LOSTheorY

THE NEXT LOST

2012-01-27T09:41:00.000-06:00

Jorge Garcia was the first hire in JJ Abrams sci-fi series, LOST. One of the reasons may have been to find a secondary anchor character that would place viewers into their own screen surrogate in Hurley. Another reason was the initial plan to kill off a lead (Jack) quickly in order to heighten the danger element of the show.

Garcia has joined the cast of the next Abrams sci-fi series, ALCATRAZ. Still not wanting to get sucked into a seemingly weak premise in the adverts leading up to the premiere, I passed on viewing. But I did read the initial reviews which were mostly positive, but led to some critical flaws in the story construction and plot movement.

ALCATRAZ appears to be a combination of the X-Files, in a secret government conspiracy within shadow organizations, and Lost, in another Island as a main focal point for supernatural elements. In this case, prisoners had vanished from the high security prison before it closed and now, decades later, they begin to appear in modern day San Francisco with evil intent.

This new Lost has an X-Files nicotine free Smoking Man, a cute street wise female police officer who suddenly gets transferred (for no logical real world reason) into the secret organization tracking down the re-appearing menace of Lost Prisoners. Garcia's character is an academic who has studied Alcatraz in minute detail, including the missing prisoners, so he is drafted to be the police woman's non-trained law enforcement partner (yes, that is another real life stretch).

The reviewers said that unlike LOST, the pilot episode had a self contained resolution of the first prisoner's story, and then threw in some real plot twists at the end. Reviewers thought that the creators of this show were aware of the LOST story arcs that went into tangential dead ends were the main criticisms when LOST concluded and the writers made a conscious effort to tie up story leads quickly in a clear, understandable way.

I will probably still wait and see how the reviewers see how the show is progressing before wading into another Abrams show pool. Then, it may get a chance during the television re-run season.

THE LOST EFFECT

2011-12-19T10:49:00.004-06:00

Heather Havrilesky, the Los Angeles-based television writer for the New York Times uses the analogy of lab rats lured through a maze by the promise of false treats to blast the current writing trend started with The Ending of Lost to current dramatic television. She concludes that "Lost" ruined the market for nuanced, character-driven dramas in the same way that the Star Wars franchise dumbed down action movies. Her immediate point is her disappointment in "Homeland" and "American Horror Story." From the Times piece:

"[Lost's] finale was the crowning disaster, the Scooby-Doo ending to end all Scooby-Doo endings. After hinting for years that their nonsensical mess would add up to something, not only did the producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof fail to address a tiny fraction of the trillions of mysteries they introduced, but they threw out the Lostpedia with the bath water, scrapping all of those riddles for the equivalent of Lucas’s teddy-bear victory dance: a celestial moment with the survivors, hugging and holding hands in the afterlife.

"This is all ancient history — or would be, if not for the fact that the implosion of “Lost” was like a dirty bomb that made the world unsafe for serial dramas to this day....

"The problem lies in the fact that the dead-end suspense and pill-popping, knife-wielding darkness of today’s TV dramas shove more subtle pilot candidates out of the way. The empty thrills, the ticking clock that never runs down, the pointless twists and turns that are neither motivated nor resolved, all degrade the audience’s palate until all we can taste is blood, all we can see is teenagers in hot pants, all we can hear is flat dialogue and all we can expect at the end of season is a giant, flashing question mark.

"And that’s sad, because it’s also true that television writers are taking big risks in their laboratories these days. They’re experimenting with speeding up and slowing down the time line, trotting out unlikable characters and testing our tolerance for crazy, for demented, for morbid. Instead, they should focus on testing our tolerance for smart, complex characters and nuanced stories, just as “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” and “Mad Men” did. Because some of us have been burned too many times to head back into that jungle maze yet again."

The analogy of writers using "thrill pills" to lead lab rats (viewers) through a dead end plot arc dead ends through a maze of story lines to a WTF? conclusion was a long running criticism of the LOST anthology and brought up here several times.

It is a cheap story format to throw out bizarre events, cloaked clues, mysterious dangerous secondary characters to scare, threaten, or haunt your main characters - - - but just throwing elements at them is like endlessly shooting bullets in a video game that leads to no where except shooting more bullets.

Maybe the most inadvertent Easter Egg of the whole lost series was Daniel Faraday's lab rat (Eloise, named after his mother) time maze which meant nothing in The End.

THE MAYAN EXAMPLE

2011-12-14T09:17:00.007-06:00

The Island had a mix of artifacts from ancient to modern civilizations. There were Egyptian temples to modern science research facilities. There were many places where tests were conducted, and/or where the LOST characters had to pass test in order to survive.

In trying to find an analogy to help clarify the concepts lost by TPTB when the series concluded, one can find context by examining the Mayan culture.

In the Mayan culture, the underworld was called Xibalba, as a place below the surface of the Earth associated with death and with twelve gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba, often referred to as demons and are given commission and domain over various forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. These Lords all work in pairs to sicken people's blood; to cause people's bodies to swell up; to turn dead bodies into skeletons; to hide in the unswept areas of people houses and stabbed them to death; andto cause people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road. The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of one of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.

Xibalba was a large place and a number of individual structures or locations within Xibalba, among these was the council place of the Lords, the five or six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ballcourt.

Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from between four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, one would come upon the Xibalba council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequins were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.

The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. A sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.

This underworld contained 9 levels. For those souls who could finish their journey, there was the possibility of 13 levels of heaven.

What was the LOST series to the characters but "rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone" who came to the Island. Much of the island action centered upon long treks through the jungle, fighting off unknown forces, and dealing with people like Ben whose main purpose was "to confuse and humiliate people."

What greater "test" was Ben bringing Sawyer to the cliff face of the island and pointing to Sawyer's chest scar to tell him he implanted a device that would explode if he ever left the island. Was it true? Was it a bluff? Was it shear madness? But it did cause Sawyer to change his own plans to stay on the island until the miracle Ajira plane take off at the End. We do not know when Frank got the plane off the ground whether Sawyer's chest sprayed the cabin with his blood and guts, but we do know that Sawyer found his way to the afterlife party.

Jacob was another character to used, abused, confused and tormented other people that he brought to his Island realm. Jacob may have thought it a evil diversion with his brother, using human pawns, like two Lords of the Mayan underworld playing a game.

Since the biggest unanswered LOST factor was what the Island actually was, we can only speculate on what it could represent in order to fashion a coherent, orderly and plausible end result.

POST LOST CAST UPDATE

2011-11-28T13:20:00.008-06:00

With the lack of a powerful ending in the End, and the lack of peer acclaim at the Emmys, the cast of LOST seem to have their careers fade away quicker than a normal series. As an ensemble cast, it would appear supporting television guest shots and supporting roles in B movies seems to be the norm. From the net, a cast update:

Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje (Mr Eko): He was in "Faster" (also featuring Maggie Grace, Shannon).

Sam Anderson (Bernard): Guest starred on an NCIS episode and has a small role in a movie called "Water for Elephants."

Naveen Andrews (Sayid): ????

L Scott Caldwell (Rose): An episode of Grey’s Anatomy; theater work.

Nestor Carbonell (Richard): Guest in episodes of PSYCH and is in an upcoming movie "Cristiada" a Mexican film, in English with Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria.

Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond): Did two episodes of Law and Order SVU

Jeremy Davies: Has a supporting role in ‘It’s Kind Of a Funny Story’ but be sure to see him in ‘Justified’ he has a recurring role in Season 2. Kick ass show.

Emilie de Ravin (Claire): Two B movie roles announced.

Michael Emerson (Ben): Has new show "Person of Interest."

Jeff Fahey (Frank): B-movies projects.

Matthew Fox (Jack): Working on a movie in Cleveland, where he got arrested for an off-set altercation with a bus driver.

Jorge Garcia (Hurley): He stars in the upcoming ‘Alcatraz’ television show which may be hit or miss on the schedule.

Maggie Grace (Shannon): Was in ‘Faster’ with Mr Eko and will be in the next Twilight movies.

Josh Holloway (Sawyer): Guest appearance on "Community" and linked to several potential film projects.

Daniel Dae Kim (Jin): In the bad reboot of "Hawaii Five-O!"

Yunjin Kim (Sun): Nothing in America.

Ken Leung (Miles): Guest appearance on "The Good Wife."

Evangeline Lilly (Kate): In the movie ‘Real Steel’ with Hugh Jackman.

Rebecca Mader (Charlotte): Television appearance and role in a Jim Belushi B movie.

Elizabeth Mitchell (Juilet): Lead in "V" TB reboot.

Dominic Monaghan (Charlie): Has movie role.

Terry O’Quinn (Locke): Was pegged to team up with Michael Emerson on buddy script pilot which went no where; wound up with role in "Hawaii 5-0."

Harold Perrineau (Michael): In two indie films, ‘The Hungry Rabbit Jumps’ with Nicolas Cage and January Jones and ‘Cooler’ a indie comedy with Jim Parsons and ‘Inferno:A Linda Lovelace Story’ in production.

Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia): In sci-fi film, "Battle Los Angeles"

Ian Somerhalder (Boone): In the "The Vampire Diaries."

Julie Bowen (Sarah), stars in "Modern Family."

Katie Sagal (Helen), in acclaimed cable series, "Sons of Anarchy."

WAS IT ALL ABOUT JACK? (Part Three)

2011-11-19T09:27:00.013-06:00

The "opening" of Jack's eye in the pilot to the mirror image closing of it in The End was supposed to symbolize . . . . something. A circle of life analogy, perhaps, as he began the LOST journey in the same field, in the same prone position, and basically ended his island existence the same way.

What was the great redemptive journey of Jack?
Did he make amends with his father? No.
Did he find true love? No.
Did he make any lasting, trustworthy friends? Not really.
Did he make a huge sacrifice for his fellow survivors? Maybe.

Jack took the Jacob gig really by default. No one else wanted it. And, if you look at the awkward writing of the light cave scene, there was no magical morphic event between Jack, Hurley and Ben. Jack just made it up. It was like the last semester high school senior transfer student taking the blame for a prank in the school cafeteria because he had no friends and was mad at his parents for making him move from school to school.

After choosing Hurley as his replacement, Jack descended into the Light Cave, and according to several sources "saved the Island from destruction by sinking into the ocean" and being teleported to the field, he sees the Ajira plane fly away, "he knows that he has fulfilled his purpose and ultimately his destiny."

We really don't know that: because we don't know what the Island was or what it's true purpose is. We know Hurley and Ben took over the Island for a period of time. But we don't know what they did. We know Hurley's time as Island chief folded back immediately to Jack's awakening at the church. So one could argue that Hurley was the man behind the curtain all along, gathering the 815ers in the church, and not Jack.

It was Hurley who was left behind with the mission. And the sideways world construct, with the characters all living a seemingly normal and happy life, was all a fabricated dreamscape until Hurley came back to and awakened most of them after Desmond became conscious of his island past with Eloise. Who created the sideways holding pen? Hurley, so he could gather all the LOST souls in the afterlife? Eloise, who wanted to keep her son close to her? Only a person "alive" in island realm could create the sideways "dead" world to know about both worlds simultaneously.

And Jack never seemed to have the imagination and interpersonal traits to create an entire functioning new world construct. Who had the greatest psychic imaginative traits? Walt and Hurley. But Walt had been written out of the main plot and the Ending, so that leaves Hurley, not Jack, has the probable key character in putting the lost souls in place at the End.

WAS IT ALL ABOUT JACK? (Part Two)

2011-11-15T16:35:00.011-06:00

In "White Rabbit" episode, in a flashback, Jack as a young boy lies on the ground in fear as a playground bully threatens him, while his friend, Marc, is being beaten by another bully. Jack, seemingly out of character, attempts to intervene, resulting in him getting a black eye from the bully.

Later on, Jack explains the fight to his father who tells Jack about his day at the hospital. Christian, while drinking whiskey, says that he is able to cope with the difficult job of surgeon because he "has what it takes." He claims that he can make life or death decisions daily because even when he fails, he can live with the consequences. He concludes that Jack should not "decide," because if he failed, he wouldn't "have what it takes."

On the island, Locke claims Jack's White Rabbit is the vision of his dead father, an illusion to a character in Alice in Wonderland that leads the main character down the rabbit hole and into a dangerous fantasy world.

If LOST was all about Jack, was the trip to Australia to retrieve his estranged father's body the cusp of his life suddenly falling (literally from the sky) into a dangerous fantasy world on the Island?

In life, Jack was told he was not a leader because he could not handle the "wrong decisions" which would cost people their lives. On the island, survivors came to him to make decisions for them - - - life and death decisions on survival, which path to take, who to trust, and where to go.

If one takes all the plot elements, flashbacks, island time, and flash forward arcs, nearly all of Jack's decisions were the "wrong decisions." He really did not have a good instinct at reading people's inner motivations. He really did not want to make close friendships because that would lead to trust. His story is really one of being beat up, physically and emotionally. By the time Jack gets on Flight 815, he is spent. He is lost. He cannot change his relationship with his father. He can never show his father that he was wrong when he said he could not handle the consequences of life and death decisions. Only in a fantasy world could Jack face his White Rabbit.

So how does Jack actually meet his father in "real time?" His flashbacks are mere memories. He finds his father dead in Sydney. His interaction with his father on the island is mere illusion because it cannot be real: is Christian a guardian angel? a fellow traveler trapped in a fantasy-purgatory realm? is Christian a mere delusion? There are two ways to reconcile this premise: the plane crash sent Jack into a fantasy world made up by his mental images or Jack perished in the crash with everyone else and this was his Egyptian style journey through the underworld.

The only time Jack speaks to him on the same plane of existence is in the church at The End when it is revealed that they are both dead. But that short conversation never solved or resolved the deep "daddy issues" Jack had throughout the series.

WAS IT ALL ABOUT JACK? (Part One)

2011-11-12T10:26:00.014-06:00

Was LOST merely the spiritual quest of Jack Shepard? Was Jack the keystone character for the series? Was LOST all about Jack?

Jack Shepard was born on December 3, 1969. The most significant historical event on that day was that John Lennon is offered role of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Sandwiched between that trivia were too more significant events:
on December 2, 1969, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its maiden flight from Seattle to NYC;
on December 4, 1969, the Chicago police raided a Black Panther apartment in a hail of gunfire, killing several militants which caused an uproar in the city.

Why did the writers choose December 3, 1969 as Jack's "birth date?" What is the significance of that date in history?

The 747 jumbo jet was a major advancement in airplane technology. It was big enough to haul a great number of passengers, or more importantly, open its hull to international cargo flights. The age of globalization was just beginning with the advent of long distance air transportation.

The idea of man flying through the skies on wings is an ancient doctrine. Early man believed that their gods were winged creatures that descended from the heavens to give them life and guidance. Winged creatures came to symbolize change. Migrating birds signaled the change of seasons. Winged creatures also symbolize angels and demons of death.

The central focal point for the LOST mythology was Flight 815, a long distance, international flight. Coincidence?

Chicago was the hot bed for racial tension in 1969. The Democratic convention of 1968 turned into massive riots and confrontation between the police and protesters. Tensions were high. Within months in 1968, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated by lone gunmen. Riots burned major urban areas. Protesters wanted the end of Vietnam. Change. It was the Establishment against the Revolutionaries (which included subgroups of intellectuals, hippies, militants, communists, anarchists).

Another major plot line for LOST was the dynamic between the Survivors (middle class establishment types) and the Others. Coincidence?

Between the two news events is the John Lennon story. Lennon was the most vocal, political and boundary pushing Beatle. He was the focal point of controversy. People were drawn to him for hope and in anger. He was an international celebrity. He once said that the Beatle were bigger than Jesus Christ, which angered most Christians throughout the world. So there was some irony about Lennon being offered the role of Jesus in a rock opera.

Jesus Christ Superstar was a rock opera produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first Broadway performance in 1971. According to Wikipedia, the musical is based very loosely on the Gospels' account of the last week of Jesus' life, beginning with the preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem, and ending with the crucifixion. It highlights political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus, struggles that are not in the Bible. The resurrection is not included. It therefore largely follows the form of a traditional passion play.

The work's depiction offered a free interpretation of the psychology of Jesus and the other characters. A large part of the plot focuses on the character of Judas, who is depicted as a tragic figure who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus steers his disciples. Twentieth-century attitudes and sensibilities as well as contemporary slang pervade the lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events.

The flashbacks in LOST appear to show the preparation, motivation and coincidence of the passengers on Flight 815 departure from Sydney in a similar way to the last week of Jesus' life. After the crash, the psychology and manipulation of personal beliefs was a continual struggle for Jack, his fellow survivors, and his interaction with his captors, Ben and the Others.

In The End, Jack must come to terms with his interpersonal struggles and sacrifices himself in the same way Jesus is crucified for his followers. For some, LOST could be considered a personal passion play of Jack's character in attempting to reconcile his life choices to find a personal redeeming moment of self sacrifice; instead of trying to "fix" others, he finally "fixes" himself.

