timelines. We saw games again with Hurley and Miles playing some Tic-Tac-Toe. We have Dogan (spelling?) making sense in both sides of the time wall. I like that.

Claire really impressed me with her acting. She really has left the cute and innocent behind. And even in this new role she showed psychotic-like mood swings with her facial expressions. I like that.

But as before, we have a lot of new questions along with a handful of questions. The worst was not getting a peek at what is written at number 108 on the dial. I don’t like that.

Very strong episode, but doesn’t quite top last weeks, so I give this a B+.

**

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Until next time…

Enjoy,
KC

LT347: We’ll Go Walking Through the Park and Reminiscing

2010-02-23T07:52:00.004-06:00

Today’s blog title is a line from the song by Little River Band…an Australian band. Hmmm… Uh, anyway, it is a stroll through some old topics with updated information

MORE OR LESS ON NUMBERS

We saw the Numbers next to people’s names on the cave ceiling:

4 - Locke
8 – Hurley
15 – Sawyer
16 – Sayid
23 – Jack
42 – Sun

I’m betting on Sun being 42 since she was touched by Jacob prior to the island.

If these Numbers relate to the Survivors in some direct manner then I propose they were handed to Jacob in advance (or the past). At first I thought these were the seat numbers on Oceanic Flight 815 so Jacob could identify the “candidates”. But they don’t match up. So it seems instead that these are more likely Vanezetti Equation-related (more on that in a coming post).

Too bad about the seat assignments because that would have led nicely into explaining why Jack’s neck is bleeding…from an injection.

So instead of trying to figure out the meaning of the Numbers I wonder if we should think less about them. After all the Numbers never got transmitted to Sam and Lenny. Lenny never mumbled them to Hurley in the mental hospital. They never got stamped on the Swan hatch lid. Why not? Because the island was underwater the whole time. Well, ever since 1977. See, if we can have two alternative realities, why not three or four?

In my alternate reality (no jokes required!) Radzinsky keeps drilling, hits the pocket of super goo and the island…sinks. No tower transmission, no Numbers.

SHOES

Since we are walking down memory lane I have to point out that there is something about shoes. Again, not more shoes, but less. I mention this only because it came to my attention that Jacob was barefoot when he visited Locke after his fall from the fourth floor. Then I’m reminded how the Others walked around barefoot. So did Sawyer often when he would step on sharp objects.

It’s connected…I’m just not sure how.

POLAR BEARS

Wow! It has been awhile since we talked about polar bears. And just when you thought it was safe to job in the jungle of corporate America…you get fired. John Locke learned that lesson the hard way.

Tip 1: Lie better
Tip 2: Ask Hurley next time why he hires someone like Randy Nations to mess up his company
Tip 3: Stop playing with toys

Look close. You can click on any picture in TIDBITS and get a larger version of it. Do you see it? Right next to the pen and above the Father-Son photograph. Growl! They just won’t leave us alone!

GAMES

Is the whole show one big board game? Chess? Truth or Dare? A jigsaw puzzle? Chutes and Ladders? A case can be made for each of them. Or maybe we are playing one of those IQ quizzes where we have to figure out the patterns. If so, he is the scorecard (thanks to Doc Arnzt):

FINAL THOUGHTS

As we prepare for another episode tonight let me leave with two pieces of advice. Here is the first one:

As the sign says on the wall, “Live in the Present”.

And for those gamers out there…

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

- Einstein

Good advice.

**
If you enjoyed this post, please click one of the ads to let me know.

Enjoy,
KC

LT346: Feedback on the Substitute

2010-02-22T21:08:00.000-06:00

LOT’S BIBLE STORY

We had a couple of comments about my analogy to the Bible story of Lot. I have TWO responses.

FIRST…it is the story of Job, not Lot. You can’t know how silly I feel. My apologies.

The SECOND observation on my blunder is how much LOST had penetrated into my mind. I could have misnamed Job as several Bible characters, but the old mind grabbed Lot. Maybe it was something to do with the name being three letters. See? LOST Disease! Numbers!

Someone even posted a comment on how odd it would be if LOST was a retelling of Lot’s life because the anagram of Lot’s is LOST. Yeah, I need help. If this show went on more one season I might need a room next to Hurley!

I just counted the number of times people corrected me: three. See what I mean? Spooky!

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Before I forget, did I mention that an hourglass is associated with death in some societies? That was back in the premier episode but I wanted to be sure I got that out there.

This week the episode is entitled, “The Lighthouse”. There are many Biblical references to lighthouses and most are obvious as they serve as a warning and guide through troubled waters. I can’t help but think of ships at sea in a storm. Can you say Black Rock?

Oh, this is really crazy but I misspelled (and corrected) Black Rock as Block Rock. Giggled to myself and then thought, hey, I call John the Second by the name of John Black. Blocke, Locke, Black, Rock. Oh man, do I need help or what? No, what I need is answers!

Let’s hope this week gives us some.

MORE COMMENTS

Ben! Nice to hear from you. He writes, “ Ben here- miss my comments much? I just wanted to ... Ben here-miss my comments much?I just wanted to say that I think that this alternate time-line is only different post-flight...at least for the passengers of our favorite plane.
So, Locke is still at odds with Dad...after all, how else did he get in the wheelchair? The photo on his desk may be a private reminder of who put him there. Just think, this whole time he was on the island, he and Helen at the latest were in a relationship.
Hurley, immediately post-flight, finally found happiness and rewarded the fortune-teller by giving her a dream job.
And Rose may have been working for Hurley this whole time.

MY RESPONSE: I’m not quite convinced that Locke and Cooper are still at odds. We have the sweet photo in the cubicle. We have Helen giving the reason for them being together is NOT John getting over his father, but instead how well the get along – or words to that affect.

And I think it is a stretch for Hurley to have his mother’s new house burn down, a few fires at businesses he owned, a meteorite crash into his new restaurant, and his grandfather die and then one flight home from speaking with Mrs. Toomey his life changes for success?

And consider that on the other side of the aisle, Charlie is still an addict, Kate is still on the run, and Claire is still trying to give up her baby. It does seems that some people’s lives changed drastically while others remained pretty much on course. That can’t be due to some airline food, but something prior. We will see. And it IS good to hear from you again!

EMAILS FROM READERS

I got an email from a guy who suggested that my name be included in the fan tribute of the Season 6 DVD. It seems this group is trying to get a few names listed as extras because of their on-line involvement with the show and its supporting communities. I seemed to have deleted that email so if you read this, send it again. I’d rather have “LOST TIDBITS” listed than my name. If you don’t read this, it was nice to be considered.

**

Someone writes, “Is the rumor true that LOST will end with everyone being in a state of suspended animation and the machines are using them for energy and this is all a computer-generated reality?”

No, that was the movie Matrix, but thanks so much for writing, Roger B.!

**

Someone else wrote, “Did you catch any other names on the cave ceiling?”

Yes we did: Goodspeed, Littleton, Troupe, Faraday, Rutherford and Straume. So this is not just the flight manifest of Oceanic Flight 815.

In case you don’t recognize Troupe – that is the author of the LOST-associated book, “Bad Twin”. On the show Gary Troupe is the guy who was sucked up in the running engine in the very first episode and his name is an anagram for “purgatory”. Straume is Miles’ surname. Rutherford is Shannon’s last name.

However, I’m confused on what the Others mentioned once that Jack wasn’t on the list.

My co-worker, MJ, noticed that the numbers next to the names may not be that big of a surprise if someone with knowledge then travelled back in time. The first appearance I’m aware of with the Numbers is 1977 when they are being stamped into the Swan hatch lid. This reminds of Sawyer commenting on going back to 1977 but off the island would give him a chance to win some bets. In other words, their appearance isn’t random or some pattern of nature, but a purposefully message from a time traveler. Since Hurley used the numbers to his advantage, he is the candidate in my mind! Of course, now that we know Jacob is very old and like’s Numbers he may have placed them where they served as some sign (think of that Star Trek Next Generation episode where Commander Data leaves a trail of THREE’s to give hints each time loop).

**

Another reader comments, “Was the ladder Sawyer and John climbed down called “Jacob’s Ladder”?” Could be! Except that one led up to heaven and not down to…

NEXT ON TIDBITS

The hope is to get one more post out this week before the show. My goal is to do something called “Where we are so Far”. Sort of a summary to get us focused on the stretch run. That sounds fun, but also sounds like a lot of work so we’ll see. I will do this, but time will dictate when.

I’ll leave you with this: Lighthouses are never specifically mentioned in the Bible (the closest mention being a "light on a hill"). However, a lighthouse shows the way and warns of danger. We as Christians are called on to be a beacon or lighthouse so that others can see the way to eternal life through Jesus Christ.

So who will be the lighthouse on the island showing the true way?

**

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Until next time…

Enjoy,
KC

LT345: Did You Notice?

2010-02-21T18:55:00.003-06:00

THE NUMBERS AND OTHER THINGS

My memory says the producers once told us to not put so much stock in the Numbers. They claimed they were mostly being used as an entertainment value. Yet, they don’t go away. If one mystery needs explained by the end, I demand it be the Numbers. We say the Numbers on the cave ceiling last week, but that wasn’t the only place...

Notice the clock on John’s nightstand. I’ll admit, I missed it during the show.

**

Did you recognize the job placement officer who was asking John what kind of animal he was?

It was Lynn Karnoff who we first saw as Hurley’s psychic when trying to rid himself of the curse of winning the lottery! Again, I didn’t recognize her.

So, let’s deviate from I Spy for a moment and ponder how the two timelines differ. In some ways, like Kate, nothing has changed much. Of course she would have landed at LAX and tried to escape. See Kate. See Kate run. It is as predictable as Dick and Jane. But this lady has a completely different path in life (unless she moonlights as a psychic for extra money).

Not that we will get an explanation of why some people’s lives made a 180 degree turnabout, but I am curious as to how not flying through a time travel window over the South Pacific changed people’s occupation from pre- to post-turbulence.

What I’m getting at is that I don’t think Oceanic Flight 815 flashing or not flashing through time is what makes the big changes in the two timelines. It would have be something pre-takeoff that did that. WAY BEFORE takeoff that would make Lynn go from psychic to job counselor. Something like Jacob not even making it to visit the Oceanic 6 and possibly not visiting a whole lot of people.

I’m envisioning the oldest scene we have witnessed (the chat at the beach over a fish breakfast with the Black Rock at sea) but this time it is the Man in Black and Sawyer…or Hurley…or Jack. I’m talking about a MAJOR event that would shift the timelines so drastically that Boone lives and maybe Daniel decides to give up his experiments on rats.

Allow me to ride this horse a bit further. The pre-flight change must be so great that Locke and his father are buddies. Check out the picture you probably missed in Locke’s cubicle and the box company:

It makes it seem they are buddies. And Helen makes it very clear that John’s obsession with revenge on daddy-stealing-my-kidney is not the reason for a separation.

Allow my a little psycho-babble because I’m impressed with the possibility of how drastically our Friends (hey, after six years the Survivors are more friends to me than Ross, Monica and Chandler will ever be) paths can change. Do you remember that movie with Steve Guttenberg and Meryl Streep where they die and in Heaven video is shown of their life as they are judged? I wonder that instead of film footage of your life’s blunders that instead we may be shown all the Butterfly Effect our choices made and that we were oblivious to.

For example: KC, recall that girl you teased in 2nd grade? She lost her self-esteemed, killed herself in her teens, never had a child named Obama and America never got the President it deserved. That led to Congress passing a three-term limit in which Bush stayed in one more term and that allowed China to overrun the United State.

See? It isn’t that I was just a meanie, but the ramifications could be earth shattering. I mean Bush for a third term? Shudders! HA!

It seems as if this is what is happening on LOST for the alternative timeline is so varied in some ways (and little to no change in other ways). So what pre-flight event could be that big of an impact? I’m thinking Jacob never made it off the beach that morning…or something along those lines. Well, see.

Oh, more more thing on the picture...if they were buddies then how did John end up in a wheelchair in this timeline? Or are some things just meant to be?

**

Did you see Helen’s shirt read, “Peace and Karma”? That one I noticed!

Did you know the song Sawyer is listening to is Iggy Pop’s, “Search and Destroy”? Playing right when Locke Black is searching for Sawyer. The song’s lyrics is about a forgotten boy who is wants someone to come and save his soul. Hmmm…Save your soul Sawyer or damn it?

**

How did you not notice the spider crawling on dead Locke?

Someone suggests it was the same species that bit Paulo and Nikki and that Locke might not really be dead but paralyzed. Of course, now he is buried to death, but then again…we only saw two shovels of dirt so far. HA! No way this could be true, but it was a good try.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Yeah, school has been hampering my LOST time. I just noticed a tons of emails and comments, so tomorrow I hope to get some quality LOST time in and answer the feedback. I'm activating the comments now, so check them out and come back tomorrow for some replies!

Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.

Until next time…

Enjoy,
KC

LT344: The Substitute - First Impression

2010-02-16T21:06:00.003-06:00

THUMBS UP

I really enjoyed this episode because it returned me to those past episodes when afterwards my brain hurts! While I like action as much as the next guy what I really like is mystery, riddles and clues.

ALTERNATE TIMELINE

For lack of a better term let's use "alternate timeline" to follow the events beginning with Jack back on the plane. So if this is how things were suppose to turn out then we discover that John Locke was meant to interact with the people from the island. Is that plausible?

Wouldn't you think that eventually down the road that some of these people are going to sit down for a cup of Earl Grey and finally compare notes? Then they will discover, "Hey, I visited Sydney once back in 2004".

"Yeah, me too. It was in the fall."

"Me too! September."

"September? That's freaky. That's when I was there."

They continue on and find out they were on the same flight. Mostly likely this would be Ben and John since they now work together. John already is aware Jack was on board with him.

So life for John would have had him interact with these people even after the flight? That seems a bit of a reach. Now we have all had those moments when we look at someone and they look familar but we can't recall from where. Maybe it WAS a guy we sat next to on a plane. But four or five of them?

The larger question amid these coincidences is WHO made the choice for the rest of the passengers? Who decided life should go on with Ben as a European History teacher and Rose as job counselor?

Or as Locke's bride-to-be said, "What are the odds of running into a spinal surgeon? Maybe it's destiny." Good stuff.

THE STORY OF LOT

In the Bible the Devil challenges God. He claims that everyone loves Him as long as life is going well, but as soon as trouble comes calling then the believers will run for cover. God says not so. The Devil says pick your more dedicated and I'll prove my point. God picks Lot.

God tells the Devil he can do whatever he wants to make Lot forsake his faith and Lot will not waiver. But there is one rule: you can't kill him.

The Devil course corrects Lots' life so he loses his wife, his family, his farm, everything. Lot becomes diseased and covered with boils. Lot is left sitting on a trash heap wearing on sackcloth and moans repeatedly, "Woe is me." But he never loses faith in his God.

Does that ring a bell?

THE CAVE

Now this was interesting. "Jacob had a thing for numbers." Nice tease. Did you notice Kate didn't have a number? Hmmm...

We have

4 - Locke, John
8 - Reyes, Hugo
15 - Ford, James
16 - Jarrah, Sayid
23 - Shephard, Jack
42 - Kwon - which one?

John Black (my name for the Man in Black) says they are all candidates to replace Jacob as the island's protector from, well, from nothing. (Now I have the serpent's logic in the Garden of Eden in my head.)

We should keep in mind that Illana describes Frank, the pilot, as a candidate.

If my Bible training has taught me anything, then when the Devil speaks it is never an out and out lie, but a half-truth. It often is mostly true, but there is one minor detail that makes it so wrong. I'll have to replay the episode and try to discover the part that is wrong!

CHOICES

This show seems to emphasize the choices people have to make. Again with the half-truth, half-lie point...John Black says Jacob has removed your free will by pushing you onto the plane for your entire life. What we may learn one day is that it wasn't Cooper that pushed John out the window, but it was Man in Black.

VAMPIRES

There is a myth that says vampires can't enter your home unless you invite them. That is the feeling I have when John gets Sawyer to agree to leave the island. John Black can't leave unless some takes him...as a substitute!

MORE TO COME

Lots to over-analyze in this show. But I give this a solid "A" for its move towards the real motives behind the Man in Black. You have to love it when he throws the white rock out of the cave. And it was classic logic that John Black points out that Jacob made his visits when people's lives were in turmoil...just like when John visited a "woe is me" and drunk Sawyer.

And we haven't even mentioned the classic line of the show which was when Ben gave his eulogy at the gravesite, "And I'm sorry I murdered him." Great stuff.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please think about clicking one of the ads on the side to let me know.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy,
KC

LT343: Time To Weigh In

2010-02-16T14:18:00.002-06:00

THE PROMO

If you caught a peek at the promos for tonight’s episode you can deduce that we are about do some weighing. Literally, we are weighing rocks – one white, one black. Figuratively, we are weighing who wins the war. This should be cool.

**

Also, those who have promoted a mirror theory – which includes the Bad Twin Theory – you look to be gaining some points tonight.

**

Speaking of weight, it seems as if Hurley just might be at the center of all things LOST. In what way?

SPEAKING OF MIRRORS

As we have been reminded time after time (HA), it may not be a mirror but a window…or both. Yeah, like that two-way glass that Charlie was swimming in while Hurley was being interviewed by the police. So instead of Jack breaking a mirror it could be a two-way mirror with someone watching on the other side. Who could that be?

FLASHBACK

Before we settle down to this week’s episode, “Substitute”, let’s rewind…

Same whale Kate found in Claire’s bag was being held by Aaron when Kate was raising him.

**

The police came looking for Kate in the hospital room and said they were looking for “Joan Hart”. That’s the same name on the letter that Kate received telling her about her dying mother. Who sent that letter?

**

Arzt almost gets hit by the taxi and screams, “I’m walking here.” That’s the same line he yelled at Ana Lucia when she was being Christian’s driver.

THAT OCEANIC FEELING

Freud once described that need for God as an Oceanic feeling. Well, you too can sense that by going to Kayak.com and looking for a one-way flight from Sydney to LAX on September 22, 2010.

It looks like this (click to see a larger version):

By the way, if you haven't heard of Kayak.com you must check them out. A very good resource for travel plans, especially foreign locations...like the South Pacific! HA!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a second to click one of the ads on the right-hand side.

Thanks for reading,
KC

LT342: Can't Read My Own Handwriting

2010-02-14T15:27:00.000-06:00

NOTES EVERYWHERE

I’ve scribbled notes everywhere. Today was the day to sift through those and either save them or toss them. I found one and can’t believe it hasn’t been discussed yet. More shocking was that I was able to read my own handwriting.

In recap episode someone said, “..John turned the same wheel Ben had turned…”. Everyone once in awhile I almost fall out of my chair when something is said on LOST. This was one of the moments. Same wheel?

But we saw Ben turn a COLD wheel and John turned a HOT wheel.

Did the Dharma Initiative freeze this room in hopes of controlling its power between John’s turn and Ben’s turn?

MAILBOX: WHY MIB WANTS IN CABIN

A comment this past week asks why the Man in Black would be eager to enter the cabin. He could have found Jacob in the foot of the statue where no ring of ash existed.

I’ve been thinking about this since it was suggested by my son that the ring of ash around the cabin is what kept the Man in Black out and thereby protected Jacob. After reading the posted comment above, I have to agree with the poster.

In fact, I’m going to suggest that Jacob wasn’t even in the cabin…it was the Man in Black inside. The ring of ash was meant to keep him inside, maybe? All those years he claimed to be Jacob, but wasn’t. So the guy in the rocking chair, and Christian and Claire could have been manifestations of the Man in Black.

