LT75: Show Time (January 27, 2008)

Previously published on January 27, 2008...



JUST A FEW MORE HOURS…

By the time you read this, the Lost premier will be less than 100 hours away!

This should be fun, even if it is a shortened season. Hey, we should be use to scheduling oddities by now.

The first hour is a replay of the final episode from last season, but it is enhanced with text that adds commentary and points out clues we likely missed. That should make it worth watching. Then Season 4 begins at 8 pm CST.

NEWEST THEORY: MILLISECOND PULSAR

Some Brainiac is surfing the internet and comes across a scientific theory about millisecond pulsars and decides it must explain everything about Lost. Physical Review magazine published an article in the 1970's that revealed one possible means of time travel. Behind every block hole is some sort of singularity and can be exposed if properly manipulated. In fact, these millisecond pulsars are nearly perfect to the conditions required to expose these "time holes". They aren't perfect or I suppose we would be time traveling right now and making sure Favre completed that one pass! J

Anyway, when these conditions are right, a black hole will expose its singularity point and allow passage through which would be through time and not space or matter as Einstein suggested. Like little doors and we all know how Lost has used doors to show logos, go nowhere, hidden and plain nasty most the time.

It gets interesting when the author uses the Crab Nebula as his example. Interesting because the producer of Lost said once, "Lost will end somewhere near the Crab Nebula, geographically speaking." Hmm…

And the Crab Nebula was the first pulsar discovered and named "M1", something found on the Blast Door Map. AND…these are categorized as "Cataclysmic Variables" or "CV" for short..again, something found on the Blast Door Map.

Another pulsar discovered is part of the Swan Constellation. Perhaps the Blast Door Map is a star map. Not to move this to aliens, but the Others were building a runway for something!

At the centre of the Crab Nebula are two faint stars, one of which is the star responsible for existence of the nebula. It was identified as such in 1942, when Rudolf Minkowski found that its optical spectrum was extremely unusual. Minkowski is the name of one of the characters we will meet from the Freighter! Hmmm…

Now part of this field of study included a project known as COBE – Cosmic Background Explorer and searches for things like cosmic rays and electromagnetic fields. Hey, that rings a bell. Here is the infamous COBE logo:

Now if you have been paying attention to Lost Tidbits, then you know the number "6" is going to play some significance this season. The code name for COBE project was Explorer 66.

And we have this shot from the Room 23 file that Karl was being shown:

Was this a visual hint of COBE, Explorer 66, nebulas and pulsars? I could just kick myself for missing all this!

TIME TO CHECK IN WITH SAM

Talbot, the employer of this expedition, discovers Sam used the plotter and wants the map it produced. Sam gives in but also explains that he received the coordinates from some Maxwell Group that he has learned is Talbot's bosses. Talbot warns Sam he is in over his head.

A friend of Sam contacts him on the ship and tells him that a large insurance check is coming for that investment he made in a box company that burned down. Hmmm, wonder what box company that could be?

A few days later and Sam is wandering the deck when he notices strange green lights on the horizon. They disappear soon after. Sam asks a crew member who suggest it was the Southern Lights but then don't appear and disappear like that.

More later…

LOST REVEALED – ANOTHER THEORY

With the new season quickly approaching we are getting lots of theories about the show in hopes that one guy can claim he is right.

And we have heard from a few readers of Lost Tidbits that it seems the show has lost its way from the original premise…it keeps getting crazier instead of explaining SOMETHING along the way.

Well, here is a theory that explains a few things from earlier season. And it nearly opposite of the Astorian Theory explained earlier. In the Astorian theory Jack and Kate return in the FUTURE to die in the cave. In this new theory, this is the future and Jack and Kate are actually 40-50 years older than the skeletons.

Here's the analysis:

We were told the Valenzetti Equation is what started the events on Lost
The date predicted was October 16, 1962.
When the solution of the world ending was discovered it was past that date!
This fits with Mrs. Hawkings telling Des that life is a loop and life can correct its course
Not only can it correct it, but it also repeats itself – history that is
One disaster avoided is traded for another – see Charlie's many forms of death
The end of the world in 1962 was due to the Cuban Missile Crisis which mean label as being on the "brink" of the end of the world.
It was averted due to a philosophy of gamesmanship on the part of world leaders, but it wasn't suppose to go that way – the world was to end
This simply caused another loop and we've been trying to stop the inevitable for years
Hanso Foundation forms in order to stop the loop of history
They find an island with special properties and a band of people
Jacob is the one who can stop the loop of disaster
Jacob is the world's Desmond – he keeps fixing things even with intruders on his island

So where did Jacob come from. It is sort of like asking where God came from. But to be specific, Jacob comes from Kate.

Woah! Hold on a minute…what did you say?

I said Jacob comes from Kate.

Keep in mind that we have learned that Kate was originally intended to be the leader of this merry band of Survivors and she was to have arrived with her husband to the island. They changed this up, but you know they couldn't change the whole story line. So we get Jack, the intended husband who was to be killed off in the Pilot, and we still get a couple – Rose and Bernard.

Q: So who is Kate referring to as "him" in the flash forward scene?

A: She is speaking of Jacob, a baby.

Q. Huh?

A. That's right, Kate is pregnant on the island as Season 4 begins. She is just a few months into pregnancy and should start showing soon.


Q. Convince me.

A. Kate says sheepishly, "Who would bring a pregnancy test with them on the flight?" And she admits to having taken a pregnancy test prior to speaking with Sun about her pregnancy.


Q. I'm confused.

A. It helps if you include a time loop as the show has suggested. Kate has done all this before as has Desmond…and has the world. The first time was 1962.


Q. Let me get this straight…Kate delivers Jacob in 1962 and goes to the island and leaves her baby there.

A. That's correct. But she is unaware…as much as Desmond was confused when he was told he never left the jewelry store with the ring in prior time loops.

Q. Interesting. So who is the father? Jack? Sawyer?

A. No. My theory is that she had twins…and this brings back in Bad Twin book originally offered up after Season 1. And if another common thread of the show holds true, the twin baby will named Esau…just like in the Bible.