SHARK JUMP

2011-11-11T15:27:00.003-06:00

When did LOST "jump the shark?"

For those who liked The Ending, the answer is never.
For those who disliked The Ending, the answer could be unclear.

For the casual viewer who got pulled into the hype of the first season, but
never was a die hard fan, the shark jumping moment could be:

A) when the smoke monster appeared;
B) when the Others appeared;
C) when the Tail Sections survivors were introduced;
D) when time travel was introduced;
E) when the Hatch imploded but Desmond survived;
F) when the fake wreckage site was found;
G) when Jack screamed "we have to go back!"
H) when the Jacob and Man in Black story arc came into full view.

TERRA NO

2011-10-18T12:15:00.004-05:00

Who is not a sucker for a wilderness survival sci-fi story? That is what hooked many on LOST.

So when Fox touted its new prime time offering, Terra Nova, it hit an immediate dud here. Not to get sucked into another multi-year commitment of tele-viewing, one looked to the Big Premise.

And it had a major flaw. If you have a time portal and need to save mankind, why set it to go back the land of dinosaurs? Even first graders have the basic knowledge that the dinosaurs became extinct by a massive global upheaval. Why teleport to a time line which will lead to mass extinction? Would it not been better to set the portal to a post-dinosaur era? (Yes, but what about the dramatic fun of being hunted down by T-Rex in Jurassic Park overset film footage reels?)

In LOST, the Frozen Donkey Wheel spit out its turner to the North African desert approximately five months in the past. One could handle re-living five months off-island, but not millions of years into the past. What about immunities? Modern man has lost many of its hunter-gatherer environmental balances. The distant past would have virus and bacteria strains harsher than today. What about the environment itself? It was hotter, volcanic and its plant life could be more toxic (non-domesticated) in a sulfur rich environment.

The lesson learned from LOST is not to get hooked on the pilot trailer without thinking about the main story premise to see if you can really suspend belief for more than a season.

A CONFESSION

2011-09-26T15:44:00.004-05:00

There is an internet story making its way around the web and landing on a few of the only still functioning LOST fan sites. It contains admissions from one of the show's leading front runners, and an acknowledgment that there was no plan for the story line so the writers and producers had some plausible denial when confronted by fans seeking Answers. It adds fuel to the fire for the critics who thought there were real problems with the show's path and ending.

An edited summary of the article follows:

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) — Damon Lindelof only wanted a gig writing for "Alias" when he agreed to meet with J.J. Abrams about "Lost" -- and the pair threw in lots of wild elements just because they never expected it to get on the air.

If it seemed like the writers were making things up as they went along, by the way, they often were. And also? Lindelof tried to quit the show, again and again.

These were just a few of the admissions Lindelof shared about one of television's most beloved shows Thursday on the seventh anniversary of its first airing on ABC.

Lindelof was an established TV writer himself, working on NBC's "Crossing Jordan," when he first met Abrams. He told interviewer Andrew Jenks, host of MTV's "World of Jenks," that he had been "stalking" an ABC executive friend for years to get a job on Abrams' spy series "Alias."

Eventually the executive, Heather Kadin, called him in January 2004 saying he could meet Abrams about a project.

"The bad news is," he recalled her saying, "it's this ridiculous show idea about a plane that crashes on an island and everyone here doesn't think anything is ever going to happen with it. But Lloyd Braun who was the president of ABC at the time, just thought he had lightning in a bottle: He wanted to do a drama version of 'Survivor.'"

Braun had told Abrams he had a script for an island drama but wanted him to "work your magic on it," Lindelof said. He said Abrams told Braun he was too busy, but would supervise another writer.

"So Heather told me, you meet with J.J., this pilot goes nowhere, but then you get a job on 'Alias'!"

But the pilot went somewhere. Lindelof came in with plenty of ideas, including nonlinear storytelling and flashbacks.

"The biggest issue with a desert island show was the audience is going to get very frustrated that the characters were not getting off the island," he said. "My solution was, hey, let's get off the island every week. And the way we're going to do that is we're going to do these flashbacks. We'll do one character at a time and there's going to be like 70 characters on the show, so we'll go really, really slow, and each one will basically say, here's who they were before the crash and it'll dramatize something that's happening on the island and it will also make the show very character-centric."

Abrams liked the idea, and also had another: "'There should be a hatch on this island! They spend the entire season trying to get it open. And there should be these other people on the island,'" Lindelof recalled Abrams saying. "And I'm like, ''We can call them The Others.' And he's like, 'They should hear this noise out there in the jungle.' And I'm like, 'What's the noise?' And he's like, 'I don't...know. They're never going to pick this thing up anyway.'"

Lindelof said the idea to tell the story out of chronological order came in part from "Pulp Fiction."

Lindelof said he almost immediately felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of running the show -- and repeatedly decided or tried to quit. By its eleventh episode, he convinced Carlton Cuse, who had been his boss on CBS's "Nash Bridges," to come in and help him lead the show.

He said he agreed with critics who said the show could never last more than a season.

"If we put it on the air and we're like, there's a polar bear in the jungle, somebody better know where the (expletive) that polar bear came from," he said. "That pressure was enormously debilitating."

Abrams, meanwhile, had "plausible deniability" because he had left the show in Lindelof's hands to focus on movies, Lindelof said: "When the torch-wielding mob shows up at his house, and they're like, 'Where does the polar bear come from?' he could say, I'm working on 'Mission Impossible,' go to Damon."

He said he resolved to quit after 13 episodes, then after the first season. Eventually the show went six seasons with him and Cuse in charge.

He also said the show might not have lasted more than three seasons without the Internet, because it allowed fans and the show's creators to spur each other on. He noted that 23 million people tuned in for the first episode, and only 13 million for the finale -- a sign that the show lost many people as it went on. But those that stayed with it did so in part because the Internet gave them somewhere to vent, he said.

"What got them through those periods of doubt and 'Are you going to break my heart?' was their feeling that they were communicating with us," he said.

But trying to please fans was a Catch-22.

"There were these two things happening on the show from the minute it began. The first thing was that the audience really wanted to feel like they had an impact on the show," he said. "And the other thing was, you didn't want us to be making it up as we went along. You wanted us to have a plan, you wanted us to have a big binder with the entire show and you didn't want us to deviate from it. And the audience didn't realize that there's a huge contradiction between these two ideas. If you want to have a say, then there can't be a binder. And if there is a binder, then we're basically going to be like, 'we don't care what you guys have to say. We're just turning to page 365 and we're doing Lupitas.'"

He added: "The show had to become sort of an exercise in, 'Here's what it's going to be, guys: We're going to come out and we're going to play our set, and once the set is over you guys can shout out what songs you want to hear and we'll do those for the encore.' And that was the way that we modulated it, and maybe it worked and maybe it didn't.

"But the interaction of the Internet and our genuine desire to hear what the fans were saying and make ourselves accessible to the fans was absolutely essential to the show's success. I am absolutely convinced that we probably would not have made it to season three or season four at the most if the Internet didn't exist."

JACOB AS LUCIFER

2011-09-26T12:58:00.004-05:00

One could ponder that the most important "new" character after season four was Jacob, the alleged Island protector, the person who came to the island 2000 years ago, and killed his brother and allegedly created the Smoke Monster.

If the Island was Jacob's inheritance from Crazy Mother, why was it so important he bring the 815ers to it? Jacob was a supernatural being; the evidence shows he was more than 200o years old, that he could change appearance, and that he could communicate in the flesh after being killed and burned to ashes after Ben's murder of him in the statue.

So one of the great unanswered questions is whether Jacob actually died at all. In the great con double crosses and misdirections afforded in the dead end plot tangents, we never see Jacob cease to exist. After his death, he appears to Hurley as set forth in Lostpedia:

He appeared as a boy once more to Hurley, demanding that Hurley give him the ashes. Hurley asked why and the boy replied, "because they're mine." Once Hurley took them out, he snatched them and ran. By the time Hurley caught up, Jacob appeared as an adult, next to a fire, which he had thrown his ashes in. Hurley gathered Jack, Kate and Sawyer and brought them to Jacob.

The four of them were able to see Jacob this time. He apologized to Kate, who blamed him choosing Candidates for the deaths of their friends on the submarine. Jacob told them that he made a mistake, which made the monster the way he is and explained the reason for the Candidates. Sawyer asked why he should have to suffer for Jacob's mistake when he was doing just fine until Jacob interfered with his life. Jacob pointed out that none of them had happy lives, they were all flawed, which is why he chose them, because they were all like him, alone looking for something that they couldn't find.

Jacob was a shape shifting supernatural being. He appeared as a boy, as a man, and as a dead man. He could of also appeared as a smoke monster (which would answer the question why he could not kill MIB because they were both equal smoke monsters; one viciously bad and another more cautious - - - remember scanning Juliet in the mangrove roots instead of killing her?) Or Jacob could appear as another person, never to die - - - like Mikhail, the Russian who we saw "die" multiple times but to return to harass the 815ers.

It would seem inconsequential for a super being like Jacob to toy with the lives of inferior beings like the 815ers. Unless, as the beach scene with MIB infers, he was bored with his temporal existence.

For all of the religious ramifications at the End Church, there was nothing truly redeeming in the Jacob and Candidates story line. The Candidates and friends who wound up at the church for the after life journey were still murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves, criminals, drunks, drug abusers and down right dark personalities - - - who also committed similar acts of violence, betrayal, sex and lies while on the Island seeking Jacob's judgment.

If Jacob's real goal was to be a heavenly prosecutor to determine the weight of each character's soul, then Jacob is a symbol of Lucifer, the fallen angel in early Judeo-Christian beliefs. He is the con artist who messes with God's new species of Man, by setting in motion the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. And what if the Island was a similar setting; an after life con that offers the characters a chance of redemption when in reality there is none.

We are led to believe that the characters in the church are going to heaven when Christian opens the white light of the doors. However, prior to that, Jack asks his father what is next. The answer is unclear, just that they are going to "move on." It is equally probable that the souls of the church goers could go to heaven (which is the happy ending) or to hell (the unseen finish of a long con).

If would be the perfect diversion for Lucifer to give souls "false hope" of redemption; a cause to fight for; a chance for final happiness in a warped sense of a juvenile game of combat soldier with changing rules or little consequence. If Jacob was really a Lucifer in disguise, how does that make you view the Ending differently?

PARTY OF NONE

2011-09-07T13:16:00.004-05:00

Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack . . . suicide Jack.

It was not on a bridge or at a chain link fence on the LAX grounds, but Matthew Fox got into an alleged altercation with a bus driver in Cleveland, Ohio.

New reports state that a drunken Fox was trying to board a private "party bus" to get back to his hotel, but the female bus driver would not allow him on. Fox then allegedly punched her, and she struck back, reportedly cutting his lip in the process.

There is an old saying, "truth is stranger than fiction." It seems the Lost's star's character of Jack has taken the fictional pages into current reality.

If only he yelled at the bus driver, "We have to GO BACK!!!"

UPDATE: AP reports:

Cleveland prosecutors will not charge Matthew Fox on a complaint that the star of the “Lost” television series punched a private bus driver last month.

The decision was made “after a thorough review of the facts,” a city spokeswoman said in a statement on September 16, 2011.

GEAR SHIFT

2011-08-13T09:09:00.011-05:00

There was nothing more mysterious than The Smoke Monster. In the fan site communities, the question was "What is It?" It had strange, complex elements that seemed contrary. It was smoke in form, but appeared with a real loud mechanical noise. At times, it appeared to be curious, i.e. when literally scanning a person in the jungle (like Juliet). So it must have been made up in part with some electric element. Speculation ranged from it being the representation of the strange electromagnetic energy being trapped by the Hatch to a nanobat experiment gone wild.

At other times, it appeared to be manic, primitive angry killing monster when it killed the French science team or Eko. It lead to a wide range of speculation of whether the Monster was a machine or an intelligent being or whether it was some transformed homicidal beast. Or a representation of the Devil as Evil Incarnate as the temple people called it.

Since its appearance in Season 1, Smokey was the metaphor for the series. It was the abstract representation of Charlie's ultimate question of not where the survivors were . . . but What is the Island?

The island was not an earth bound geophysic rock that emerged from volcanic activity to appear above the level of the Pacific Ocean. It moved. It vanished. It was "hard to find." It was unworldly.

Smokey was alleged to be the Island Guardian, a security system to take down outsiders who came to its shores to steal, corrupt or control the island's special properties or powers. But who controlled the guardian? When Ben opened his secret closet and released water down the small shaft, he "summoned" a violent smoke monster to attack the freighter soldiers. It was said at the time that water and electricity don't mix, so maybe that is why Smokey appeared in an uncontrollable, violent state, so much so that Ben yelled at everyone to flee the barracks. But at other times, Smokey appeared to act on its own, living in the underground temple walls, coming out of the cracks to attack or terrorize visitors.

It would have been interesting to have Smokey been explained as a hybrid, steampunk type ancient intelligence that was triggered by the release of water into a DaVincian machine to create-release the smoke monster.

But the island storyline collapsed in twists, turns and so many dead ends that the nature of the smoke monster was muted and whitewashed over. The smoke monster turned into the shape shifting Man in Black character, the devil, the dead soul of Jacob's brother, the darkness to the island's light life force. Overt symbolism glazed over what fans really wanted to know - - - what was the smoke monster, what was it made of, how was it created, how did it operate and how did it think.

And we were left in the dark as to whether there was just one smoke monster, or whether Jacob was also a smoke monster (after Ben killed him in the statue and his body was burned) or whether Crazy Mother was also a smoke monster (she alone killed an entire village of Roman sailors just as Smokey did to the slave ship crew).

It is now a noticeable trend in Hollywood series that in the beginning, writers put together key story elements that lure, entice and captivate the audience. But some time in the middle of its run, the show changes gears - - - leaving initial fans flummoxed, confused and at times dissolute or angry. It is like basing an entire show around two incapable characters then at the end switch to them getting married and living happily ever after - - - with no memory of the past conflicts.

LOST may have been the show with the most grinding script gear shifts of all time. And the symbol for the forced story shifts is the smoke monster entity.

CLIFF HANGERS

2011-07-27T15:29:00.007-05:00

The final episode of each season left us with a mystery or major event to consider in the whole mythology of the show.

At the end of Season 1, "Exodus," we had the Others take Walt from the rescue raft and blowing it up while Hurley panicked at the sight of the Numbers on the Hatch cover as Locke was ready to explode it open. We were left with the view of the Hatch shaft, which Locke believed was the key to their destinies.

At the end of Season 2, "Live Together, Die Alone," we had Desmond turning the Hatch's fail safe key causing the explosion-implosion at the same time Michael and Walt get on a boat for freedom after Michael double crossed the survivors. At the end Penny gets a message from the listening post, "I think we found it." They found the Island.

At the end of Season 3, "Through the Looking Glass," Charlie dies but writes on his hand NOT PENNY'S BOAT to Desmond. It ends with a new flash forward of suicide Jack on his binge of self destruction at the airport, yelling "Kate, we have to go back!"

At the end of Season 4, "There's No Place Like Home," the freighter is destroyed as the helicopter is running low on fuel; Ben turns the frozen donkey wheel and the Island vanishes. The Oceanic Six are rescued by Penny's boat, who fake a cover story, and leave Penny and Desmond who says, "see you in another life brother" to Jack. In the flash forward, it is revealed that Jeremy Bentham is dead John Locke.

At the end of Season 5, "The Incident," the Island is split between 1977 and 2007. In 2007, outside the statue, it is revealed that inside Ilana's crate is John Locke's body to the horror of Richard. Inside, Ben kills Jacob for Flocke, but Jacob's last words were "They're coming." In the 1977 time, Juliet is ripped down the drilling hole with Jughead bomb. The episode ends with Juliet pounding a rock on the warhead, leaving the viewer wondering if it exploded in a white flash.

If cliffhangers are supposed to be the most important story elements, were they in LOST?

Season 1: Escape by the raft foiled and the Hatch the new mystery found.
Season 2: Escape granted to Michael and the Hatch is destroyed.
Season 3: Escape is foiled because Not Penny's Boat and Flash forward tells Jack needs to get back to the Island.
Season 4: Escape is granted for Oceanic 6 and Flash forward tells Jack that Bentham is dead John Locke.
Season 5: Escape is granted to Ben by the FDW but death for Jacob and Juliet, who tries to detonate the bomb to reset the Island time.

As a key plot element, escape or rescue from the Island was foiled, achieved but in the end a non-factor because many of the survivors never left the Island or the twist was those who did escape wanted to return.

The Hatch was supposed to be a critical element in the survival of the 815ers. It was only a holding device to drumbeat the Numbers are being a key role in the Island mysteries (which turns out to be not true).