I believe there are some similarities to the Bible story about the Devil being bound in chains and placed in the bottomless pit for a period of time so his influence would be limited on mankind.

This would have had to happen after the conversation we witnessed on the beach where Jacob was cooking fish.

Now if this is a better read on things, then we have to wonder how Smokey ran free around the island while the Man in Black was inside the cabin. The only thing I can offer for this is that Smokey and the Man in Black are not the same…uh…thing. This takes us to the line of thinking where Smokey is really a pet, a tool, a guard dog for the Man in Black.

Yeah, we have John Black (my name for the second John Locke) saying, “Sorry you had to see my like [the Smoke monster]”, but that could be more semantics than anything else. In other words, the Man in Black and Smokey can manifest themselves as whatever they want.

Great comment…you made me think!

MAILBOX: WHISPERS

SMG comments, “I am always intrigued by the whispers! Any news on what they were saying during last week's episode?”

While researching I discovered whispers were heard in the official promo for Season 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2iHG4KUxrs

In “LAX” episode the whispers are heard right before Kate and company are captured by the Others in the tunnels. I’ve yet to find a reliable interpretation but something else crossed my path:

Remember Charlotte Malkin? She is the daughter of the psychic who told Claire to raise the child herself, then strongly encouraged her onto Flight 815. In the airport you might recall that Charlotte runs into Mr. Ecko and tells him that she saw Yemi “between places”.

I bring this up because whispers were heard when Charlotte was on the autopsy table. That’s right, she died. The coroner had a tape of the autopsy events. In fact, she had drowned…just like Sayid. Hmmm…

The whispers at that time said, in part:

She's alive!""How will we know"
"She's not dead""I found it"
"We’re sending them in" (or) "Let’s hear what she says"

In a related side note, the woman who was to adopt Claire’s baby – but refused due to her husband leaving her in the alternative timeline – is named Lindsey Baskum. That’s an anagram for “Used by Malkin”. Double hmmm…

I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for any interpretation of the whispers, so keep checking back on LOST TIDBITS!

IT IS ALL IN THE NAME

The producers have told us that if you take the name “Johnny” and add two vowels and three consonants you will get the letters necessary to make an anagram clue for LOST.

One more challenge…it will be in a foreign language!

**

One possible hint is Boba Fett – he is that guy from the Star Wars movie. If you research alternate names for the Devil you find “Baphonet” which is sort of close to how you pronounce “Boba Fett”.

Baphonet is associated with Aleister Crowley who wrote the Book of Laws that is offered as a selection choice to the young John Locke. Crowley also invented a set of tarot cards named “Thoth”; which is the name of the Egyptian god who intermediates between good and evil.

Baphonet is also associated with the severed head of John the Baptist. There is also a connection here with the Knight Templar. What the LOST producers said was that Boba Fett was a template…Baphonet the Templar? Yeah, it’s a reach.

Hurley was dressed like John the Baptist in Charlie’s religious dream.

**

Some have suggested the phrase is Spanish which works out to something like “Jethro’s son-in-law”. JOHNNY + EETRR = Jethro Yerno.

Anyway, the son-in-law of Jethro is the Bible is Moses. Recall that Ben made some comment to John Locke about looking like Moses back in Season 5.

Strange as it may seem but a philosopher by the name of Sigmund Freud once made an analysis of the two personalities of Moses. The Midianite side, says Freud, is a “volcano god” and we all know there is a volcano on this island. Further, Sig says that Moses was like a pillar of smoke. Food for thought.

Oh, and the great-great-grandfather of Moses was…Jacob.

It should also be mentioned that Moses had a pretty rough life all things considered. As a baby he was orphaned (Claire?) and was raised by another (Egyptians). We also know he was not keen to public speaking since he had a speech problem. Even being reluctant God still prompted him to lead His people through the wilderness to the promise land – sort of like John Locke.

Let me know if you figure this puzzle out.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT341: Kids, Loopholes and Thoughts

2010-02-11T17:46:00.000-06:00

LOOPHOLE THOUGHTS

My son called me last night and we discussed LOST. I took notes – as I do during the show – and during the conversation the phone’s battery was dying. That forced us to cut our chatter off in odd places such as when we were talking about this loophole of the Man in Black. It went something like this:

“It seems that the loop…crackle, crackle, crackle…hole…are you still there?”

And then it hit me. It isn’t a “loophole” that the Man in Black was after but a “loop hole”. There is a hole in the loop. What loop? Well, that takes us to the next section.

But first, we should offer our theory on how the loop of ash around the cabin got disturbed. When Ben and John visited the cabin, they were careful to step over it. However, when Hurley stumbled upon the cabin alone – and he was stumbling around quite a bit – he may have created a breach in the ash ring.

ASH THOUGHTS

We noticed Bram, the cabin and the Temple folk took the ashes and made a loop around the protected object. A LOOP around the intended item. It was only when the hole was made in the ashes that formed a loop around the cabin that the Man in Black was able to succeed. In this case, the Man in Black was able to make it to the cabin. There are probably other holes in loops – like the tapestry loops of thread – we may have overlooked as well.

PREGNANCY THOUGHTS

As we have been told, the women who get pregnant on Mysterious Island can never deliver and soon die afterwards.

Except for Amy. Seeing Ethan in last week’s episode made my son and I to think back on the fact that Amy and Ethan were fine. Now it seems pretty likely that Horace and Amy conceived the baby while living on the island. Horace, being the leader, had to stick around. And Amy had been there some period of time with her first husband. It isn’t likely the two slipped off the island for a weekend. So…how did Ethan and Amy survive?

My son has a theory on that. He offers that the pregnancy problems did not begin to show up until after Ben killed his father and the Dharma Initiative with the gas. Perhaps it was that gas that caused the problems. If so, consider who has been gassed since that point in time!

KNIFE THOUGHTS

While chatting about the loop hole, I mentioned that a piece of the tapestry was on the cabin wall. It was held on the wall by a knife. Ilana found it there.

I then remembered that John cut a piece of the tapestry corner off to use it as a rag to wipe the blood off his knife. The question then was if the knife on the cabin wall was the same knife that John killed with? No.

A little digging and we discovered that John’s knife is NOT the same as the one on the cabin wall. We will call the second knife: Jacob’s knife. We compared it to the filet knife that Jacob used on the fish at the beach and yes, that knife matches the cabin wall. Again, that was Jacob’s knife.

We are in the process of analyzing the knife shown to young John Locke.

TAPESTRY THOUGHTS

This then led us back to the tapestry where I suggested the piece on the wall was the same as the piece John cut. I’m wrong. There were TWO pieces cut out of the tapestry according to my son – and he does do a good bit of researching before proclaiming something.

Only one piece in the pictures shows the symbols that match up to the hieroglyphics we saw in Smokey’s chamber - that of Anubis weighing the hearts of the dead. His jackal image is distinct. And the image shows a black animal head. Black seems to correlate to Smokey in some way…hmmm.

Black is also the color of soil – as in underground. And the soil of the Nile – the home of our favorite gods – is also black. Black soil in Egyptian mythology is also associated with rebirth. And Smokey seems pretty good at the rebirth thing (see previous post).

CLOSING THOUGHTS

It was getting late by this point, so we wrapped it up. He said he would call back with more thoughts.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT341: What Kate Does – First Impressions

2010-02-10T20:01:00.000-06:00

CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?

Why does every good show and scary movie involved characters who don’t share information with each other? TALK PEOPLE! For example, when Sawyer was announcing his department from Club Temple why didn’t anyone speak up?

In fact, why hasn’t the group of Others sat the Survivors down and said, “Ok, here’s the deal. We are going to draw pictures and talk you through this thing. First, don’t leave the Temple or Smokey could get you. In here you are safe from the smoke. Second, this is why you are here.” And so on. ARGH!

As my mind was mentally screaming this at the screen this episode another thought kept trying to enter: they can’t tell them or it would be pure free will. Let me explain that. If you are on a game show and you know what is behind Door #1, #2 and #3, then when Monte Hall asks which door, it isn’t really free will anymore. In other words, free will requires ignorance of future events. Sort of the same way that Jack had to be the one to offer Sayid his poisoned pill.

LIAR, LIAR!

I’ll bet 95% of viewers now look at the Others as Ben described them, “We’re the good guys”. And yet they can’t help but tell lies. It seems there is a clue in this fact, but who knows?

Last night we had the Interpreter announce, “I just lied to him”, when describing how he told Sayid that he passed the test. Maybe I’m getting my theological doctrines crossed, but don’t the good guys have to tell the truth?

I go back to the free will points made earlier because…well, I have to. It is the only way to explain Ben’s persistent lying. Recall that Mrs. Hawking sort scoffed at Jack’s inquiry as to the truth of Ben’s words by saying, “Probably not.” It is like it is expected. Perhaps they just aren’t allowed to share information or it ruins the test/experiment/life challenge.

We also observed the two Others who were escorting Kate and Jin warning each other about keeping one’s mouth shut. How odd.

ASH POWER

There was a lot in last night’s show, but it seems to me that the ash isn’t getting the top billing it deserves. We saw it being dusted over Sayid’s body in this episode. So what’s up with this fairy dust? In LOST fashion, the ash leaves me with more questions than answers such as:

Was the ash around the cabin meant to keep Smokey out or Jacob in?

Was the ash possible collected from the fire pit where Jacob was burned?

Why didn’t Sayid repel from the ash like a vampire would to holy water?

Depending on how you answer the first question, then wouldn’t Sayid repel from the ash only if he were good like Jacob?

There is something we are missing here and it seems it would helpful with learning other things if we could figure out what “thing” doesn’t like ash and sonar.

I M SICK

Bonus points if you remember where we first saw the title of this section, “I M SICK”. Answer: I recall it first on the mural in the Swan Hatch.

The sickness/illness/disease/infection seems to be the same thing and it was center stage last night. Sayid has it and the only cure seems to be death. Yikes!

Let’s review who has been “sick” for sure. I know the French team came down with a bad attitude. This was after all of them (except Danielle) went down into that Smokey hole when they first arrived. They come out and they were possessed (as I choose to call it).

And we know that John Locke seems to have the sickness in some sense.

Then we see Claire. See looked sick to me. And she shot the Others as if she knew who to kill. I mention this because she wasn’t just taking out anything that moved since she seemed confused when she saw Jin. Is there some aura around the Good Guys that sick people can see and that becomes the target of their rage?

Some rules of sickness are starting to fall in place as I see it:

Rule 1: You must be dead
Rule 2: You must not be buried
Rule 3: You must be on the island

Using these rules we now understand why Amy (picnic with first husband, Paul) wanted to bury the two Others before they headed back to Othersville. And she really wanted Paul’s body to be carried back. Now I understand sentiment as much as the next man (which is say, we don’t understand it one bit), but people! There’s Others coming to check on the missing men. Think anyone heard the gunshots? Let’s move out. But Nooooo! First we have to bury two guys and then we can fold the blanket and head home. With my rules in mind, that all changes and they DID need to bury the bodies.

Christian – dead, not buried, on the island = sickness

French team – killed in the hole, not buried (or would being underground count as buried? Hey, I have a rule adjustment…

RULE 2-1: You must not have a religious burial

Harper (Goodwin’s wife, the therapist) - she MUST be dead, not buried, and she shows up to give Juliet the message to go kill Charlotte and Daniel

Walt – now that is a tough one…the rain scene and speaking backwards is just beyond explanation at this point.

Sayid – as seen in this episode

Claire – MUST be dead, not buried, on the island and very sick

**

MJ, my co-worker and fellow LOST-fanatic, said today, “Maybe they all died at the time of the crash and Smokey has them all re-animated.” Hmmm…

OVERALL GRADE

I give this on a B+, maybe even A-.

We got a lot of answers along with the normal dose of questions, but we GOT answers and some stuff.

I actually downgrade the show and will more if they continue the “reminiscing stuff”. I’m talking about the, “Don’t you remember? You hit me with your gun three years ago?” Hey, we are bright viewers, we like puzzles, so let us figure a few of these out on our own! It is starting to remind of all those TV-to-movie movies that seem bent on throwing a tribute out to original show factoids.

I like the slower episodes for it is the people interaction and dynamics that makes this show great. It is the mental challenge and watching how the Survivors adapt that’s the good stuff.

Now TIDBITS is all about over-analyzing, so here goes: when actors have a crying scene, I can’t help but “remove myself from the show” for a little bit and wonder how hard it must be to make oneself cry on demand. I see it some music videos and honestly, I only cry on a sad song the first 10 or 20 times. These actors and musicians have sung it probably 500 times before the video is made and yet, tears on demand! With that whole prelude in mind, I really was convinced by Sawyer. Kate, not so much, but some of the mouth movements and breathing motions…heck, I think he was real. I mean, real as far as actor’s go – he really did that scene on the dock service.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT339: Downtime, Inbox and Administration

2010-02-07T11:08:00.001-06:00

DOWNTIME

Been having some computer issues and that has caused a pinch in my schedule.

Also, the Comments section has been switched to “moderate mode” because we can’t just make people behave like humans. Keep posting comments and I’ll try to publish them as quickly as my schedule allows. In fact, there should be a half dozen from the last post to view, so be sure to go back and read them.

INBOX

Received a number of emails this week…probably due to the Comments feature changes. Here are a few that caught my eye:

From Angela:

I work with Golda and she contacted you a few weeks ago to let you know about our ABC partnership, allowing LOST fans to create LOST related designs on t-shirts, and other merchandise. If you’d like to giving away a free LOST shirt to a reader and one for yourself, let us know. The offer still stands!

Anyway, I wanted to let you know about a LOST design contest we just launched today that your readers would love to hear about. The prizes include a $200 CafePress gift certificate, LOST seasons 1-5 DVD box sets, a t-shirt signed by some of the LOST cast AND a grand prize - trip for 2 to Oahu, Hawaii!

Here is the information:

To enter, just create LOST designs on t-shirts for one or more of the categories below;

· The Island (Themes: monsters, magical, healing, powers, move the island)
· Dharma Initiative (Themes: Hanso foundation, Dr. Pierre Chang, stations e.g. The Hatch, The Orchid, The Looking Glass)
· Airlines (Themes: Oceanic, flight 815, Oceanic 6, castaways, plane crash, Ajira Airways, Frank Lapidus)
· Love “Square” (Themes: Jack/Kate, Sawyer/Kate, Jack/Juliet, Sawyer/Juliet, Kate/Jack/Sawyer, Kate/Juliet/Sawyer)
· The Others (Themes: Natives, Hostiles, Ben, Ethan, Richard, Jacob god-like being, “the list”, Barracks)

There will be a winner from each category. The category prize is: $200 CafePress gift certificate, LOST seasons 1-5 DVD box sets, and a T-shirt signed by some of the LOST cast!

A LOST producer will select the grand prize winner from the category winners. The grand prize is a trip for two to Oahu, Hawaii for 4 nights!

All the information to enter can be found on the contest page, including how to get a submission: http://community.cafepress.com/?p=769

Let me know if you have any questions! This is a fun contest with fabulous prizes for LOSTies.

PS. Here's a write up by the Examiner for our ABC deal and design contest:
http://www.examiner.com/x-35662-LA-TV-Insider-Examiner~y2010m2d3-ABC-and-CafePress-team-up-for-a-very-special-LOST-fan-contest

Thanks,

Angela Low

EDITOR’S NOTE: Good to hear from you Angela. If Café Press rings a bell with LOST TIDBITS readers it might because you see their ads on Facebook. They are a solid company and if you have an idea that’s been running around in your head, this would be a good time to try it out!

INBOX #2

And from Adrian:

Yo KC, its Adrian—

It’s been too long brother. I have been reading your stuff, but stopped commenting last year because I gave up trying to figure out what was happening. I just decided to go along for the ride—just as Jack did last season.

But I cant help myself now, because some of my thinking about what might be happening is, maybe, turning out to be correct. Of course next weeks episode could negate my theories.

Fate vs. Free Will:
The time travel rules on LOST have been, for the most part, clear and consistent: what happened happened. You cant change the past to alter the future. Course correction and all that. Bullshit, sort of.

In the season five finale, a very clear message was sent: You have a choice. Jacob tells this to Hurley and tells it to Ben. Hurley chose to get on the Ajira flight, it was not predetermined fate. Similarly, Ben chose to kill Jacob—it was not fate. Smokey tells Ben the same thing, he didn’t make Ben kill Jacob. Manipulated yes, made-No. And you know Ben probably had a mental orgasm upon realizing he had been so masterfully manipulated, because was/is so very skilled at doing the same thing. I’m guessing Ben will follow Smokey as a loyal servant. Smokey is the god Ben would follow.

The free will, free choice message became Jack’s mantra in the finale also.

1. Two Timelines?
Are their now two timelines? Maybe. Clearly we have the 1977 losties turning up in 2007 on the island. Maybe the bomb went off, but instead of causing the reset, it just sent them into 2007. Sawyer scoffs at this notion because the island is not blown to hell. So its pretty clear that the bomb did not go off and the Swan was built, Desmond presses the button, 815 still crashes…yada yada.

But the bomb did go off, because we do see a reset and 815 does not crash and the island sunk, moved, whatever. In this alternate timeline, things are not the same…Jacks hair, Charlie, Boone sans Shannon etc. But is this such a big shock? In a world where the island is destroyed, its possible Widmore died and there is not Widmore industries, no Penny. No Daniel. These changes would cause many modifications aside from 815 not crashing, and these minor discrepancies reflect just that.

I thought there were much more profound changes than hair cuts. The obvious biggie was Hurley, who is now the luckiest man alive. This is not the Hurley we know. Less obvious were personality changes in Jack, Sawyer, Locke and even Rose.

Here Jack is the nervous plane passenger being reassured by Rose, not vice versa. Off the plane, Jack is upset about Oceanic losing the coffin, but he does not lose it at the same level I think the Jack we know would. He buys or is at least comforted by Locke’s words on where his father is. And this Jack believes in miracles, it seems. If Jack could fix his wife, assuming that happened in the alternate, then he can fix Locke, he thinks. He is much more a man of faith, but still a man of science…maybe more balanced?

And Locke, thinking his back cannot be fixed, is much more a man of science. This Locke also seems to harbor much less. The Locke we know was beyond pissed about not going on the walkabout; I doubt he would be so chatty with Boone or even mention the walkabout. He would be too pissed off to bring it up. Or maybe he was allowed to do it in his wheelchair.

As for Sawyer, he was a little to pleasant in the alternate. I’m not sure crash Sawyer would apologize for bumping the Marshall, I think he would ignore him or tell him to suck it. Alternate Sawyer is not chatty with Arnst, but not overly derisive as I would otherwise expect. And then he gives advice to Hurley about keeping the lottery a secret. He could be laying the ground for a con, perhaps he had been shadowing Hurley after reading about this mega lottery winner, who he wanted to take.

But maybe, just maybe, he was actually trying to give Hurley some good advice. When push comes to shove, the Sawyer we know has a good heart. So its possible this alternate Sawyer was using his skills as a con man to help rather than hurt. He holds the elevator door for Kate (and he didn’t see her, he just heard someone plead to hold the door). Yes Sawyer noticed the cuffs on Kate, but im not sure he was trying to help her by stepping in front of the security guards and saying ladies first. If anything, they were less likely to notice the kuffs on Kate had she exited behind them, not in front.

And Rose was different for the reasons I covered above with Jack. It seems to me that the “alternate” Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, Locke and Rose resemble the people their crash “counterparts” changed into over the seasons. Sawyer became a good guy, Jack was accepting of not having control, Locke had let go of his anger, Rose was just at ease.