Q. You didn't tell me who the father was/is?

A. Sort of. The Bible says the father of those twins – who have been fighting each other ever since birth – was Isaac. And we have an Isaac on the show – the guy near Ayers Rock in Australia who attempted to help Rose.

Q. WHAT?

A. That's right. If we learn Isaac and Kate knew each other then we have some proof. Until then we just estimate they must have met and being near Ayers Rock (another special magnetic place on earth) helped make the kids "special". Going to the island afterwards further advanced Jacob's special properties. Plus Isaac had some special power to channel the forces of Ayers Rock for some people…that gave the kids a head start towards being special.


Q. Ok, Mr. Got Answers For Everything…what does the skeleton in the cave have to do with anything.

A. Well, Jack said the bodies appeared to be about 40-50 years old…that meant those people died in the 1960's. Welcome to Jack and Kate in 1960.


Q. This is the same as the Astorina theory.

A. Yeah, so it is starting to gain credibility.


Q. Cool, so after the two die in a cave together, the cycle started over for Jack and Kate?

A. Something like that. And more important, the rocks Jack found in the pouch from skeleton cave are the key to "restarting" the cycle of history. In fact the ORIGINAL name for the TV series was initially going to be called "The Circle".

Q. So what does the mean about the TV show?

A. It likely means that the show will end with the circle starting all over again. I'm reminded of an episode of Star Trek Next Generation. Until Data figured out the key to not repeating was the number "3", they were doomed to repeat and face slightly different and in the end, destruction. Only to wake back up again and not realize it. Oh, they had feelings and flashes and such, but no proof until the non-human in the group devised a plan that only he would recognize. Likewise, we shall see end back to the beginning. Maybe Kate in the hospital giving birth to twins in 1962 while the TV announcer says, "Today, October 16, the Cuban Missile Crisis is at a boiling point." Little Jacob probably kicks Kate at that exact moment while bad twin, Esau, grabs Jacob's heel. And on Lost the number is "6". Maybe a tribute of sorts to this sequence 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, and 42. The numbers of Lost are every third except for 33 which when added together equal 6. Ok, I'm playing with the numbers too much. Let's move on.

Consider at one point on how everyone felt Kate was a mole for the Others. She is in some ways, but it ways we have previously considered. Not until the faithful readers of Lost Tidbits thought of it.

My guess is a mix of this theory plus the Astorian Theory. For time marches on. But with island's ability to provide a time warp (one that makes it appear that even God can't see the place), it explains the jumping around of loops while letting the outside world age. The problem is that while Jacob saved the day from the Valenzetti Date of October 15, 1962…we are sure to instead be heading to our next doomsday date (like Charlie kept facing death after death). The next date would be Astorians guess of April 4, 2015.

It seems that the storyline is an advance plot and the writers are sticking to it. Even a microcosm of society exists on the island – men of science and men of faith.

Now if this doesn't give you something to think about for FOUR days…

Enjoy,

KC

LT74: Flashback (January 21, 2008)

Previously published on January 21, 2008...



OUR OWN FLASHBACK

Let's become the survivors and have our own flashback. When you see this picture NOW, what do we notice that we didn't notice before?

How about the sun with the 108? Could this mean 108 sunrises?

Or how about the things that don't have an explanation yet? Like the fish. Is this the fish biscuit?

And that eye still gets my attention and I have no clue its relevance. Still is interesting to look at this again.

FLASH FORWARDS

Someone proposed that time off the island moves faster than on the island. This could explain how Walt ages and why Richard Alpert doesn't – Walt has been off the island. It could also explain how Naomi had a phone "from the future".

And it could also explain why the writers are showing us the future instead of just waiting to Season 5 and 6 to show us what happens when they leave the island. See, Jake leaves on Day 65 (just as a reference point I'm not sure what day they are on – sorry) and then does all the things we see in his flash forward…only to return on say, Day 70. Five days on the island, but five years off?

We have clearly been told the crash was Sept 2004 and the ABC promo for Season 4 confirms this:

"2004, Oceanic Flight 815 was lost."

But then promo says, "2008, Help arrives."

Back up a minute (pun was intended) and say what? We know it is like Christmas 2004 on this island. Why would the promo get 2004 right, but then flip to "real time" for us? I thought it might be just a cute way of saying the show is back on in 2008, but they did choose a specific year instead of "this season help arrives" or "2005 help arrives" or "On January 31, help arrives". At least it would more clear the intent.

And consider that in "real time" we were told Oceanic is back open for business – we have to assume they closed after the crash (2005?) and have now just reformed.

And the first season began in the fall of 2004, so the island events were "timely" then but then kept to about 2-3 days per episode we've figure out.

I'm confused.

How about this…Michael is on the Freighter! Jack sees him and asks, "You never got rescued did you?" Michael, "Yeah we did. Just like Ben promised." Jack: "But you only left three weeks ago." Michael, "Man, I've been gone four years. We've been trying to get back to this island for four years!"

MISSING PIECES #11

Here is the script:

[Jin, Hurley, and Michael are playing golf. Jin is putting.]

Hurley: All right Jin, you sink this putt, you win.

Michael: He can't understand you.

Hurley: He can feel me, dude. He can feel me. [Jin misses.]

Michael: Yes!

Hurley [To Michael]: Congratulations, dude. [To Jin] It's all right, Jin, you'll get him next time. [Jin goes on a rant, screaming (in Korean) and running around.]

Jin: No, why? Why can't I hit the ball in the hole?

Michael: Hey it's ok man, it's only a game.

Jin: Shut up! Don't pity me! All I wanted was one thing to go right.

Hurley: You can't…

Jin: Do you want to say something? You don't talk for once, you don't talk! How can I lose to both Hurley and Michael?

Hurley: I think I heard our names in there somewhere.

Jin: I hate this horrible island. Why doesn't anybody understand me? All I wanted was one moment of happiness! Why? Why can't I be happy? Who invented this crazy game? No! You horrible ball! Why?