The battle for the control of the Island between Widmore's freighter crew and Ben's Others was a non-issue for the controlling entities were Jacob and MIB.

It was inconsequential whether Jughead exploded or not. Time patterns, the FDW, Faraday's scientific observations and what was the Island remain without a real explanation.

None of the driving cliffhanger plot points: escape, the Hatch, Jughead, the Others, the frozen donkey wheel, had any impact in the final season as solutions to the nagging questions about the Island.

THE END OF TIME TRAVEL

2011-07-26T12:44:00.002-05:00

The Los Angeles Times reported today that physicists at the Hong Kong University of Technology and Science have just proved that no machine will ever allow a person to travel through time because time travel is flat-out impossible. Not just unlikely, or we don’t have the technology yet, but, TIME TRAVEL beyond the limits of the physical laws of the universe.

Several years ago, Stephen Hawking wrote an article where he thought that limited time travel was a remote possibility, if one would only go into the future, through a wormhole using a massive particle collider and a super fast spacecraft. In sum, unrealistic and impossible to pull off.

Some scientists began to believe time travel might actually be possible when superluminal -- or faster-than-light -- propagation of some specific medium were discovered. It was later found to be a visual effect, but the idea that a single photon could exceed the speed of light lingered, and with it, the possibility of time travel.

But in a study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Physical Review Letters, Shengwang Du and his team measured the ultimate speed of a single photon and showed that it cannot move faster than the speed of light.

"The results add to our understanding of how a single photon moves. They also confirm the upper bound on how fast information travels with light," Du said in a statement put out by the Hong Kong University of Technology and Science.

"By showing that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light, our results bring a closure to the debate on the true speed of information carried by a single photon."

So Time Travel is impossible. The scientific basis for the science fiction application of the literary format of the genre is for naught. The light, from the Cave or the Frozen Donkey Wheel, could not have created the LOST characters from time traveling in our physical world.

LEGACY

2011-07-21T13:58:00.002-05:00

If LOST will have a lasting legacy, it may be not the one the viewers craved the most;
for it appears the format-formula-mystery style is being rebooted in the new JJ Abrams
series, Alcatraz.

As at least one Deadline Hollywood reviewer of the sneak trailer panned, " the show has qualities I’m not sure are admirable, or even enjoyable anymore – namely, the teasing of a mystery that will be revealed in a very contrived, gradual way for as long as the audience will allow. What do I mean when I say contrived? Well for example: Sam Neill’s character clearly knows more than he says, it’s obvious to every character in the room, yet nobody forces the issue, nobody asks obvious questions, and nobody demands non-enigmatic, clear answers (blame Lost for making this acceptable: Benjamin Linus invented this game). Personally, I find characters not asking obvious questions any normal person would ask simply because it’s too early in the season to ask them a lazy way to write; others are more tolerant of it: the show seemed to be play well and got enthusiastic applause in the end."

Characters who do not force answers to their questions but go along for the ride style of television is not good for drama or mystery shows. To call it misdirected is one thing, but to call it LAZY is a true bitter indictment of the past use of the LOST genre.

LAYERED PLOT LINE

2011-07-14T08:34:00.009-05:00

In "Power Play," a Star Trek:TNG episode, the Enterprise encounters a old distress signal coming from a lifeless moon. They trace the signal to a 172 year old lost star ship. The counselor feels that there is life on the surface. The moon's surface is covered by violent ionic storms. So the crew cannot transport down to the surface. The shuttle craft crash lands. The landing party sees a strange electromagnetic storm coming upon them. Just as they are getting rescued, energy beings invade three members of the crew before they are beamed to safety.

In this one hour story, we have various elements of mystery and science fiction intertwined in physics properties:
1. A lost star ship must have crashed on a foreboding, stormy moon.
2. A landing party trapped in the midst of a strange, electromagnetic storm.
3. A strange electromagnetic energy invades a human host and suppresses their character and memories with a new personality.
4. Once returned to the Enterprise, the EM hosts take hostages and try to seize control of the ship. They claim they are the conscious minds of the lost star ship bridge crew who seek to rescue their fellow ghost crew members to take them back to earth "to rest."

This quick and simple story "fact" structure is easily understandable and in sci-fi terms, reasonably believable. This is the base line for the character interactions, violent interactions,
and the ultimate climax twist of unraveling of the true identities of the EM beings as being prisoners exiled on the moon penal colony.

What LOST lacks in end game analysis is an initial, simple story "fact" structure from the beginning of Season 1 which would be reasonably believable through to the ending story climax.

Did the EM burst from the hatch that Desmond forgot to press the Numbers actually "cause" the crash of Flight 815 or actually "save" the souls by entrapping their spirits in EM beings to re-inhabit their bodies post-crash? The latter could be the jumping off point to tie the Light Cave and energy source of the Frozen Donkey Wheel Cave as life-giving EM, whether as a physical property or as its own intelligent being. If the island EM was combining its life force and intertwine its intelligence with dead souls who came within contact with the island, whether as an experiment, or to stop boredom of a trapped being, that would make a sound sci-fi base.

It could also explain why Desmond and the others who should have been blown away by massive EM energy bursts (from the Hatch and the Widmore experiment) did not die because if they were already part EM energy, the EM would not "kill" itself.

Throughout the series, many people thought the island was its own "character." But in the end, the island was merely an island with unique properties. Nothing in the final episodes told that the island had any controlling influence over the characters. Which is probably a shame since that could have easily bridged to the sideways world "holding tank" created not by the characters (human beings) but a higher intelligence in a EM created world (like program bytes running on a computer hard drive).

From a writing perspective, TPTB could have created a known sci-fi "fact" base early on in the series, and layered conflict and twists to come to a reasonable explanation that would have tied the island events and sideways world together. But for whatever belief, they decided to keep everyone in the dark.

REAL = REAL

2011-06-30T10:19:00.008-05:00

When Christian remarked that everything his son experienced was "real," including the sideways world experience (created by everyone as an afterlife holding tank), the debate still centers on what is "real."

A simple breakdown of key elements of the Island would help.
Real, unreal or science fiction.

1. Passengers surviving a mid-air mid-ocean plane separation and crash.
Not real. There are many real world examples with the same conclusion: no survivors.

2. Passengers believing they survived a mid air mid-ocean plane separation and crash.
Science fiction. There would have to be some story mythology explanation of how the
passengers could survive a 20,000 foot plunge. TPTB never gave an explanation of how
the characters survived the crash. A sci-fi explanation could include that the characters
"re-materialized" due to the unique EM properties of the Island, like spirits being reincarnated.

3. The Smoke Monster.
Science fiction. There is no basis in current science, technology or nature for an intelligent mass of black smoke that can shape shift into various forms, including dead people.

4. Time Travel.
Science fiction. The turning of the Frozen Donkey Wheel displacing certain characters into different time periods throughout history cannot occur on Earth. The inference is that the wheel was somehow attached to the life force pool, which somehow controlled time and space for the island and its residents, and when turned, major changes would occur. However, these time-space jumps did not create any paradoxes for the time travelers.

5. Electromagnetic Energy.
Real and unreal. EM is a real physical property on Earth. EM can be manipulated to create forces which can be used in working machines, such as bullet train propulsion systems. But the use of massive electromagnetic energy assaulting Desmond in the hatch "implosion" and Desmond's being thrown into the massive electro-arc by Widmore would have killed a normal human being.

For those who accept the sideways world explanation, but somehow grasp to the "real" comment for the Island explanation - - - as being a "real island" on Earth with "live" characters who survived the plane crash, one must review the key elements to accept the objective reasoning that the Island is purely a science fiction realm and not a real island.

If one starts with the premise that the Island is not real, but a magical science fiction realm, then the unreal events on the Island itself become more palatable from a story construction stand point.

WHEN DID THE TRAIN GO OFF THE RAILS?

2011-05-27T15:12:00.003-05:00

For those who were angered, confused, disappointed, betrayed or dumbfounded by the End, there is something for you to consider: when did the LOST train go off the rails?

One has to take personal theories out of the discussion. For a few, LOST did not End like they "thought it would." Adding insult to injury, those who adorned the End hedge the conclusion without all the answers as being the TPTB's present to the audience to make up their own final theories. But in rebuttal, it is the job of the author to put together a satisfying and/or clear ending to the author's story.

So when did the LOST creators get lost?

From a practical perspective, it was probably during the end of Season 1, when ABC renewed the series. From that point, the creators had to create more episodes and create buzzworthy filler to the end game.

From a plot line perspective, it may have been the need to continually add new characters to keep the mystery engines going full throttle. The addition of the Tail Section survivors had little lasting impact on the final story arcs. What about Nikki and Paulo? Yeesh. Dharma and the Others, the time travelers, the Temple, Ajira survivors - - - more red shirts than red meat for the story.

From a character perspective (it was all about the characters we have been constantly been lectured since the End), what character event put the story arc(s) down the rabbit hole?

The death of Eko?
The disappearance of Claire?
The whole ghost Christian thing with Jack?
Michael and Walt leaving the island by betraying the other survivors?
Faraday's death and the end of sci-fi explanations?
Juliet's death and the end of time travel to the void of the after life?

BACKTRACKING THE END

2011-05-25T10:23:00.025-05:00

In "The End," Jack had planned to hold the funeral services for his father in Eloise's church. After Desmond helped many characters to remember their lives on the Island, they all met at the the sideways church. In a chapel filled with symbols of major religions, Jack found his father's empty coffin, just as he did on the Island. He then met his father, who helped him to understand the nature of his reality: Jack, Christian, and all of the people in the church had either died before Jack or a long time after him, but they and their lives were all real.

Now they were ready to "move on" and discover what was next. Jack entered the nave of the church, where he found Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Hugo, Libby, Desmond, Penny, Jin, Sun, Claire, Charlie, Aaron, Sayid, Shannon, Boone, Rose, Bernard, and Locke. After they all had greeted each other warmly, they sat in the pews. Christian walked to the back of the church and opened the doors, revealing a bright light which filled the church as everyone smiled and we assume "moved on."

Who arranged this after life meeting? It appears that Christian was the master of ceremonies since everyone was waiting for Jack to arrive. Arrive in the sense of "awakening" memories of the Island. It was Christian who told Jack the muddy answer to the series great mysteries:

1. People in the church died before or long after Jack.
2. But "they" and "their lives" were "all real." Meaning that the sideways world realm was also real as well as the Island world.
3. That "they" created the sideways world as a place to wait for his arrival.
4. That there was no "time" in the sideways realm, but merely "now."
5. And once together, they all could "move on."
6. The church guests were the most important people in their lives.

This does not explain if the characters created the sideways world (as a holding room in the after life) would not remember the Island/real world prior to their own deaths. If the sideways world had no function of time, then there was no need for a complex alternative reality of Jack married to Juliet, having a child, healing Locke, etc. The souls would merely need to be in sleep mode until they all arrived at the church. And this is where the Answer falls a part; if everything we saw was "real," then it was all by series definition, "unreal." If the dream/fantasy experiences the characters created in the sideways world are "real," then the same could be said of the Island experiences. Which leads to a big sinkhole question: if both realities are real, then how did the 20 characters in the church find themselves, bind themselves together, to journey to the after life?

And to be perfectly honest, not all the characters got along on the Island. Example, Rose and Bernard were fed up with the lot and went off on their own. Locke and Jack never saw eye to eye. Sayid turned into an evil zombie. Jack and Sawyer were at odds most of the time.

Also, there were no deep, strong, global character connections prior to Flight 815 crash on the Island with the 20 friends in the church finale:

Christian: Jack's father
Jack: knew Christian; chance meeting with Desmond at stadium
Kate: knew no one prior to the 815 flight
Sawyer: knew no one prior to the 815 flight
Juliet: knew no one prior to the 815 crash
Hugo: may have known Libby at the mental hospital
Libby: may have known Hugo at the mental hospital
Desmond: knew Penny; chance meeting with Jack at stadium
Penny: knew only Desmond
Jin: married to Sun
Sun: married to Jin
Claire: was pregnant with Aaron
Charlie: knew no one prior to 815 flight
Aaron: knew no one prior to being born on Island
Sayid: knew no one prior to the 815 flight
Shannon: knew brother Boone
Boone: knew sister Shannon
Rose : married to Bernard
Bernard: married to Rose
Locke: knew no one prior to the 815 flight; but maybe aware of Hugo working at box plant.

Besides limited family relationships, there were no strong friendships or bonds between the entire group of characters and each other prior to the 815 flight. But we are told by TPTB that it was all about this group in the end.

The conclusion was not about the plane crash, the Island, the smoke monster, the hatch, DHARMA, the Others, Widmore or the freighter, Rousseau's science team, rescue or return, time travel, Jacob, or MIB. We were told that it was about the 20 people in the church who had the greatest impact on each other during their collective lives.

For those who loved the LOST ending, this character "feel good" reunion was enough. The statement that the show "was all about the characters" is only true to a certain point. A story teller needs to move the characters through events in order to reveal truths to the audience.

Now, for some who don't want to acknowledge the issues with Season 6 and the End, they claim that the brilliance of the series is that the creators left the questions unanswered so the viewers themselves could fill in their own blanks. That is a cop-out. One does not buy a mystery novel to read and then find the final two chapters missing. No, critics say there should have been a viable explanation at the conclusion of the series. Why were those 20 people in the church so important to each other to the exclusion of their other family members or pre-flight friends?

A year after the finale, the LOST phenomena has all but passed into the footnotes of television history. Some consider it one of the top ten shows of all time. Others ponder the great first seasons as a missed opportunity for greatness in the disappointing end. A few truly believe that the series should have concluded at the end of LOST's fifth season - - - with a real cliffhanger instead of a headscratcher.

UNIFIED THEORY: CONNECT FOUR

2011-05-24T13:29:00.044-05:00

It was always strange that Jorge Garcia was the first actor cast in LOST, as Hurley. Hurley was often a character in the background, then in the foreground for comic relief, and then to represent the fans wanting answers to the mysteries. Why Hurley? "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." What is the lasting effect of Hurley in the LOST mythology?

The critics, writers, reviewers and fans have been wrestling with a Unified Theory to explain all the mysteries thrown at us during the six seasons of the show. It was a rebuttal to the critics that said the show runners were "making it up as they went along" with no rhyme or reason to the story lines, plot twists, new characters or strange dead ends.

If one believes the whole roller coaster ride was merely employment search for Jacob's replacement as Island guardian, who wound up with the job in the End? Hurley.

If one believes the whole struggle was merely a game between Jacob and his deceased brother's spirit over the own mutual destruction, who would up at the end game? Hurley (along with Jack, Kate and Ben).

And if a "game" is the underlying theme of the Island conflict, was it merely a long lost game of Senet that is the key? Hurley did not play that game - - - he played Connect Four.

Connect Four is a game of dark and light pieces placed on a board that is six rows across and seven rows down (a total of 42 spaces). The object of the game is to get four of your colored pieces in a row - - - horizontally, diagonally or vertically.

Hurley was seen playing Connect Four at the mental institution with catatonic patient Leonard Simms, who beat Hurley. Simms continually muttered the Numbers to Hurley and Dave, Hurley's imaginary friend. Simms is a former marine who in 1988, with Sam Toomey, heard the Numbers while at a government listening post. Toomey used the Numbers in a game of chance, and a plague of back luck followed him. They believed the Numbers were cursed; it led to Toomey's suicide and Simms' insanity.

At the mental institution, Dr. Brooks told Hurley that he knew about "the accident" in which Hurley blamed himself for going out on a porch, which then collapsed, killing two people. Dr. Brooks told Hurley that 23 people were on the porch that was only constructed to hold 8. That as a result, Hurley was in "a catatonic state." Dr. Brooks prescribes medications that Dave tells Hurley not to take - - - and Dr. Brooks photographs Hurley with Dave, but the photograph reveals that Dave is not in the picture. (Also at the facility, Libby as a patient is taking her medications when the picture is being taken - - - and Dave can not be seen from her viewpoint.)

We have the connection of catatonic patient histories with Leonard and Hurley. There connection increases when Hurley returns to the hospital to tell Leonard that he used the Numbers and won the lottery. Simms comes out of his catatonic state to berate Hurley for what he had done; he screamed "You've opened the Box!"

Later in the series, Ben tells Locke about the island powers and a magic box. If he wished something, it would appear on the island. Shortly thereafter, Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, appears in the dungeon. Cooper claims he was in a serious automobile accident and the next thing he knows he is strapped to a torture chair. Cooper also states during this meetings that he believes they are all dead and in Hell.

We never see an actual Box. But if Simms was correct in that using the Numbers for luck would open a box of curses, it could be a metaphor for opening a Pandora's box which means to start something that many new and unexpected problems. The Numbers were a trap when used to gain money on games of chance as it cursed the victor with subsequent bad luck leading to a mental breakdown.