However, I did not see this happening with alternate Kate, Sayid, Sun or Jin. They all seemed exactly like the people on the 815 that crashed. Not sure what’s going on here, but maybe we will see them behaving more like the people they became on the island in later episodes, rather than like the people they were when they crashed.

2. Alternate/Parallel Universe?
I have a couple of ideas here. One scenario is that when the Ajira flight crashed and most of the O6 went back to 1977, they went into past of an alternate universe or timeline. Hence changes they make did not alter the future they just came from, and where Sun, Ben etc. remained, because the past they were altering was not the past of the their timeline, it was the past of a new or already existing timeline or universe. Only the future of the alternate was affected, not the one they left. This solves any problems of a paradox. But, as Christian showed Sun in new Otherton, Jack & co. did show up in the past of the main timeline. How could they have been in the past of two timelines? Not sure, but remember Sun’s questioning of Richard? Richard said he did remember meeting them and remembered watching them die. But Richard was not at the Swan site to see what happened, even if he was watching from the jungle, he really cant say he saw them die. At best, he would have seen them disappear. He could not have seen the bomb kill them, because it would have killed him too.

So what’s going on here? Right now, im thinking that the two stories (crash, no crash) we are seeing are not two alternate worlds/timelines with two jacks, two kates etc. I’m thinking the no crash sequences are actually flash forwards. In effect, the 2007 folks (Jack & co., the ones touched by Jacob) are will eventually be in a position that puts them on the 815 that didn’t crash. In effect, we may have already seem how the show will end, the result at least, and this season shows us how they get there. So maybe they will time travel again, and we will see what Richard saw—them dying.

I’ve said enough, but could go on for pages more. Ill let these ideas simmer in my mind for a while and see what happens next week.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wow, it has been like a reunion in my Inbox lately. Nice to hear from Adrian. Great analysis and feedback and you just saved me an hour or two of time! This is posted for the world to see, so now we are going to keep score on who comes closest to the final end game! No limit on entries, so keep writing me!

ADMINISTRATION

We have crossed the 23,000 hits mark for LOST TIDBITS! Wow, what a journey this has been. It was a surprise to reach the 4,000 mark, then 8K, then 15K, ok 16,000 was easy and now 23. And all my favorite numbers!

Thanks to everyone for reading. And now we have just a few months to hurry up to 42,000 so we reach all the LOST numbers in the counter! HA!

NEXT ON TIDBITS

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT338: Ashes To Ashes

2010-02-03T19:46:00.001-06:00

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Rose was flipping through a magazine while waiting for Bernard to return from the bathroom. The magazine is not real but is entitled, “Weekly Woodsmen”. This same prop showed up in season FOUR of the show, Supernatural. The same show where the actor playing Jacob was in. In that show he played the Devil.

When she leans over to welcome back Bernard we catch a glimpse of the back cover. It reads, “The Truth is Out There”. Cue the music for The X-Files.

**

Speaking of reading…when we see Desmond in the wrong seat on the airplane he is reading a book by Salman Rushie. The book is about the power of the imagination and storytelling.

**

In that strange nose-dive shot into the ocean and along the bottom we notice the island has sunk (more on that later) if you had sharp eyes you saw this:

Yes, our old Dharma shark from Season 2.

**

Did you notice the row number for Hurley on board the plane? It was Row 33 sitting across aisle from Sawyer. But we know in the original pilot he was sitting in Row 20. This means that Hugo and James are now in the tail section!

BEST LINE OF THE SHOW

“Are you pulling my leg?” – Boone to wheelchair-bound Locke as he spoke over Frogurt.

RING OF ASH

Quick review: we first come across ash in LOST when Locke notices it is spread out around Jacob’s cabin the first time Ben leads him to meet Jacob. John asks about and Ben stops over it.

Then we really don’t hear much about it until Illana’s crew arrives to burn down the cabin. One of her crew member points out the presence of ash.

But in LAX episode we get a handful of the stuff blown right into our face. Bram spreads it around himself to protect himself from a very clever opponent. And the Others at the Temple begin to spread it around their compound in anticipation of some smoke.

We know now it is clearly to keep Smokey in his place. This makes two things of good defense against the monster when you include sonar. As time permits I should research what things are sensitive to sound and ash? Before I leave the sound sensitivity, let me tell you I just saw Spiderman 3 where sound defeats Spidey’s nemesis. I think it could be the same thing.

Oh, another thought as I’m writing…could the ash be the ashes of a dead person(s)? Hmmm…I really like this idea.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

You know what to expect by now, right? I’ll do my best to keep pushing out information that makes us think. So keep checking back!

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT337: LAX - First Impression

2010-02-02T22:01:00.002-06:00

I GIVE THAT EPISODE A SCORE OF...

7 out of 10. It is difficult when expectations are high to then have them met. On the good side, LOST stayed consistent - consistent by leaving me with more questions than I had two hours ago. On the bad side, it seemed to just be getting crazier. Not that crazy is all that bad, but crazy without purpose can wear out the viewers.

For example, how many predicted Sayid would rise again? Was in the all-dressed in black outfit? Was is simply that we've seen LOST for five years and we have the general pattern down?

HARD TO FOLLOW

You KNOW if I'm having troubles after writing 300+ posts on the show, that a lot of casual observers are going to be thinking, "WHAT?"

It seemed that during the pre-show narrative that it would be difficult to keep a straight face while summarize this adventure. It felt like Hurley sitting at the kitchen table telling his mother the truth and then realizing that even soap opera shows do not have this outlandish twists.

But that is in part why we watch. One of the best things about Star Trek or Stargate is to see what the aliens will look like next week. Well now we have seen it and it looks very much like trouble, and like John Locke (again, who didn't see this coming?).

QUICK SHOTS

BEN - I thought when he was introduced to the dead body in the sand that he would have a change of heart and start blabbering what just happened inside. Nice twist to actually show Ben as a tired and tired of being used human.

RICHARD - Oh, oh. Last time he was in chains? I'm thinking Bible as it reminded me of the Devil being placed in the Bottomless Pit chains. And I thought of Juliet bound in that chain that lead her to her multiple deaths. During the commercial break I changed my mind to being bound in chains aboard the Black Rock.

JACOB - What an odd man. Odds are he needed a body and now he has Sayid (the black clothes is to throw us off). Sayid versus John - that should be interesting.

ASIAN LEADER and his SIDE KICK - Did anyone else think "Apocalypse Now"? I was expecting Sheen to slowly rise out of the spring with a knife clenched between his teeth. Odd thing to throw out there about English.

DESMOND - One of the things I liked. For being on screen for about 2 minutes, he proves that less is more.

FLIGHT 815 - I think we are seeing to parallel timelines. The plane ride is where the bomb goes off. The island stuff is where the bomb is immaterial because another time flash moved everyone up about three years.

JULIET - That's one way to right off a character. Look, we all thought she was dead - they could have just gone with that. The whole goodbye setup and scene was contrived, poorly pulled off and just too bloody for me to feel too sad.

MILES - The word? Did I hear that right?

HURLEY - Always can count on Hugo. He helped every scene that he was in...except waiting so long to get Sayid to the Temple. Pick it up, Lardo!

SMOKEY - Really, John? I like seeing you like that. Bram didn't last long, but it did give us one critical piece of information that needs explored in coming days: The Ash.

CLIFFHANGER

I did enjoy the cliffhanger: I want to go home. Nice. Is that another planet? Heaven? Something tells me two sons were banished to this mystical place and told to fight it out using humans as the pawns. Now we see how teachers feel when their pay is attached to student test scores! HA!

It really does seem we are heading towards the Twilight Zone. Hard to debate that when the opening scene has underwater shots of Atlantis...or Mu...or...

**

Ok, that's my first impression.

Enjoy,
KC

LT336: Double Dipping

2010-02-01T16:45:00.001-06:00

MORE UPDATES

This is the second post of the day, so be sure to look back as chatter is picking up big time.

This latest updates is an email from ABC which reads:

After five amazing seasons that have had people around the world hooked, the season premiere is almost here! This final season will answer all of your questions, and you'll finally learn the fate of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, and all of the other Oceanic 815 survivors. The television event of the year begins tomorrow at 87c on ABC.And if you can't wait another minute and want to be ready for the premiere, take a five minute break and catch up on all five seasons in the newly-released "LOST Untangled: 5 Seasons in 5 Minutes". Relive the epic story as told through this unique and humorous recap.Click Here to See the Video Now!

It's the beginning of the end!

LOST: THE FINAL SEASON Premiere EventTuesday at 87c on ABC

Enjoy,
KC

LT335: Number 4

2010-02-01T10:35:00.003-06:00

SNEAK PEEK

As you know, I am not a fan of spoilers, but this qualifies as a promo since it was shown to the world! I'm talking about the first FOUR minutes of Season 6.

If you want to watch it, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQZcMQWTAZU&feature=player_embedded

SNEAK PEEK II

This past Sunday, ABC showed a second promo. That can be seen here: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00030442.html

This site actually has a couple of interesting articles like burning questions for this season.

**

If you don't have tingles, questions and excitement after that, then you simply are not LOST enough!

Keep checking back for more updates as we countdown to the premier!

Enjoy,
KC

LT334: Ready, Seth, Go

2010-01-31T17:08:00.000-06:00

I’M READY

Two days! Can you believe it? Tuesday, February 2. Check your local schedule for the proper start time. 7 pm here in the Central Time Zone.

We will begin with a recap show called “LOST: The Final Chapter”.

Then we get a two-hour premier entitled, “LAX”.

SETH STUFF

A TIDBITS reader writes me that Set – the guy who fought with Horus in battles referred by Thoth – is also spelled “Seth”.

Seth is the god of storms, the desert and chaos. Yes, we have our classic good versus evil confrontation. This indicates the Man in Black may be named Seth. Which is a bit interesting because the pilot of Oceanic Flight 815 was Seth as well. And in a recent post on TIDBITS we mentioned Noah and his role in saving the human race and it so happens that he has a son named Seth.

The reader also pointed me to a website that went into a lot more detail. It shows how the Egyptian god Set (or Seth) can be linked to the devil. In this reading it mentions that Egyptians would put their hands on the head of live goat and confess their sins. Then they would release the goat into the wilderness. Wonder what PETA would say about that?

Anyway, this tradition was passed along to the Israelites as well which we discover in the book of Leviticus which reads, “And Aaron shall ... lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel... and shall send him away.... into the wilderness.”

Wait a minute…who? Aaron? Yes, Aaron was the priest of the Israelites and he did the confessing for the society. He is the replacement leader for Moses and related as family although the exact relationship escapes me. Family ties. Seth ties. Hmmm…

Oh and did you know the birthplace of most Egyptian gods is Mount Sinai? This is the same place mentioned in the Bible years later where Moses died. When Horus’ daddy died, he was buried here as well. Then three days later he was resurrected and ascended to Heaven to become the judge.

VERIZON REMINDER

Danielle writes to remind us:

“Starting at 2am EST the day after each episode, only Verizon brings you the Slapdown co-creator interview series and extended sneak previews 24 hours before anyone else. Let your readers know they can check out www.VerizonWireless.com/LOST to get all the exclusive videos, full episodes and more with V CAST Video on Demand.”

If you have Verizon and learn anything interesting on these clips be sure to email me!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT333: Limited Time Offer

2010-01-29T18:53:00.003-06:00

VERIZON USERS

I received this email today:

I work for Moxie Interactive and am reaching out on behalf of Verizon Wireless because we think you may be interested in the below:

Want to be the first to see new footage from LOST: THE FINAL SEASON? Verizon’s got it. You and your readers are invited to watch an exclusive sneak peek of the season premiere from V CAST Video on Demand. It’s yours to explore and it’s only on V CAST phones starting at 3pm EST on 1/30.

And that’s just the beginning. We want your readers to know they can check out www.VerizonWireless.com/LOST for even more exclusive videos once the season starts.

Namaste!

**

Thanks Danielle for sharing the information. If you do watch this preview, be sure to email me some juicy details!

Enjoy,
KC

LT332: We Are the Closest Yet

2010-01-28T08:13:00.003-06:00

PREVIOUSLY ON TIDBITS

A little clue led to the word “ibis” being discovered within the Numbers of lost. That then led to an Egyptian god who is associated with the ibis bird. You can check out the last two posts on LOST TIDBITS for the details. Today’s post wraps up my discovery…

HORACE

The Egyptian god, Thoth, is associated with the Underword, judging, and keeping both sides of the moral war in balance. Thoth will even heal when necessary to keep one side from becoming the victor.

This Thoth character seems to resemble Smokey in many ways. It seems the Egyptian deity oversaw three major battles between good and evil. In the third one the enemies were Set and Horus. We know Horus as Horace Goodspeed on LOST.

Horus’ symbol is the falcon. His areas of expertise include the Sky, War and Protection. His origins begin with an interesting family story (imagine that). His father was killed by his mother’s brother. Mommy was sure her brother would then try to kill Horus, so they hid in a hidden place. Of course, this is after another interesting story about mom getting pregnant. Let’s just summarize that pregnancy, family issues and secret hiding places are the theme of Horus and LOST.

THE EYE

Horus being a god of the sky is thought that his eyes are the moon and sun. The right eye is the sun.

We have definitely noticed the use of eyes in LOST and now I’m tempted to go figure out if it was the left or right eyes in the close-ups…

Oh, and if the eye looks familiar…it should. It is woven into Jacob’s tapestry!

Anyway, the brother of Horus’ mother, his name is Set, finally catches up to him and they have a battle. The left eye of Horus is wounded during this fight and that explains why the moon isn’t as bright as the sun. For future reference, the left eye is the moon and weaker than the right. Set also took damage to his left, um, testicle and this is why the desert is so barren. Who knew? But since the desert of Africa has been seen on LOST, it seemed worth mentioning.

It was during these battles that Thoth served as referee.

After 80 years of fighting the two decided to settle matters by holding a sailboat race. Now where have we heard that before?

Horus won, was given the rule of the land and this eventually led to the merger of North and South kingdoms of Egypt. Could this be the storyline of LOST?

**

One final note…Horus is also associated with Shed. This second name means “savior”. I’m just saying… In addition, several scholars have found striking similarities between Horus and Jesus in writings and artwork. Hmmm…

CARDS ANYONE?

Digging deeper into this Thoth character it was discovered that Mr. Aleister Crowley developed a set of Tarot cards around this Egyptian god. Crowley is the founder of the Satanic Church for those who might not know.

READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

Check out what Wiki has to say about “The Book of Thoth”: The Book of Thoth is a legendary book containing powerful spells and knowledge, said to have been buried with a prince in the City of the Dead. The reader of the rolls would know the language of the animals, be able to cast great spells, and be able to enchant the sky and earth themselves. Anyone who read the book was punished by the gods (who would cause the reader's loved ones to die until the book was returned).

The Book of Thoth is said to be hidden inside a golden box, which is contained in a silver box inside a box of ivory and ebony encased in a sycamore box which is found in a bronze box contained in an iron box. The keys of each box were hidden and the keys were either put under the charge of trusted friends, hidden in hard-to-reach places or placed under guard of beasts or enchantments and curses, as prevention to the curses that the Book placed upon the reader.

**

This title is also the title of a book written by Mr. Crowley (he seemed to like this guy). It has 42 chapters in it.

CONCLUSION

What I take away from this research is that Smokey appears to be neither good or evil but serving balance - yeah, strange way of showing it from time to time. I'm not convinced, but this Thoth research presents a strong arguement.

Instead of mediating between Horus and Set it appears the two could be that the participants are Jacob and the Man in Black. Smokey heals in order to keep balance - so one prediction we could make is that Jacob will live again.

If accurate, Smokey judges and we have seen this with Ben. Could there be more judgin' comin'? Me thinks so!

It also appears that no matter what we turn, religion is the center of the story. If the Bible version is used, we have a big war coming (ok, that was too easy). If the Egyptian version is used, we have a form of reincarnation going on. And to be inclusive, remember that it has been suggested that aliens assisted the Egyptians with technology. I'm hoping the last scenario isn't true, but it deserves mention.

ALMOST HERE

Time is an illusion. It seemed like Season 6 was so far away and not it seems so close. Funny how that works.

Next Tuesday is showtime!

If you enjoyed the post, please consider a thank you by clicking one of the ads on the right side of this page.

Keep reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT331: The Answer is Closer

2010-01-26T22:08:00.002-06:00

Go back one post to get a recap of where we are on my latest discovery. It ends with my co-worker, MJ, and I discovering a word among the letters made from the LOST numbers. Just go check it out and then come back.

THE WORD

Ibis. It is really by fate alone that I even recognized this word. Had it not been for vacations in Florida it might have whisked past recognition? Hey, I’m a sports fan and still was unaware that the ibis is the mascot for “U”.

So we find this word and wiki it. I’ve still got Hurley bird on the brain. Here is what we find:

-- Most forage for food in the mud and nest in trees
If you’ve read TWO posts back, then you know trees have been getting extra play here at TIDBITS lately

-- The word comes from Ancient Egypt
Need I remind you that Egypt is front and center on LOST?

-- There is a species called the Sacred Ibis
Sacred…religious…I’m getting a feeling here! This bird has been found mummified in Egypt. One discovery was of over 1.5 million ibis mummy.

-- Known for its bravery in sea storms. Often the last animal to leave and the first to return with a storm.
LOST has had a couple of important storms at sea.

-- Believed to be one of the first birds released by Noah on the ark.
Now we have a Bible connection with this bird, too!

-- The ibis is associated with fertility.
Imagine my excitement at this point since LOST even has its own fertility doctor, Juliet. Well, the show HAD a Juliet.

THE HARD EVIDENCE

Any experienced fan of LOST or reader of LOST TIDBITS knows that you can draw a connection to about anything you want to the show. How MANY connections you can make is the critical test.

To be honest the ibis has about a half a dozen connections listed above and that didn’t make me write this post. What made me write this was the hard evidence.

The ibis is closely associated with the Egyptian god named Thoth. Woah!

Not impressed? Drop the first “T”. Hoth, as in the ice planet from the Star Wars movie. The same movie (Empire Strikes Back) that Hurley was rewriting in his journal since it was 1977 and hadn’t come out yet (with some improvements). This all happened in the episode entitled, “Some Like it Hoth”.

It is at this point that I start to see the connections take shape. Maybe the producers were telling us a clue and not just paying homage to Star Wars.

THE BIRD AND ITS GOD

Now we are off to review Thoth.

“What is that he is holding,” you ask? That is the ANKH symbol we found on Paul and Amy’s necklace. It is being held by our four-toed statue on the island as well. I discovered many Egyptian gods like this symbol. Hmm…

Some might be thinking at this point that the head is all wrong. But keep this in mind: Egyptians did not believe their god had human bodies and animal heads – it is just symbolism to the animal they are closely associated with. In addition, I’m not ready to suggest that our statue is Thoth…he’s below the statue.

There is some wiggle room that the statue is Taweret and the god living in the statue is Thoth. Or something like that. Keep reading…

SOME THOTH INFORMATION

Thoth is the heart and tongue of the god, Ra. He and his counterpart, Ma’at, stood on either side of Ra’s boat.

Notice the boats along the bottom of the tapestry.

Thoth’s roles included being an arbitrator between good and evil including some epic wars. If one god was injured, Thoth would heal that one in order to prevent one from overtaking the other. He kept the balance between good and evil.

Now this sounds like a job position that needs filled on our island. We have the good guys and the bad guys and a referee is needed. And how about that ability to heal?