Michael: Maybe we should do something?

Jin: Please take this handcuff off! I'm going crazy.

Jin: You don't care about me, do you? Don't look at me with pity in your eyes. I've beaten men for lesser offenses!

Hurley [to Michael who headed toward Jin]: Eh, don't touch him. Let him get it out.

Jin: No! You horrible ball! Why couldn't you go in the hole? You horrible ball! Why? Why? Why?

Hurley: Maybe we should take a break from golf for a while.

Jin sits down and cries: I'm so alone. I'm so alone. [Michael picks up the golf bag, and he and Hurley walk away.]

THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO "HMMMM…"

Ben told Locke that he was one of the smart ones that didn't end up in the ditch. Who else survived the purge?

BIG SCOOP

Sources tell me that this is the opening shot of Season 4.

Next week I'll try to tell you what we are looking at!

FLIGHT 815 GAME UPDATE

The last time we heard from Sam he was about to get off the salvage ship at Christmas Island. But his captain, Ockham, refused to grant him his wish. Sam starts snooping around and discovers the Christiane I is searching for a ship called the Black Rock in the Sundra Trench.

Sam continues his snooping around and wants to learn more about this only man the captain takes orders from could be, Talbot is the name. He slips into his quarters and discovers the parent company financing this salvage is Widmore Industries!

Sam comes across the coordinates of where the captain is heading and being an IT technician he quickly plugs them into the ship's plotter and gets this location:

The plot thickens…

TEN DAYS…START THE COUNTDOWN

Just ten days from now and the Lost event returns. I believe they are replaying the Season 3 finale at 7 pm CST and the Season 4 premier at 8 pm CST.


Enjoy,

KC

LT73: Three Weeks To Go (January 13, 2008)

Previously published on January 13, 2008...



FIND 815 GAME UPDATE

When we last left Sam, he was headed to Jakarta to gain a seat on a salvage boat called the "Christiane I".

Upon arrival to the salvage boat, Sam meets resistance – even under an assumed name. After bit of bargaining he is allowed as a passenger, but the captain keeps a keen eye on Sam.

Upon further investigation it seems the destination point is the Sundra Trench – the sight of many airline and shipping wrecks.

Strange clues continue to arrive via email like:

Balloon
Ping Pong
Daniel Faraday (who?)
And a phone number

The phone number is not working when Sam tries, but his connections discover the number was (and still show is) assigned to a Miss Penelope Widmore.

As luck would have it the ship's electronic equipment is in need of repair and Sam is just the IT technician to get the job done. This gives him access to equipment he might not have and one night he picks up a radio broadcast of a news reports of Amelia Earhart's disappearance. His inquiry to authorities is answered with an explanation of a nearby local who likes to broadcast historical recordings and to pay no attention.

After a few days on board the salvage ship Sam begins to wonder what he is doing. He wonders if the emails from the Maxwell Group isn't some hoax. He wonders what purpose being on this trip will accomplish. He finally decides to get off the boat at the next port.

Stay tuned for more…

FIND 815 GAME versus TV SHOW

Late in Season 3 the Survivors learned that the outside world believed their plane had crashed. Even the Others showed Jack and Kate live footage:

So why is the Find 815 Game suggesting that Oceanic stopped looking for it? I think there might be a third explanation!

Hey, one of those banners read "Author Missing" and is reference to Gary Troupe who wrote the book, "Bad Twin", and was used in connection to the last game. This means show and game do intersect, so we better be scratching our heads here.

STRANDED IN IOWA

In connection with the Find 815 Game, the producers purchased billboard space in the nine locations that Oceanic is using as their new destinations. All places line up with our survivor hometowns. We knew Iowa was listed, but it never picked a city…until the billboard showed up in Ames, Iowa on Duff Avenue!

Google the words "Oceanic billboard Ames" and you find a picture of it. The clock on the Big Ben reads "8:15". Pretty cool.

WEBISODE UPDATE

In the latest Missing Pieces we have the following dialog:

[Jack is going through suitcases. Ethan walks up.]

Ethan - You're the Doctor, right?

Jack - Yeah. That's me.

Ethan - Well, I heard you were rounding up the medicine, so I figured you might want this.[He opens a suitcase.]Jack - Whew.[Laugh]

Ethan - Jackpot, right?

Jack - Guy must have been a hypochondriac or something. Where did you find this?

Ethan - Jungle.Ethan - I'm Ethan, by the way.[They shake hands.]

Jack - Jack.

Ethan - Thank you, Jack.

Jack - For what?

Ethan - Getting those together, having a little perspective, you know. Most of them still think we're going to get rescued any time now.

Jack - And you think I don't?

Ethan - No, I think you're smart. And I think you're looking at that girl, [looks at Claire] knowing that you might actually have to deliver that baby here. I know that's what I'm thinking.

Jack - Well, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Ethan - [Laughs.] You're definitely not alone.

Jack - If she does go into labor, at least I know I've got an assistant. [Ethan looks at him and looks away.] I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Ethan - It's all right. Don't worry about it. Anyway I'm glad the meds.

Jack - Thank you.[Ethan gets up to leave.]

Ethan - Jack, um, my wife died in childbirth. And our uh, our baby didn't make it either. [Jack looks at him, but doesn't say anything.] Well, let's hope we're both wrong and the rescue boats are on the way right now.Jack - Let's hope.[Ethan walks away.]

**

So Ethan lost a wife and baby? According to this wacky theory I've heard lately that can mean only one thing…

THE BEST THEORY LATELY

What do we have an extraordinary number of references to on this mysterious island? Not concept, but material objects. The list includes music, body parts (mostly eyes) and books. We should keep focused on these objects and this latest theory builds on the concept that the writers are mirroring a book (or books) for this storyline. Find the book, save the island.

The latest and greatest theory is patterned upon the book "A Journey to Other Worlds". Yes, the book involves teleportation, magnetism, accelerated healing and so on. The main premise is that this stuff is possible because we are energy first and mass second. In other words, the body is temporary, but the spirit lives on. Direct to the point: spirits want their bodies back. Maybe not THEIR bodies since they have long expired, but any carbon-based live form might do!