IN the episode, "Dave," we learn of the Numbers past and the ramifications upon Hurley. We also learn that the original script was rejected by ABC because it would lead many to conclude the whole LOST saga was all "in Hurley's head." However, the episode still points to that theory through Hurley's interactions with Dave on the island.

During the food drop find, Hurley runs away to find Dave's slipper in the jungle. Later, he chases Dave through the jungle to the beach and Eko's church under construction. Frustrated, Hurley goes to Sawyer for his medication because "he's seeing a bald guy in a bathrobe." Sawyer says Hurley is "nuts," and they fight. Hurley decides to head to the caves to live alone. Dave appears during this long walk. Dave convinces Hurley that he is still at the mental hospital, but in a coma. Dave says that everything that's happened since Hurley "locked Dave out of the hospital" is all in Hurley's head. Dave leads Hurley to the edge of a cliff and tells him if Hurley jumps "everything will return to his old life." To show him, Dave jumps first. Hurley is about to jump when Libby suddenly appears and stops him. Hurley rationalizes that he is a comatose dream, that nothing is real including Libby, especially since he could never have such an attractive woman like him. Libby replies that "he is regressing," and tells him that she likes him. She then kisses him (which stops Hurley from jumping) and says she "does this feel real?"

One of the odd things about the Hurley-Libby relationship is that neither acknowledged knowing or seeing each other while at the mental hospital. They were in the same small day room. They had the same nurse. They would have seen each other on a daily basis. Yet, when they meet on the island, there is no recognition at all. And Libby does not tell Hurley their kiss is "real" but whether it "feels real" as in a vivid imagination or dream state.

The dynamic pull between Dave and Libby is strange. Dave offered Hurley a chance to "get out of his coma" by leaping away from his dream state while Libby interrupted the plan by saying, like a physician, that Hurley was "regressing" (from what?) Regress means to return mentally to a former stage of life or to a supposed previous life. One could surmise that Libby did in fact stop Hurley from returning to his previous (non coma) life. If Hurley was in a coma, but his subconscious created a vivid imaginary life of riches, heartbreak, curses, adventure, and now love, his ego might not want to let go of the fantasy world. To our knowledge, Hurley never actually returns to his normal, pre-accident life.

In reciting the Numbers, Simms stressed the number 8, which was Hurley's candidate number from the Lighthouse. If one grids out a Connect Four game board in numbers, you would find that there are no living candidates that make a four square connection. So the board itself is immaterial to the conclusion of the Jacob-MIB conflict.

A further examination of the base elements of the game: Jacob said he was looking for one candidate to replace him, but did not say how he would defeat MIB. The Numbers were important components throughout the Island so they must have some significance. The Six Numbers add up to 108. Who were the Four left to battle MIB at the End? Jack (23), Kate (51), Hurley (8) and Ben (117). Their candidate numbers total 199, 91 more than the Numbers. There is no Candidate 91 that we are aware of. What made MIB human so he could die? The re-boot of the cork at the Light cave. Who was present on the same team for that event? Hurley (8), Jack (23), Ben (117) and Desmond. Now, Desmond name was never mentioned as a candidate. He had no number. But Desmond was always mentioned as being "special," a wild card even on the Island. The other three numbers total 148. There was one other "special" person who was missing from the island, Walt Dawson. Dawson's number was 40. So if one assumes Desmond was a substitute "special" person, the opposite of Walt, the connection between the four at the Light Cave would be 148 minus 40 or 108. Since there were four candidates working together at the same "reset" of the Light Cave (the Box), that combination allowed the Box to be resealed and end the Jacob-MIB conflict. The cursed bad luck that plagued Hurley would be cured, and he would remain the Island guardian until he decided to "move on" to the sideways after life.

But again, to our knowledge, Hurley never actually returns to his normal, pre-porch accident life. After MIB's demise, believe Hurley is no longer cursed: he is large and in charge on the Island making his own rules (which is the exact opposite of his pre-accident life).

There was an episode in Star Trek:TNG called "Remember Me." Dr. Crusher was taken through an experimental warp bubble into her own reality created by her own thoughts at the time of the accident. A mysterious Traveler tells the crew that humans have a limited understanding that the mind can alter time and space. In this context, Dr. Crusher's thoughts at the time she was transported into the alternative realm constructed an elaborate cascade of events of the alt Enterprise crew disappearing because her pre-accident conversation with a colleague was about how so many of their old friends were gone. Only after she figured out that she was in her own reality did she realize that there was a gateway home, through a white light vortex. The underlying human condition of the episode was that perception can be reality.

Which gets us back to Hurley's porch accident. He comes out on the porch, and it collapses - - - and his last thoughts may have been "it's my fault that people got killed or hurt. I am cursed with bad luck . . ." That mental state could have created his own alternative, complex reality in his coma or catatonic post-accident condition, with vivid characters and places that his mind perceives as real. What could also enhance the experience would be the the connection that the other Island characters were actually other party guests he knew or saw before the porch collapsed which sent him into his alternative reality.

Hurley appears to be a good keystone for the beginning and the end of LOST. It is interesting to note that the show's themes of good or evil, redemption or greed, black and white morality have no bearing on a non-judgmental character such as Hurley, especially if it was Hurley's reality at issue.

The four points of LOST could be family, friends, life and death. Throughout the series, there were never more content of family, friends, life and death than through Hurley's character.

Were Dave's statements to Hurley the unified truth to LOST?

ONE YEAR LATER

2011-05-23T11:00:00.004-05:00

"It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine!" - - - R.E.M.

Today marks the first anniversary of the LOST finale, "The End."

A few people will load a DVD or tape into the console tonight to re-watch the finale. I have yet to re-watch the episode since I was caught up in the blogosphere and media blizzard of pros, cons, indifference, analysis and paralysis that were spawned by the final conclusion of the show.

But that tide of emotive angst and release quickly dissipated into the darkness of a turned off television screen. Not even the release of the Box Set with new epilogues or the Lost Encyclopedia stirred any renewed excitement about the show. It was over. The fan discussion groups, the comment boards, and dedicated LOST web sites began to fade away. The intense discussions and theory debates were over. The tribal community spirit that the show created has been lost, never to return. Sentimentalists will sniff once or twice today. Realists would have moved on to some other preoccupation. Scholars will keep the volumes of reactive words buried on the book shelves until another time.

Most of the actors of the show have walked away without many new credits except media reports that some were cast in new TV pilots or some B movie roles. Many of the Lost cast decided to take long hiatus from acting, fearing that they would be "type cast." Daniel Dae Kim did get a role on the ill conceived re-boot of Hawaii Five-O. Evangeline Lilly returned to modeling and is now beginning a family. It would seem that there is a zero chance of any sort of television reunion or rebirth of the series. The finale made sure of that.

FORESHADOWING ACTOR QUOTE

2011-05-20T10:46:00.002-05:00

From January 19, 2010:

TVGuide.com: How do you feel about heading into the end of the series?

Michael Emerson: I feel great curiosity, because from what I've shot up to this point, I don't see any end in sight. The storyline is continuing to expand instead of contract. It's grown more fragmented, rather than becoming more unified. The threads aren't joining up, they're flying away. It will be dazzling to see. Certain big mysteries on this show are being answered. Every episode, something huge is falling into place, but it's still a mystery.

SIMPLE QUESTION

2011-05-18T14:26:00.006-05:00

It is a simple question that has never been asked: when did the Sideways time line begin?

If you look at some sites, the flash sideways intercuts into the Island story line, begin with the Flight of 815 in September, 2004, and last only for about a week. And since the sideways world was alleged created by the Island characters after their deaths (from 2004-2007), there is some evidence that the sideways world was mirroring the Island time space of the middle of September, 2004.

Except, the sideways world characters had detailed, long term lives, such as Jack and his teenage son, which infers a longer "time period" than merely a week. And since Jack was married to Juliet, the sideways realm infers a totally different series of personal events than the reality of the Island realm.

Why are there such major changes? Why did the sideways world characters create new important people if they were merely "waiting" for Jack to die and "awaken" in the church? And if Jack died in 2007, why were some other characters who survived him (Hurley, Ben, Kate) already "awakened" in the sideways world before Jack?

You could look at these ponder points several ways: 1) you could flip the sideways world around as being the "true" event time line and the Island world as the awakening purgatory; 2) you could say the flash forwards and flash backs were also part of the sideways world and not part of the Island characters past (which means we know nothing about the survivors except was they said and did on the Island); or 3) the sideways world was a Ground Hog Day endless loop of September, 2004 until all the characters died and remembered that the sideways world was not real.

None of these possibilities truly answers the main question: when did the sideways world begin? Was it with Christian's death? Was it with Daniel's time skipping death before he was born? Was it when Jacob's brother died?

TWO WORLDS TWO TIMES ONE PROBLEM

2011-04-23T10:06:00.023-05:00

The image above is a picture of Rousseau's map. It just occurred to me that the shape of the island contours as represented on it as two human spines. Adam and Eve resting in the cave, which would represent Crazy Mother and Jacob's brother, the separation of the island guardian and the smoke monster island protector. The theme of division has always been strong in the LOST story arcs, including the two worlds division contained in The End.

One of the least discussed aspects of The End was the drop-kick revelation that the sideways world was a created after life realm for the island characters to re-group and move on together.

Just about every new character that was introduced to the island came as a result of a death or near death transportation: shipwrecks, plane crashes, even Juliet swallowing an overdose of pills to get on the submarine . . . why? If one takes Jacob's statement at face value, he was the one who brought "everyone" to the island.

But what really is the island? It was not merely a location, but TPTB and fan base concluded that the island was a character in itself, a conscious being of unknown power.

World One: The Island

The Island is the geographic location of LOST castaways, covering a period of at least 2000 years.

The Island has healing powers and cured John Locke of his paralysis and Rose of her cancer. It also functions as a "cork" that suppresses a dangerous force from escaping. At the Heart of the Island is a bright light, the source of "life, death, (and) rebirth" that needs to be protected. The current protector is Hugo Reyes. The protector also brings others to the island for various purposes, such as becoming the the new protector of the island.

The Island was apparently inhabited by Egyptians and possibly Sumerians and Southeast Asians in the distant past, and also was home to a village of Latin-speaking people who were shipwrecked there in the early first millennium. The Island periodically moves its physical location, as it took significant calculations to find since it is hidden from plain view. The Island was in the South Pacific Ocean in 2004 but could have been in the Mediterranean Sea at some point in its history. At the end, the island seems to submerge upon the passing of Jacob and MIB.

According to Jacob, the Island acts as a cork, holding back a malevolent force that would destroy the world if released. When the Man in Black made contact with the site of this suppression, the Heart of the Island, he transformed into a smoke monster that plagued the Island for thousands of years. A protector guards the Heart of the Island, the source of life, death and rebirth. Despite the Heart, or possibly because of it, not all who die on the Island move on - some remain, whispering. Other apparitions of unknown origin also appear, often confronting people with images from their past.

The Heart of the Island manifests itself as electromagnetism concentrated in specific pockets. The Man in Black's people dug wells at these sites, and the Dharma Initiative built stations, including the Orchid and the Swan. Lostpedia states that from at least 1977, when scientists penetrated a pocket, this energy has healed sickness, including cancer, paralysis, brain damage and male infertility, but it causes pregnant women to reject embryos, killing both mother and fetus. The electromagnetism also affects navigation, hiding the Island from the outside world (thus the reason rescue almost never came), drawing back those who leave the Island, moving the Island and even transporting travelers through time.

World Two: Sideways Realm

Lostpedia concludes that the Season 6 "sideways world view" was merely a new narrative technique - the flash sideways. Like flashbacks and flash forwards, flash sideways intercut into episodes' main action a secondary storyline, which covered the centric characters at a different time. The series finale revealed the nature of the world the flash sideways portrayed: it showed the characters meeting after death. As such, the flash sideways are in a sense Flash-forwards.

Lostpedia believes the sound cues reveals the difference and the connection between the two world/time periods: In "Happily Ever After", Desmond Hume transitioned between the original time line and the flash-sideways time line with the absence of the flash-sideways sound effect, in similar fashion to the way in which his story transitioned between present and past in "The Constant" without the flashback/flash-forward sound effect. However, the sound effect was used at the end of the episode, when he transitioned back into the sideways time line, indicating that this last flash was a normal flash-sideways, and not consciousness-travel, as the main body of the episode was.

Lostpedia concludes that the sideways world was merely a FLASH FORWARD in time to where all the Island characters were dead. The problem with that conclusion is that could not happen in a linear, chronological time line in one plane of existence.

Jack died on the island 14 days after Flight 316 crash landed on the island. That flight was around late October-early November of 2007, after John Locke is killed, which would make Jack's death on the island around November 14, 2007.

However, Jack awakens in the sideways church and is told he is dead, only a week after Flight 815 lands in LA, around September 29, 2004. On that day in the original island time line, Jack is trying to get people on the beach to move to the safety of the caves. During one trip to the caves, there is a cave in on or about September 29, 2004, which traps Jack (who is rescued with only a separated shoulder injury).

There is a significant continuity issue at play. If Jack was awakened in the sideways world time only AFTER he died on the island, then his death would have been as a result of the cave collapse on Day 8 after the crash of Flight 815 in 2004, and not Day 14 after the crash of Flight 316 in 2007.

Even if one accepts the concept of non-linear time (time is a meandering stream), there is still a problem of Jack having a separate sideways (flash back) existence in the sideways time than the reality of the island (present and flash backs) time line.

September, 2004 island time line: Jack is alive on the island.
September, 2004 sideways time line: Jack is dead in the church at his father's funeral.
November, 2007 island time line: Jack dies on the island.

In order to sync to the sideways time stamp of September 29, 2004 as Christian's funeral, Jack would have had to "die" in the cave collapse on Day 8 after the 815 crash. So how did Jack's body continue "on" in the island time for at least another three years?!

One could right off time as being immaterial to the LOST story, like Christian's lame explanation of the here and now in the sideways world not being the past or the present. But if "time" is irrelevant concept in the LOST mythology, why was it so critical to many of the story lines of Daniel, Desmond, the time skippers back to 1974 Dharma? One would have thought that the time frames from the island and sideways worlds would intersect at the same date in the End.

But as the island had two spines in topography, why were not the two different time periods fully explained in LOST?

SS6: Number 1: The Smoke Monster

2011-04-21T14:15:00.015-05:00

Coming into the final season, the biggest, baddest question to be decided in fan's minds was "what was the Smoke Monster?"

The blast door map noted a "Cerberus," a security system, guarding the island. The mysterious black smoke monster had a chilling sound (some believed it to be mechanical). The monster appeared to have only base, violent instincts. It killed the 815 pilot. It created a sense of horror throughout the jungle to survivors. But throughout the seasons, we did see contradictions. Kate and Juliet were saved by hiding in a banyan tree (though Juliet was "scanned.") Banyan trees are said to be home to "good spirits," implying that the monster was a "bad spirit." Ben used his secret closet and opened a drain to send water underground to "summon" the smoke monster, who arrived at the barracks in a rage to kill everyone there (Ben stated he had no control over it when they ran into the jungle). The monster also showed intelligence to take on other forms from character's memories, like Eko's brother when Eko refused to repent for his past sins.

There were always questions of what the smoke monster was made of; and what could repel it (the sonic fence? the rain? water?)

In Season 6, we learned "who" was the Smoke Monster, but not "what" it was.

Jacob was appointed by Mother to be the new island protector in a simple ceremony outside the Light Cave. This was done because Jacob's brother's actions. Jacob's brother left their home to be with the Others, shipwrecked members of his real mother's crew. He learned that there was a place beyond the island, his "real" home. He lived with the Others and learned a way to leave the Island (by building the unexplainable FDW). In a rage, Crazy Mother killed all of the villagers so as to keep her sons on the Island. In response, Jacob's brother killed Mother, who had turned "mortal" through the transfer of the guardianship to Jacob. Her rules still applied to them: they could not kill each other. Jacob, finding that his brother had killed Mother, threw an unconscious MIB into the light cave - - - and as a result, the violent smoke monster rushed forth, leaving only Jacob's brother's dead body (for which Jacob buried in the caves with Mother as Adam and Eve.) It is unclear whether the Light Cave itself killed MIB, "awakened" by the man's presence or combined with Jacob's brother to form this new being. In any event, Jacob found a "loophole" to kill his brother; and his brother's alter ego, the Smoke Monster, spent centuries trying to find his "loophole" to kill Jacob.

As the Smoke Monster, it could manifest itself in many forms, including deceased individuals, most frequently as Jacob's brother (MIB) and in the end, the deceased John Locke (Flocke). As a mind reader and manipulator of matter, it is clear that the Monster was a dangerous force. The dynamic between Jacob and MIB continued to be one of sibling rivalry, an enlarged game of human senet.