Want more? Check this points out:

-- He is considered the god of hieroglyphs
We’ve seen a fair share of his work on the island. In fact this next picture looks like it could come from the show:

There are a lot of familiar looking items in this picture. It is actually from the Book of the Dead – another popular theme from LOST fans. It shows someone having their heart weighed against the feather of Ma’at. Ma’at, as mentioned above, was the counterpart to Thoth. And tuck away for a minute that god holding the judgment.

-- Thoth is considered the god of science and religion
I’m giddy at this point.

-- He is credited for the calculations of the moon, stars and heavenly bodies
We have seen our fair share of constellation references on LOST.

-- His power was unlimited in the Underworld
Side track: I think the underworld is the underground portion of the temple

-- The Greeks credit Thoth with the science of numbers, medicine, and botany
This god sounds like a match for the Numbers and some hatches!

Above I asked you to hold on to the image of that god weighing the heart. That god is Anubis. He has the head of a jackal. A jackal is a wild dog as well as the name of the character in Nikki’s television series, Expose. The characters warn of the coming of Mr. Jackal. Anubis and Thoth are closely associated as the first is the messenger and the later does the writing.

Thoth wrote some of the Book of the Dead.

If you are into the numbers it might be interesting to note that the 16th dynasty has a king named after Thoth. 16 is one of our Numbers. That dynasty lasted three years and that number showed up a lot in Season 5 of LOST. The Egyptian calendar has a month named after Thoth and that month correlates to September – the month our LOST journey began!

Reaching just a bit further and I discovered a book where Thoth takes human form. Keeping with his character his job is undertaker – wonder if he prepared John Locke for his casket? In that same book, Mr. Ibis has a friend named Mr. Jackal (Anubis).

CONCLUSION

The judging nature of Thoth and the balance he keeps between good and evil seems to describe Smokey. The Underworld, the glyphs, and the other pieces of evidence point to our black smoke monster as Thoth.

Smokey is the referee between Jacob and the Man in Black. And not just those two, but he keeps the sides even with their followers. Smokey can heal when necessary to keep the balance of power in check. And Smokey most definitely judges people.

The hieroglyphs seen in the tunnels under the temple show a god that resembles Thoth’s buddy, Anubis.

It gets more interesting in that of the three great wars Thoth presided over, the last one was between Set and Horus. This is where we will pick things up tomorrow!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT330: The Answer is Close

2010-01-25T18:48:00.000-06:00

IT FEELS RIGHT

Faithful readers of LOST TIDBITS realize we put a lot of theories out for thought. And you know I lean towards the religion and science theories.

Well, this post is another theory but IT FEELS RIGHT. Read on and see if you agree.

I know, I know. You’ve heard it before but it really does seem like this one is getting very close to something exciting. So check it out…

WHERE I STARTED

A couple of posts back it was mentioned that there was a clue using an old calculator. One was to enter the numbers in that old school digital format and then turn it upside down. Enter a “4” would become and “h” of sorts.

Funny how the mind works because I sort of discarded TIDBIT. Partly because it didn’t ring true and partly because if there was something to it surely someone else would come up with it and I’d stumble across it.

THE CATALYST

Today at work my long-time LOST sounding board and fellow theorist, MJ, turned around out of the blue and said, “There is no phrase in the LOST numbers.” Faced with continuing my work or getting into a discussion about LOST, I choose the latter, “What do you mean?”

He replied, “I converted the numbers to letters and there is no phrase to be found. When entered into this website it doesn’t form a word.”

I realized he was trying to come up with a 10-letter word. Instead we tried an anagram engine which tries to create phrases like, “He Milks Oranges” and other strange things.

Then I thought of those word engines that are used for Scrabble. We didn’t want phrases we wanted words. Not 10-letters, but any word that had some meaning to LOST.

While a couple words were interesting like “hell” and “bell” and “leg” (body parts are mentioned a lot on LOST), they just didn’t strike a chord. I rang my finger down the list of other words – mostly two and three letters – until a particular word jumped out at me.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the one week countdown for Season 6. That seems like a great day to explain the word I found and where it leads.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking on one of the ads along the right side.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT329: The Forest through the Trees

2010-01-24T17:28:00.001-06:00

TREES SEEN

This post is about trees and we begin with the Banyan tree.

(picture courtsey of Lostpedia.com)

Banyan trees are also known as “strangler trees” for they begin their life in the crevice of another tree, building, etc. In LOST these trees have been used as safety from Smokey, bears and boars. They have also been used for death as Charlie was hung on a Banyan tree.

Other trees on the island have provided food for the Survivors. They were used as a tool such as when Kate shimmied over the sonar fence. Trees have been used a guides such as when a mark on a tree showed where the stash was hidden. From the pilot episode we find the pilot in a tree. Charlie found his guitar in a tree. And the real Henry Gale’s balloon was found in a tree. Trees have been used as building material including Mr. Ecko’s church and the two rafts (yeah, remember two rafts?). And my favorite, Ana Lucia used a tree to kill Goodwin.

Oh, and we should recall that Bernard’s seat landed in a tree!

Finally, the thing Sawyer squished was a tree frog.

Yikes, I almost forget that Horace was chopping down trees with a bloody nose.

TREES THAT BIND

The Family Trees have been prominent on LOST. The first character ever seen on the show was Jack. It is not a coincidence that his Family Tree is the largest of all the characters. For the record, we have met ten members of Jack’s family tree. And his character spans the most generations from Grandpa Ray to nephew Aaron.

THE BIBLE TREES

Good U2 CD, but I’m talking about the living tree. The Joshua tree has been seen in a painting in the Swan hatch. The name comes from its growth pattern as shown below:

When the Hebrew name, Joshua, is translated into the Greek it becomes “Jesus”. The picture above shows the appearance of two out-stretched arms symbolizing Jesus dying on the cross (which is made of trees).

The relationship to Joshua is stronger because of a verse that describes Joshua hanging an enemy king on a tree.

And it should be noted that after Judas’ betrayal that he hung himself on a tree.

I find the parallelisms between the Bible and LOST fascinating. For we know that Jesus is often translated into John. Do we expect then that someone will die on a tree or be crucified?

Or can we fairly draw a connection from the mention of Adam and Eve and their trouble with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Does that fact that Jesus calls himself a tree in just one gospel: John’s?

Is it odd that three books of the Bible mention trees in relation to leadership and kings? Those three books are Isaiah, Zeke (Ezekiel), and Daniel. Haven’t we heard those names before?

CONNECTING THE DOTS

The trick to LOST TIDBITS is connecting the dots. It is not difficult to find symbolism in every frame of LOST. To find a correlation and then predict the future is quite a different story and it is our challenge.

If you watch John Locke’s attempted suicide scene in the hotel room it really is quite clear that he poses as Jesus on the cross. The scene is so iffy that one could debate me. But it seems the producers wanted the shot without offending any viewing group. I swear it was intended. And it was predicted!

If we turn to the Bible for Season 6 then we could find some useful information in terms of trees which was listed in the opening section.

Are there more predictions we can draw from the close tie-in to religious themes? The answer seems an obvious yes. The key might be to look at the big picture; the forest if you will. We must avoid be bogged down by the details, the trees or we will miss the forest. The details point to a forest called The Island and that island sure appears to be the story of history we find in the Bible.

In the next few posts of LOST TIDBITS we are going to explore the future presented in the Bible. Those future events include a holding cell for the Devil, the big war, and a time loop. That sounds interesting!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT328: Talk About Teasers

2010-01-20T08:06:00.003-06:00

SPOILER FREE

As you are probably aware, LOST TIDBITS is spoiler-free. We don’t even watch the previews for next week (well, most of the time). However, teasers and official promos are fair game and boy have we been getting teased lately.

(Click to see a larger version)

If you scroll through some recent posts you’ll find the Last Supper picture, but here it is again…but different. It has everyone trying to figure out what the pictures are trying to tell us.

Notice that Claire has switched sides of the table. Miles has moved positions in all three (or four?) versions. Ben is looking at John in one and Frank in another.

What is going on here?

Someone suggested that you think of these pictures as live snapshots. The heads then move from John to camera to away from John. Hmmm…

THE FINAL WORD

Rumor is that the last word spoken in the series can be discovered by using an old calculator then input the LOST numbers and then turning it upside down.

I used to make “hello” that way “01134”, but haven’t figured out any combination that makes a 10-letter word. Ideas?

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

It goes something like this…Widmore tells us that Ben fooled him into leaving the island. John says that he doesn’t believe Ben fooled him into leaving, but I say he did.

Ben even goes so far as to fool Locke the Second!

It takes us the Bible verse about a house divided against itself can not stand. That actually means that the SAME house divided will not last, not two sides. It means that the evil side of the house can’t withstand its own divisions. Or to put it another way, a liar can’t tell the truth. Imagine if you were the Devil trying to run your operation and every time you or someone spoke it had to be a lie. That would be frustrating. Everyone, say hello to Ben – the king of liars.

So the theory is that Ben is going to become the new Jacob – or wants to be. Ah, and you thought Jacob was the good guy! This theory then means we need a new Man in Black. Can you say, “Aaron”?

Enjoy,
KC

LT327: I Am Richard

2010-01-17T16:27:00.000-06:00

RICHARD TIDBIT

USA Weekend magazine had a brief bit about Richard Alpert. The actor tells the magazine, “The producers have never shared Richard’s background, so I make it up every week. I do a back story for myself, and just when I think I’ve figured the character out, I’ll open up the script for the next week’s episode and be like, ‘I was so off base.’”

Don’t worry, Richard, we feel the same way!

ESSAY: The Resurrection

The Bible story says that after Jesus was crucified he was resurrected three days later. I can’t help but notice how the number “3” has taken center stage on LOST lately. Then again, nearly every digit has had some role it seems. Still…

Anyone wonder why God waited three days to resurrect His son? What is so important about those three days anyway?

Protestant faiths will answer that question by pointing out its uniqueness. They say, “Hey who would pick three days if it wasn’t true?” In the world of academia that uniqueness holds a lot of weight. Then in 2008 a manuscript was discovered dating BEFORE Jesus. It said that Simon would be resurrected in three days. Could the later religion have borrowed from the previous?

My research took me to a character called Mirtha. It is always embarrassing and thrilling to learn something new as this Mirtha was brand new information to me. Leaving the details behind, the similarities between Mirtha and Jesus are so striking that it would make one think there was déjà vu going on!

I kept digging and discovered there are plenty of pre-Jesus stories about resurrection. One in particular caught my eye. It is from Egyptian mythology about a god who died and was resurrected THREE DAYS LATER. The god’s name is Horus. Ring any bells?

More research and it seems that back at the time of these writings that “3” was used to mean “small number”. Time and details were not kept like they are today. It is akin to us say we had “a couple” of beers – we don’t literally mean “two” but we do mean to say it wasn’t just “one”. So for the resurrection to be “three days” really means “a short while”. It could have been “some time later”, maybe even minutes.

FYI – likewise large numbers were meant just that, big. For example the 144,000 mentioned in the Bible could just mean “a lot”. The writers may simply have thought they were saying “infinity” by using a number with that many zero’s in that period of history.

**

Imagine then John Locke’s life was destined to be what the flashbacks have indicated. He was meant to be a lonely cripple living out military fantasies, having arranged friends and conforming to whatever drug growing activities that happen to surround the people who he sought out for acceptance.

Above all, John Locke is selfish. Suicide has been called the most selfish act a person could do. John has tried to kill himself twice – at the Dharma pit and in the hotel room by hanging.

Notice also Locke has had numerous bandages on his legs from Ethan’s shooting to a shard from a failed attempt to open the Swan hatch. These leg events are God’s, Fate’s, the Universe’s, Whatever’s attempt to return John to his normal life course.

And then it is like Jacob looked down from Heaven and determined John Locke would become his servant.

Jacob allowed John the horror of having his kidney stolen by his own father. But Jacob knew he would have to have that kidney removed to survive the shooting at the Dharma Pit. Of course, that altered the fabric of the future because to lose the kidney it meant bringing Cooper into John’s life which in turn caused him to plunge out a high-rise window.

Jacob then healed John and kept him from dying on the grass after the fall.

Jacob course corrected John again at the Dharma Pit by sending a message and Walt to change his mind.

Jacob was delaying the original plan for John’s life until his death could serve a higher purpose (destiny). When ready, Ben was allowed to kill him in order to serve a higher goal of the killing of Jacob. John had to die in order for Jacob to die: that is Christ-like sacrifice.

If the comparison stays true, John will be resurrected. In three days. Just like Jesus and Horus and Mirtha. Maybe this time we will learn the real reason for that resurrection!

By the way, the Bible says that during those three days that Jesus preached victory over the fallen demons and unbelievers. Sort of what John Locke the Second seems to be gloating over. Hmm…

MORE ON RICHARD

Someone notice how unsure Richard seemed in Season 5. He appears completely unaware of time travel – as if he has lived his life but one time in chronological order. Yet he clearly doesn’t age.

It seems as if Richard IS just an advisor. That led me to wonder what character in literature closely resembles him. The thought that entered my mind and wouldn’t leave is that Richard represents humanity. Much in how we use Adam from the Bible to represent humanity. It has been claimed that Adam’s decision wasn’t my decision to eat the apple, so why am I being punished for his actions? The comeback is often, “He represents all of mankind which means that had you been the guy in the garden you would have made the same decision.” Oh.

So, in the same way, Richard is Humanity. Of course it doesn’t age as our single lifespan is but a blip on the history of time and Richard is representing us for a very long time. If he aged accordingly it looks like personkind is about 40 years old with a good 30 years left to go! Did I just say 30? LOL!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT326: It Feels Like the First Time

2010-01-16T16:26:00.001-06:00

READER FEEDBACK

Thanks to Shelley K for the nice email. She is the Account Manager for Trylon SMR out of New York City. She wrote to share with us a website that writes about LOST. But these aren’t just everyday bloggers like me. These are the pros from Television Critics Association Press.

Here is the link that comes from an interview with the producers of LOST: http://www.locatetv.com/blog/lost-ready-to-find-its-way-for-a-final-season/

You will find that this site is helpful with many of your television favorites. Thanks, Shelley.

LOST ECONOMICS

You recall the summer game involving those paintings? It seems they had like 40 prints of each made for sale where proceeds would go to some charity. Well one poster of John Locke recently sold in eBay for $1,813.

How crazy has this become?

If interested in the story behind one of the prints and the artist commissioned to do the work, check out this link: http://tragicsunshine.com/newsletter/?p=927

ESSAY: Predestination or Déjà Vu?

Let’s begin my admitting that LOST TIDBITS is not going to resolve this century old debate. But as it pertains to LOST, it seemed that we needed to at least think about it.

Once again the Bible is at fault. Let me explain. The Bible says that God has predestined everyone’s future. That brings to mind a puppet on the end of some strings. It makes me think of an already written script and we are merely players acting out the roles. Some people look down their noses at that prospect. However, I’m content with comparing to a river. We know the river exists. We know its course. Yet we still find it enjoyable to put a canoe in the water and paddle it. What is around the next bend is predetermined and won’t change before we arrive. The thrill of seeing what is around the next bend still exists. And yet, the course is predestined for us.

Or how many parents already know that every child will push the limits with them…and still have the little darlings? We know that life will bring disappointment and still we greet most days with anticipation. We hear the phrase, “I knew that was going to happen”, several times a day and still the thrill of living is not diminished.

So even with predestination, the players, the actors, us…we don’t know what will happen in the next scene. We therefore enjoy life.

This then brings up a big question however. If our future is pre-decided, then can we be accountable for it? Well, just knowing my kid is going to drink before the legal age doesn’t absolve him (or me) from the consequences of that decision.

Now let me slip into another line of thinking. What if it isn’t predestination but just déjà vu? What if FEELS like we’ve been here before because we have. Some religions believe in reincarnation. Some religions believe in resurrection. Both doctrines are generally saying that the same person can have a second shot at life.

I find that LOST has put the spotlight on these topics because it is the age-old question of what is my purpose? I believe that we can have it both ways. Someone once tried to explain how this impacts free will. They said that the pearly gates of Heaven has a sign above it that reads, “Free Will – Whatever You Decide”. Once you walk through them, the sign on the other side reads, “Predestination – We Knew You’d Decide That”.

I’m reminded of my father who taught me how to swim by tossing me off the end of the dock in a local pond. He KNEW I could dog paddle back. I didn’t know that. But I did decide to try and it worked. Who knew? My father, of course.

As we approach Season 6 of LOST, I’m going to keep in mind that you can and can’t change the past. It is known and unknown but mostly depends on your point of reference. Which is exactly the thing that Einstein said about relativity. But that will have to wait for another post!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT325: Let's Break Bread

2010-01-13T10:27:00.003-06:00

THE LAST SUPPER

The religion comparisons just keep coming as seen in this Season 6 promo picture:

For comparison, here is the original:

Those who have read Dan Brown should note that to John’s right is a female. Brown suggested that in the painting this was Mary Magdalene. This spot is now filled by Kate that makes for an interesting spin-off storyline that I’d rather not see!

Some readers are suggesting those in the back are dead, but then that confuses me with Claire at the table who would seem to lead all candidates at being dead…except for maybe John who also should be dead. Maybe the dead are seated?

Jin is sitting where Judas sits. Hmmm…

ANOTHER PROMO

Things are getting interesting with the latest promo. It sounds like Charles Widmore speaking and you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rSXZs7561Q&feature=player_embedded

Be sure to keep an eye open for the Numbers the Dharma octagons!

PRODUCERS SPEAK OUT

I read some interview snippets with these being the best:

Cuse, on Jack and Locke: [They've] always been at the center of the show, that dilemma of faith vs. reason, and the conflict between those two characters has been there since the beginning. It's very exciting to bring that relationship to its conclusion, and we can't really be any less vague about that.

Lindelof, on the central series question: The only question that's ever mattered to us is what is going to happen to these people. What is the character resolution? That the audience feels like the characters had an arc -- a beginning, middle and end. And I'm satisfied with that. All the crazy island mythology stuff, we love it, but it's like terrorists attacking Jack Bauer - it's stuff that happens in order to tell cool character stories.

Enjoy,
KC

LT324: State of the Union

2010-01-11T07:23:00.002-06:00

BAD NEWS

It seems the President has decided to move his State of the Union address to Tuesday, February 2. If that date sounds familar it is because this is the premier of LOST!

GOOD NEWS

According to CNN.com: "“Lost” watchers, all is right with the world again: President Obama will not interrupt the long-awaited episode by giving a national address the same night.

Fear gripped the hearts of fans when it was announced that the president wanted to push back the annual State of the Union address – typically held in late January – to February 2, which everyone should know by now is the premiere of the ABC drama’s final season.

Crazy talk! Doesn’t he know people have been dying to find out what happened to the castaways?

But White House press secretary Robert Gibbs assured viewers Friday he “doesn’t foresee a scenario in which millions of people that hope to finally get some conclusion in ‘Lost’ are preempted by the president.”

The "Lost" news came in response to a question from ABC correspondent Ann Compton at the afternoon press briefing.

The time slot for “Lost” may be secured, but still no word on what day the president will deliver the State of the Union.

**

Whew!

Enjoy,
KC

LT323: Parallelisms

2010-01-10T18:22:00.001-06:00

ESSAY: The Day Time Stood Still

“The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.”
- Habakkuk 3:11

For many their religious guidebook of choice has the last word on all things. The Bible includes many fascinating stories. For some, those stories are literal.

When looking for Bible to LOST parallelisms I stumbled upon this verse which says that the sun and moon to stood still. The cause was due to the bright flash of light. We have observed on LOST that a bright flash and a purple sky are followed by some pretty strange time tricks.

