LT84: Welcome Back - New Episode

This Thursday, LOST returns with a new episode entitled, "The Shape of Things to Come". Right now, I'm thinking Smokey. Check your local times since I heard the show could be moving around time slots.

Here's some things to get us back on LOST time:

WHY IS AARON WITH KATE?

Consider that Claire leave the island for reasons unknown and to give Aaron a chance at life, she asks one of the Oceanic 6 to care for the baby. Now remember that Michael and Walt seem to have to hide their identities and this could be the case of Aaron. It would be difficult to hide a blond child with a Korean O6 (Sun), or Hispanic O6 (Hurley), or Iraqi O6 (Sayid). This leaves Kate and Jack as clear options and for whatever reason Jack has, he doesn't want anything to do with his nephew.

ABC ANNOUNCES LOSTSCAPE

It's info, behind the scene clips, sneak peeks, contest and more...check it out here: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=lostscape

THE DAY IN THE LIFE

You know life isn't so bad. I got this job which isn't found just anywhere. For starters, it's on an island in the tropics. Great living quarters, good food and sunshine. My work here is pretty routine - I write computer programs for the finance department. But the pay is great, I save most of it, and it feels like it is some sort of Peace Corps thing.

Then one day this plane flies over head and breaks apart directly over our island. But that's not the strange thing. The stranger thing was how our leader just flipped out. Freaked. One minute he is this confident, if not a bit demanding, leader and the next he's halting all of our project work. Instead of building that runway, we now guard prisoners. Instead of researching chemical gas deployment, we now release chemical gas deployment. We lose our great houses and running water for a group of caves among some old ruins called the "temple".

Life isn't so great.

THE ODD STUFF

Speaking of gas...could it be the cause of some of the strange happenings on Mysterious Island?

One could imagine they have a variety of gases to choose from and some might be causing Kate's horse to appear. Of course, it did seem to have form and mass...but you get my drift.

Or maybe it is what they drink.

QUESTIONS I'VE BEEN PONDERING

* Is Alex pregnant?

* Is Ben and Widmore on the same team?

* Could the blindfold man be Tom's partner?

Enjoy,
KC

LT83: Back in Time

WHO IS BEHIND THE FAKE CRASH SITE?

There are only two choices presented for the answer to this question: Ben or Widmore.

The evidence presented by Tom to Michael in the hotel room seems to indicate Widmore. Everyone on board the Freighter thinks that Widmore owns the operation. The captain is even carrying around the black box of the fake crash.

But this is precisely why I have my doubts. Could Tom really have gathered that information that quickly? He had two months since the original September 2004 crash, so let’s leave it as “POSSIBLE”.

Then consider why the captain has the black box. If Widmore staged the fake crash site, then why would he not have removed the black box prior to sinking it? And why would Widmore’s captain be proud of owning a relic that Widmore placed there?

And notice how Ben didn’t ultimately have Michael/Kevin blow up the freighter. Is Ben being honorable in sparing the ship or does he think enough of his transports (think submarine) have been lost already?

Of course Widmore may be doing as Ben suggested and attempting to divert attention away from the island. It does seem both Ben and Widmore would want this, however.

And there is sense in sinking and recovering your own plane in order to keep adventurers from trying to find a wreckage site. This would support Widmore behind the fake.

However, if you were Widmore and Oceanic 815 crashed, how would you explain your discovery of the wreck at the bottom of the ocean if Flight 815 suddenly showed up somewhere else? Widmore likely didn’t know WHERE Flight 815 went down and it was big risk to stage a fake for him. On the other hand, Ben knew all details and it does make sense he could risk a staged crash site because he KNEW where the real plane was: hidden on Mysterious Island.

I’m going with Ben is behind the fake crash site. Final answer.


MILES AND COMPANY

Who are you people? Yeah, the Freighter crew all act like they are after Ben Linus, but I’m not convinced.