The creation of the Smoke Monster is not clear. Some have suggested that Crazy Mother herself, was the Smoke Monster, who was really the immortal guardian of the Island. It was not explained how throwing a man into the Light Cave, the source of life, death and rebirth, would create a monster. We saw that the Light Cave contained skeletons of men, who apparently died trying to figure out the mystery of the light source. We also saw that once Desmond uncorked the stone, the Island went into chaos, and once Jack replaced the stone, the Island returned to normal but the Smoke Monster as Flocke suddenly turned "mortal" (as did other "immortals" such as Richard). How did this Island "re-set" button change the fundamental physical properties of MIB-Smoke Monster? And why did the immortal Jacob "die" before this Island re-set inside the Light Cave? Was Jacob also a smoke monster, with powers equal to MIB? If that is true, then why could Jacob leave the island but MIB could not? Was it just one of Jacob's own "rules?"

The majority of LOST fan base is probably satisfied with the knowledge that the Smoke Monster was part of the Jacob-twin brother back story. But a minority probably view the Smoke Monster sage as a lost opportunity to fully develop a sci-fi basis for the entire Island mythology.

We think we know who was the Smoke Monster (Jacob's brother's spirit), but not was never confirmed as fact. We all can agree that we don't know "what" the Smoke Monster was except a homicidal chameleon in MIB's form. We don't know if there were other smoke like monsters on the Island (but we know that trapped souls/spirits remain like whispers as Hurley found out in his last encounter with dead Michael). We don't know why the smoke monster was created or viewed as a security system by Dharma and the Others. We don't know what they thought it was protecting besides the island itself. And finally, we don't know "how" the smoke monster formed, transformed, lived and died (cease to be immortal).

SS6: Number 2: The Polar Bears

2011-04-21T13:45:00.011-05:00

What is the deal about the Polar Bears?

The polar bear question surfaced in the pilot as a puzzling mystery when a survivor's scouting party is attacked by one (and Sawyer pulls a gun and kills it). The polar bear is last seen in Season 3 episode, "Further Instructions."

Since it was one of the first "shock" revelations in the series, fans continue to hark back on the polar bear question to try to find some deeper revelation in the underlying LOST mythology.

Why were polar bears on the island begs Charlie's question, not where but "what is the island?"

According to Dharma information, polar bears were brought to the island for experiments. On the Hydra Island, they were kept in cages. They learned to get out fish biscuits from a complex puzzle machine. Dr. Chang in a film indicated that the bears were used for studies in electromagnetic research. The bears were used to test the frozen donkey wheel chamber, and were transported to the desert of Tunisia, where Charlotte found the remains of one with a Dharma collar tag. Ben and Locke also wound up at this exit point after turning the FDW.

For creationists (those who believe the island is the mental creation of some one or group), Walt was reading Hurley's comic book which contained a picture of a polar bear. The theory is that Walt's mental abilities created the polar bears on the island.

Another explanation was contained on the Blast Door Map. The Latin name for "polar bear", Ursus maritimus, is mentioned on blast door diagram, implying that the bears were used during experiments on the Island as follows: "STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE. Valenzetti theorists would conclude that polar bears experiments to change arctic animals behavior and adaptation of harsh climates was an attempt to change the variables in the doomsday equation for humanity.

Alien theorists (those who believe aliens or alien technology was the root of the Island powers) thought this description was for the cosmic constellation of Ursus Maritimus, as an origin or nexus point in time space to the Island and its creators.

The science or science fiction aspects of the reasons why polar bears were on the island faded away but remained a gnawing mystery in some fan's minds. After the purge, why were the polar bears let out of their cages? Why use large, dangerous animals like bears to conduct experiments when the closest human counterpart is monkeys? Or in Ben's case, he directly used human subjects in his experiments to find a solution to the fertility problem.

The use of polar bears roaming a tropical jungle island was an absurd and strange hook in the pilot episode. It could be viewed now as a symbol or metaphor that the Island was not a real island, but a different place or realm where our notions of reality are not the rules.

SS6: Number 3: The Numbers

2011-04-21T11:20:00.023-05:00

Oh, The Numbers. The six numbers that haunted LOST fans for Six Years. Those pesky numbers kept on showing up on props, signals, odometers, cave walls, lighthouse dials, lottery tickets, flight numbers, the hatch door, computer screens, computer read-outs, and numerous theories.

The Numbers. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

Was there any final conclusion to what the Numbers represented?

I guess it depends if you think the Numbers were important.

Hurley thought the Numbers were important: as bad luck, a curse or a bad omen, every time he encountered them. Danielle must have thought the same thing, as the signal repeating the numbers led to her coming to the Island.

Many fans speculated that the Numbers had to deal with Dharma or some unknown group trying to change the values of the Valenzetti Equation. That theorem is a 1970s equation that attempts to determine the end of humanity. Dharma was conducting various experiments to either create, change or modify life in an attempt to change the coefficients of the equation to save the world. But that does not explain why the numbers were broadcast as an island location beacon; why they were on the hatch serial number; or why those numbers had to be put into the Swan computer in order to avoid a release of electromagnetic energy.

The fans really, really, really wanted an answer to the Numbers. They wanted the Numbers to be foundational to the whole story line. They have to be disappointed.

We found in the lighthouse and in MIB's cave, the Numbers allegedly represented potential Candidates.T he Numbers represented the last six candidates to succeed Jacob as island protector:

4 was John Locke, who was killed off the island, and his body taken by MIB to create Flocke.

8 was Hugo Reyes, who feared the Numbers the most, and wound up the guardian after Jack.

15 was James Ford, Sawyer, who never wanted to take responsibility for anything until he time traveled with Juliet.

16 was Sayid Jarrah, who was taken over by "The Darkness" and MIB.

23 was Jack Shepard, who defeated MIB and became the island protector for just a few short hours, until Flight 316, piloted by Frank, allowed Sawyer, Kate, Miles, Claire and Richard to leave the island.

42 was for Jin Kwon, who never left the island, who killed himself to stay with Sun in the sinking submarine.

Were the Numbers critical to the final explanation of the show? Or were the Numbers merely a clever plot device, a red herring, to keep fans watching intently and discussing the meaning of them from week to week? (I really liked by Periodic Chart of the Elements Theory). The conclusion, as written, the Numbers were basically used as immaterial bait to keep fans interested in the show. The function of the numbers being so coincidental throughout the seasons is an easter egg not found and left to rot in the yard. The idea that the Numbers were merely symbolic placeholders in Jacob's still convoluted plan to maintain the Island special powers seems disappointing, especially to die hard sci-fi fans looking for a deeper explanation. There is little elegance in the Numbers being merely a scorecard.

Considering the lighthouse contained hundreds of names and numbers crossed off during the centuries, the LOST numbers appear just to be random footnotes. And in the vetting of these final Candidates, there are very little cohesion or moral values between the actual characters. In fact, three had violent or criminal pasts (Ford, Kwon, Jarrah). Two were real life losers (Locke and Reyes, until he won the lottery then began to lose his mind). So by default, Jack winds up as the least flawed person on this list, if you exclude his personal life and drug addiction. In fact, none of the final Candidates had high moral standards to protect something so important as the Light and Island, the source of life, death and rebirth. I guess it is true, when your number is up, your number is really up.

SS6: Number 4: Adam and Eve

2011-04-20T14:50:00.011-05:00

In 2004, Jack, Kate and Locke were chased into the caves by a swarm of bees. Inside, they found the remains of two bodies. Locke called them Adam and Eve. Jack, being a doctor, stated the bodies must have been dead 40-50 years based upon the deterioration of their clothing. Jack found black and white stones, but failed to tell Locke of his discovery.

In 2007, when Jack and Hurley went to the caves, Hurley thought that the skeletons might belong to two of the Flight 815 survivors as a result of time travel.

In the Jacob-MIB centric episode, "Across the Sea," we learn the identities of Adam and Eve: Jacob's brother and their crazy, adoptive mother. Jacob placed them in the cave after his brother killed Mother in a rage, and after Jacob threw his brother's body into the light cave, killing his mortal soul. From that point forward, Jacob used black and white stones to represent him and MIB.

For some, the revelation of the names of Adam and Eve was a non-event. It also showed that Jack's assessment of decomposition was off by thousands of years.

The cave of Adam and Eve was one of four burial rituals shown during LOST. The concept of laying out bodies in caves as a funeral rite goes back thousands of years in the Middle East. But it begs the question, how did Jacob know of that custom if he was born on the Island and separated from the Others?

The other known grave was the pit where Ben had the Others toss the purged Dharma members.
This mass grave is representative of warfare.

For the Others, we saw Colleen's ritual to be a Viking-style funeral pyre. It was apparently done to avoid that person's body being taken by MIB. The crash survivors used cremation of the deceased passengers from the plane in a beach funeral pyre.

Afterward, the 815ers buried their dead in a graveyard. The Tailies also did the same during their separation from the 815ers.

Who were Adam and Eve? Jacob's brother and his adoptive crazy Mother.
Why were they buried in the cave? Jacob did it out of respect and/or grief.
What role did Adam and Eve play in the resolution of the LOST story? A footnote in Jacob's back story.

SS6: Number 5: Richard Alpert

2011-04-19T15:24:00.017-05:00

Who was the ageless Richard Alpert?

We received a one episode miniseries on Richard's epic background story, in "Ab Aeterno."

In 1867, Richard was married to Isabella, who comes down with a fateful disease. He rushes far away to get medicine from a fraudulent chemist, who refuses to give him the medicine because he has not enough to pay for it. In a struggle, Richard kills the man. He rushes off with the medicine to his home, but finds his wife dead; and the posse comes in shortly thereafter and arrests him for murder. His whole life is ruined; and his quest for a cure for his wife was for naught.

He was convicted for murder. For some reason, Richard, a peasant, learned English through reading the Bible. He sought a priest's forgiveness for his crime, which was coldly denied. Then later, as the gallows were prepared, Richard's life was "spared" by being sold by the priest into indentured servitude on the Black Rock crew. But that ship did not reach its destination, as a storm took it from its Caribbean destination to the Island (which we assume is in the Pacific). We believe it is the ship that Jacob and MIB talk about on the beach; where MIB claims Jacob's brought people to the Island.

The Black Rock is shipwrecked on the Island. A fellow slave looks out of the cracks in the ship and tells Richard he sees land. He then sees the Tawaret statue and yells that he sees the Devil and guesses aloud that the Devil protects the island. The ship is carried up to the crest of a gigantic wave and thrown against the head of the statue.

Only a few crew members survive. An officer comes below deck and begins to kill the slaves to conserve resources. Just as he is about to kill Richard, the Smoke Monster appears on the deck killing the crew. It then takes the officer and rips him through a grate to his demise. Then Smokey comes down and comes face to face with Richard (apparently reading his mind) and leaves. Days probably pass and Richard is in and out of consciousness. Then, he sees a vision of his dead wife, who tells him they are both dead. Then the noise of the monster returns, and Richard yells at her to flee, and is led to believe she is destroyed above deck. More time passes, and MIB shows up as a "friend." He explains that this is Hell. And that he has a job for Richard: to kill the Devil.

The Devil was Jacob, who easily stops the attack.
Richard explains that the Man in Black said that the only way he could see his wife again was if he killed Jacob. Jacob says the person he saw was not his wife, that he is not dead and he is not in Hell. Richard remains convinced that he is dead so Jacob drags him into the sea and submerges him four times, asking if he still thinks he is "dead."

On the beach the two sit together. Jacob says that he is not the Devil. He also explains that he brought the Black Rock to the Island. Jacob explains to Richard why he brings people to the Island by using a wine bottle as a metaphor for the Island. The wine is evil, malevolence; the bottle is containing it because otherwise "it would spread". He explains that the cork represents the Island, holding the darkness where it belongs. Jacob says that the Man in Black believes everyone can be corrupted because it is in their nature to be bad and that he, Jacob, brings people here to prove the Man in Black wrong. Richard asks whether or not Jacob has brought people to the Island in the past and what happened to them, Jacob replies that he has, but they are all now dead.

Jacob says he wants people to know the difference between right and wrong without being told. Richard says that if Jacob won't help these people then MIB would step in. Jacob thinks a moment and then offers Richard the job of being his representative, an intermediary to the people he brings to the Island. When Jacob can't or won't intervene, he proposes Richard can step in on his behalf. When Richard says that in return he wants his wife back; Jacob admits he cannot do this. Richard then asks to be absolved of his sins, so that he will not go to Hell. Jacob says he cannot do that either. Richard then asks to be granted immortality and to never die. Jacob says that he can do this, and touches Richard on the shoulder.

So Richard apparently becomes the ageless go-between for Jacob to the Others for 130 years.

Richard's backstory, however rich in history and drama, creates more conflicting representations in the overall story line. There were many references and situations of Richard's own death prior to being released by MIB. The shipwreck could be considered a metaphor for Jacob being the ferryman into the afterlife, bringing lost souls to the Island realm. Forgiveness and resurrection were Season 6 themes attached to Richard's story. But those ideas conflict with what Jacob said to Richard that he could not bring back the dead to life; but we believe he did when Locke was pushed out the building by Cooper. Jacob said he could not absolve sins; but he never stopped anyone on the Island from sinning through he wanted to prove people should know the difference between right and wrong. In the end, Richard's immortality ends with the death of Jacob and the re-boot of the Island cork.

The mystery of Richard turned out to be a simple one: he was an earlier version of the lost souls from Flight 815; caught up in the debate of man between Jacob and MIB.

SS6: Number 6: Widmore vs. Ben

2011-04-18T14:03:00.014-05:00

There was always an intense hatred between Charles Widmore and Benjamin Linus. The open question was the reason behind this blood feud.

We knew Widmore was a former leader of the Others. He was on the island in 1954 when the time skippers, including his son Daniel, arrived to deal with Jughead. At that time, Eloise appeared to be in charge or the co-leader. Richard followed her lead more than Widmore's as time passed and their roles changed. The Others were clear followers of the word of Jacob. At some point, Eloise left the island (possibly to give birth to Daniel?), leaving Richard to scheme to find a replacement.

The Widmore-Linus rivalry may have started when Ben was recruited by Richard to join the Others. Widmore had ordered Ben to go kill Danielle and her child. When Ben got to his mission, he changed it. He kidnapped Alex and told an angry Widmore that Jacob had told him what to do. It was a lie. But the statement bolted Ben, even as a boy, up the Others leadership ranks. The finale coup de tat in the Others hierarchy was Ben's execution of the Dharma collective. The killing of his own father for the sake of the Island was held in great esteem by the Others. He had trumped Widmore. Shortly thereafter, Widmore was conned or "exiled" from the Island by Ben. The reason was unclear, but it could have been Widmore leaving the island and having another child, Penny. Widmore vowed to return after his banishment and reclaim his role on the Island. Another mystery was how did Widmore, a brash lad on the island in 1954, suddenly become a super-wealthy industrialist? Did he leave the island and take over all of Dharma's assets to become an instant millionaire?

For unknown reasons, Ben claimed that he was unable to kill Widmore even when given the opportunity, and that they both knew it. This relates to the Rules governing the two’s dispute, which he said Widmore "changed" upon his mercenary killing Ben's daughter Alex. But if the Rule was that family could not be killed, Alex was not Ben's real daughter (a loophole). As a response to this, Ben told Charles that he would find and kill his daughter, Penny.

Concurrently, Widmore was plotting to indirectly kill Ben by using Sun's anger against Ben to Widmore's advantage. It is unclear whether Ben's use of Sayid as an assassin was the counterbalance to Widmore's plan of killing Ben.

In 2007, Widmore finally returned to the Island in a submarine after claiming to have been invited by Jacob, who “convinced [him] of the error of [his] ways.” At this time, Ben's leadership role in the Others was gone. MIB/Flocke had taken control (under the threat of death). Ben became a weak follower, his vision of his future as Island leader, lost. It was under the vague promise of Flocke that if MIB could leave the island, Ben could have it. The only way that could happen was that if Ben killed Jacob, which he did.

Widmore claimed Jacob told him everything he needed to know to stop MIB from leaving the island. He brought Desmond back with him, as a last resort in case all of Jacob's Candidates died. Widmore was eventually shot to death by Ben in front of MIB/Flocke. Ben broke the Rule against killing Widmore directly. But it apparently had little consequence in the final end game of MIB's quest to leave the island.

What was the intense Widmore-Linus battle about? The power or control of the Island? But that was Jacob's role. The control of the Others? They both had leadership command, but it was not absolute. The island survivors were merely left over pawns in the game between Jacob and his brother. But the big build up of the Widmore-Linus "war" in Season 6 fizzled.

Was this blood feud supposed to symbolized something else? The Widmore-Linus dynamic of needing to return to the island in order to control it is the mirror opposite of the Jacob-MIB dynamic of the brothers wanting to leave the island at some point to move on.