But this isn’t the verse I expected because my memory of Sunday school says Joshua was the prophet involved. Sure enough, in Joshua chapter 10 it says the prophet indeed caused the sun to remain shining for 24 hours in order to defeat a surrounding army.

For a moment, consider the Bible infallible. It suggests that a higher power is able to suspend the laws of physics.

Now add a dash of science. How often has mythical stories based on a religion later been shown the scientific truth behind them? Quite a bit. Will one day we discover the scientific explanation behind the sun standing still? Is this the underlying theme of LOST – to explore the spot where religion and science meet?

**

Elsewhere in a laboratory in Maryland, scientists were projecting time tables of celestial objects for the benefit of planning satellite orbits. These time tables would help plan an orbit that wouldn’t crash into the moon or they could be timed to be in a desired position in relation to the sun. A computer program handled the heavy lifting until one day, the computer began to beep.

“Beep.”

“Beep.”

“Beep.”

The human’s attention was gained and it was discovered that somehow the calculations failed because it appeared that one day was missing. One member of the science team joked that the Bible said that Joshua made the day stand still for one day and maybe that was their missing day.

His fellow scientists looked at him in doubt. “Show us,” they said.

They read, "The sun stood still and the moon stayed-and hasted not to go down about a whole day!", in Joshua 10:12-13.

They adjusted their programs, but again the program resulted in a rhythmic “beep” alert. They checked further and discovered that the calculations were still off by 40 minutes. They teased their fellow Bible scientists for coming close. He even protested that the verse read “ABOUT a whole day”. Of course, that could mean 4 hours, 40 minutes or 400 seconds – too vague.

Then the scientist remembered another passage. He told them, “Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said "Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?" Hezekiah said "It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees." Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!"’

**

Elsewhere, Isaiah was explaining to a woman that he could not help her because the energy from Ayers Rock is not helpful to everyone.

**

Elsewhere, Sawyer was giving Mr. Friendly the nickname, “Zeke” – short for Hezekiah.

**

Elsewhere, a member of the Dharma Initiative thought it would be a nice touch to hang a painting of the Joshua Tree State Park in the Swan Hatch.

As promised, you can expect to more postings between now and the premier of Season 6. Keep checking back or use the RSS feed.

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT322: Shorten the Series

2010-01-08T15:10:00.000-06:00

ONE APPROACH

I recall reading the other day that the producers of LOST once said that after Season 2 the studio was up in the air on how long the show would last. The suggestion was that the original idea was mostly for a three-season show.

One approach we might use then is to ignore most everything in Season 3 through 5…at least in terms of the overall plot. It is very difficult to forget what was seen and heard, but if you recall the ideas you had back at the end of Season 2, you might be closer to figuring out the end game.

THEORY OF THE DAY

The atomic explosion causes a split in the timeline. That’s right, we have a second reality created the moment those atoms split. Those at the Swan Hatch and probably the whole island are doomed. The second reality puts everyone back to 2007-08 and flying the friendly skies.

How does one come out of nuclear explosion alive? Being underground is a nice advantage like in a tunnel or below a Temple. Those that survive will go on and eventually those two realities must rejoin, even if the year is 1977.

In fact, 30 years into the future, those who survived will meet back up with the Survivors…when Oceanic Flight 815 crashes.

Season 6 then will be our Survivors life if they had landed normally at LAX. There are consequences as we saw some of those when John Locke had his sweat lodge experience with Boone. Ben was a security guard and Desmond was the pilot. I wonder what occupation Jack will be this time?

Season 6 will also be life from 1977 to 2004…three years short of thirty years. The question will be, “What kind of life would you make if you had a do-over?” Will Jack stay married? Will Sawyer be a father to his daughter? Will Hurley eat three buckets of chicken for breakfast?

I like this one!

ANYONE SEEN THE DOG?

If we consider the advice of LOST being just two seasons along, then recall one of the big early pieces of conversation surrounded the dog, Vincent. It seemed clear that everyone should be paying close attention to that canine. The only reason we get a feeling that Vincent “left the show” was because Season 3 through 5 never happened.

The fact is they did include Vincent when Rose and Bernard were found living happy in a shack, lest we forget about him (her).

Then came along Smokey. Many felt the smoke monster exhibited behavior similar to a dog: rooting up trees, shaking Mr. Ecko like a toy, and digging holes. This was reinforced with mention of Cerberus on the Blast Door Map seen in Season 2

I got to thinking today, “Who hasn’t seen Vincent?” And, “Who hasn’t seen Smokey?” My main focus is on Richard. Has Richard ever seen Vincent or Smokey…or Jacob for that matter?

The general consensus is that the new John Locke and Smokey were never in the same scene together. Could this be the case with Richard?

Could the “clue” be not to watch Vincent, but to keep an eye on all “dogs”?

Of course the value-added clip entitled, “So It Begins”, revealed a very dead Christian talking to a very real dog, so who knows?

NEXT ON TIDBITS

As promised, you can expect to more postings between now and the premier of Season 6. Keep checking back or use the RSS feed.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT321: Knowing What You Know Now, But Then

2010-01-07T18:44:00.001-06:00

IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME

Who hasn’t dreamed about it? Who hasn’t thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to go back to when I was X years old and know what I know now?”

Season 6 could be just that. We’ve all seen how Ben seems to know more than a person should. Some could argue the same is true for Locke. This next year we could see the Survivors repeating what we have witnessed in the first five years with one major difference: this time they know!

Imagine everyone back onboard Oceanic Flight 815. One of the Survivors has a nagging feeling – if not a clear-cut thought – that something is “different”. Often times there are external events that jog memories. For example, Sayid could hear a flight attendant mention that the aircraft has lost radio contact. That could trigger something in Sayid’s mind. He decides – and maybe not quite sure why – to try and convince the pilot to NOT turn back to Fuji for an emergency landing. This might even take force which is why I picked Sayid.

Sayid’s attempt at persuasion is successful and the pilot agrees to continue on to Los Angeles where the plane eventually lands without incident.

Except now there is a dead man in the bathroom.

GOODBYE TO YOU

The dead man in the bathroom is Charlie Pace.

You see, Sayid’s persuasion of the pilot allows Charlie to continue with his drug use and he overdoses. It is one of the many consequences the Survivors will realize in Season 6.

If my read is correct, then soon Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Libby and Mr. Ecko will meet their demise. When that John Denver song starts playing, you can’t change your final destination. If these people do not pass away shortly after landing at LAX, then there is a reason. One could argue that in the “Island Loop” they had to die, but in the “LAX Loop”, it could be perfectly acceptable to Fate that these people go on with their mundane lives.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

As promised, you can expect to more postings between now and the premier of Season 6. Keep checking back or use the RSS feed.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT320: The End

2010-01-06T13:42:00.001-06:00

CRAZIEST THEORY OF THE WEEK

This is the tagline for Season 6: the beginning of the end. It struck me as interesting that the end is the end. Doesn’t matter if it is the beginning or the end of the end, it still is the end. So Season 6 could be entitled, “The End”. If we have already reached the end, then Season 6 may not even happen. Not literally, but figuratively.

BIBLE MATCHING

If my guess is correct the story of LOST is matching the Bible story (or many religions rolled into one). If so then John must be resurrected. Won’t that put two John’s in one place?

I can’t that scene of Walt telling John that he had a dream of him standing on the beach in a suit and he was surrounded by people who wanted to hurt him. I’m thinking the crucifixion scene where the Romans were closing in on Jesus. It was three days in the Bible, but my guess that could mean 3 years on LOST.

ESSAY: The Bottomless Pit

The Bible talks about a time when the Devil will be placed in a bottomless pit for a period of time. I think the bottomless pit in LOST is the cabin. It held someone as a prisoner who would whisper to people, “Help me”. Hardly!

The ash is key to the show and I’m not sure how to correlate that to the Bible story, but the fact that someone was in the cabin and then escaped sure reminds me of the Bottomless Pit.

And if my Bible school training is helpful, I think when the Devil is released then the war begins…which is about to happen on LOST.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Keep checking back often…I expect more posts as the time gets closer as lots of things are hitting my desk and inbox!

If you enjoy this post, please click on one of the ads to the side when you are done reading.

Enjoy,
KC

LT320: The Final Countdown

2010-01-03T19:08:00.003-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. The spring season of television is about to begin which is great for two reasons. First, calling something the "spring season" or "spring semester" is a good sign during the cold winter. Second, it means LOST is coming soon. February 2 for those who still might be unaware.

Keep checking back on LOST TIDBITS as we get excited with growing anticipation.

LINKSTER

Always flattering to get a request to be linked. The folks at Nice LED Lights are the latest to offer. You can check out the website at www.niceledlights.com

SNEAK PREVIEW

ABC is offering a free sneak peak to a few lucky viewers. Here is there write-up: Can't wait for the premiere of LOST? All you have to do for your chance to win is visit the official sweepstakes website, and enter the "LOST: The Final Season Sweepstakes" by answering six LOST questions correctly. You'll then be entered for a chance to win a message in a bottle with an exclusive sneak peek of the season 6 premiere...days before anyone else.

Click this link to enter: http://abc.go.com/shows/lost/final-season-sweepstakes?cid=09_lost_alert_12302009_dwy

ESSAYS

I hope to send out a few more essays, but in case time gets short with school starting back up, the general concept is as follows: Jacob is Chris and Man in Black is Lew. Nothing fancy, just you classic good versus evil theme. What book or movie isn't really about the same theme? It's the philosophical question that tops even "Why am I here?", "What's my purpose?", and "When's dinner?". What every human really wants to know more than anything is..."Who is going to win?"

We love winners. Then we cheer the undefeated to lose. We build up stars and we Tiger them down. :)

My final few essays will focus on the end game. The tagline for Season 6 on LOST is "The Beginning of the End". The End. There IS going to be an end. Not just of the show, but the story. We are going to reach the end.

And that's something not one religion has ever experienced.

**

If you enjoyed this post and are looking forward to LOST, then please click one of the ads. Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT318: Three Shall Become One

2009-12-20T18:20:00.001-06:00

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

It has been said on the show and in supplemental writing that LOST is about a space within being larger than the space outside an object. This applies directly to the concept of the Magic Box.

What if the island under or INSIDE where actually much larger than the island itself? Could the Magic Box being the Temple? Or you might be thinking of the TARDIS from Doctor Who – that box which time transports the cast.

If we go down that route (and yes, down does seem to be the proper direction to use here), then I’m leaning back on Artificial Intelligence. A big A.I. or RPG game is at play then.

Well, it is something to ponder…if it strikes a chord with you, drop a note.

DID YOU KNOW?

That episode “316” and “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” were to be reversed?

That the final episode is reordered and re-edited with different lines on the Blue- Ray version compared to televised version?

The “?” in the middle of the Blast Door Map is indeed the Pearl Station?

And the Looking Glass station is not just for communications (source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk1MrAJowpM).

ESSAY #10: The Trinity

The concept of the Trinity is well-founded in Protestant religions. The Trinity consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Our Bible indicates a team of “bad guys” led by Lucifer (or Lew for short). The hierarchy on this team is unclear.

On LOST one could suppose that God is the Father, the Son is Jacob and the Holy Spirit is Smokey. However we are left with two major weaknesses. First, God as the Father is too easy for we have yet to have any reference to a higher being. Not that we need one, but it should doesn’t help when trying to justify the doctrine of a Trinity when all the players aren’t at the table.

Second drawback is that Smokey appears to be evil. Now we need to use the “mirror concept” and say for every good there must be a bad. So if we have a Holy Ghost we need an Unholy Ghost. This leaves with a bigger question, “where is the good Holy Ghost”.

Ok, scratch the Trinity thing.

All we really have to support the Bible to LOST theory is that we have a good guy (Jacob) and a bad guy (Man in Black). In this regard we have ample evidence.

For example, Satan tempts Christ in the wilderness – lots of that going on LOST Island.

And we have the forever struggle for control and worshippers – we see two sides playing tug-of-war with people every week on LOST.

So maybe the writers switched gears on us and made the Holy Spirit and bad thing as suggested. This still leaves a major question: who is the God who is in charge and where is he? Now if that doesn’t sound like LOST, I don’t know what does.

And before I leave this topic, does anyone remember who Ethan attempted to kill Charlie? Didn’t he hang him from a tree?

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT317: Forsaken But Not Forgotten

2009-12-13T19:48:00.000-06:00

USA PROMO COMING TUESDAY

If you watch the Forgotten you will see the US promo for LOST Season 6.

If you don’t watch the Forgotten, check back with LOST TIDBITS and there will be a link to the video.

There have been previous promos and teasers. Here is a collection of some of the best:

At comic con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXnAaTFlRw8

Fan based and top notch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TmCiC7QJiU

Official #1 promo from ABC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXjlRBXjSJ8

The Willie Nelson promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOgn_aMb8YU

Another quality fan promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww2-ZHhxBnk

LOST UNIVERSITY

The college courses are well underway. The course videos have been removed from YouTube, but I’m hoping to provide some summaries of important pieces of interest.

Most of the content is a reworking of things we already know. There is a reading list provided for each course, but time is such an constraint for humans that I’m not sure if I’ll ever get through them all.

So check back with TIDBITS (most Wednesdays and Sundays) for updates and info.

ANOTHER POLL

I read where a poll was held to name the best prop on LOST. The top four vote getters were…

#4 – The Swatch Station Hatch Door
#3 – The Dharma Wheel in the Cold Room
#2 – The Countdown Clock (my favorite)
#1 – The Four-Toed Statue

This poll should be held years after the show goes off the air because the latest thing always gets more votes than it should. I saw recently where Transformers made a list of the Top 25 Movies of All-Time…the poll was taken about two weeks after its release. You get my point.

READING LIST

I’m hoping this new book will be out soon. It is entitled “Things You Never Noticed About LOST: Past Perceptions and Future Theories”. It would make for great January reading before Season 6.

If anyone hears of a release date, shout out!

ESSAY #9: Family Ties

I’m in a musical mood while writing this essay. The subject matter is family ties and the song lyrics in my head include, “You’ve got be cruel to me kind, in the right measure. Cruel to be kind, it’s a very good sign. Cruel to be kind means that I love you, baby. You’ve got to be cruel to kind.”

Now if those words don’t seem contradictory, then what does? Along the same line are the lyrics that have confused me over the years, “Come on baby make it hurt so good. Sometimes love don’t feel like it should. You make it hurt so good.”

**

Lew’s jealousy had reached a boiling point with his brother, Chris. A recent tournament found Chris enjoying the champion’s spotlight while Lew observed the events from the back of the room. Lew wondered why all his attempts to discredit his brother had failed.

After the press interviews Chris had made his way back to his private room. Lew had followed him quietly. Lew stood just outside the door and summoned all the strength he had. He reached for the door handle, turned it and opened the door.

Chris did not react in surprise. At first Lew was worried that his brother had expected him. But this thought spurred his anger on even more. Lew marched to his brother and grabbed him by the shirt. He proceeded to pull him up and out of his chair where he struck him. Lew spit in his brother’s face. He ripped his shirt off of him.

On the wall was banner from some previous chess championship where the cloth unfurled from a metal rod held by a triangle of cord. Lew grabbed the banner off the wall and jabbed his brother with the metal rod.

And all the time Chris never fought back. This angered Lew even more.

The beating was vicious and continued for several minutes. At one point, Chris peered through his bloodied vision and noticed a man was standing in the doorway of his room. That man was his father. Now it was Chris’ turn to be confused.

A second later and Lew was about to deliver a fatal blow to his brother. Chris made one desperate plea to the man in the door way. He said, “Father, father! Why have you forsaken me?” And with that, his father turned his back on his dying son and walked away as the crashing thud of prior tournament trophy was heard and felt in Chris’ head.

**

Many scholars have pondered the verses that describe Christ’s death on the cross and his plea for his father’s assistance…and subsequent refusal. It is nearly impossible to understand how God the Father would have permitted such a thing to happen.

And then words of the songs come rushing back into my head…you have to be cruel to be kind. The Bible suggests a higher purpose was being served and therefore the death of Christ (and Chris) were justified.

My thoughts then make it back to LOST where Christian seemed to hurting his son…or was it just a Boy-Named-Sue Strategy? Cooper mocked his son’s lack of reality because who really needs two kidneys? Roger beat his son away from him. Hurley’s father abandoned him.

Maybe you know someone who has had similar experiences. When I’ve met people like that they all have a common response, “I wouldn’t change a thing for those experiences is what made me who I am today.” Jack, Ben, John and Hurley wouldn’t be who they are without the nurture (or lack thereof) they received.

We hear catchphrases along this same line such as “tough love”. It that some excuse which makes the authority figures feel better or does the long-term benefits outweigh the opposite approach of enabling? I think Season 6 is going to answer this question.

The scene most perplexing to me and the motivation behind this essay is where John is asked to kill his father by Ben. Everyone expects John will do it. I just don’t understand that reasoning. But then I don’t understand how God turned his back on his son – that seems like an impossibility and yet, we are told, it happened.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT316: Reach for the Sky

2009-12-06T20:41:00.000-06:00

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

I enjoyed reading about this one: Frank Lapidus is the new leader.

The idea stems from two facts: the real John Locke is dead and he was called a “candidate” by this new group led by Ilana and Bram.

Supporting evidence includes the fact that everyone recruited for Naomi’s team has been on the island previously…why not Frank as well then?

The theory goes like this: Frank was to be the pilot of Oceanic 815 and for some reason of Fate (or Abbadon) he was not the pilot. Even Smokey realized this when he paid a visit to the cockpit and found Seth Norris instead. Angry about this, Smokey killed Seth. There have been rumors that Seth (aka Parkman from Heroes) will make another appearance on the show. This could be a flashback to explain the handoff of flight duties from Frank to Seth.

Smokey is also upset because he realized Frank “broke the rules”. Smokey realizes that Frank is a candidate as well. Frank is a candidate to be the vessel for Jacob’s soul which needs a new host. Smokey realized that with Frank not onboard Oceanic Flight 815, then a substitute would be used…cue John Locke. But now the course corrections (a flying term) have brought Frank back to the island.

**

Some suggest that Frank is named after Frank Tipler who has carried on the philosophy of the Omega Point – a seemingly major concept behind the show.

Frank Lapidus has a middle initial of “J”…for Jacob?

And let’s not forget that it was Jacob who ordered the building of the airstrip on the island. Did he know that Frank would need it to land one day in the past…er, future, I mean?

TEASERS

As you know, LOST TIDBITS does not do spoilers. But when the producer conducts an interview, it is fair game. Here is what he said:

- On what will be answered: “The questions that count will be answered, and the questions that fans don’t want answered won’t be answered, but I think what they’re looking for is a real sense of resolution, particularly on a character level. Who’s going to live? Who’s going to die? Who’s going to hook up with who? Why were they all brought here in the first place? Was it arbitrary? Is there meaning behind it?”

- On who’s returning to the show: “I do think it’s safe to say that that final season of the show in a lot of ways is a curtain call for all the actors who kind of made these iconic performances and we’re hoping that a lot of them come back for one final appearance.”

- On the possible explanation of what the smoke monster is: “If you do not see a dinosaur by the end of the season premiere of season six I think it will be safe to conclude that the monster is not a dinosaur. But that’s not to say that you won’t see one. I’m just saying you will know.”

ESSAY #8: Can You Hear Me Now?

Lew’s rivalry with his brother, Chris, continued to brew until it turned into jealousy and was quickly moving towards full-fledge hatred. After making life-threatening claims, his family ordered Lew out of the house as a young man. Of course, this only made the fire that burned within grow even hotter.