This mystery will be resolved when we learn if the Captain already knows Kevin is Michael. Or if Michael knows what the Captain already knows. Odds are they are on the same “Team Linus”.

Which brings me to how Miles knew Michael’s identify was a fake. This then brings back the time looping concept where Miles is just better at holding on to details than Michael obvious is. But apart from time jumping, Miles could know because he’s spoken to Ben.

Orange?


FRANK’S MISSION

Recall that Frank said he had to run a mission. I think someone even suggested that where did he have to fly to other than the island? We know he has passed through the barrier two times minimum, and yet off he goes again. One would think he is aware of the risk and still takes it, even when it seems to be against his character’s nature. Almost as if he is being forced to fly the mission…by Ben. But this belongs in the first section of who owns the Freighter.

Have you thought about who shot Karl and Danielle? Could this have been Frank’s mission? If not him, he could have taken a sniper with him. Again, this strongly suggests that Ben is pushing all the buttons.

If the threesome were fleeing to the Temple and were close enough, it could be the Others who moved there. Perhaps the trigger man was Richard Alpert.

FYI – on the film a person can be made out in the grass, but the lacks of details of that person have kept us from identifying who.

KEEP CHECKING BACK

You can expect a Lost Tidbits posting each week. But you can also expect MORE than one per week at times, so check back often and be sure to review the history of posts on the right-hand side to ensure you didn't miss one.

Enjoy,
KC

LT82: Caught Up

With over 100 Lost Tidbits written, we were thrilled to recover 80 of them and re-post them on this blog. Hope you enjoyed it.

We will now post all future Lost Tidbits here on this blog so be sure to check back often...and spread the word.

Enjoy,
KC

LT81: Down Time (March 16, 2008)

Previously published on March 16, 2008...


MEMORY LANE and FUTURE DREAMS

We have a break of about a month coming up soon and what better way to spend it then re-reading old editions of Lost Tidbits? Now you can by checking out my new blog at: http://losttidbits.blogspot.com/

I’m in the process of entering the blogs in chronological order with a goal of entering a couple every single day. So check back often and peruse through the old issues…it is fun reading some of those predictions like when we wondered if Claire would be the mole.

The goal is to get caught up before LOST returns in about five weeks. After that your LOST TIDBITS will only come to you online at the blog. Unlike Jacob it was time to embrace newer technology and this should now make it easier to spread the word of the Lost Tidbits blog to more viewers you like to ponder.

BABY TALK – JI YEON

Again, a TV show left me with me with my mouth open wide. Jin was dead? Or was he alive and working for Mr. Paik? This show just never stops making my brain work and when was the last time we could say that about TV…ok, 7th Heaven was pretty good. I joke.

WHAT’S UP WITH JIN?

I’m being told that Jin was in chronological order but a flashback and Sun was in chronological order but a flash forward…making Sun the one who gets off the island.

Did you catch any clues early that this was a Jin flashback?

Clue: Old school cell phone

Clue: Year of the Dragon was last in 2000, and it was less likely it could be the next time which is 2012. Of course, this assumes you know the Chinese calendar by memory.

My Oceanic 6 list is Kate, Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and…does Aaron count? Does Michael count? Walt?

PANDA

Another animal?

Black and white?

Last one remaining of some significance? It is the national treasure of China, the country Jin’s boss, Mr. Paik, wished to do business with.

Year of the Dragon was 8 years ago and not for another four years.

FRANK’S MISSION

Where do you suppose he had to go with helicopter?

TILL DEATH DO US PART

Grave of Jin – why did Hurley say “good” to no one is coming?

How did Jin’s body get there?

The dates are a lie!

LOST LITERATURE

The book Regina was reading upside down is called “The Survivors of the Chancellor”. It’s about a story of a ship’s crew who goes insane at sea.