Now here is the evidence to support the theory that Lost is about the book, "A Journey to Other Worlds".

The 815 Game has billboards and ads that read "Lose Yourself in London", "Destinations Beyond Your Imagination", etc.

The book's author is John Jacob Astor – John Locke and Jacob

John Jacob Astor died on the Titanic in 1912. Stories say he released all the dogs from the ship's kennels before it went down

Jacob has a painting of a dog in his shack

Cerberus was written on the Blast Door Map – Cerberus is a dog, a guard dog

Jacob is a spirit and wants a body – for him and his dog

Smokey is the best effort of a body possession by a dog – notice the way the Black Smoke tears up trees like digging up a garden, or the way a dog plays with a toy in the way Ecko was handled, and like all dogs sniffing and deciding if a person is friend or foe

Richard Alpert then is a spirit back in a human body – somewhere they got the genetic or human materials to succeed

Richard Alpert is the real name of Ram Dass – the LSD guru of the 60's who believed we are all spirits and the spirits interact long after death

Richard Alpert on the island does not age

The whispers are from the other spirits still waiting for bodies – probably have to be voluntary "victims" in order to absorb or possess their bodies

The skeleton in the cave were the first two voluntary sacrifices – nicknamed as Adam and Eve

When the bees attacked Jack and Kate in Skeleton Cave they stripped down to avoid stings – they were partially naked but didn't realize it until Charlie arrived and pointed it out and then Kate covered up sheepishly. Like Adam and Even who were embarrassed when they learned they were naked.

The inhabited bodies are not technically "human" – meaning they can't reproduce

Those who die 30 days after pregnancy are not "human" – they must be "sub-human"

There was a sub on the show (sorry about this one)

After WW II (hey subs were used in the war, too…ok, I'll stop with the subs stuff) the nations asked scientists to gather and help find a solution to world peace

The result of that group was a formula that instead of peace, predicted the end of the world – Hanso Foundation sat out to change that face by changing anything in that formula

Electromagnetism showed the most promise for altering the doomsday formula. Island in Pacific registers the highest concentration – or discovered by accident

However, the islands attraction also attracts souls without bodies, like Jacob.

Ben hears Jacob as boy merely because he listens for Jacob – Jacob hatches a plan for Ben – get rid of the scientist group called the Dharma Initiative

Ben is human – we saw him born in Portland – Ben can thereby have children

Alex is Ben's biological child – Danielle is human and is the mother

The Stand is also a critical book in this plot. It was written by Stephen King

Locke was reading King in the Swan hatch and offered it to Ben to read

Book club in Othersville was reading King's "Carrie"

The Stand is about a virus like Lost had at one time. It has a woman who hates technology and lives in a shack, like Jacob. She is 108 years old. Another character plays guitar and is the Charlie of the story. The "?" is a symbol in book and Lost.

The formula for the end of the world converts to Wednesday afternoon, April 8th, 2015

The virus in the Stand was released on Wednesday afternoon, April 8th, 2015.

Jack and Kate get off the island as told by the flash forward last season

Jack figures out the world is going to end in 2015 and that the solution is that he must fix it – like he fixes everything…this time it is the entire human race and not just Sarah.

Meanwhile Jacob is running out of time for while he can repossess human bodies, he can't sustain human life without solving the reproduction problem

Oceanic Airlines open for business in 2008 and give Jack and Kate a Golden Ticket

Jack flies from all nine critical sites in an attempt to get back to the island to do what is necessary to save the world

Jack learns more about saving the world…it takes two to tango. He must convince Kate. "We got to go back, Kate!"

Jack needs a special object to make his way back to the island. Once he gets it, he and Kate can return. Upon returning, they go to the cave and sacrifice themselves for mankind. This happens many, many years in the future. So, Kate and Jack actually met their future destination. The object Jack found in the cave is the special object to get back…if only he can remember before 2015.

John Jacob Astor is the grandson of the man who bought Manhattan in the early days of this country. On his deathbed he said his only regret is that he hadn't bought more of Manhattan.

Manhattan is the home of the Statue of Liberty. The remains in the future of the statue are now on the Lost island…the remains of Manhattan: a four-toed statue.

JJ Abrams is the produced of Lost and the new movie Cloverfield. Cloverfield's trailer shows the head of the Statue of Liberty flying down a New York City street.

The Cloverfield movie is using viral marketing and the website being used is for a product whose motto is "You can't drink just SIX".

Six has been superimposed on official promos for LOST Season 4.

Rumors say it stands for the number of Survivors to get off the island – Oceanic 6.

Think about three years ago and we were discussing spirits implanted in the Swan hatch walls. We talked about the importance of a dog (not Vincent it seems now). Many obvious things to talk about have never been addressed again except in this theory (skeletons, four-toed statue, Smokey, etc).

Add in the obvious element of time shifting that we observe and it starts to fit together a little better. At least it did to me, but that was after a few shots of Jack…Daniels.

Enjoy,

KC

LT72: Too Much Info (January 6, 2008)

Previously published on January 6, 2008...




TIDBITS

As you know, Lost Tidbits was going to be monthly until Season 4 started up, but there is just too much chatter with three weeks to go to not share what I find. So, as there is something to say, I'll keep sharing it.

MISSING PIECES

In a way it seems like Lost has already returned. We have these webisodes every Monday and now the Find 815 game. Well, I can't complain and will try to keep you updated on everything that is going on.

Room 23 – this episode has Juliet and Ben discussing the risks they face with Walt. Ben needs some convincing so Juliet leads him to outside the building where they find a number of dead birds lying on the ground outside the window of Room 23. FYI, birds have magnetite in their brains which they use for navigation. Magnetite is magnetic (thus the name) and can act like a charged needle for locating magnetic north. The mineral's nickname is "Black Rock".

