LT301: An Open Letter

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:

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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.

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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!

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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!


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And thanks for reading!

Enjoy,
KC

LT300: So, A Needle Pulling Thread

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…

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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.

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Enjoy,
KC

LT299: Deception

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.

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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?


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Enjoy,
KC

LT298: Artificial Intelligence

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!


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Enjoy,
KC

LT297: I See Dead, Half-Dead, and Never Alive People

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…


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

Enjoy,
KC

LT295: 4, 8, 15, and Now...

I'm heading out of town for the holiday weekend, but wanted to write a quick thanks to the readers of LOST TIDBITS for helping reach the 16,000 mark for hits. This works out to about 1,630 hits per month...which is 815 doubled. Now that's odd!

Look for TIDBITS to return next Wednesday.

Thanks so much for reading!

KC