Lew devised a plan to bring discredit to his brother by starting a rival Fan Club. But not for himself, but for the worlds #3 ranked player, Hume. His goal was to do anything just to steal the attention away from his champion brother. With his portion of the family “settlement”, Lew was able to fund a very competitive fan base for Hume.

Over time the Fan Club grew in influence within the chess world. The Hume Fan Club was able to secure more seats on governing councils and won the presidency of the World Chess Foundation. Lew was getting his people in place. The group began to pursue television and marketing rights – all favorable to his pawn, but moves that many were beginning to realize would harm the game in the long run.

One day Lew had an idea to start a radio station which would not only serve the Fan Club’s interests, but provide a platform that could be used to undermine Chris with mass media. With shady deals in place, the group began construction of their first radio tower. It would broadcast in English so to reach the widest audience.

The radio station would never take to the air. Lew’s father was advised of his prodigal son’s plans and he shut down the operation. Lew was powerful when motivated by his hatred, but his father was even more powerful in the business circles.

And so the plan to spread propaganda from Lew’s mind never materialized. Station BABEL would never broadcast a single program. As a reminder, however, his father did erect a small watt tower in the original plan’s spot and then broadcast a looping message, “4…8…15…16…23…” No one ever knew what it meant, but Lew seemed to know and bristle when asked about it my reporters.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT315: A Little Help, Please

2009-12-02T18:43:00.001-06:00

POINTS OF NOTE

We have not seen the Temple yet. John said that he and Ben were going to the tunnels under the Temple. I wonder what it looks like?

Will Ben have to return for judgment after killing Jacob as he did for killing others? Or is the instruction to do whatever John says going to be his redemption? The obvious conclusion is that Smokey and John are one in the same and Ben is again being a pong of some greater force and game.

The art game is about to come to an end. One more poster remains to be revealed. I’ll summarize when it ends.

ESSAY #7: Alien Intervention

Somewhere on Earth a man claims he was approached by an angel and told to build an item no one on the planet had ever seen, or thought of or heard of. It was built using precise measurements and designs provided by the alien. People who observed the man mocked him…until it began to rain and then Noah had the last laugh.

Somewhere on Earth a group of people were moved to build a place of the dead. There is no record of this event performed around 23 hundred years before Christ. It took over 15 hundred years to complete. And yet no record exists and the technology to accomplish this feat appears to be outside the possibility. And yet…Stonehenge stands today.

Somewhere on Earth tribesmen began a series of carving in order to honor their ancestors and to show the power of their clans. The marvel is the size of these carvings. Some reached 23 feet tall or higher. They were made in a manner advanced for these people around 15 hundred CE. The head statues of Easter Island remain a mystery.

Somewhere on Earth a group of 20,000 to 30,000 workers would gather to erect pyramids in Egypt over an 80 year period. The architecture is amazing and rumors still persist that “outside assistance” would have been required. They house the dead.

Somewhere on Earth a group of travelers discover the remnants of a large statue. All that remains is the lower part of one leg and one foot. The travelers claim they were “abducted by time” and when they awoke the statue was complete. It appears to be the statue of an Egyptian god. The travelers claim that black smoke emits from the base of the statue and appears to be “aware and alive”.

SPAIN HAS THE GAME RIGHT

Must admit it was nice to have a little validation on the chess theme. If you haven’t seen the promo to Season 6 running in Spain you can click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C56Lgl6DorM

Producer of LOST calls it one of the best he has ever seen.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT314: Incoming and Going Out

2009-11-29T18:52:00.001-06:00

MAYDAY

Ajira Flight 316 crash landed. The year off-island was three years after the Oceanic 6 left. This would make it very late December 2007 or very early January 2008.

When the plane was landing the Numbers could be heard over the radio. Beside the fact that some viewers thought the voice sounded like Hurley, the fact remains the Numbers were looping. It is possible then that the plane also time travelled back in time. Now Sun and Frank (and later Ben and John) paddled to the other island and found the buildings were showing age. However, the Numbers have been looping for 16 years, so it could be that the buildings were in a state of repair prior to Oceanic Flight 815’s arrival, fixed up and then fell into victim to entropy again.

Or the plane could have jumped back just a handful of months into mid-2007. Or more likely to pre-Oceanic 815.

If the Ajiria flight did transport back to an earlier date, then Jacob met the Oceanic 6 AFTER Ben kills him. Let that rattle around in your brain a bit.

JACK IS BACK

No, not that Jack. I’m talking about Jack Bender. He is the producer and lead director of LOST. As you know they rotate directors for each episode of LOST (you did know that, right?). His directing experience includes The Sopranos, Carnivale, and Alias.

It has been confirmed that Jack Bender will be directing the final series episode of LOST.

In a recent interview he revealed that his wife has contributed her voice to some of the hidden messages that we simply know as “The Whispers”.

I’m thinking this is one cool mystery that will not be left unresolved!

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

I became skeptical very early reading this theory. But it was interesting. Here’s the theory: 99% of the characters are actors putting on some big con game for a small handful.

That’s right, the crash, the smoke monster, and shootings and killings – all faked. It would take a lot of technical trickery and unlimited dollars to pull this stunt off.

But for what purpose? It has been suggested for the sake of a large-scale psychological experiment – like the Dharma Group has been conducting for years.

I’m reminded of those real-life famous tests where volunteers are told they are in charge of an electrical shock device and during testing they had no qualms pushing the button and shocking their subjects. Later it was revealed that the “student subjects” were the actual fakes. I forget the name, but this has been done before but on a much smaller scale.

One twist to the theory was that the purpose of this massive con game is quite serious. It might be to discover a true world leader or a person with special talents, skills and…abilities. Maybe there is some secret society who is looking for a certain person they believe will play a major role in some major future world-event. Once that single person is identified, the purpose of the experiment will be revealed. At that point the show ends with this new leader actually re-entering the world with a real job to do.

Imagine that revelation being made to this “messiah”. From behind a curtain walks a laughing Mr. Ecko, Boone and Shannon and Ethan, etc.

Hey, I don’t label this section CRAZY for no reason!

ESSAY #6: CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU

The rivalry between the two brothers grew over time and mostly due to the growing resentment felt by Lew. Chris seemed to not even notice or acknowledge his brother’s jealousy. While many things would irk Lew perhaps the most annoying to him was a Fan Club established for Chris.

The president of the Chris Fan Club was a man named Chuck. The word “fan” is short for fanatic and Chuck was a full-time fanatic. Chuck was dedicating most of his waking hours to bring tribute to his favorite celebrity. Little else seemed to matter to the president of the club. Due to his hard work the fan club began to gain membership at a staggering rate. This is a major feat considering sport was chess. The game may not have the world’s largest fan base, but they are dedicated and die-hards.

Lew hated Chuck almost as much as his brother. At nearly every event there was Chuck singing his brother’s praises to whoever would listen. So Lew did the only thing he could do: he befriended him.

Until one day fate caused Chuck to become distracted. A woman named Beth decided to join the Fan Club. She lived in the same town as the president and so the two found their paths crossing from time to time. Beth was a beautiful woman and Chuck found himself thinking about her more than his previous obsession. The only problem was that Beth was married.

Chuck began telling himself that he had no chance with a married woman and so he would keep the relationship as friends. But his mind knew that his heart lied. It began with getting together for coffee to conduct some business for the club. As they grew more comfortable with each other Beth revealed that her husband was out of country on assignment for the military.

It was then that an evil planned entered Chuck’s mind. A friend of Chuck’s was also fighting overseas and happened to be in the same platoon as Beth’s husband. Every man has his price and for the right amount, Chuck’s favor was granted.

Over coffee a few weeks later, Beth broke down crying and revealed that her husband had been killed by friendly fire.

Several months later, Chuck and Beth were married. In the receiving line a man met the bride and groom. With proper introductions, Beth told her new husband, “I’d like you to meet the man I suppose is responsible for us being together.”

A puzzled look crossed over Chuck’s face. He replied, “What do you mean, I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting this man.”

Beth explained, “I met him at a local chess club and he thought I might be interested a famous national player, Chris. He then gave me a flyer that told me about your fan club, so I joined. The rest is history. So, I’d like to you meet…Lew.”

Lew smiled and shook Chuck’s hand. The smile on Lew’s face made the hairs stand up on the back of Chuck’s neck.

**

You might recognize this story as a loose interpretation of two people. First, the groom is Chuck – short for Charles as in Charles Widmore. As we know Charles couldn’t keep his eyes off an outside and had a child with that woman. The bride is Beth which is so of a play on Bathsheba. She is the literary character who King David notices and so orders her husband to the front lines to die so he could have her.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT313: Sacrifice

2009-11-25T07:53:00.001-06:00

ESSAY #5 – SACRIFICE

Lew and Chris were brothers but shared little else in common other than their love for the game of chess. Chris was the dominant player and Lew resented the fact. Over time, Lew devised many schemes to revenge the jealousy he felt.

As young men it was the habit to enter world class chess tournaments. In one particular match that was nearing the end, the brother made his move and announced to his opponent, “Checkmate in two moves”. But he did not remove his hand from his piece. After an extended pause he told his opponent, “If you agree to sacrifice your best piece in the very next turn, I will not place you in checkmate. “

The entire room seemed to hear and soon everyone was watching this game. The brother continued to hold his piece until the opponent made his decision. Give up his best piece or lose in two turns. It hardly seemed like a choice.

The brother making this odd offer was Chris.

Meanwhile, in another place and at another time, God ordered Abraham to kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed and took his son to a mountain, tied his son to the altar, and raised the knife high intending to kill his newborn child. Then God interrupted and provided a substitute sacrifice.

Meanwhile, in another place and time, a doctor was making the ultimate sacrifice for his son. He abandoned his career and his life so that his son could be saved from the same kind of life he had. Some consider the doctor to be a waste of human being. Others consider Doctor Shepherd to be a great man.

Meanwhile, in another place and time, a man was dragged out of a garden by a mob of angry men. The group beat, stabbed and eventually killed the man. All the time his father stood by watching and choosing to do nothing. The son’s last words were directed to his father. He said, “Why have you forsaken me?” The location of these events is called Calvary.

“Boone was a sacrifice that the island demanded.”
- John Locke

THE AUCTION

ABC has announced they will hold an auction of LOST items after the May 2010 finale. It is being named after the parent company and the event is called “Disney D23”.

If interested, check out ProfilesInHistory.com for more information.

SEASON SIX NOTES

Word is the show returns on Tuesday this season beginning February 2.

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

I rate this 1.0 but here goes. Someone has taken the time to analyze all the prophecy type movies, popular conspiracy formulas and such. They claim that when looking for a pattern that the same conclusion is reached time and time again. The pattern can be summed up in one word: Vincent.

I’ll try to decipher just one of the thought threads and share it next time on TIDBITS.

Enjoy,
KC

LT312: The Promise Land

2009-11-18T20:53:00.001-06:00

GAME CLUES

I’ll rattle out some of the clues from the game. Whether they have any direct bearing on Season 6 is left open for debate.

- The sequel to the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie will be called “Pineapple” – probably just a reference to Hawaii

- Ping pong is taking center stage as the game of this game – the earlier post about Susan Sarandon may be related to the fact that she owns some table tennis club

- Sarandon keeps coming up in clues including the name of her character in a Ridley Scott movie – or it means a reference to the Rocky Horror Picture Show

- LOST University is open and the first course is entitled, “Dude, Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Say” – Hurley is featured and this became available about a week ago

Seems like a bunch of random points but I should point out that there is a clip running around the web which shows Hurley and Sawyer playing ping-pong. Can’t recall exactly which episode that was, but this one is slightly different…and I mean SLIGHTLY different. Probably fan made, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.

FINAL REELS

The final two lost tapes of “Mysteries of the Universe” were aired on ABC.com. Here is what was learned:

- Dharma Initiative is completely labeled a “secret organization”

- A small island near Tonga received a strange delivery…out of the air fell a 1 ton food drop back in the 1970’s. Food labeled by Dharma and appears to be a mistaken drop.

- Suggested links from missing planes world-wide to the Dharma group.

- A research program was offered for college students who wanted to volunteer which appeared connected to Dharma. These research opportunities have been tracked by the documentary and push pins mark the locations of recruits shown below:

- The most common location in the research for this program is the South Pacific.

- It was revealed the general manager of the church in use by Dharma is Eloise Hawking, but not official birth certificate can be found. Search of records did reveal this name as the mother of a child on his birth records. The child is Daniel Faraday although no explanation could be offered to why two different last names.

HAWKING THOUGHT

Speaking of Ms. Hawking…when we consider the ability to loop through events several times it makes perfect sense that she finds her son’s diary and learns of future events. In fact, she dedicates herself in making sure those events do not deviate for fear of outcome that could be worse than what is happening at the end of Season 5. And this is how she knows everything about Desmond and that he won’t marry Penny and instead go to an island and push a button.

ESSAY #4: RESTRICTED ACCESS

When Lew was still an impressionable lad he read a book about an interesting man.

In the story, this central character lived in the Middle East region and his occupation was being a shepherd. The man was known to have a temper that got the best of him at times, but for the most part he could keep his emotions in check.

One day the man was tending to his flock when he saw the most unusual thing. In the distance was something unnatural – at least to his eyes. He noticed some unusual smoke over a hill and when he went to investigate he discovered the “thing” could communicate with him.

Considering this to be some divine calling, the shepherd dedicated himself to this “being” and would do whatever it asked of him. In return the former herdsman seemed capable of meaning wonderful accomplishments. Those in his company would witness things you could only call miracles. Some would whisper he was a mad scientist and others suggested it was supernatural. If a scorecard was carefully kept, it would seem more died at his hand then survived.

Over time the man’s charisma was such that many began to follow him as disciples. These were often lost souls of society and the man told them he could lead them to a promised land. For years the man was able to keep the followers mesmerized as the journey never seemed to end.

Eventually, the day of reckoning came. Many of the followers had left and those that remained harbored doubts. The utopia that the man had preached about was never realized for he died. Those that remained faithful to the end however discovered utopia the very next day!

The man that Lew read about was named Moses.

CONCLUSION: I’m struck by the many LOST references that can be made to Moses. While the occupation of shepherd might suggest Jack, it seems Ben is a better fit to this Biblical character. If only he had followed his own Ten Commandments…

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT311: Religion Everywhere

2009-11-11T18:44:00.001-06:00

LOST GAME UPDATE

Now this one has thrown me a curve ball. We have another clue from the Art Gallery which leads to this link: http://loveacceptforgive.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/janet-weiss-louise-bull-durhams-jesus/
This is a blog which comments in a rather right-wing way about something Susan Sarandon said regarding Christ as an activist.

I’m reading way between the lines, but one might conclude the real “clue” here is that Jesus was not just a nice guy. His tough love often alienated his audience to the point that they ended up crucifying him. His “own” received him not.

If we ponder on this we are left wondering if Jacob is too nice to be the “good guy”? Maybe the Man in Black’s tough love approach is a sign of the real messiah on our crazy little island.

Anyway, this one was really strange to me and I thought you should know about it.

THE CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

There is no shortage of theories…even during the off-season. I do my best to wade through them and share those with the most merit or at least interesting components. In fact, this theory lays the foundation for my essay this week!

It goes like this…the Man in Black is…Aaron. Eventually, Aaron becomes Smokey. For those color-based viewers and for the record, Aaron to date has been associated with the color white. So we have some debate on our hands about this.

The strongest evidence in support of this theory is that Claire was in the cabin with her father and Locke and was quite at ease. Some may suggest this was because she was dead, but we could counter that regardless her demeanor was relaxed. How could we explain this behavior? Somehow Aaron has explained to mommy that he was the smoke monster…and thus Christian was little Aaron in some manifestation.

To deal with some weak points of this theory it has been suggested that Aaron switched sides. Again, why? The offered explanation is that he was NOT to be “raised by another”, but was. This lack of compliance might have led to his reversal. (Who isn’t thinking Anakin in Star Wars just a little bit?)

Anyway, chew on this one for a bit and then check out the essay.

ESSAY 3: THE READING OF THE DIARY

Lew’s outcast from his family was due in part to a diary kept by the young man. As fate would have it the book found its way into the wrong hands as far as Lew was concerned.

The writings in that diary were said to be evil for lack of a more appropriate word. The book revealed a growing resentment towards his brother, Chris. The underlying cause appeared to be Lew’s desire for his father to acknowledge him for his ability, but that was in limited supply in this household. The boy’s father was a stern taskmaster as well as a jealous man who sought the spotlight for himself. When a stray ray of light fell outside his scope it would fall mostly on Chris and for this Lew’s hatred grew.

One particular plot outlined in Lew’s diary was beguile. Chris had a girlfriend of sorts. Lew’s plan was simple. He would deceive her with false advances. Lew could weave a story and with his words and deeds, Lew began to gain the attention of the girlfriend, Aveline. Over an extended period of the time Eve, which was her nickname, grew found of Lew. The plan was working just as Lew had planned.

The final piece of the chess match was Lew proposing to Eve. For years she had rejected his sexual advances, but now as a promised couple, she accepted his advances but one time. She became pregnant and delivered a son, but not as married woman for soon after Lew broke off the engagement claiming she had been unfaithful with another, perhaps Chris.

Chris was devastated with the accusations made against him, but he offered no defense but his reputation. Matters began to settle down after Eve moved out of the Garden state of New Jersey. She raised her family and Chris married eventually and started his family.

Of course, none of these events were known until the fateful day when the diary was found. But the most interesting fact is that that these two family trees would cross paths again. And that story is for another day.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Some have suggested that Satan did not offer Eve an apple in the garden, but had sexual relations with her. This then led to two distinct family lines. This doctrine won’t come full circle until Revelations, but it does have an end game.

**

I hope you enjoy the essay and TIDBITS. Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT310: Thoughts in My Head and Another Essay

2009-11-04T18:51:00.003-06:00

Sorry if you came looking last week for TIDBITS. A busy schedule and bit of the flu has hampered by deadlines for the blog. Don’t worry, I don’t think it is the swine flu although I have had a craving for bacon lately. Anyway…here we go.

HALLOWEEN IS THE TIME FOR GHOSTS

Speaking of ghosts, recall that Hurley was off-island as an Oceanic 6 and he gets pulled over with a tranquilized Sayid in the passenger seat? Well, the cop who pulls him over is the ghost of Ana Lucia.

But did you know that Hurley and Ana Lucia never met on screen? Hurley has never met Richard although he gets to the compound and the cabin.

Who else have not met? Miles and Sun. Locke and Frank – at least not the real John.

And we have interaction is it strange. For example, Ben and Desmond meet for the first time and they act like they have known each other for years.

Maybe it is difficult keeping everything straight on the set during filming. Or is this more clues as to the looping of time.

FATHER FIGURE

No, not the George Michaels song, although being Halloween season he would fit as being creepy. Instead I’m wondering about the whole family affair thing.

What if the island is a magnet that draws certain people together to form a new family? One that will survive some earth-ending event and this group will be used to “seed” the next “loop”?

In some strange way the Survivors could be family members of a sort. Which begs the question, “Whose your daddy?” Ben? John? Christian? Jacob? Man in Black? Smokey (ok, that’s just strange). The more I think about this line of though the more my mind is lead to aliens and supernatural creatures. Or maybe I just have “V” on the brain.

ESSAY 3 – Can You Guess My Name?

As young children, their father was nurturing a love for the game of chess. It was obvious that both sons were quite talented. It was equally clear that Chris was the better player. In fact, Chris never lost a single game to Lew (unless he felt some mercy and allowed it).

Innocence has so many things about it to envy. That is not to say that it doesn’t have some drawbacks, mainly being naïve. By the time the knowledge that comes from maturity arrives, it is too late to hold on to much of that pure innocence.