JACOB

Lost has a tendency to name characters after real-world personalities and one theory is Jacob is named after John Jacob Astor. First, it builds a connection between Jacob and Locke.

Second, Astor wrote a sci-fi book that contains these points:

A smoke monster that takes the form of a dog, but the dog doesn't have a body
Jacob in the book is losing his memory and thus his identity
Jacob created the Others
The island is our distant future

Hmmm…I suppose this suggests that one day we will mutate to having only four toes.

FIND 815 – THE GAME

At this point, Sam Thomas is an IT technician for Oceanic Airlines and is very upset the company has decided to suspend the search missions for Oceanic Flight 815. Sam is bothered mostly because his girlfriend, Sonya, was on board. It seems Sam's personal demon is the fact he never got to the point of asking Sonya to marry him (remind you of anyone?). Sam spends a lot of time looking at this:

So, Sam decides to investigate on his own. It is not long after this when a mysterious group called the Maxwell Group (check out their website) sends Sam some inside information that prompts him to fly to Jakarta. His clues are leading him towards one of three boats that are being talked about in the secret messages Maxwell sends Sam. One boat that Sam learns about in the clandestine fashion is called the Black Rock. We know about it.

But a second boat is called Christine I. This keeps reminding me of a title of a Stephen King book – but this was a car with a mind of its own if memory serves me. Anyway, Sam's path is constantly being blocked. For example, he can't find a single flight to Jakarta that isn't all booked up. Yet, with some helpful resources he manages to get a ticket.

One of the helpful emails from the Maxwell Group has an embedded audio clip. When played in reverse it sounds like the Whispers from the island. The only words that people seem to be able to make out are "Sundra Trench". This is a geological ditch found on the ocean's floor.

Some of the clues being fed Sam include:

Driveshift is mentioned as one of their CD's being entitled, "Live from Jakarta"
A strand of pearls, and Pearl being a hatch name
Rocking chair which reminds me of Jacob's cabin
The name "Matthew" – this is new! Who is Matthew?
The name "Abaddon" – the name that means "destruction" or "underworld" or "land of the dead" – are we moving back towards a purgatory theory here?
A compass

I can't quite make it out, but it sure looks to be point to heading 325 – the same heading given to Michael for navigating off the island with Walt.

A map that Sam is compiling

I'm noticing the lines going south on the map…the reason for this is to tie-in to that snowy research tent where the two Portuguese chess players noticed the anomaly. We have a string heading towards Hong Kong and another towards South America. Hmmm….

An overlay in a photo. One of the clues found is a photo of a man but it looks to be a double negative with another picture that has been identified: it is a production shot from the upcoming movie, Cloverfield. A full-feature movie produced by JJ Abrahams, our Lost producer! Cross advertising probably.

And a strange number on a Maxwell logo (which is a compass):


It seems ABC is serious about this game as billboards are beginning to pop-up…this one was seen in Miami:

Prior to taking a flight to Jakarta, Oceanic Airlines has fired Sam Thomas. Sam is then given a strange job offer from a company called Austral Air. But for now he is focused on getting to Jakarta and getting a seat aboard the ship, Christine I. All Sam knows for now is that the ship will be leaving from a secret location and its mission is to search for a deep water crash site.

I'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

**

Oh, I should mention that Oceanic Airlines is buying real TV commercial time. One viewer reported seeing the commercial air on the Food Network at 3 a.m. one sleepless morning. Or was that a dream, too?

ABC PROMO FOR SEASON 4

Well, look at what someone discovered:

Do you see it?

It is in the water? Yes, the reflection in the water is a cityscape! What does this mean? The island looks like an island but is really a city? Are we back to the Bad Twin mirror image logic?

ODD SEQUENCE

With the Oceanic Airlines back in business and Jack holding a Golden Pass to fly anywhere on Oceanic Airlines and the game Find 815…well, it seems as if the plane is going to be the focus of Season 4 at the beginning.

I've heard two planes – the other crashes on Lost Island and the other continues on to crash in the ocean. Or at least, the Others want the survivors to believe it or the Others actually believe that is what happened. After all the Others showed them footage of news reports of a plane in the water.

Yet Naomi says it did crash and there were no survivors.

But consider this: when Desmond flashes back to the jewelry shop he is not aware he has repeated this process initially. But the lady at the ring counter soon reminds him that he always refuses to buy the ring – making me wonder just how many times Desmond has looped this event. The ring lady even takes Des for a walk and coaches him in the way of time corrections.

Then when Desmond flashes back he recognizes the sound of the microwave and other references. Does this explain a dream? I mean we have all had dreams that once we wake up can be explained because of some recent event that landed in our memory and came up in a dream, right? Like when he saw Charlie playing guitar. Yet Charlie seemed not to know him.

Can Des be looping but not Charlie or was this a dream so it makes sense the real Charlie had no clue what was going on in Desmond's mind?

But let's back to planes. What if getting off the island really means going back to the point where the island came into your life? So, Jack and Kate find themselves on board a plane suffering turbulence, but things smooth out and it lands peacefully. But like Desmond they keep these "it seems real" kind of memory jogs. It isn't long that Jack begins to piece together the fragments of these dream-like memories and convinces himself there is a crazy island out there and in order to save the survivors who remain, he has to go back? He looks up that one passenger who was under arrest and finds her…she is named Kate. She admits having flashbacks and even shares one that says she thinks she kissed Jack at one time. She has this strong feeling they were close at one time.

They keep sharing notes and Jack becomes obsessed but Kate would rather leave it all behind her.

So what would make Jack want to go back, but not Kate?

Maybe Jack believes this one thought he keeps having: I have a sister. Or a thought of: "my father is on that island in a coffin"? Kate has but one draw to the island in my mind: Sawyer, but that might not be enough to dedicate her current life to figuring it all out.

But wouldn't Kate be in prison then? She could have escaped again or gotten a pardon or time moved along far enough she was released.

To put some meat on this idea consider if season 4 began like season 3 did, except the Ring Lady (Mrs. Hawkings) is this time giving Jack the same time lessons?