Widmore's return to the island and his death had no impact on his life in the sideways realm. Widmore's death on the island did not trigger any awakening in the sideways realm, where he is the dutiful husband to all-knowing Eloise.

Ben's fall from leadership of the Others in some ways led to the death of Alex and Danielle. His acceptance of a role as second in command under Hurley's apparent island guardianship because he had no place to go. This second island term may have caused Ben to stay behind to make amends with Alex and Danielle in the sideways realm, but only after he was "awakened" by Desmond hitting him with a car.

It is debatable whether the Widmore-Linus story arc was an important aspect of the LOST mythology or merely filler.

SS6: Number 7: Claire's Disappearance

2011-04-16T10:21:00.011-05:00

Claire was one of the central early mysteries whose story arc suddenly dropped to no relevance. The initial conflict between Ben and the Others and the 815ers centered around the Others inability to conceive children to term. Juliet was held on the island to solve the pregnancy issues that no child could be born on the island. The reason was never truly explained. When Claire arrived on the island pregnant, she was kidnapped by the Others, tested in the Swan station against an unknown infection. We would later learn that children had been born on the island before: Jacob and his brother, and Alex.

Everyone had an interest in Claire's baby except Claire herself. It was only after the relationship with Charlie did Claire feel comfortable with her child.

In season 5, Claire is living with Kate at the Barracks. When freighter mercenaries attack, Claire is blown up in her house. Sawyer digs through the debris and finds her, but she thinks he is dead Charlie. Following her rescue, Ben summons the smoke monster to attack Keamy's men. Claire is horrified by the monster's violence. She escapes into the jungle. Miles strangely stares at her during the march back to the beach. This is a clue that something is wrong.

During the night, she wakes up to find Aaron missing. She finds him in the arms of Christian. "Dad?" she says. When Sawyer asks where Claire went, Miles says she went off to the jungle. Sawyer only finds Aaron. When the crew rejoins Jack and Kate, they ask what happened to Claire since Sawyer is holding Aaron, Sawyer says "we lost her." This is when Kate assumes responsibility for Aaron and leaving the island.

Claire is next seen by Locke in Jacob's cabin. She is an apparent odd, drug like state. She has no concern for her child. She is with him (Christian, or the image of her father). After the O6 leave, Claire comes to Kate in a dream scolding her not to bring Aaron back to the island. Instead, Kate vows a personal quest to bring Claire back to Aaron.

For the three years of time gap in the O6 return, Claire has apparently been living the life of Danielle Rousseau. Living in the jungle, fearful of the Others at the Temple, hiding and setting traps. In one of the stark, gross and crazy props of the show, she is caring for a Dead Squirrel Baby as a substitute for her own child, which she was wrongly told by Flocke was being held by the Others at the Temple. It seems that during the three years in the jungle, Claire had continuous contact with "her friend," the image of Christian, which in reality was Flocke (MIB). Dogen said that she had become infected with "the darkness" and turned into a murderous, vengeful being.

When Claire is in the temple pit singing "Catch a Falling Star," Kate comes to apologize to her, and to rescue her. Claire is upset and angry at Kate. Then suddenly, the smoke monster attacks inside the Temple, nearly killing Kate.

If the sickness was code for being "put under a spell by MIB," then Claire's three years alone on the island only served his purpose of harassing the Others (Jacob's people). She was never a candidate, and she served no useful purpose except as self-pity baggage during the long meaningless jungle marches of Flocke.

For those who believe that Claire was killed in the freighter attack on the Barracks, then Claire's "disappearance" was no more than MIB creating another zombie killer as a tool on this island purgatory, just as he did with Sayid. Just like in her real life, Claire was discarded when something better came along (in Flocke's case, the weapon called Desmond who he'd throw down the Light cave). If Christian's words in The End were true, that her time on the island "was the most important thing in her life," then Claire's life was a miserable void.

So what happened when Claire disappeared into the Jungle with Christian? If she was alive, she replaced Danielle as the Island's crazy woman. She was an Other attacker and murderer. She became mentally unstable. She became a follower of MIB, who may have been the devil himself. For three years, she lived in the darkness; the pitch black evil of spiritual existence.

SS6: Number 8: Why is Walt Special?

2011-04-15T14:38:00.017-05:00

There were many LOST characters who had special gifts or talents, like Charlie and Daniel who had musical talent. But there were very few characters that were directly told that they "were special."

From recollection, these characters were once called "special:"

Claire was told by Aussie psychic Richard Malkin that Aaron was special.
MIB was told by Crazy Mother that he was special.
Ben told Locke that he thought he was special, as an island protector just like Locke thought of himself as having a special destiny to protect the island. Both men never wanted to leave the island, but did so in a time of crisis by turning the FDW.
Locke was told he was special by his Mother, because he had no father (immaculate conception).
Locke was also told by Richard Alpert that he was special when he was being recruited for a school.
Desmond was called special by Daniel because of Desmond's ability to mentally time travel and harness the island's electromagnetic properties.
Walt was called special by Tom and the Others who kidnapped him. Also, Walt's step father called him different (and dangerous) from his psychic abilities which included killing birds.

One could argue that "miracle babies" would be classified as "special."
Ben was born prematurely in a forest, far away from any medical care or treatment.
Locke was born after a car crash, and miraculous survived in an ICU chamber.
Aaron survived a plane crash to be born on the Island.
Jacob and his brother both survived a shipwreck to be born on the Island.
Alex survived a shipwreck to be born on the Island.

But Walt had none of background of the miracle babies.
Until he literally outgrew his role, Walt was the focal point for the Others.
He had some power or ability that the Others, including Ben, wanted to test or harness.

Walt had psychic abilities as a child. Some believe they were premonitions. Others thought
that he could control events, and cause death (such as various bird deaths). His step father was so afraid of him, he dumped him off to his father, Michael. "Sometimes when he is around, things happen," Brian told Michael. Example, he stopped the rain in order to search for Vincent in the jungle.

Walt also appeared as an apparent apparition: a) his imagine leads Shannon into the woods, who is then shot and killed by a startled Ana Lucia; b) he appears before a dying Locke who was shot by Ben and tells him to get out of the Dharma mass grave because "he has work to do." Now, this could have been the work of MIB taking the form of Walt in order to get the 815ers in motion for his "loophole" plan to kill Jacob (for which MIB may have needed Walt off the island -- through Michael shooting Ana Lucia and making a deal with the Others to leave with no chance of returning and then having Locke become his patsy to con Richard, Ben and the Others to lead him to Jacob for his revenge.)

Many theorized that Walt was supposed to be the new guardian. There is no conclusive evidence to support that theory. Walt's name did not appear in the Lighthouse as a Candidate for Jacob's replacement. Jacob never "touched" him.

Some theorized that Walt's psychic kinetic powers would be a weapon the Others could use against Widmore. He Walt thought about something, his mind could make it really happen. Like after reading a comic book on the plane about polar bears, a polar bear attacks the survivors.

But all speculation led to a dead end. Walt was written out of the series.

Was Walt "special?" In the first four seasons he was deemed special in the story lines. But in Season 6, his role brought no insight into the Finale. Walt only appears in archive footage with Locke in the End. Walt's character had no role in the events that led to the church conclusion.

But the mystery leading up to the last season was Why was Walt special? What was the reason or purpose for Walt special traits? Like many LOST questions, we really do not know.

SS6: Number 9: Man in Black

2011-04-14T15:33:00.013-05:00

The set up for Season 6 included the mystery surrounding Jacob's apparent rival, the Man in Black.

Non-canon references aside, we never learn this man's name.

In Season 6, MIB was the haphazard Island tour guide marching groups all around the Island in circles waiting for the final showdown. It is unclear whether Jacob kept MIB from leaving the Island, or whether the immortality of the Smoke Monster form kept him trapped by the Light cave cork.

The Man in Black lived with the original Others, the other survivors from his real mother's shipwreck. By living with these survivors, he believed that the Island wasn't his real home. He learned to question things by living with the survivors. Over time, he developed knowledge on how to leave the Island by creating the Frozen Donkey Wheel, to harness the power of the Light. He was correct, since the FDW did transport people from the Island to Tunisia. Crazy Mother thwarted his plans and killed all the ship survivors in his village. He, in turn, killed Crazy Mother with a dagger in a rage. Jacob took revenge by casting him into the Light Cave, which transformed him into the Smoke Monster.

The brothers spent the following centuries in conflict, drawing people to the island to test their nature. MIB grew weary of the humans Jacob brought to the Island. (It must have been just as Crazy Mother did, to find a replacement for her island prison). One would have thought that after centuries of humans being brought to the Island, MIB would have found a clear path of escape. The 815ers as a group were not that different or brilliant. They never solved the mysteries of the Island. They never answered Charlie's basic question, "what is this place?"

Though their mother had prevented them from hurting one another, the Man in Black eventually killed Jacob indirectly by assuming the form of John Locke, the Others lost new leader, and convincing Ben to kill Jacob with a dagger, just as MIB had done to Crazy Mother. The Greek tragedy mythology had come full circle. The Island could have been this family's sideways world waiting room to the final afterlife.

But, apparently, the killing of Jacob did not allow MIB to leave the Island. He then tried to kill Jacob's Candidates for Island protector role. MIB finally tried to use Desmond's unique power to destroy the Light Cave, thinking it would set himself free himself and destroy the Island. However, the disruption of the stone "cork" in the center of the Light Cave only rendered MIB mortal. A state of being that MIB himself did not realize until he was physically injured. Before the mortal MIB could leave the Island, he died falling off a cliff as a result of a confrontation with Jack, the new Island guardian, and Kate.

It is unclear whether the destruction of Jacob and MIB were necessary in order for the remaining survivors to leave the Island, or to "move on."

Who was MIB? Jacob's twin brother.
What was MIB? An immortal representation of Jacob's dead brother.
When did MIB arrive on the Island? More than 2000 years ago.
Where did MIB come from? Jacob's brother was born from shipwrecked Roman mother, Claudia, who was killed on the Island by Crazy Mother. MIB, as the personification of Jacob's brother, was created when Jacob killed his brother by throwing him into the Light cave.
Why was MIB important to the LOST story?

The last question is really the dead end alley in the previous Jacob post. For if the Jacob-MIB story line did not exist, there were alternative "conflicts" that the 815 survivors would have had to deal with in order for their characters to develop and grow together.

SS6: Number 10: Jacob

2011-04-12T10:04:00.020-05:00

At first, Jacob was an unseen entity that the Others feared, followed or both. His words and commands held great weight with the leaders of the Others, who refused to question his authority. Since we did not see him, viewers did not know whether Jacob was a man, a god-like entity, a priest, or spiritual religious icon.

We find out that Jacob's name causes the Others to react. The Others follow him, but he is not a leader in their midst. He lives in the base of the Tawaret statue, weaving mixed civilization tapestries.

It is apparent that Jacob can summon people to the island, as with the case of the Black Rock. It was an open question of whether or not he brought Oceanic 815 to the island or whether it was Desmond's failure to put in the Numbers into the Swan computer that led to an electromagnetic energy release.

The beach conversation between Jacob and the Man in Black was supposed to be the Big Clue as to the nature of the Island and the long, dynamic conflict of those trapped on it:

JACOB: I take it you're here because of the ship.
ENEMY: I am. How did they find the Island?
JACOB: You'll have to ask them when they get here.
ENEMY: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
JACOB: You are wrong.
ENEMY: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
ENEMY: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?
JACOB: Yes.
ENEMY: One of these days, sooner or later... I'm going to find a loophole, my friend.
JACOB: Well, when you do, I'll be right here.

And here is the set-up: Locke's backgammon analogy in practice. One white player (Jacob) against one black player (MIB).

In Season 6, "Across the Sea," we learn that Jacob and his brother, MIB, have been on the Island for more than 2000 years. They are somehow "immortal" beings, caused by the psychotic criminality of the Island's protector, Crazy Mother, who killed Claudia, their real Roman mother shortly after childbirth. Crazy Mother made the rule that the brothers could not harm each other. From a mythos, this relationship is a truce among equal Greek or Roman gods. A governor on some special powers that the Island gives its protectors.

In their childhood, MIB finds an Egyptian game, Senet, on the beach. MIB explains that it is a game and that he "just knows" how to play. He agrees to play with Jacob, but only if Jacob doesn't tell their mother because he believes she will take the game away from them.

Mother tells MIB that he is "special." She says that it was she that left the game for him. MIB says that he thought it may have come from a place not on the island, but "across the sea." She tells him that there is nowhere else, that the island is all there is.

MIB asks where they came from, to which Mother replies that the brothers came from her and she came from her mother, who is dead. The boy asks what "dead" means. His mother says that it is something that he will never have to worry about.

Later, MIB and Jacob find hunters on the island. They asked their Mother who these people are, and she replies that they are not supposed to interact with the Others. But later, Jacob makes a choice to stay with Mother while MIB disobeys goes off to the Others to determine if there is a world beyond the Island.

And this break within the family makes Jacob inherit the Island protector role from Crazy Mother. MIB stays with the Others, but tells Jacob that they are greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy and selfish. He explains he stays with them as a means to an end, that is, to leave. He has found knowledge of the Island's light source, and is constructing a wheel in a well in order to leave the Island. But it was always Mother's rule that they could never leave the Island.

It would seem that after Jacob's brother killed Crazy Mother, and Jacob found a "loophole" that killed his brother (throwing him into the light cave), Jacob was filled with remorse and pain. Whatever family he had was gone, and he was left alone on the Island with the Smoke Monster, the evil spirit of his brother.

As a strange means of penance, Jacob brings people from "across the sea" to the Island for the benefit of his dead brother's spirit, who can never leave the Island. It must be because his brother lived with the shipwreck survivors that Jacob thought that bringing other people to island would somehow comfort MIB. It did not. In fact, some would infer that the bringing of other people to the island was the physical manifestation of the boys game of Senet, but with human beings as game pieces.

Jacob, himself, has left the Island in search of suitable "candidates" for Island service, including the Temple priest, Dogen, and the Oceanic 815 survivors he visits in his flashbacks, along with other characters:

Kate and Sawyer are touched by Jacob as children.
Jack, Locke, Jin, and Sun are all touched several years before Flight 815.
Hurley and Sayid are both touched by Jacob after having left the Island.
Ben is touched after stabbing Jacob himself.

Though being an "immortal," Jacob fell upon the tiresome role of Island protector just as his Crazy Mother did in her final days. He needed to escape the physical bond of the Island. He allowed MIB to trick Ben into the statue. He allowed Ben to stab him. The result was that Jacob was transformed into a fully spiritual being like MIB (Hurley would think of him as a ghost). This was Jacob's end game from the beginning: to find a way his brother could kill him so they both could move on, away from the metaphysics of the Island realm, possibly to join their real mother in death.

So what was Jacob's true role in the tale of Flight 815?
It is still unclear. Was he necessary in order to bring the characters of Flight 815 together? His "touch" of the 815ers were made at various times, including after some left the island. So it was not a requirement that Jacob touch them before they could arrive. Did his "touch" actually significantly change a person's character or life choices? No. Was Jacob the Wizard behind the Curtain, manipulating all the characters actions? No, the concept of free will and choice were too strong.

So by the show's conclusion, we did find out about the character Jacob. We learned about his back story with his brother who transformed into MIB. We found out some generalizations about his role, but not about his true powers. Or why he was chosen over his "special" brother to be the island's sole protector of the light source. Or why the Others worshipped him while the Dharma leaders tried to kill him or confine him. And we did not find out the correlation between the imagine/ghost of Christian in the cabin and Jacob himself. Was it MIB manifesting himself or was it Jacob manipulating his candidates?

Who was Jacob? The Island protector.
What was Jacob? An immortal being.
When did Jacob arrive on the Island? More than 2000 years ago.
Where did Jacob come from? A shipwrecked Roman mother, Claudia, who was killed on the Island.
Why was Jacob important to the LOST story?

The last question is really a dead end alley. For if the Jacob-MIB story line did not exist, there were alternative "conflicts" that the 815 survivors would have had to deal with in order for their characters to develop and grow together.

Set-up Season 6 (SS6)

2011-04-12T09:52:00.004-05:00

In surfing the minefield of the Internet, one comes across the abandoned tombs of Lost fans and bloggers. Prior to Season 6, there was a strong consensus of the Top 10 LOST Mysteries. For five seasons, TPTB created story lines that led viewers down various paths with questions. Questions people wanted answers because of the importance placed upon them for five years.
The creators had five years to set up their conclusion for the LOST series. How did they do?

As a matter of housekeeping, the ten main unsolved mysteries before the final season:

1. The Smoke Monster
2. The Polar Bears
3. The Numbers
4. Adam & Eve
5. Richard Alpert
6. Widmore v. Ben
7. Claire's Disappearance
8. Why is Walt Special?
9. Man in Black
10. Jacob

It may not be a list that you or I would have made before the start of Season 6, but it is fairly straight forward. But over the next ten posts, I will examine them in the context of Season 6 and the finale.