By the way, when she went overboard and few shipmates paused to look over…including Michael.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

In this case, Captain Gault (or Galt), we have the namesake of a fictional character who chartered boats for hire in each book of a series. In most case, Captain Gault is smuggling something. Or we have another reference to Ayn Rand’s book, “Atlas Shrugged”, where the hero is John Galt.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

I don’t like the new doctor Sun had…I don’t trust him. What did they shoot her up with? Something tells me…

Aren’t people in the future wondering how Sun got pregnant? Besides Jin being sterile…if he died the day of the crash, who got Sun pregnant?

Lima beans? How cruel.

Where is Naomi’s body? They made such a fuss about returning it and now it’s gone and forgotten.

THE BLACK BOX

I’m curious as to why Widmore would let the captain of a freighter carry around the Oceanic 815 flight recorder. Is it the “real” flight recorder or the one from the fake plane? If real, how in the world did he get it? Will we hear it?

Will it work? As soon as we hear Sayid say, “Give me a minute”, then soon after it will work!

Enjoy,
KC

LT80: Time Out (March 9, 2008)

Previously published on March 9, 2008...



TIME OUT

Due to the writer's strike, LOST takes a break for about five weeks. So, enjoy the NCAA March Madness tournament – which would bump a few Thursday schedules anyway – and then we can look forward to April showers and the return of LOST. And you know what happens when it rains on LOST…


THE OTHER WOMAN – A REVIEW

Marty McFly would have trouble understanding this show. Personally, I don't find Juliet that interesting in that it still isn't clear which side she is on. Maybe she is playing both sides still considering Ben holds something over her…like her sister.

But this show did create a few more questions:

Who was Widmore beating up in that secret video?


Did Ben actually tell Locke who his spy was?
Why was their toxic gas being stored in the Tempest hatch?

THE MAP

We see Daniel Faraday carrying a map showing the way to the Tempest:

Where did it come from? Based on the fact that Mr. Widmore purchased the journal in 1996, my guess is that the journal contained a few maps. But that journal was from years earlier so would the map contain Dharma logos? Ok, so maybe this isn't directly from the journal, but indirectly.

FROM THE MOUTH OF THE PRODUCERS

All this time stuff is getting mind boggling for anyone without a degree in mathematics, so here is the official explanation for Desmond:

In ''The Constant,'' Desmond became ''unstuck in time'' after flying through a thundercloud crackling with strange electricity. He experienced something like time travel, though not bodily time travel; instead, his consciousness shuttled between two different time periods, Island present 2004 and Desmond's past 1996. But here's the tricky twist: Desmond's Island-present mind wasn't the one doing the time traveling. When Desmond got hit with Island magic, his consciousness got knocked off-line and was replaced by his 1996 self. It was this older Desmond consciousness that toggled between present and past throughout the episode. Once Desmond '96 completed the errand of getting Penny's phone number so he could call her on Christmas Eve 2004, Desmond's present-day mind came back online, but rebooted with the new memories created by his time-travel adventure.

Furthermore…, Desmond's past was different before ''The Constant.'' Before his time-travel adventure, Desmond never met Faraday at Oxford, never got Penelope's digits. As a consequence of changing the past, Desmond's personal history has been ''course corrected'' by The Powers That Be, beginning from the moment he walked away from Penny's apartment. But here's a Big Question: since scoring Penelope's phone number, has Course-Corrected Desmond lived his life knowing that on Christmas Eve 2004, he MUST be on a freighter in the South Pacific in order to make a call to Penelope if he wants any chance of having a future with her? The producers of LOST say this is indeed a matter we should be mulling.

Are we all clear now?

WHAT'S IN A NAME

Minkowski is the guy who was the communications officer on the Freighter…well, it seems his name is on something called Minkowski space. Wikipedia says: In physics and mathematics, Minkowski space (or Minkowski spacetime) is the mathematical setting in which Einstein's theory of special relativity is most conveniently formulated. In this setting the three ordinary dimensions of space are combined with a single dimension of time to form a four-dimensional manifold for representing a spacetime. Minkowski space is named after the German mathematician Hermann Minkowski.