We have been told that Jack's ex-wife, Sara, is pregnant. What if she dies in childbirth and Jack realizes they have to get back to the island and change something or the disease that kills baby and mom on Lost Island will continue to spread off-island? Jack then feels he needs to fix something alright, this time he is trying to fix the world since Jack always needs to be fixing something.

Desmond kept saying that pushing the button was saving the world. Maybe the button pushing kept the disease on the island, but after the hatch imploded, now the disease is released. I think most people felt that "save the world" meant to save it from IMMEDIATE destruction, but now Jack has learned it meant "slow extinction" since no children could be born any longer? Think the movie, "Children of Men".

Or Jack gets memory jolts of the island and realizes he must go back and help rescue the remainders. Kate did land but escape is on the run so she isn't thrilled about getting involved with the chasing the past. So Jack turns to the other off-island survivor: Michael. When he contacts him, Michael freaks because his deal with Dharma ensures his son's safety. It is sort of like X-Men and Heroes where some mutants want to go public and other's preferring hiding their skills.

For whatever reason, Michael is driven to kill himself. Maybe he has been hiding from any contact with the island and changed his name, but still Jack shows up at his door one day. Whether suicide or one of the Dharma Controls Buses thing, Michael bites the bullet as it is he that is lying in the coffin with no friends or family. The ultimate irony of spending a life in hiding for Michael is that he dies alone. It would explain why the funeral home is in a black section of town, no friends, and the price he had to pay for coming into contact with Jack.

It seems that the harder Jack tries the more damage he causes.

But Cooper also calls John his "dead son".

MORE CRASHES

Naomi says she was flying back to her boat when the clouds parted and the helicopter controls went wild and she bailed in parachute.

Perhaps the Looking Glass hatch was also jamming electronics as well as communication. Now with the Looking Glass shut off maybe the Freighters helicopters won't crash…or maybe they will and they will be as stuck as the Survivors are. Except this group of stranded island visitors are much better prepared from a military perspective.

Keep in mind that some talk suggests that maybe Naomi wasn't on a helicopter. Someone said the sound didn't sound like a helicopter and some have questioned how you can parachute out of a helicopter.

And don't forget that Naomi healed pretty quickly from a punctured lung. Can she pull a Mr. Patchy and also recover from a knife in the back?

WRITER'S STRIKE

Word is that 8 episodes were completed before the strike. With the producers being members of the Writers Guild it seems like we will only see 8 of the 16 unless this thing wraps up soon!

During the strike time, a magazine found the time to interview Jack:

Q. Why is Jack so messed up in the flash forward?

He was so loaded and emotionally distraught that he talks about his father as if he's still alive. I called Damon on it, and he gave me a couple stories — actual accounts of people whose very close relative [died], and in a moment of being really f---end up, talked about them as if they did not know they were not alive. In that moment, Jack is losing track of any concept of time. I knew that there was a way to look at it and go, ''Well, that's kind of manipulative.'' But when you [realize], ''Oh, it's in the future,'' you can believe that the man — years after his father has actually passed away — says that about his father in that moment. I totally buy it.

Q. You tell Kate you guys made a mistake, what was it?

Jack and the other people, upon getting back to the world, are not being honest with the world. They are covering up [something]. That's an agreement that they've all reached. And it's a weird, gross little bond that they have with each other. They don't see each other much, but when they see each other, it's incredibly awkward. And this lie — you can cut it with a knife amongst them.

Interesting…until next time…just think about it…but be careful, it can drive you crazy!

Enjoy,

KC

LT71: Oceanic Airline Returns (January 2, 2008)

Previously published January 2, 2008...

IF YOU HAVE BEEN LOST, THEN WELCOME BACK

It's official! Lost returns JANUARY 31 on a THURSDAY!!!

This was to be my final newsletter before the show's return, but based on what you read next, you might get another update before January 31. Keep reading…

OCEANIC AIRLINES IS BACK IN BUSINESS

http://www.flyoceanicair.com/

A strange press release was mass emailed this past week. It was the announcement that Oceanic Airlines would be reopening for business on December 31, 2007. The new website seems to depict a skyline of Hong Kong which indicates Mr. Paik is involved in some way.

The flights offered include nine locations and many are of our Lost survivors hometown including Iowa! The flights for Sydney show the only dark clouded picture. This could explain when Jack says he's been using his Golden Pass to fly all over the place. Maybe he is hoping if he departs from the "target" cities that one of them will return him to the island one day. Remember the reopening is end of December, so this also means the flash forward we saw at end of Season 3 was in 2008 or beyond. Yet, in island time we were just getting to Christmas 2004. Hmmm…

And remember that map had stuck pins into on his wall for some reason.

The new slogan is "Taking You Places You Could Never Imagine". No doubt!

FYI: the old Oceanic website has no content except some cryptic error code looking thing. But someone decoded it and came up with: "Changes Will Occur! You Need A Keen Eye!"

The email also left a phone number that only offers for the caller to leave a message.

THE LOST EXPERIENCE

You might recall the game the producers ran in the summer between Season 2 and Season 3. It sort of fell flat in many people's eyes, but did fill in a lot of Hanso details. The "host" of that game was called The Speaker.

Well, this week The Speaker came out of hiding and posted something on the old Lost Experience website! He suggested a YouTube video should be watched for and was coming soon. He also mentioned to keep an eye on a website.

It appears we may have a new game for January to play…a sort of mini-ARG. It is game on!

**

UPDATE: The game is now named "Find 815". According to leaks, Oceanic Airlines has decided to stop searching for the downed plane. This is odd since the show has led us to believe that authorities have found the fuselage in a deep ditch on the ocean's floor.

One person however thinks that stopping the search is morally wrong and he plans to do something about it. His name is Sam Thomas. He is an IT engineer at Oceanic Airlines. His main motivation is that his girlfriend, Sonya, was on board Oceanic Flight 815.

Soon after beginning his crusade, Sam is contacted by a mysterious group who say they might be able to help Sam out with his cause. All Sam gets from the group is a website http://www.find815.com/. Being computer savvy, he is able to find other clues this group is giving him.