PUT A CORK IN IT

2011-03-29T12:36:00.006-05:00

(Insert cricket chirp sounds here)

The LOST community has sort of vanished like the Island itself. The great DVD Box Set, and the huge LOST Encyclopedia failed to keep the embers of die hard fan interest going throughout the winter. For like the Ending, it failed to answer the deepest of the deep show mysteries and story lines.

Strip away the story lines that were inconsequential:

Jacob, MIB and Crazy mother.
Dharma & Faraday's science theories.
Widmore & Mrs. Hawking.
The Others.

A cynic could argue that we would wind up with a simple Robinson Crusoe story:
1. Plan crashes on tropical island.
2. Survivors try to survive in the jungle.
3. Leaders struggle to lead survivors.
4. Survivors all have deep dark secrets.
5. Plans to be rescued fail.
6. Survivors come to the realization that they are doomed.
7. And from that "awakening" they realize that they are already dead.
8. The End.

UNLOCKING THE KEY TO LOST

2010-12-30T08:17:00.056-06:00

The following is not a theory, but more like a thesis. An analysis of the elements presented by the creators of LOST in order to establish an unknown, unexpressed or clouded explanation for the premise of the show and its disjointed parts. To unlock the mysteries of LOST, which I believe have even escaped the minds of TPTB, one needs to find the Key. In the search for the Key, we have backtracked from the End to find a coherent explanation of the duality plot lines of the Island and Sideways realms.

As the previous posts have concluded, the pivot point character was Desmond. He was the character that began to bridge the two realms and bring the other Lost Souls to the church. But it took him a great deal of time and events for him to come to the realization that he was dead and further, accepting his death in order to reconnect with his past in order to move on.

The critical points in the End can be summarized as follows:

At the Sideways benefit concert, Eloise Widmore joins Desmond, saying that she thought she made it clear that Desmond should stop what he's been doing. Desmond says she did, but that he ignored her. She asks, "And once they know, what then?" and Desmond answers, "Then, we're leaving." With concern she asks if they are going to take her son. Desmond assures her, "Not with me, no."

Jack arrives at the concert after it has ended. Kate is there and he says he is looking for his son. He recognizes Kate and asks where he remembers her from. She tells him that she stole his pen on Oceanic 815. Jack is confused, he says "and that's how I know you?" Kate says that is not how he knows her. She goes up to him and takes his face in her hands telling him how much she has missed him. Jack flashes, seeing images of himself and Kate on the Island, but still resists. She tells him that if he comes with her he will understand.

She takes him to the church, the place Jack was going to have his father’s funeral. She says they are waiting for him “once he is ready.” Jack asks, “ready for what?” Kate responds, “to leave.”

At the reunion with his dead father, Jack comes to the realization that he is dead. Everyone is dead. Christian explains to Jack that they aren't leaving; they're moving on. Jack asks where to, and his father tells him, "Let's go find out."

If one objectively looks at the dynamic of the End as the solution of Six Seasons of LOST mysteries, only one key plot point was revealed and resolved: Eloise's demands to Desmond to stop what he was doing so Daniel would not be taken away from her.

Eloise Hawking Widmore is the Key to LOST.

Eloise Hawking is the only character that had "full knowledge" of the Island events and the Sideways world consequences. It is quite the simple but straight forward explanation lacking in the convoluted plot twists of the series that everything could truly be explained through the actions, manipulations and motivations of Eloise. The only issue truly resolved in the End was that Eloise did not "lose" her son, Daniel, to the 815ers who were "moving on" into the light at the conclusion of church meeting.

Now some may complain that the show was really all about Jack. But did Jack finally resolve his father issues in the End? No. Did other characters resolve their issues? Sayid and Nadia: the opposite happened. Locke, who was abused in the island world, left without anyone. Michael did not get over his issues with Walt, so he is apparently left with the guilt of an island ghost. The island events were themed by significant "daddy issue" subplots. But in the mirror realm of the sideways world, there is only one clear "mommy issue" plot: Eloise and Daniel.

The simple bridge between the Island and the Sideways world was a simple, personal, introspective "awakening." In the End, the only thing the 815ers did was realize that they were dead and accepting their deaths. Knowing that someone would attempt to "awaken" Daniel (most likely Desmond since Daniel considered him his metaphysical "constant"), Eloise attempted to keep that knowledge from all the characters in the Island realm.

As previously posted, the story premise has to be the Island and Sideways worlds are spiritual planes of existence. After death, one has a reincarnated new life. And in this new life, you may not realize that your human existence is gone because everything seems so "real." Using the concepts of the split between the ba and ka from ancient Egyptian mythology, Eloise could craft or control two separate spiritual planes to stop the characters' ba and ka from reuniting ("awakening") and moving on to a different plane of existence in the after life.

Eloise's role in both realms could be considered the puppet master, a gatekeeper of souls, the wizard behind the curtain, the high priestess of death. Only she knew knew the awakening rule. She confused the lost souls into believing that they were still alive. They were told that their survival depended upon running through a maze of dangerous missions. The Island was really a place that Eloise created to contain any person who could lead Daniel to his awakening in the Sideways realm. Eloise was motivated by the fear that she would lose her son forever.

Eloise was close to Brother Campbell. She used that relationship to get Desmond into a monastery so he could be locked away from Penny, a connection to Daniel. But that plan was ruined when Penny came to pick up wine at the same time Desmond was being kicked out for ill behavior. Eloise used Widmore to continually throw a wrench into Desmond's relationship with Penny. She used Libby to get Desmond the boat that he thought he could use to win a sailing race to "prove" to Widmore he was worthy of Penny.

After Sarah's surgery, and after promising her a "miracle," Jack takes a jog in a stadium. He notices Desmond who is jogging up the staircase next to him. Jack races to catch up to him but rolls his ankle and falls. Desmond comes to Jack's aid. After Desmond asks why Jack was "running like the devil was chasing him," he discusses Sarah's procedure and how he made a promise he couldn't keep. Desmond wonders out loud whether he actually did save her, but Jack tells him it would be a miracle. Desmond also leaves with the foreshadowing quip, "See you in another life."

Desmond takes Libby's boat, but then becomes shipwrecked on the Island. He is put to work pressing the Numbers in order "to save the world." Eloise tells him that his fate is to press the Numbers. That his sole destiny is to stay in the Hatch and forget any notion of being with Penny. For three years, Desmond accepts that role. It is only after he begins to be aware that he is "being conned" by Kelvin, that he fails in pressing the buttons. In that moment, he is aware that he can leave the island and return to Penny. But what stops him? The sudden arrival of new characters, the Others and the 815 survivors, who again, occupy Desmond with obstacles on leaving the Island (and returning to Penny).

It is an elaborate "con" that Eloise attempts to maintain; the only problem is that Desmond and the other characters retain their personalities and "free will" to make choices. The critical choice for Desmond was to use the fail safe key to "die." Even with that sacrifice in his mind, Desmond really did not want to "die," but get back to Penny. The island realm does not "kill" spirits such as Desmond. They continue to live until they accept their death in the real world.

The events then lead Desmond to Penny in the Island world. In order to stop the bridge from forming, Desmond is still "pursued" by Widmore in an alleged attempt to keep Desmond and Penny a part. But Eloise knows where Dez is. She allows him the fantasy of a life with Penny and his "son" in order for him to keep the illusion of living forefront in his mind. By doing so, she risks flashes of the other realm and concepts of death to overwhelm Desmond so that he could awaken and spoil the critical balance Eloise is trying to maintain in the Sideways world.

In the Sideways world, Eloise is queen of the land. She has a doting son, totally under her control. She has got the wealth, status and privilege of society. Charles Widmore is a corralled provider of all her needs, including keeping SW Desmond in check as Widmore's respected, trusted number two man (which is the mirror opposite of Island Desmond whose focus was trying to get the respect and trust of evil Widmore.) She has to keep Penny away from Desmond in the Sideways world. It is too dangerous if they have a relationship in both planes. That is why Widmore has Desmond putting out corporate fires all over the world. It is unintended consequences that lead to Desmond to be in LA at the same time Charlie meets Daniel for the benefit concert.

The Sideways and Island realms are mirror images of each other: they are not exactly the same, but mere reflections upon each other. But if one holds up a right hand looking in the mirror, it appears that the reflection is holding up its left hand. If one looks to try to formulate this distinction in fundamentals between the worlds, this sums up each existence:

Island world: live together or die alone.

Sideways world: die together or live alone.

Since there had to a balance between the two partial realms, one could write a formula:

Sideways = Island

DT/LA = LT/DA

Eloise did not want to live alone without her son, Daniel.
That is the key motivational force weaved throughout the End.

So Eloise knew what the final formula was in order to manipulate its components.

Using math to move the components, a new formula emerges:

T = DT x DA/LA

T = 2D/L

or finally,

"Live Together = 2 Die Together" (LT = 2DT)

Here may be the underlying principle: One needs to die twice in order to live together.

This was the one clear Truth from the End.

Eloise "lost" her one chance to be close to Daniel in the Island plane or in their real life; and she knew she would lose him if he awakened in the Sideways plane. That is why she attempted to imprison Desmond in the Island realm, along with any other person he had contact with, in order to stop their spirits or knowledge from crossing over into her fantasy life in the Sideways existence.

So one could conclude that the core of LOST was one twisted, manipulative, selfish mother (Eloise) attempting to keep her son (Daniel) with her forever.

THE PIVOT POINT

2010-12-24T08:47:00.042-06:00

The following is not a theory, but more like a thesis. An analysis of the elements presented by the creators of LOST in order to establish an unknown, unexpressed or clouded explanation for the premise of the show and its disjointed parts. To unlock the mysteries of LOST, which I believe have even escaped the minds of TPTB, one needs to find the Key. In the search for the Key, we find the most probable explanation for the show mythology in ancient Egyptian death concepts, including the role of duality.

A favorite symbolic thematic feature of LOST was the mirror. A mirror gives a person a reflection of one's true self. It is not an exact duplication, but a mirror image. When we try to piece together the fabric of the sideways realm and the Island realm, it is best to view them as mirror images, similar but not quite the same.

In each, characters lived apparent long, complex "lives." Similar, but not exact. One more idyllic than the other. The show's core appears to take the concept of Egyptian death rituals, including the division of a person's soul, as the stage to set up a dual character system: one part of the old individual residing in the Island realm and one part of the old individual residing in the Sideways realm. "Residency" in a metaphysical sense because each of these worlds is not "real" from our human perspective. For the island's mysteries and story lines to make total sense, those facts are not absolute truth from our laws or science; it is a spiritual world that resembles the look and feel of the Earth bound existence.

The Sideways world confirmed that the characters were spirits. They were all dead. For the mirror image duality to be in balance, the Island existence as a reflection for the SW cross-over would mean that part of the dead souls were lost in the Island realm. Only the reunification of both spirits would be total enlightenment and the ability to move on as a new whole (into the white light) to the next plane of existence. One has to accept the premise that once a person dies, they live on in the after life, in lost pieces searching for a new whole existence.

One can lift the dense fog of debate on whether the characters lived or died by simply deducing that the show was all about spirits. For if Desmond's consciousness from the Sideways (known dead) realm was interacting with Desmond consciousness in the Island realm, this realm would have to be a mirror image in order to make the connection. For how can a dead self interact with one's prior live self? It is too confusing. It is too disjointed. It does not adequately explain the connection.

Throughout the series, I picked up on the formula that "knowledge is power." Knowledge in the sense that a character finds out and believes that they are dead is when they can begin to direct their lost soul to connect with their counterpart in the sideways realm. On the island, characters had "perceived" power to manipulate others. Ben was a prime example. But if you recall, there were many messengers who told the characters that they were "dead:" Naomi and Cooper. Even Hurley mentioned at one point that he thought they were all dead, but he repressed the realization (but he could talk to dead people). When did Jack come to his own realization? After fighting Flocke, and lying down in the jungle and letting go in the End.

So each character is represented by mirror images of one's body and one's soul. There is a barrier between the realms that can only be crossed by the enlightenment or realization of one's own demise. But the tricky part is the Island characters were thrown to the primal underworld of missions, mysteries, conflict and danger that distracted them from asking basic questions or demanding detailed answers.

There was a nexus point between the two realms. And that pivot point was shown in one character, Desmond. If we trace Desmond's character backward from the End, we do not find him mentioned in Season One. He was not a major character in the series until the fail safe key incident and his "special" flashes of alleged time traveling consciousness episodes. (They may not be actual time travel consciousness but a static connection of memories from the sideways realm bleeding over into the island spirit.)

It was Desmond whose Island and Sideways souls combined first, creating one mind over matter, that led to events which brought the other characters home, together in the Sideways Church. With that knowledge, the fearful, cowardly, runner in Desmond's Island persona vanished; it did not matter if he was put on a large EM generator, thrown down a well, or shot through the heart. He knew he had his mirror image waiting in the Sideways world.

And to fully understand and appreciate the Ending as it was written, you have to accept that Desmond's transformation was the center the prime conflict for the entire series. Yes, it appears unbelievable that the Dharma-Others purge, the rage between Jacob and MIB, or the Widmore-Linus feud were not the basis for the story engine and ultimate climax for the show. But look at the final church scene: none of those Island conflicts were relevant, material or resolved in the End. There was no moral conclusion on who was good, who was evil, who was right or who was wrong. It really can be distilled into a very simple analogy: the characters split souls were lost on the story game board (a maze) needing to find each half in order to win rebirth in the after life. For the 815 survivors, the game board was constantly changing with different challenges, villains, inconsistent sciences, an inconsistent concept of Time and manipulations. Many story arcs led directly into unexplained dead ends, just like in a maze. Which is exactly what the puppet master behind the real conflict wanted to maintain forever.

But the puppet master could not keep Desmond, the pivot point between the two realms, from reaching his soul reunion. Once that first domino fell, Desmond set in motion other actions to bring the lost souls from the Island world through to the Sideways realm. The flood of island memories to the souls in the Sideways realm would have adverse consequences for the puppet master, who tried to stop the reborn characters from disrupting the Sideways world.

So if Desmond was the pivot point, his character's realization of the duality existence broke the barrier between after life realms, who was trying to stop him and why? Who was the Wizard behind the Curtain in this Oz? Who was the Key to explain the motivations, stories and ultimate conclusion of the End?

FINDING A MYTH CORE

2010-12-22T12:56:00.037-06:00

The following is not a theory, but more like a thesis. An analysis of the elements presented by the creators of LOST in order to establish an unknown, unexpressed or clouded explanation for the premise of the show and its disjointed parts. To unlock the mysteries of LOST, which I believe have even escaped the minds of TPTB, one needs to find the Key. In the search for the Key, one has to first try to determine the core of the show's mythology.

If you have the same character in two different places, seemingly at the same time, how does one reconcile this issue?

We were shown characters in action simultaneously on the island and in the sideways world. Example, Jack: in the sideways world he is a divorcee (from Juliet) with a son. In the island world, Jack is a divorcee (from Sarah) without a son. In the sideways world, Jack is a doctor. In the island world, he is a doctor trapped on a crazy island. In the sideways world, his friends "are waiting for him." (Which many have assumed means Jack needs to "die" on the island to go to the sideways world.)

Except, this is not a clear rule. Charlie died on the island. Yet, his ghost physically interacted with Hurley at the mental institution. Yet, Charlie was one of the last to "awaken" in the sideways world, with the birth of Aaron. Which also leads to a problem: how can an alive Aaron in the island universe not be alive in the sideways world?

Likewise, why are certain principal elements different in the island world versus the sideways world? Sawyer was a police officer in the sideways world, not a con-man. Daniel was a musician in the sideways world, not a theoretical scientist. Widmore was a mean spirited murderous businessman in the island world, but a great affable boss in the sideways world. It appears that each character has two sides to their personal coin.

In the wake of the show's conclusion, no critic, show commentator, or show writer has tried to fully explain this fundamental story structural problem. By not explaining the conclusion relative to the prior seasons' settings, there remains a huge disconnect in the fan base. Some don't care because a happy ending is all that matters; others found it a cheap cop out. There has to be a solution to this dogma.

For the show to stand up to reasonable scrutiny, the core or story foundation must be able to explain the apparent inconsistent duality of the island and the sideways worlds.

FIRST, let us look at the title.
LOST. As an adjective, it is defined as follows:
1. unable to find one's way; not knowing one's whereabouts;
2. unable to be found;
3. very confused or insecure or in great difficulty;
4. denoting something that has been taken away or cannot be recovered;
5. "having perished."

SECOND, "perished" means: "death, typically in a violent, sudden and untimely way."