THE TEMPEST HATCH

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare about Prospero, a sorcerer who raises a storm that causes a ship full of his enemies (one of whom is his brother Antonio) to crash on his mysterious island. He is on the island with his daughter Miranda and he holds dominion over a deformed creature named Caliban and a spirit named Ariel. Go get the book and read it to learn more!

SOURCE OF SUPPLIES

Did you notice that the wine Goodwin had was without Dharma logos? This indicates the Others had more than one source of supplies!


BIBLE COMPARISON

There was no direct correlation, but when watching Ben send Goodwin to his death it reminded me of King David in the Bible. He was King and the story goes a beautiful woman would take a bath on her rooftop and David was able to spy on her. He feel in love with her but knew he couldn't have her since she was married. So he ordered her husband to the front ranks in the next battle. The husband took it as a honor, but everyone else realizes it was automatic death.

The King ended up marrying the woman and producing a son named King Solomon.


YOU LOOK LIKE HER

The Other's therapist told Juliet that she understood Ben's attraction since Juliet looked like "her". We've had a "him" and now we have a "her". Annie?

Who is this therapist which later shows up in the jungle? Many are guessing that she is a produce of Smokey, but it was interesting how a) she could hold a conversation with real people and b) she seemed to hold some past memory of Juliet. Recall that Juliet got "scanned" by Smokey previously.
We also learn that Harper Stanhope has a Certificate of Recognition on her wall:

Notice what appears to be a Hanso logo. Is this some sort of lame correspondence school? Is there a Hanso University on the island? And what does this imply as far as the Hanso people, the Dharma people and the original inhabitants? Who is supporting whom?

And we also caught this shot in the office:

Notice all the curves in the accessories. And the letter holder sure appears to look like a logo I've seen on an airliner somewhere.

RABBITS

Ben asks John, "This rabbit didn't have a number on it, did it?" If you recall the Orchid Orientation film, then you get the joke.

Most of the good lines went to Ben this week like: "You are mine. Take all the time you need."

John: "Red Sox" Ben: "I taped over the game."

Juliet: "It's not easy being an Other."

WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT

Again I'm reminded of an episode of Star Trek when the crew gets stuck in a time loop. At night, Beverly Crusher hears whispers which are remnants of the loop.

My conclusion is that by using research from the Orchid station the Others have learned to time-teleport like Desmond was doing.

Well, that's my theory.

THE TEMPEST COMPUTER

Did anyone else think to themselves, "If Daniel was fine without the gas mask, then why not lose those gloves while typing?" Anyway, here is a full transcript of the stuff scrolling on the screen:

MASTER CAUTION AND WARNING! CROSS FEED ASS 16 OVERPRESSURE ALERT!
>: master caution resetMASTER CAUTION RESET
>: telnet tmpst4CONNECTION REFUSEDMASTER CAUTION AND WARNING!NEW ALARMTES/31 VAPOR PRESSURE 81%
>: set n-p/hgd tank cooling = MAXFMNT TANK COOLING = MAXMASTER CAUTION AND WARNING!NEW ALARMTANKS 1, 2, 3, 4 INTEGRITY FAILURE.EVACUATE NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL.CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT!EVACUATE NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL.MASTER CAUTION AND WARNING!CROSS FEED ASS 16 OVERPRESSURE ALERT!
>: master caution resetMASTER CAUTION RESET
>: telnet tmps

All I can tell you from working with computers is that "telnet" is the older form of a connection program between computers. It was first used back when the Internet was first being formed by the scientist in the USA…that group was called ARPA and the first term for the Internet was ARPANET. And I can't quite get DHARMANET out of my mind!

THE SANDS OF TIME

I have no clue to the meaning of the sand box we saw, but I think it means something!

GAMES

Anyone notice how Hurley wins every game on the island? Even Sawyer is wondering how he lost at horseshoes!