Those clues include the Sundra Islands and Jakarta and some ship called the "Black Rock". Sam figures it is time to head to Jakarta and look for this ship. But Tom is surprised to learn that all flights to Jakarta are booked. He calls in some favors and soon has a ticket, however!

The Black Rock is a British slave ship that was found inland on the island. Its mission was to reach Africa, where it was to exchange gold for more slaves. However since the ship ended up to the east of Papua New Guinea it would have been traveling the wrong direction, east instead of west. And indeed it was stated by traders at a Papua New Guinea port that the ship set sail east instead of west.

The first mention of the Black Ship was in Rousseau's distress transmission. Shannon didn't interpret that part, but my French identified the name of the ship. Next mention is when Charlie reads the ship's name in Claire's diary which stated she saw the ship in a dream.

Inman and Radzinsky included the ship's location on their Blast Door Map. The map also indicated that Magnus Hanso was on board that ship when it crashed.

And of course, the survivors went to the ship to bring make a little dynamite…poor Artz.

Oh right, and Sawyer and Locke had a little episode with Locke's daddy.

I'll try to keep you updated with the storyline if you choose not to play along this month.

THE WATCH

Watches seem to be making another comeback on the discussion threads that I read. This is due mostly to the recent Missing Pieces webisodes entitled, "The Watch". In it, Christian gives Jack a watch on his wedding day.

Of course, this gives reminder to Mr. Paik giving Jin a watch to deliver. Many have suggested this watch might have been a tracking device and Paik now knows where Sun and Jin are.

Could Jack's watch also be a tracking device? Of course, Christian no longer has any interest of earthly things, but some group could be in charge of Christian and their interest could remain.

This takes me to Heroes where we have learned that parents of heroes were constantly manipulating events including their children. Combined the two shows and watches leads me to conclude that Lost parents were also manipulating their children.

By the way, Hurley was last seen in possession of Jack's watch. Jack gave the watch to Hurley to time Claire's contractions.


WE HARDLY KNEW YOU

I'm talking about Naomi.

Her first words we heard Naomi speak were, "not alone".

See almost seemed to know the person she was speaking to: Mr. Patchy. What if Mr. Patchy turns out to be a spy sent in by the Hanso Group? Along with Naomi now but a few years apart it seems…and that seems odd to me. But this line of thinking makes me wonder if Kelvin and Radzinsky weren't also infiltrators?

SEASON 4 PROMOS

ABC has released a couple of TV promos…get over to that website to check them out.

To stay consistent, these promos leave us with more questions than answers.

Who is the traitor that Locke is talking about?
Why are Sawyer and Sayid holding Jack back?
What is the Hydra logo shown on that piece of wood?
What is the prime objective of the "Freighters"?
Does Locke pull the trigger?

Oh my! Looks like quite the season ahead.

THINGS THAT DON'T SIT WELL WITH ME

Rose: when she told Jack on the plane that her husband puffs up and can't wear his wedding ring. That don't sit well with me.

Ben: why didn't he think to kill off Locke for sure instead of one shot and leave him in the pit? That don't sit well with me.

Ethan: how the heck did Ethan get Charlie hung in that tree? That don't sit well with me.

Kate: breakfast with Ben and the bruised wrists…something is left out of all that, right?

Several: all those manifestations still bug me…Kate's horse, Jack's dad, Ben's mom, Ecko's brother…what gives? That don't sit well with me.

Desmond: he gets scared when he first meets the survivors and runs off because "we are all going to die". Why didn't he use the failsafe key then? That don't sit well with me.

Danielle: everything. She says she never has seen the Others, but they take her child at a week old…and somehow the Others name her Alex as well? That don't sit well with me.

Carrie: no character, the Stephen King book the Book Club was reading. We count like 10 copies of that book on Mysterious Island. That's quite a library to have multiple copies of that literary classic. Or Amazon.com has expanded its delivery service to include air balloon drops. That don't sit well with me.

Nadia: Now Sayid searches the world over, and we see her connect via John Locke with his home inspection service. Sayid can't find her, but Locke has inspected her house. Sayid's life is dedicated to the extent he causes his friend's death to learn her address. Then 30 days later he is in love with Shannon. That don't sit well with me.

Dave: Hurley's imaginary friend says something like every rock on the island, every plant is all in his head. He was so convincing I half expected Hurley to wake up in the hospital from a dream. Then we sort of left that "it is all in your head suggestion". I'm still not convinced if Dave was real or not. That don't sit well with me.

Jack: when trying to rescue Charlie and Claire, Jack gets into that fateful fight with Ethan. He says to Kate, "I'm not going to let him do that AGAIN". That word didn't fit? Do what again? He doesn't even know what predicament C & C are in. It just didn't fit. Now go back to Rose's ring thing. They had been married a short while…drove to Niagara for their wedding and flew to Sydney…yet Rose knew her husband puffed up when flying. Not a big deal, but we were sure getting a lot of hints about "rewinding and doing it again in loops".

I'm not done on this thought. Rose is probably being overlooked. She knew things when I replay season 1 that she shouldn't have known. My husband is not dead. She consoled a friend about losing a loved one when she should have been freaking out. Who needs a washing machine when we have sunshine on the beach. She knew she was cured. I've heard that sound before. Rose has looped this before! Several times maybe. Ok, I'm done.

TICK FOR TACK

Someone came up with a cute idea…what if a rule of the island was it had to transfer something, not cure it? For example, when Rose was cured of her cancer, maybe that meant Ben had to get the tumor. Boone dies the second Aaron is born. Interesting…

OCEANIC 6

People have noticed the number "6" showing up in the ABC promos for Season 4. What could it mean?

MISSING PIECES

I recommend checking out the 2 minute videos on ABC.com called "Missing Pieces". This short webisodes don't often tell us much…or maybe they say more than we realize. But the last one was more interesting then most because it suggested that Sun and Michael had at least one additional encounter on the island than we have seen in the TV show.