The same was true of Lew. The precise date and time are unknown, but there was a point when Lew realized he was losing every game to his brother. Being second seemed like such a prize while innocent. When the knowledge of things adult came upon him, he then knew. He just knew. And it was at this point he decided something had to be done about it.

And so Lew worked harder. He memorized more opening moves. He studied the counters and finer details of the game. And still he lost. When determination failed to produce the desired results he began to plot.

**

In a place somewhere else, the young couple who trained their minds in the higher studies had an interesting encounter. One day while doing chores at home, a man dressed in black stopped by the couple’s house. The mailbox read, “DeGroots”. He came upon the wife first and he asked, “Aren’t the possibilities wonderful?”

They both instantly knew what was meant and she quickly agreed. The stranger continued, “Then let’s explore together. If you just take this check, then we will make this a better world.”

At that point the small voice we all have inside of us spoke to the woman. It warned her of a deal too good to be true. It reminded her of strings that could be attached. And she told the man these things.

“But you could live forever…like gods!”

At that thought, she shook his hand and then turned and ran into the house calling for her husband. She showed him the check and together they agreed to pursue this new path.

It would be some time before they stopped to wonder who this man was. The check was signed, “Alvar Hanso.”

**

I've received some nice feedback on the essays. Just a different sort of way of sharing some ideas. The main one is that LOST is a retelling of the Bible if you haven't noticed. Stick with me a few more and you might see the similarities that I've noticed.

Enjoy,
KC

LT309: When 1 + 1 Equals 1...and 2

2009-10-28T19:02:00.001-05:00

SEASON 6 TEASERS

Look no further…because there are none. The producers have convinced ABC not to release any promo photos or video. Now this is right down my alley for I despise teasers and spoilers. It also suggests that advance snippets – even a still photo – could be a giveaway meaning that Season 6 will answer a lot of questions. How cool is that?

DESMONDS BACKSTORY

Ok, not Desmond, but the actor who plays Desmond…he has settled the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him with confidential terms. This clears him for being included in Season 6, but soils his reputation. I can’t help but think that just being on an island for filming would be cool in its own right without have to eat of the forbidden tree.

PERSPECTIVE

You may have seen the TV commercial which shows various perspectives. I’m not even sure what the product is, but I think it is a car and most of the scenes are at the beach…well, in the parking lot at a beach. One shot shows a rather wide person standing at the trunk of a vehicle and when he walks away there is a smaller person standing in front of him but hidden from the viewers’ perspective (until the big guy walks away).

If we were standing at the front of the car, our perspective would be totally different. The same question, “How many people do you see?” would be identical but the responses would be different.

In many ways, this is LOST. Often with flashbacks we see the same scene but from different perspectives. First we see John fall through the window and later we see that same scene from Jacob’s perspective. This is important to keep in mind.

Or is it important? I suggest we are shown two or more perspectives in order to entertain like a magician who wows us and then reveals, “I was standing on one leg, see? It was easy!” Easy, once we know the secret. But it amuses us, the viewers.

What is important then is just that the event happened for whatever happens happened. This leads to my essay, “Same and Different”.

LOST RETOLD ESSAY #2: Same and Different

Before the boys, Lew and Chris, were present their father felt like there was a void in his life. He had a burning desire to share his knowledge and dreams and yet there was no one to share it with.
Lew and Chris were the beneficiaries of a brilliant father. Their education was started from the beginning. The first hour they would learn about cosmology. That was followed by a second hour spent on geology. The next hour focused on organic botany, then astronomy, zoology, and biology. The boys would then play after that which consisted mainly of games of chess.

The only variety to speak of in this pattern would be the occasional swapping of the order of studies. The father might teach his sons biology first and then zoology.

**

Meanwhile, in another place and time, two other young people were also beginning the life journey of learning and exploration. They two studied six subjects: meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism and utopian sociology. It was standard for this pair to also rest on the seventh day.

**

All four young studies of higher thinking shared the same feeling that each day seemed like a repeat of the day before. The feeling like was being stuck in a loop.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The essays are meant to spark some personal interpretation, but I’m hopeful that at this point we recognize this main aspects. First, we have two characters which have the same father, the same environment and the same nurture. Second, that the Bible introduces the concept of loops in the first chapters of Genesis. And third, they are more than one plane of existence (heaven and earth).

Give me some feedback if you like one essay in particular or if it prompts an idea in your head.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please consider clicking on of the nifty ads along the side. It would be appreciated and thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT308: LOST Retold

2009-10-25T07:43:00.003-05:00

MY LOST OBSESSION

In the last TIDBITS, I mentioned an idea had occurred to me. This posting begins that idea. The plan is to write a short series essays about LOST. Now this will quickly become clear how obsessed I am with the show and that in itself reveals more than is probably good for me. But it sounded like a good idea at the time and my hope is that I don't run out of steam for the project.

It is also my hope that you enjoy this twist on LOST. My objective is to actually share a theory which could be described as "The Bible According to LOST".

It has become clear already that this is a fairly time intensive project, so let me begin with an apology. I'm not a writer. But I use writing to often help myself sift through ideas and so the theory I'm exploring will sort of reveal itself as we progress. There are no plans to edit, spellcheck or even verify facts. It is merely an effort to explore LOST from a different approach.

There is an outline of the story completed and so each posting on Wednesday and Sunday I do hope to have at least one or two essays ready to go. Who knows where this will end up or whether I'll run out of steam, but for the time being, I do hope you enjoy these.

I've decided on the official name of this collection: CHECKMATE - Lost Retold. So without further disclaimers, justifications and with out an ounce of common sense...here we go...

CHECKMATE - Lost Retold

ESSAY 1: The Opening Moves

Chess is a cerebral game. It is a thinking person’s game. The opening move is said to offer dozens, if not hundreds, of possibilities. It is the possibilities that make the game interesting, challenging and unique each time the board is set up.

This story however is not about chess. It is about the players. Two players in particular are the subject of this story. These two players are some of the finest chess players in the world. These chess masters are Lew and Chris.

**

Lew’s father was an intellectual and it is then of no surprise that his influence would be seen in his son. One of the many areas of study he mastered was astronomy. It is of little surprise to those who knew the family that the man and his wife would insist on a name derived from the stars.

Lew’s birth came with little fanfare. His father paced as he waited with anticipation for the news of his child. Upon announcement of his son’s arrival he turned towards the window for a moment of private examination. What he saw was that moment before the Sun would rise over the horizon. In the morning dawn he saw Venus in the morning sky just before the Sun would take its turn. At that moment he knew his son’s name should reflect this event. He would name him after that Morning Star.

Since the father was well-schooled and the practice at that time was for every student to be taught some Latin, the father would use the Latin name for Venus which means “light-bearer”. He would call his child Lucifer. As one can imagine, family and friends recoiled from the name and it was not long after that the shorter nickname of Lew was adopted.

**

Chris was also the product of an uneventful birth. His family and in particular his father was a master of many studies. But it was his mother that selected his name. The manner of the name selection soon became the subject of family lore and was retold several times over the years at family gatherings.

She claimed that the night before labor she had a dream. In the dream she was visited by an angel who told her what to name her son. The angel said, “You will call him Jesus Christ”. She was met with quite a bit of objection for the obvious reasons, but she insisted. However, it was nickname that the son would use in order to avoid the teasing and disbelief that the son was sure to endure. So, they took from his middle name and simply called him Chris.

**

These two young men were schooled by the best. Out of all their studies the one thing that held their interest was the game of chess. The game allowed them to interweave many lessons from other subjects they undertook: strategy, mathematics, philosophy, and above all: psychology.

It was not long after before these two men were recognized as great chess masters. They would compete in several tournaments with each interaction becoming an epic contest.

It was also not long before it was clear that Chris was the better of the two. Lew never lost a match except to one player: Chris. In youth this fact seemed to matter little to Lew since he approached this as a challenge. But over time, the second place status did begin to gnaw on his psyche. It wasn’t long before he decided to devise a plan to finally beat Chris and become the champion.

**

Those who knew to two men would later recall signs of the rivalry. Hindsight is 20/20 and the signs of change in Lew were too subtle for raise any alarm at the time. But looking back is was clear to those intimate with the world of chess at this high level of competition that Lew was determined to beat Chris.

One family friend observed, “Lew’s opening moves were become more bold and yet more reckless. Those of us around the game dismissed this as experimental from a great chess mind.”

It wouldn’t be until years after before Lew’s degree of obsession in beating Chris was recognized for Lew kept his thoughts mostly to himself and his diary. Like the game of chess, life can punish you for one careless move. Lew’s error was forgetting to put his diary away in its hiding place.

It was the maid who discovered the book, open to the last entry. Without any guilt of invasion of privacy she had merely looked down on the writings and read, “And if this fails, I should just kill him.”

The man of the house was quickly alerted and he devoured the diary that afternoon. It was now clear that Lew was upset with Chris’ dominance over his chess game. Yet the more revealing and disturbing discovery was that Lew was jealous over the attention Chris got over Lew’s efforts. For you see, Chris and Lew had the same parents.

A parent can tell their children that they love them equally, but one most wonder if that is even possible. To Lew’s mind, it was not possible and it was equally clear that his father loved Chris more. Chess was merely the mechanism for admiration and not enough of that attention was coming Lew’s way.

**

The family tried to work it out, but after a period of effort a decision was reached. Lew would be kicked out of the house. He was allowed to take about a third of the staff in order to secure a comfortable life, but Lew would no longer be welcome home.

The opening move of two lives had taken place and in this game called Life there are no “do-overs”.

NEXT ON TIDBITS

Each Wednesday and Sunday will be a new essay or two. In addition you can expect to get a summary of the off-season games. We will also keep up on reader feedback and any breaking news. As we've done from the start...there are NO SPOILERS in TIDBITS. I don't peek at the rumors for it ruins the surprise. That isn't to say that we don't gather published facts and draw conclusions, but we do not spoil.

Give me some feedback on the essays after you've read a couple. And as always, Thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT307: Reader Mailbag Time

2009-10-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

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

LT306: Taking a Closer Look at…

2009-10-18T13:21:00.001-05:00

…SEASON 6 PROMO POSTER

There is another Season 6 promotional poster which you can see below:

If you click on the image you can see a larger version which helps highlight the glyphs found in the letters. The poster was analyzed by Dr. Allen from Brown University. He is the guy who alerted the LOST fans that the statue was actually Taweret, protector of mothers and infants. He translated the hieroglyphics and found this: “Who is the guide?” and “Who is the leader?”

Thoughts?

…TELEVISION

If you look closely at episode four (isn’t that a LOST number?) of the new show FlashForward you’ll see a familiar face: Charlie. I must admit the show is not on my must-see list, but this revelation made me wonder if this show isn’t actually some sort of spinoff. It would interesting if slowly we find FlashForward is an explanation to some LOST mysteries.

If you happen to be watching Desperate Housewives you’ll see an Oceanic Airline plane flying overhead. Some sources from ABC are claiming this is the actual Flight 815 in the skies. What could that mean?

…MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Episode 4 has been released. The Dharma Initiative documentary has been released. The highlights are:

- A link has been made from the Dharma Initiative to one wealthy man, Alvar Hanso

- Alvar attended college in Michigan as an exchange student and lived with a family named, DeGroot.

- The DeGroot son later attended college in Denmark and his graduate research was funded by Hanso.

There was a comment about Hanso later giving up his weapons and fringe technology research out of guilt for the human cost. That’s strange because as of 2004 Hanso was still funding D.I. and had yet to resign/disappear from the foundation’s work. How did a 1970’s documentary know what was going to happen? Maybe we should research the funders behind this documentary? Could it be the Widmore family? HA!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT305: If I Could Change Just One Thing

2009-10-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

GAME UPDATES

In quick summary, the off-season game continues to drop clues that have yet to add up to much – at least in my mind. The latest have featured the group, 88 Keys, which happens to somehow tie-in to polo, Ralph Lauren and a blog.

The first that jumped out to me was that a piano has 88 keys and Jack is seen playing a piano at the Others compound as well as Charlie getting the Christmas gift of a piano. Recall that Charlie also had a vivid dream regarding the piano in the water. I took that to be symbolism, but maybe I’ll to re-examine that scene.

In the LOST University experience I found one thing that was kind of cool: those t-shirts they gave away to new registrants. Here is a picture:

I like the polar bear!

AT ATTENTION OR AT EASE?

We have learned that the US Army arrived at the island sometime in the 1950’s. They brought with them their bombs which at that time were being tested in the South Pacific.

When contemplating this piece of information I had to wonder what significance the Jughead bomb has on the LOST story. When first introduced many speculated that the bomb would explain the radiation sickness. That does not seem to be the case. There were other theories but none of those seem to have a part now. So why include it? Why introduce an Army?

It could be in part that the writers introduced an element that was capable of finding the island. We have gathered that this is not an easy thing to do. The resources available to the US Army however would qualify it as a viable candidate.

We also know that Widmore seems to have discovered its location because he sent the Freighter to retrieve Ben.

And of course Richard and company found it.

Dharma Initiative seems to be a separate entity that also has learned to locate the windows of entry via the Lamp Post station. Do you recall that in that station there was a photograph on the wall of the island and it appears to have been taken by the Army? Does this imply that Dharma was watching the Army?

This still may end up being a big government conspiracy story in the end. The DI could merely be a group dedicated to preventing the evil plans of US black ops. And to everyone’s surprise they found the island to be inhabited by Richard and his merry band of recruits.

This then leads me to what is so special about the island that all these groups are willing to spend cold hard cash and lives to find it, own it and use it?

I’m left with time travel as my only real answer. The US Army would most definitely enjoy sending a bomb back in time to use in various historical campaigns. This might make Dharma the moral compass group who would only use the island’s time travel for the common good. Widmore is thinking of perhaps capital gains. And Richard is merely a pawn caught in the middle of these puny humans.

Then Jacob and the Man in Black come along and throw religion into the mix. Are we to debate the morality of time travel?

Something to think about.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT305: Read Me A Story

2009-10-11T05:45:00.000-05:00

TELL ME A STORY THEORY

I came across a wonderful thread that suggested that the island is a book. Well, it is more like a library since this is where all the books become real. What a “novel” thought, if you’ll pardon the pun.

It is true that LOST references many books including Through the Looking Glass. The character slips down a rabbit hole to another world. The references of rabbits and even an episode title are obvious so I won’t rehash it all. Instead the readers of the post jumped on this idea and here is a summary of characters that each survivor might be:

Jin’s full name is Jin Swoo Kwon. This can be scrambled around to Swoo Kwon Jin. Twist your mouth and you get something like this: Seuss Knows Gin. Dr. Seuss was expelled from his magazine job when caught drinking gin. He needed an alias after that, so Seuss does know gin. Consider that Jin offers some people a little seafood in the first episode…one fish, two fish, three fish, Jin fish. Jin is Dr. Seuss.

**

Hurley is Winnie the Pooh. Just like Pooh, he has trouble spelling words like B-O-D-Y-S. The shape is similar. Change Pooh’s love of honey for ranch dressing and we have a winner! Switch Pooh’s name in reverse and you get H-O, H-O-O-P which matches nicely to all the H-O’s we see around Hurley as well as the classic game of hoops we call Horse…which Jack had scored H-O.

**

In the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” we observe Henry the angel with a copy of “Tom Sawyer”. Also in this movie are the loveable Muppet characters, Bert and Ernie. We also see Kermit from the Muppet Show on a monitor in LOST. Kermit’s eyes are actually ping-pong balls, which Sawyer played. Kermit has 11 points on his neck detail. Sawyer played ping-pong with a 11-point must rule. Hurley told Sawyer once, “Dude, you look green.” Sawyer is Kermit.

**

Boone was a bonehead on the show as we saw from stealing water to trying to save Rose’s life with a ballpoint pen. He was seen wearing an Aces shirt which refers to the Red Baron, aka Snoopy. He brought “Watership Down” to the island which is about rabbits, including one named “Five”. Snoopy’s favorite book is “The Six Bunny Wunny” series written by Mr. Sweetstory. Sweet, you say? Boone said he was a lifeguard…or can I say Lifesaver, the sweet candy…which has FIVE flavors. Boone is Snoopy.

**

The Temple could be the Library of Alexandria. Many of the books seen on LOST have been banned.

**

Wendy is the character from Peter Pan…complete with freckles and the ability to fly…while Kate is a flight risk. Kate slept outside of Farmer Ray’s home in a little shack known as “Wendy houses” in Australia. Kate is Wendy Darling…whose last name is a popular catchphrase of Sawyer’s…whose daughter is name after a song with the lyrics, “Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine.”

Hey isn’t there a Peter Pan peanut butter which Claire and Charlie shared?

**

And the Freighter Four match up nicely to the Fantastic Four comic book characters.

**

Anyway, I thought it was a decent theory as far as theories go.

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION

The LOST University semester is underway. There was a note to contact a Professor Nusseldorf at 818-824-6300. It you press the star key during his voice mail it asks for his passcode. Still waiting for that to be hacked.

They school is sending out t-shirts to all the Freshmen who have registered.

OTHER NEWS

The producers have convinced ABC to not release any footage from Season 6 in their promos. Kudos to those guys…I hate previews.

**

Damon will be attending Earth2Comics convention in four days. If he lets something slip, you’ll hear about it here!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT304: Tripping

2009-10-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

I’m back from San Antonio were the humidity was higher than the temperature. Heat indexes at 108 degrees is not my idea of a good time. The good news is that I lost eight pounds just standing outside on the Riverwalk. The bad news is that I gained 15 pounds from the beer I drank just trying to stay cool.

Anyway, upon my return I scoured the Internet and found these TIDBITS:

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

The general feeling of this never-aired documentary is less than thrilling. When I went looking for TIDBITS the best I could find new was something about a “fleet” of submarines. Could it be there are a handful of subs we know nothing about? It would explain why Ben lets John blow up the one we have seen.

Also, there is a payee on the quick shot of invoiced named “WAKY”. We’ve seen this before but the meaning escapes me.

There is also a suggestion that the Dharma Initiative is a splinter group. I wonder who and where the main group is today?

PAINTINGS UPDATE

I must admit that the ARG’s do not hold a lot of fascination for me. So the habit is to sit back and let others collect the interesting TIDBITS and I’ll glean from there for you.

With that said, PURPLE has caught my eye a few times. Then this picture is released in connection with the LOST paintings being auctioned:

The thing to notice is the purple creatures and that they are knocking over trees. It makes me think of mythology and how people will use mythology to explain the unexplainable. I don’t think this is suggesting the island’s original inhabitants were purple, but there usually a few accurate hints such as them being large enough to knock down trees.

We COULD take this and connect it to the Henry Gale balloon who worked for a company out of Minnesota which then leads to Paul Bunyan who also knocked over trees. But that would just be silly. Instead, let me make two suggestions.
First, Smokey is unexplainable to the ancient people who lived there so they made up a story to explain him. That would suggest they had never seen Smokey or the color surely would have been black, not purple.

Second, let me offer this: could we merely be describing giants with a bit of artistic liberty? If you despise the Bible-connections that I make, you are going to hate this one, but the Bible describes a race of “giant men”. Goliath is the famous one, but there is a more obscure reference. That vague reference is about “women of men” and “giants from heaven”. With a literal interpretation we are talking about angels or demons having relations with human women. The Bible describes their offspring as “giants”.

Ok, before I move on, please notice the snowy landscape.