DID YOU CATCH THIS

In the Tempest hatch we get a shot of a electrical panel with some buttons on it. Look what it is labeled:

Either the producers are having fun with us or this is a major clue of some sort. Box Maker? John worked in a box company. Ben mentioned there was a big box of some sort to make his father appear. And planes have a black box on them. Come on, box maker???

UNTIL NEXT TIME…

Don't know about you, but I feel like maybe we, the viewers, are the rats in a maze:

And I suppose once LOST completes its story we will sort of feel like we knew the maze the whole time, but just didn't know it. Now if only I could time-shift to three years down the road…

While LOST is on break, we will do at least one more Lost Tidbits. The one I have planned will feature a well-thought out theory. The theory is so simple even a child could understand it. And don't forget what every child has said at least once, "Sorry mom, I lost track of the time." J


Enjoy,

KC

LT79: The Constant (March 2, 2008)

Previously published on March 2, 2008...

THE CONSTANT – A REVIEW

Many assumptions were confirmed this show and who doesn't like answers?

More importantly, the episode gave plenty of clues about many origins. We know more about the Widmore/Hanso connection, we learned about Daniel Faraday's experiments, and we finally got to visit the infamous freighter. Overall, for people who love to be challenged mentally while watching TV, this episode of Lost was the cat's meow!

Let's begin the Easter eggs for "The Constant" with a literary lesson. If you're familiar with Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, then this episode may not have been as impressive, technically. That's because the entire premise of Desmond jumping between timelines is a direct lift (or homage) to that classic novel, in which Billy Pilgrim becomes "unstuck in time,"In fact, Lost didn't even try to hide this fact, having Daniel Faraday use that exact expression in describing what he does to Eloise the rat.

THE AUCTION

Keep in mind the January on-line game was Find815, but the original target of the salvage operation was to find the slave ship, Black Rock.

The big question is: what is Charles Widmore's obsession with the Black Rock? Perhaps it has to do with the Hanso Foundation. Magnus Hanso was the captain of the Black Rock during its expedition and is believed to be buried on the island. His great grandson is Alvar Hanso, founder of the Hanso Foundation who went on to help fund the DHARMA Initiative. At this time, it's unclear who Tovard Hanso, the seller of the Black Rock journal, is, but it's a safe assumption he's related.

And did you catch the item on sale after Widmore won the bidding for the journal? A work by Charles Dickens who was referenced in previous LOST episodes. You got to love these guys.

But did you notice Penelope's apartment address?

Yep, the numbers! Along with Faraday's device settings:

And the auction lot number for the Black Rock painting and journal was 2342.

CHECK YOUR TIME

Who hasn't lost track of what day of the week it is? It is a nice feeling when you wake up prepared for a Thursday and then are reminded late it is Friday! But eight years? YIKES!

The coordinates have to be followed precisely or we get Faraday's "side effects". Frank seemed to be doing a decent job, but obviously not good enough for Desmond. Some suggest that the coordinates that Frank used are accurate where Ben gave Michael some bad information!

ALL EYES ON WIDMORE

Why we should pay close attention to Mr. Widmore:

What if Ben is the good guy, and actually knows the people/company who are trying to find the island and is truly doing what he is doing for the greater good? And, what if this company can use the island to build unimaginable weapons with the power of the island, or perhaps control humanity?If this sounds far fetched, look no further than Penny's dad, aka Charles Widmore. We currently don't know much about Mr. Widmore expect that he doesn't care too much for Desmond, he likes good scotch, and his company, Widmore Industries, has a fetish for sponsoring mysterious races around the world, and buying journals from old slave ships. And if you look close, you will notice that they manufacture the pregnancy tests that are used on the island. So what's the connection? Well, these main bad guys have been tied to all things related to the island (except Oceanic Air at this point). Widmore Industries have partnered with Paik Industries (Sun's Father's Company). Paik Industries built a freighter for the Hanso Foundation. Could this be the same freighter that is currently stationed off the island, and why does the Hanso Foundation need a specially designed boat? The Hanso Foundation helped fund the Dharma Initiative.
As a test to see if the island could be reached, Widmore Industries conveniently sponsored a race that would use low tech equipment, with the hopes of one of these vessels arriving there. We know that Desmond was on a race sponsored by Widmore Industries and ended up on the island, but, let's not forget about Mr. Henry Gale either, the now dead man from Minnesota in the hot air balloon. As an interesting note, Henry's balloon was sponsored by… Widmore Industries. Prior to the purge of Dharma, Widmore would have also had access to the island, and could have been using it for defense testing and prototyping (the black smoke). How else would Dharma know how to keep the monster out of the compound? And how does Penny Widmore know where to look for Desmond? Is it because she knows the approximate location of coordinates where he landed? It would be entirely possible to think that Daddy Widmore told his daughter to move on, because he got rid of ol' Desmond. Maybe Penny has been snooping around her father's business and has uncovered something that helped her know where to look for Desmond. She could have been using communications from her father's business that were attempting to contact the island since the days of Dharma, and it just so happened that when the Looking Glass communication jam ended, Penny was there to say hello to Charlie. Now, why does this make Widmore Industries the bad guys? We know that through the Lost Experience* that the Valenzetti Equation tells us that our favorite numbers (4,8,15,16,23,42) tell us the exact end date of mankind. The Dharma Initiative's goal is to use any one of the numbers to change the end date. Well, what if Widmore could take control of this power and hold the world hostage, or use it for their own sinister benefit? In Bad Twin*, we also learn that a corporation by the name of Widmore Industries has been defense contracting and is morally lax in its testing and deployment. Maybe the "monster" was created by Widmore, which explains why Ben doesn't know what it is. In Find815*, we learn that the Maxwell Group is looking for Black Rock, but instead finds flight 815. And what does Charles Widmore expect to find in the journal from the Black Rock? The Maxwell Group is shown to be division of Widmore Industries. And of course the biggest clue that Charles Widmore is evil… he doesn't share his scotch.

Hmmm…

MORE TATTOOS

Notice the tattoos worn by our ship hand.

It appears to be a compass…the same symbol used by the January game company, The Maxwell Group…which we have learned is owned by Widmore Industries.

MRS. HAWKING

You might remember our jewelry store lady. People are claiming they have spotted her at Kate's trial and now the Hanso Journal auction. Is she some sort of gatekeeper? Or timekeeper?

The latest theory is that Mrs. Hawking is Libby via some sort of time travel.

Or she could be Ben's "Annie" all grown up.

Remember that she appears in a photo with Brother Campbell found on his desk during Desmond's time in the monastery.

Or she could be aged Penelope in the future.

Some have suggested she could be the Sheriff we see in Othersville.

And finally, some think she could be Karen DeGroot who we see in the first Orientation video…making Brother Campbell, Gerald DeGroot.

And that's Lulu, the dog, in the courtyard at college. Recognize anyone else?

ALL ABOARD

Ben says he has a spy on board the Freighter. Many are going with the doctor.

So who opened the door for the prisoners?

We heard Minkowski say that Sayid and Desmond "must have a friend" on the freighter. And we have all heard the Michael is to return to the show.It's painfully possible that Michael is the "friend" who opened the door. He's Ben's spy on the freighter. We know that Ben made a deal with Michael to get off the island. We learned in "The Economist" that Oceanic 815 survivors are prone to aligning themselves once off the island.

CHECKING THE DAYS OFF
It appears to be December 23rd, 2004, on board the Freighter…this matches the island date to almost a tee. Wonder what was off the schedule in October? Did they "lose" four days?

CLEVER RESEARCH

On one of Faraday's pages in his journal is a blank side. Writing can be seen on the opposite side of the page. Well, someone has tried to enhance it and has this:

Of all the drawings we see from Daniel, one looks awfully familiar:

These are showing just the lines of the Dharma Relays and Tunnels from the Blast Door map…same as Faraday's drawings.


Go find your constant now,

KC