I can't tell you more, you need to decide for yourself what this might imply, but isn't Sun pregnant. And consider this leaked photo of Jin and then you decide for yourself whether this man could have got Sun pregnant on the island?

Enjoy,

KC

LT70: The Pits (December 11, 2007)

Previously published on December 11, 2007...




MISSING PIECES

If you haven't kept up on the 2-3 minute Lost webisodes, then head over to ABC.COM or YouTube.com to watch them.

AT THE MOVIES

If you attend a PG rated movie this December you might catch Season 4 promos for Lost. They are to include footage from the coming season. Let me know if you catch one.

THE MASS GRAVE

Upon closer examination it seems one of the Dharma folks were shot in the head. This means either gas wasn't the only method of killing or that the job was finished at the grave site. It seems odd that they never covered this grave with any dirt, but maybe that was just the way things were done when Ben helped the Others to wipe out his former group of scientists and workmen.

LET'S PONDER

After everything Lost has thrown at us, it is sometimes easy to overlook some important topics. I'd like to revisit one such topic: the island.

We've been told since the Orientation video that Dharma was on the island to study electromagnetism. This was reinforced a few times by things like Jack's key being attracted to a specific point on the Swan hatch wall. We have also been shown how other magnetic points on Earth exist like Ayers Rock in Australia where Rose went to get healed.

We also know in that in real-life people do use magnets to speed recovery from injury. The jury is still out, but it is common enough that people try it. Other related fields have shown some promise with magnetic pulses as well.

But no where have we been shown that magnets can increase sperm count or heal broken legs. Yet, Rose and John have experienced this on our island.

What really sets this island apart is that it seems to be the island itself that is controlling these properties. We have also been given the impression that the black smoke monster judges people before deciding whether to kill them or not. Assuming that "Smokey", the island (and heck, let's throw Jacob into this group) are one in the same, then we might assume that the island is judging who gets healed. This then takes Lost to a different level in that the island is no mere hunk of ground floating in an ocean…it's a thinking being!

Even recall how the island healed John's legs, but then took the gift away when it needed Boone to climb up to that drug dealer plane from Nigeria. The island has kept Mr. Patchy alive for a long time until it decided he has completed his mission of killing Charlie. Does the island then need Rose and Richard Alpert alive as well for some mission? Has the island damned Sun by allowing her to get pregnant and thus die? If so, I wonder what criteria is being used.

And then there is Ben. The island refused to cure his tumor! Had he fulfilled his duty and now the island was permitting Ben to die? Was his sin the lies he told…or the purging of Dharma…or being selfish?

Now for a little twist…what if we consider the religious connections for a moment. What if Smokey, the island and Jacob are indeed one in the same in the spiritual sense. Let's assign the easy one – Smokey is the Holy Ghost. Of course, Jacob qualifies as a ghost at this point too! Well, you can see where I'm heading without thinking the Trinity through completely.

Which makes me ask, "Is LOST a retelling of the Bible?" We know all the biblical connections starting with all the names (John, Benjamin, Thomas, Aaron, etc.) and so on. What if this is a re-examination of the Garden of Eden. The island was the garden…even the two skeletons have adoringly been labeled Adam and Eve. Ben is the serpent?

Ok, I don't know the answers, but it sure makes you ponder a bit.

GHOST WORLD

There is a stage play written entitled Ghost World which is described as such:

On a park bench in Central Park, you can meet anyone. Here two strangers meet and strike up a familiar conversation, familiar, at least to Penderton. Finally he recognizes his new bench mate, Jackie Jack, the Sturgeon King, a character in an unfinished play Penderton had penned years ago. Jackie Jack pleads his case for a second act, a completed life, as he offers examples of too many other characters in unfinished or discarded plays, who are wandering around waiting for their second acts. Penderton at first declines to agree to write a second act to give Jackie Jack a complete life, but comes around to the idea just as it's getting dark. As Jackie Jack escorts Penderton out of the park, Penderton is really being taken further into his own broken mind.

Dialog from this play reads as follows:

"See you in another life", is not that popular of a phrase, yet it finds its way into 1995 play. Considering the play is tale of a person bending his mind back on himself, there might be some significance.

Or maybe one of the writers saw the play and the line stuck in his head.

REWIND: REMEMBERENCE OF THINGS PAST

The episode by this title explored a lot of topics, but during a review of the show it seemed I took for granted a few points that now deserve more attention. Specifically, memory. Odds are the writers take great care in naming their episodes, so I should have started the show with an ear tuned to memory.

For example, remember when Locke is typing in the numbers for the first time after Desmond runs off. Hurley isn't being cooperative since he thinks the numbers are cursed. But Jack remembers the last number is 42 with confidence. Yet, he had heard them only one time from Desmond.

Also, Jack remembered the gun and ammo room combination after being told one time.

In hindsight, it seems clear the writers were trying to emphasize Jack's unusual ability to remember things that most people would have to write down. In fact, Locke asked Jack if he needed to write them down and Jack declines.

Jack also remembered Desmond before Desmond remembered the day jogging at the stadium.

Claire lost her memory until the fake peanut butter scene.

Charlie lost his memory of the abduction.

Michael remembered Walt's birthday…while Walt didn't remember his father.

Ecko's stick read, "Things I need to remember".

Libby told Hurley she couldn't believe he didn't remember stepping on her foot.

Sawyer's letter: "But one of these days I'm going to find you and I'm going to give you this letter so you'll remember what you done to me."

Most flashbacks occur when the island character is in contemplative mood. Usually after the flashback they survivor's face indicates they "snapped out of some trance".

Now if only I could remember where I was going with this topic…

TIME FOR TEASERS

Warning – this section might reveal more than you care to know even though every effort is made to only tantalize the reader!

A recent sidewalk photo has been leaked:

That's suppose to be Michael during filming! It appears he could be on some sort of freighter and that might mean he is with Naomi's crew. He might be helping or he might have been plucked from water during his release trip home. No sign of Walt. It appears Michael is throwing some into the water.

Enjoy,

KC