**

Well, this is the stuff that I found on my return. This isn’t related, but here is what I learned on this trip:

- Never fly through Chicago

- Americans are great at ruining Mexican food

- I really miss the Internet when it is not available to me

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT303: Seeing What I Missed

2009-09-30T19:40:00.000-05:00

RADICAL PREDICTION

Came across a radical prediction that might interest you… Let me set the stage for you. I mean radical in the way “Dallas” was radical. Wasn’t that the show where at the end we learned it was all one big dream? So something like two years of the show was really a 3 second dream.

This prediction I found offers the same kind of radical prediction: we will discover that everything seen for five seasons really happened in about 23 seconds of time. The basis for this is a book introduced in the show, “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”.

As a reminder, this book is about a man who is being hanged. As they release the trap door, the rope breaks and the man falls into the river below and escapes. The rest of the story is about the man avoiding being recaptured and making his way back home to his lovely wife. He finally makes it home and as he is running towards her, he feels a jolting pain in his neck and sees a bright light flash. Then everything goes black.

See, he never escaped at all. In the split-second between having the trap door release and his neck snapping, his mind imagines everything the book details.

This would be a radical twist, but also allows the writers to explain away any conflicts or contradictions. Will it be a dream as in “Dallas” or something other thing like the trauma that comes with a plane crash? They say one’s entire life flashes before their eyes right before a major threat. Hmmm…

COMIC CON VIDEO

Here is my excuse: it has been a very busy summer! I made the mistake of signing up for 5 college courses during the sunny part of the year and it nearly wiped me out. Anyway, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. And I NEED an excuse for I somehow overlooked the video at Comic Con this past July.

Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlhkqAwEgvQ

In this one, Hurley is the owner of…well, you just watch it.

And this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfoqYmGS6Xw&feature=channel

How can Oceanic claim they have a perfect flying record?

I’m starting to get some ideas from these teasers that were overlooked, so be sure to check back next week on LOST TIDBITS.

EDITOR’S NOTE

I will be at a conference next week so TIDBITS will take a short break.

Enjoy,
KC

LT302: The Arts

2009-09-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

PRISON BREAK

I head an interesting theory about LOST being a prison camp. The evidence if one looks for it is there: temple walls, indoctrination rooms, wardens and guards, security fences, work farm, food drops, slave ship, etc. It is not uncommon for prisons to have been used for social experimentation as well.

We do know that Hurley and Libby were mental patients at one time. Add in those who think they see dead people and other strange stuff and we have ourselves a Cuckoo Nest that Jack Nicholson would be at home with!

I’m not sure how to specifically apply this theory since the writer was vague on those details, but the idea made me stop and ponder. Share you ideas!

TOM SAWYER

SAWYER: Your name.
COOPER: A conman goes by many names friend. I've been Alan Seward, Anthony Cooper, Ted MacLaren, Tom Sawyer, Louis Jackson, and Paul...
SAWYER: Tom Sawyer.
COOPER: I was young and Huck Finn was taken. And the ladies loved that one. Made me charming.
SAWYER: Well how about that.
COOPER: How about what?
SAWYER: Sawyer's my name too.

I was going through old episodes and this exchange caught my attention. I decided to look up Huck Finn on Wiki and see what I could learn. Here is a snippet along with my comments in parenthesis:

The main theme of this book, according to author Mark Twain, is the conflict between consciousness and conscience (talk about LOST!). Huck is the son of a vagrant drunkard (Ben’s father). Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglas in return for saving her life (decisions and consequences). The widow attempts to "civilize" the newly rich Huck. Huck is kidnapped by his father but manages to fake his own death and escape to Jackson's Island (did someone say island?), where he coincidentally meets Jim, a slave (like on the Black Rock ship?) of the Widow Douglas's sister, Miss Watson. Jim is running for freedom because he has found out that Miss Watson plans to "sell him South" for eight hundred dollars. The two take a raft down the Mississippi in the hope of finding freedom from slavery for Jim and freedom from his father and controlling foster parent for Huck (the whole father-son theme).

Now I’m convinced that LOST is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn. HA!

THE ART GALLERY

Several LOST-related activities continue to be released including some new posters on the Carlton and Damon Polar Bear website.

There are hidden clues for the computer geek to find, but nothing overly revealing to me at this point. I’ll keep you posted if something pops out as a vital clue.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT301: An Open Letter

2009-09-23T19:46:00.002-05:00

NICE JOB BEN!

Michael Emerson won an Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama last Sunday. Well deserved. In his acceptance speech he reminded us that he was asked to fly to Hawaii for a guest role. Now four years later he realizes he was given the role of a lifetime.

SPEAKING OF REMINDERS

It might be of some interest to you to know that I've been reviewing all past seasons of LOST with a friend. There are plenty of websites doing that same thing, but most of what I read on those have been little more than a rehash with little new insight. So I haven't bored you with the same details.

There are times when something new does come along. Currently, my friend and I are on Season 5, Episode 3, "The Little Prince". She wrote to say that the episode left her totally confused. You should be aware that she shares about half the interest of the readers of TIDBITS in things we discuss. Well, maybe not even half. But bravo to her for the effort she puts forth.

Anyway, I wrote back to try and help explain it and found myself sort of revealing a new layer of Season 5 that seems to have been overlooked a bit. So I thought you might enjoy reading the letter here:

**

In short, this episode explores shifts in time happening on the island. The actual dates are secondary to the experiences they have. The Survivors have quickly figured out that this strange behavior is happening. Because of these “time jumps” they are able to view their lives and world as a whole from some unique perspectives – although they are mainly concerned with only themselves. Daniel seems to the one exception because he seems to know the dangers involved with the atomic bomb named “Jughead”.

This chapter then contracts the erratic life of the Survivors with the life of the rescued Survivors (the Oceanic 6). These people have been off-island for three years and have gone on with their lives. Oh, it hasn’t been easy for any of them, but they do live in a straight-forward and linear fashion. This is very different from the island Survivors who could wake up at any time.

One question that comes up then is, “Who is happier?” Would you say the island Survivors or the Oceanic 6 are happier? I think this question is similar to asking if a Lottery winner’s life actually gets “better” or not. It appears the answer is that neither side is very happy. The Survivors on the island live in a constant state of confusion while the Oceanic 6 seem cursed and life is always in turmoil. Funny, but I can’t help but think of the cliché about the grass being greener on the other side. The Oceanic 6 are slowly coming around to the idea that returning to the island might be the best thing for them. I’m sure the island Survivors are thinking life back home sounds pretty good right now.

**

The time jumps are a bit confusing and probably meant to be that way. Let’s examine one such challenge.

When we last saw Jin in late 2004 he was on the Freighter and it was exploding. We then see him next in the ocean as if he was blown clear of the exploding Freighter – so it should still be late 2004. But the French team that picks him out of the water happens to be Danielle Rousseau’s team from 16 year prior! I’ll admit that is very confusing to humans who only think in a straight-line of linear time.

The confusion might be cleared up when the next time flash happens and we get to observe Jin. Will he stay and time travel with Danielle or will he be left on the same schedule as Daniel and Sawyer and Locke?

One way you might think of all this time jumping stuff is to think of Forrest Gump. Remember how he was interjected into historical events? Jin just seems to have “fallen” into 1988 when Danielle’s life raft was passing by. Fate or coincidence?

Once the Survivors begin to figure out exactly “when” they are, they might be able to use this to their advantage. They can learn about past events. They can share secrets of the future with those in the past. When they return to the proper time, will events then have changed? Think of “Back to the Future” movie!

**

Another way to view this is to consider the standard way of telling a back story. In the first four seasons the writers would do “flash backs” to fill in the background story of the characters. This is similar but instead of someone sort of “remembering” what happen, this time they get to “live what happened”. How cool and freaky would that be at the same time?

Now might be a good time to remind you of what Danielle has shared about her time on the island. When Sayid was first trapped by Danielle she explained she was pregnant. She delivered a girl and named her Alex (or Alexandria to be precise). The baby was kidnapped by the Others. Her crew got some sort of sickness. One of the crew lost their arm. She was forced to kill them or be killed because the sickness was affecting them.

If Jin can remember these details he might be able to “change history”. Or is history already played out and there is no changing it?

Don’t dwell on whether time travel is possible or not (it probably isn’t), but imagine this from God’s perspective. God does not live in a world of time. He sees, knows and lives all points in time at the same time – yesterday, today and tomorrow. He knows of what we call a future and He remembers the past. If all events are not linear along a straight-line then this is how God might see events. This line of thinking then brings us to the debate of free will versus predestination. Are things already decided for us? Or are we deciding things for ourselves as we go through the present?

LOST is exploring these concepts.

Are these concepts religious in nature or scientific in nature? Scientists consider the possibility of time travel and then worry about the paradox of a man going back in time and killing his own grandfather – would he then die as well? Religious debate these concepts in order to understand how our names can already be written in the Book of Life and what the Bible means when it says the 144,000 have already been chosen.

This is what makes LOST so cool.

So enjoy the ride. Ponder the possibilities. And then dismiss them or your nose may start bleeding one day!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a second to click on one of the ads on the side.

And thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT300: So, A Needle Pulling Thread

2009-09-20T21:00:00.001-05:00

LOOPING BACK

A thought crossed my mind recently that went like this: all the flashbacks we have seen were done to show the connectivity of people, places and things. What if Season 6 shows some of those same flashbacks, but things change in them?

One of the best candidates might be John Locke NOT being thrown out the window by his father. That might explain why we see him walking around now.

It would seem that if this does happen then there should be one major event change. Something that makes the flashbacks drastically different – and we might assume, to make the flashbacks “correct”. The only big thing I can think of would be a bomb of some sort. Hmm…

**

Sort of related to this is the tapestry. We have seen a section of it missing. That piece was found in the cabin by Ilena’s group. How can you mend a broken tapesty? Is it possible to weave a change into that spot?

IT IS ALL RELATIVE

Dutch – we know there is a Dutch connection via the Hanso Foundation. Also Dutch is a man named Willem JACOB van Stockum.

Emily – John Locke’s mother’s first name. Also Willem Jacob van Stockum’s mother’s name.

General Relativity – several references on the show to this science. Also the subject of papers written by W. Jacob van Stockum.

The Dutch military man (another commonality) wrote about a concept called “closed timelike curves”. It has been praised for its simplicity.

Closed timelike curves is something that exists in spacetime and suggests that these loops are “closed” by the fact they return to their original starting point. This opens the door of possibility to a time machine. This technical stuff goes over my head quickly so if you wish to read more on this then search for Minkowski space.

Wait, did I just Minkowski? As in the communications guys on board the Freighter who dies of a nose bleed?

Willem Jacob van Stockum died in a plane crash.

THE LOST PAINTINGS

Paintings continue to show up slowly. You can check out this link to view them and post some comments as to their possible meanings.

http://damoncarltonandapolarbear.com/dcpb/x/

Above is one of the many pieces of artwork found. Click on each image on the link above and you’ll see this game is spiraling out to some far-reaching corners.

UNEXPLAINED EVENTS

This news article was recently posted:

At approximately 11:59 p.m. last night, Campus Security received hundreds of calls from students, faculty, and other members of the community reporting an unexplained bright light coupled with and an ear-piercing noise. Several calls also mentioned a slight nose bleed following the event. Campus Security insists that there is no cause for alarm as it appears to be an isolated incident. Health officials will be available to answer any questions between 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. today in the quad.

This article was released on the LOST University website.

And don’t forget that Registration for the coming semester begins September 22. TIDBITS will be enrolling and reporting back to you.

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you have finished reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT299: Deception

2009-09-16T19:19:00.000-05:00

DISCLAIMER

This post is going to focus on religion. Worst yet, this post will focus on a single religion: Christianity. Faithful readers of LOST TIDBITS are aware that there is a religious theme throughout LOST. We are also aware that several religions are represented on the show. But for ease of example and discussion, I’m going to use Christianity. Blame it on Christian Shephard, if you will. HA!

COUNTERFEIT

The Bible and indeed, many other religious works, refer to the Devil as a counterfeiter. The Apostle Paul describes the Devil as the “prince of the power of the air”. As I researched this topic it seemed to me that right away we have a description of Smokey as the airborne entity.

Could it be that the devil in LOST is the master of Smokey? We just have to think back to the Blast Door Map to find the reference to Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades. Could Smokey/Cerberus’ master be the devil on the show? Is the Man in Black this devil?

The Bible clearly describes the Devil as a deceiver. His greatest con game is not easily recognized for his offers and promises are close counterfeits to the real deal. If one wishes to fool a store clerk, we wouldn’t offer Monopoly money. The crook who escapes detection is the one with the best counterfeit money. And yet, at the end of the day, the offer of compensation is still just a fake.

Likewise on LOST, the devil character is not going to be obvious. How many times have we switched characters from the “good guys” to the “bad guys” and back again and again?

The Bible has an interesting comment on the devil’s deception. The Scriptures claim that the deceived doesn’t know he is being deceived. This brings me to the prime example of John Locke.

TWO VOICES

Philosophers and pastors have preached for years that we have two voices within us. Some use the example of a devil standing on shoulder whispering in one ear and an angel on the other shoulder whispering in that ear.

I think we shouldn’t miss the word “whispers” in that above paragraph!

The point is that life seems to be a tug-of-war. Which inner voice do we listen to? How do we know the source of each piece of conflicting advice? I believe John Locke struggles with these same questions along with most of the Survivors.

John often feels he is following the proper guidance. He calls it “the island” or “Jacob” or “destiny”. Christianity calls it the Holy Spirit. But what if Locke is being deceived by a close counterfeiter? I wonder if this isn’t what has gotten Locke into a bit of sticky wicket.

THE BIBLE THEME CONTINUED

It must be pointed out that the religion of Christianity requires a sacrifice for the shortcomings each human possesses. That sacrifice is the death of Christ – the mirror image of the Devil in many ways. After all it is John 3:16 that says “And God so loved the world that he gave his own begotten son…”

Could Jacob’s death then be part of the larger plan? If this overlay of the Bible story to LOST is anywhere close to being the ballpark, then look for Jacob to resurrect himself in three days.

SUMMARY

Christian. Shephard. Flight 316. John 3:16 on Eko’s stick. Smokey. Cerberus. Deception. Redemption. Resurrection. Mirror image. Good and Evil. Black and White. Sacrifice. Choices. Free will or Predestination.

If you were given this list of words there are two valid answers that connect all of them: The Bible…and LOST.

**

Next TIDBITS I hope to spend a bit of focus on another section of the Bible that deals with the Devil being cast into the Bottomless Pit. Can you say the cabin?

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT298: Artificial Intelligence

2009-09-13T15:29:00.001-05:00

LOST UNIVERSITY

The ABC summer game, Lost University, is being paired with a DVD to be released September 22. Yep, that’s five years to the date of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815.

There appears to be two semesters of courses that allow us to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose of LOST. This should supplement my real-world college courses since I need more to do in my life! HA!

The courses are offered on-line – again the registration date is September 22. It isn’t clear if you must have the Blueray discs. I’ll keep you posted.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Part 2 of the 1980’s documentary series, Mysteries of the Universe, has been released. If you recall, ABC discovered the old video footage when doing some cleaning up of its archive files. The series was never aired (for reasons unexplained), but now with the popularity of LOST, they have decided to release the only episodes still intact.

On September 8, the second section was released (Part 2 and Part 3 as Part 1 was…well…lost). It begins its focus on a church in Los Angeles that we recognize as the place where Mrs. Hawking has that swinging pendulum in the basement. Here are the revelations from the documentary:

-- Over $.15 million donated to the church by the Dharma Initiative Group

-- Invoices from the church reveal supplies of a wide variety of curious items that could supply a colony for an extended period of time such as 1.4 million tons of seed, ammunition, animal care supplies, drugs and soft restraints.

-- The land the church sits on is owned by a third party – a dizzying array of shell companies

-- Techniques by former potential staff include brainwashing techiniques

-- Discovery of a submarine fleet by the church and supporting groups

I’ll keep you up-to-date on the next airing!

MY WORKING THEORY

In the last few posts we have been examining the working theory of good versus evil, the role of shoes, and the various states of “living”.

If you search on “The Computer Theory” you’ll find some older posts which suggested some supercomputer is behind all this stuff and the reasons for this theory.

In the process of looking for a final theory before Season 6 begins I was led back to religion and science being co-mingled. Then it hit me…

What if all these theories we have been kicking around are intertwined? For example…

Jacob is for good, Man in Black is for evil.

Jacob feels technology will destroy mankind eventually, Man in Black believes technology is required for mankind to exist.

Jacob is supporting the Others, Man in Black supports the Dharma Initiative.

Jacob is a man of faith, Man in Black is a man of science.

So where does the computer theory come in? I suggest that the Temple is the super computer – some sort of mega-artificial-intelligence machine. That relates to the four types of dead people outlined in the previous post.

I’ll try to flush out these ideas and suggest where they could lead LOST for Season 6 in the next few posts, so keep checking back!

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC

LT297: I See Dead, Half-Dead, and Never Alive People

2009-09-09T19:29:00.001-05:00

BACK IN ACTION

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. There are a lot of new things about LOST out there, so you might find an extra post this week. For now, here is what I’ve been thinking about…

DEAD PEOPLE

Do you remember way back when to a time when we were pretty convinced that the Survivors were dead and living in some purgatory? The reasons for this were pretty obvious including statement by Henry…er, I mean, Ben…about how God can’t even see this island.

And then we saw Jack’s dad walking around. But the producers were quick to shoot down the purgatory theme. Then, in LOST-style, we get introduced to author Gary Troup whose name is an anagram for purgatory.

I wonder if the point wasn’t that we SHOULD notice the death theme, but it is not literally purgatory as some religions define it.

So I began pondering and came up with four kinds of death on LOST:

APPARITIONS - like Ben’s mother for she was never on the island

PHYSICAL – like Boone and Charlie

GHOSTS – like Christian

DREAMS – like Horace chopping down trees in Locke’s dream

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that each one has a slightly different set of rules surrounding them.

Apparitions are close to hallucinations. Some people want to see something so bad, that they see it. I’m inclined to place Boone’s vision of Shannon in this group. Also in this group would be Locke’s vision quest. Mostly, these are drug induced situations. Young Ben was likely not high when he saw his mother at the fence, but I put this sighting in this group mainly because Richard asks Ben, “Is she on the island?”

Physical is pretty clear cut – people can die here a very real death. Ask Mr. Eko.

Dreams we can get our mind around as well. I’m a firm believer that dreams are from a person’s past experiences ONLY. In other words you can’t dream what you haven’t experienced in some part. Now some might argue that finer detail, but I would counter that SOMETHING inside your brain comes out in a dream even if is a composite of other things. Anyway, John dreaming about Horace who he never met is odd…except now we know he did meet Horace previously.

The final group is Ghosts and I wish to rename that to Angels and Demons in order to keep the unifying theme of religion. Living beings, but dead in a human-sense.

In fact, wouldn’t this explain why we felt this island was purgatory? Would being “after-life beings” also allow the producers to claim everyone was “alive”?

AFTER-LIFE BEINGS

I’m sticking with this term, after-life beings, for now. Let’s take it a step further…what if these after-life beings like Christian and Locke II are angels and demons? What if they are controlled by Smokey?

We have evidence that Smokey can look at Mr. Ecko and then manifest itself as Yemi, his brother. We have evidence he can scan Ben and then manufacture Alex in the temple basement. These “ghosts” could be angels and demons taking on the form that Smokey desires.

While you are mulling over this post about death, let me part with a final reminder: the producers claim that Jacob has NEVER appeared to the Survivors as anyone other than himself. Oh my! That either means I’m wrong about the after-life beings coming from people’s memories OR someone has met this Jacob before. For the record, only John has “seen” Jacob, right? Hmmm…

**

If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!

Enjoy,
KC