LOST opened with a sudden, untimely and violent beginning: a plane crash. A mid-air catastrophic break up at 30,000 feet. Chance of survival: nil. But viewers saw survivors on the beach. But how does that mesh with the Flight 815 sideways world time line? It does not. The sideways world is not a "reset" of a time line from the island world perspective. It is its own independent world.

THIRD, then reconciliation assumption is that the game board (story foundation) contains two independent worlds with some bridge (means to transverse) between the two.

So what "known" concept can explain the inherit difficulties of this duality?

Ancient Egyptian mythology.

The ancient Egyptians view on the human soul has been lost to the average person. As an early belief system to explain the role of man in the universe, the human soul was described in five elements to explain life. Egyptians had a philosophy of duality; that there was light and darkness, which worked in conjunction against each other to balance the world. The philosophy was filled with symbols, traditions, rituals, judgments and magical spells which can be found peppered throughout the LOST stories.

The ancient concept of a person was that he or she was made up or exist because of five elements present in that person:

1. Name (ren): every person has one; it was stated that "if spoken you'd continue to live." (LOST cue: MIB, a dead person whose name was never spoken).

2. Shadow: part of the duality of the universe; always within a person; it also protects individuals but also needs protection. (LOST cue: the Smoke Monster)

3. Ba: attached to the physical body, it is a person's personality; it needs nourishment.

4. Ka: described as the "life force" in all things; intellectual and spiritual power; needs a body after death in order to survive. (LOST cue: the light cave)

5. Akh: the unification of the soul elements; if ba and ka don't unite after death, a person "will die a second time."

When a person dies, their ba and ka separate. In the underworld, a duplicate body must journey through dangerous tests in order to find enlightenment, redemption and final judgment. If successful, the ba and ka will come together and reunite to create a new "body" in the after life.

Was not Jack's ending, with his friends and father waiting at the church for Jack to "awaken," or join his memories of the island time with his sideways being (a temporary construct) to create a "new" Jack? Jack's "Ka" was waiting in the sideways realm for his "Ba" to complete its journey in the island realm. With the unification, Jack was then ready "to move on" in the after life.

The best explanation for the apparent inconsistent duality of the island and the sideways worlds is that the basic building block for the LOST mythology is ancient Egyptian religious concepts of a person's spirit being divided at death to journey through tests in the underworld in order to reunite to live on in the after life.

SEARCH FOR THE KEY

2010-12-21T13:30:00.025-06:00

REVERSE ENGINEERING

2010-12-14T12:53:00.010-06:00

Let us talk about Reverse Engineering.

It is a concept that takes an existing Thing, and tears it a part to figure out how it works.

In the crooked path of tangent dead ends, LOST as a "Thing" needs to be de-constructed in order to find any salvageable, redeeming cohesion to the Ending.

To preface the following, I have no doubt that TPTB had any clear road map to the Ending. All the creators had was the final image, of a plan leaving the island. How the show found its way to that point was a twisting path of "character development," strange events and odd back stories. Some may imagine that all the character filler was compressed so tightly that the end created a seam of coal. Or in the bedrock of the story lines, there may be a glint of some untapped jewel; a theory that not only unifies all of the LOST world views, but turns the Ending upside down from the stand point of a secondary character.

As previously posted, in order to get a full picture of the debris field of the 815ers story lines, one has to examine the wreckage from a different perspective.

When a writer sets down to create his master works, he knows the basic elements of a story: a beginning, a middle and an end. Character, action and resolution. How those pieces are interwoven are the key to the reader's understanding and appreciation of the whole work.

Now, some writers know of the general plot line before writing their story. Some may pencil an outline of characters, actions, events, issues to be resolved. Some writers may just start with a title and forge forward with their chapters, with the twists coming from their creative minds free style. "Making it up as it goes" has some advantages and some disadvantages. It allows one's mind to roam free to make connections not already penciled into a steady outline. It does allow one's free form approach to veer off course. The danger is losing track of the pieces that comprise a satisfying resolution.

But for many mystery writers, the key to their stories ending properly is that they write the ending first. There is a common sense notion to knowing how something will end before you begin the journey. And that approach is what I used to try to find greater meaning to the End of LOST, by reverse engineering the finale. To answer the question posed: who was the wizard behind the curtain?

PREAMBLE TO THE KEY

2010-12-07T09:21:00.009-06:00

As television critics and entertainment magazines begin to rev up their "Top TV" lists for 2010, one suspects that LOST will make the copy, probably both in the Best drama category and the Worst (ending) category.

In the sweeping bait and switch ending for most viewers, with the sideways purgatory being the Deus Ex Machina, a contrived plot twist to save the show from its written painted corner containing all the prior story lines, clues, sci-fi arcs and illusions, LOST continues to sit in the pit of collective stomach of die-hard viewers like undercooked Thanksgiving feast.

Many people felt that the show centered around Jack, as he was the focal point of the pilot episode. But it is well documented that Jack's character was not even supposed to be a main character; that he was supposed to "die" shortly after the pilot episode to impart "shock value."

Then a few people felt that Hurley was the center piece of the show framework. Hurley was the first character cast by TPTB. Hurley was always lurking in the background as events unfolded around him. He was special. Connections seem to link to him and his mental institution. For a time, some theorized that the whole show concept was a figment of Hurley's mind, evidenced by the physical contact with known ghosts.

The show actually had an episode entitled "Deus Ex Machina." Shortly after the series was renewed, the island plot lines took off in back story tangents, the most important centering around the awkward life of John Locke, including the pivotal story of Locke losing a kidney after being conned by his own father. Some fans thought they were "conned" by the Ending in the sideways church, while others found a calming inner peace like Locke did in his last discussion with Ben.

So, who was the focal character that binds all the interwoven plot devices and story lines together?

It was not Locke, whose character morphed into a dark villain supernatural creature called Flocke. LOST was not about Flocke or Jacob, whose subtext was merely a call to the supernatural elements of the story.

It was also not Hurley, who wound up as the second in command then the island's new "leader."
His island story was left to the ether of speculation as he returned to the church to remain mostly in the background.

So most people think the focal character was Jack, since everyone in the church was "waiting" for him to arrive and awaken to the afterlife. Except for the metaphysical inconsistencies of Jack "dying" on the island while simultaneously living a sideways existence, only to merge moments later at the church with complete knowledge of his past, Jack served only as the football (the symbol for the viewers journey through the characters' white wash rapids) being carried and punted through the end zone when the white light engulfed the church pews.

Despite the construction of the ending, Jack was not the key character from which the foundation of LOST was built upon.

FOOD DROP

2010-10-15T11:08:00.006-05:00

In the segment of "The Man in Charge," Ben goes to the Dharma Guam logistics shipping warehouse to terminate the two pea can labeling pallet jockeys. Ben says he is from the home office, and the men's services are no longer required because there is a new man in charge ("Hurley")

The whole purpose of this DVD bonus segment was to allegedly answer one of the hardcore fan's mysteries . . . why, after Dharma was wiped out, the Island continued to receive food pallet drops.

It was speculated by the blast door and Hatch workers that it was triggered by a breach of the count down timer, presumably opening a window into the Island's electromagnetic snow globe for the pallet to fall through.

But the DVD explanation of two robotic workers filling pallets with Dharma labeled food containers does nothing to solve any mystery of the series. In fact, it is counter intuitive. The worker's dot matrix printer goes off with the coordinates for the launch window. He tells the other guy to hurry up with the pea labels because the pallet is ready to go. Go where?

At the Lamp Post, Eloise told Jack and the rest of the O6 people that the Island had moved and it was difficult to locate. The large pendulum and computers were used to try to locate it. After a while, she said Ajira 316 was the only way to get back to the island because it would fly over the island just as Oceanic 815 did. She also said that Jack had to re-create the flight as close as possible, or "so help us God."

So, in reality, it was not difficult for the Guam suppliers to get the coordinates for the food drop. How they were signaled the Island coordinates, unknown. Why they were located in Guam, unknown. Why no one from the "home office" ever showed up at the place before, unknown.

But it does give me the sense that the two guys were stuck in a monotonous packing routine for eternity - - - - a form of corporeal punishment. Now that Hurley was in charge, the workers were released from their bondage, in their purgatory.

Yes, if you want to try to fit this extra scene into the LOST as shown on television picture, the sideways world, the Lamp Post, the Island , and now the Guam station, were all creations of the dead Dharma people who used their experiences to create memories so they could be remembered by others in the afterlife in order to move on.

XIBALBA

2010-09-29T13:28:00.007-05:00

When cable diving last week, I came across a "double take" image on the History Channel. The illuminated green water at a cave entrance sure looked like the Light Source cave in Lost. The narrators were describing a global network of six ancient openings or gates that old civilizations believed were passageways into the underworld or Hell. The cave image above is from a Mayan location in Belize. Once the investigative team entered the cave, they found it a dangerous place, littered with human bones. They said the Mayans used this place to go to the underworld, and to make human sacrifices to their gods. By appeasing their gods, they could sustain life on the surface world. The Light Source cave was also littered with human skulls and bones.

The concept of gates to a different dimension were part of the Lost mythology. The FDW room had hieroglyphs that made mention of Earth gates. The countdown timer in the Swan could have been used to maintain closure of a gate (a place of death). And the Light Source cave contained a hieroglyphed plug that when removed, caused the light to vanish and the island quake. That mechanism caused the "immortal" Flocke to turn into mortal form (from death, to life, to death).

ALA LOST

2010-09-10T08:52:00.008-05:00

"Even when we were writing the script, the most important issue was how much of the puzzle we should solve and how much we should leave as mystery."
–Satoshi Kon, the late, great Japanese animation writer-director

Recent Hollywood reports indicate that television and film producers are gravitating toward the Lost script model of many mysteries unsolved or unresolved for the sake of character development. Script writing and story telling is quite different than a Jason Pollock painting. But that is the tenor of the creative community: the ending is not as important as the journey. This does not sound like a promising trend.

It is one thing to hide clues within the story (including the background). But it is another thing to show facts and circumstances as clues when in fact they have no bearing on the ending. Finishing a 1000 piece puzzle with 5 pieces missing may be no big deal since the big picture can be seen, but finishing the same puzzle with 500 missing pieces is wrong.

Another Hollywood staple is the re-make. Take an old classic show or film, and recast it with new actors and writers. In the vast majority of cases, the remake of a show is a pale comparison to the original show.

A side note to the Lost model is a report that Hollywood was in the midst of trial ballooning a remake of Gilligan's Island, but with a modern, "Lost" sexy twist to the characters. They described the updated characters "ala Lost." The only thing the shows have in common is that passengers are lost on an unchartered Pacific Island.

You had the bumbling first mate, Gilligan; the overweight dim witted captain; the uber rich couple; the snotty tall fashion model; the naive farm girl; and the professor who could make a coconut radio but not a life raft. There was nothing controversial; it was plain vanilla television comedy.

If you apply the Lost characters to the Gilligan remake, here is possibly what you would get, based upon their Lost resumes:

The Skipper: Locke
Gilligan: Hurley
The Professor: Sayid
The Howells: Penny and Desmond
Ginger: Shannon
Mary Ann: Kate

Somehow, that cross-characterization into the Gilligan world does not seem too interesting, especially if it is still supposed to be a comedy.

23 OH

2010-08-24T12:39:00.008-05:00

WIRED.COM published an article on the release of the $230 Lost: The Complete Collection Blu-ray box set, containing all 121 episodes and extras. The collection’s Season 6 disc includes a 12-minute “New Man in Charge” epilogue featuring Hurley (played Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson).

The collection also features a black stone/white stone Senet game, a replica model of the island; an Ankh bracelet similar to the one worn by Dharma Initiative member Paul and carried by the Tawaret statue, a black-light pen; assorted keepsakes; plus 30 hours of previously released extras and a disc of new bonus material.

The 12 minute epilogue sole purpose has to be to sell Season 6 discs. As a previous rant concluded, if TPTB wanted to answers the mysteries, they should have done so in the finale.

Now, the collection "features" are just as off-base. The whole mystery of the Egyptian culture, temple, religion as symbolized in the Senet game and Ankh bracelets was a non-factor in the climax of the story, and totally brushed a side as any foundational material for the ending. It does sort of back slaps die hard fan researchers who tried to find meaning in the forgotten LOST story lines and touted island features now being put into a box like a cheap, miscellaneous Kracker Jack toy. It just adds to the confusion of what LOST was really about. If the Senet game, Egyptian gods and symbols were so important now, why were they not adequately explained within the show itself?

LO$T BY THE WAYSIDE

2010-08-23T11:16:00.014-05:00

Recession? What recession when crazed fans with alleged disposable income bid on LOST auction items. The New York Post reports big dollars . . . like con man Sawyer's briefcase full of dollars . . . was spent on prop and show items.

As the Post stated last weekend's "Lost" auction, props, scripts and clothing from the show went on the block, bringing in a surprising batch of bids. For example $47, 500 was dropped on the Dharma van Hurley saved the day with in the season three finale. A stripped down, rusty clunker from the late 1960s goes for a price of a loaded SUV? That's more than a Barrett-Jackson car auction value. What show value did the van provide? It was first the tangible hope of Hurley to rekindle his broken spirit like fixing cars with his father. It was then the instrument of change from pacifist Hurley turning into killer when he mowed down the armed Others on the beach. Turning point for the series? No, because none of that mattered in the end.

How about a staggering $27, 500 for the Lighthouse Wheel? At least the winning bidder will not have to squint on HD TV photo captures to determine who was really on the wheel and what were the real numbers. But what would anyone use it for? A large dining room table (some assembly required)? Your own fortune telling reading kiosk on the carnival broadway? An SBA loan would be a cheaper alternative. Was the Lighthouse wheel any more important than the Dharma van in the final plot of the story? No.

The Frozen Donkey Wheel that triggered the island to time trip went for $25, 000. This was once one of the great mysteries of the story: how did it work, what was the science behind it, and who made it? We learned in the rushed MIB back story that MIB and his Roman friends created it, how it works, no one knows, and its relevancy to time skips was left unanswered. The FDW could have been the centerpiece of the island explanation, but it was only another plot dead end.

Likewise, the Swan station Hatch Door & Computer went for $16,000 each. The Hatch Door was one of the greatest, time consuming off show research clue machine for die hard fans. Translations, time lines, an early island map - - - all clues to unravel the darkness. The computer that needed attention every 108 minutes or "god help us." Even Faraday's clue rich in science theory Journal with Jughead Details and "Des is my Constant" went for $27,500.

But, the importance of those items we, as fans, placed on them were totally irrelevant to the writers when the story of the island was wrapped up.

Jacob/MiB's black & white rock scale sold for $8,500. Most viewed the whole black and white stone thing as symbolic for good and evil. But in the story conclusion, there were no moral standard for good or evil. So the prop itself symbolizes merely the gray conclusion of the show.

Locke's compass went for $8,000. This is one of the enigma props. It time traveled separate from Locke, as a means of showing Richard the truth. But what truth? That Locke had to become the leader of the Others; but that was not the real John Locke.

Jack's passport sold for $4,750. Now, we all know identity theft can be costly, but Jack Shepard did not appear to be too wealthy for an alleged miracle working neurosurgeon.

Claire's squirrel baby, one of the most disturbing and bizarre props, sold for $2,750! Now, the writers gave the whole Claire alone in the jungle three years after being blown up by Keamy's crew no coverage. It was one of those sink holes in the overall story line of the show. Was Claire dead? Why did she leave Aaron? Then why did she blame others for her own choices? Was she a Flocke zombie? When did she create the squirrel baby? Was she insane? The most disturbing thing about this is what will the winning bidder do with it!! I don't think too many people have jungle manger scenes for the holidays.

A "portion" of the cave ceiling with candidates names went for $650. I don't know what the ceiling was made of (paper mache or plaster), but what would you use name and numbers for, new postal box name tag?

Finally, the Pilot Script signed by JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof sold for $15,000. Well, there was a third guy who created the original pilot script. But if you wanted a copy of the series first show, you could print out a copy of the transcript from lostpedia for a lot less money.

The auction tells us a few things. One, LOST fans are still rabid enough to bid way too much money for show trinkets. Two, ABC and the studio were quick to destroy all remains of the show as quickly as possible; no re-boot, prequel or sequel in the works.

THINK TANKING

2010-08-10T11:12:00.012-05:00

"It’s been a little more than two months since Lost aired its final episode, fittingly entitled The End. Much has been said and written about how the soulful sci-fi drama wrapped things up — or didn’t, depending on your perspective. There were those who loved it, there those who hated it, and there were those who to this day still don’t quite know what to think." - - - Doc Jensen, EW, 8-10-10.

The conundrum. The confusing or difficult question or problem which remains unanswered to any global satisfaction.

Conundrum was first recorded in 16th century literature by Thomas Nashe, who used it as a term of abuse for a crank. It was then later used to denote whim or fancy.

Many lost blogs have closed shop, and many fans have moved on in silence. However, the community still seems to be simmering in a mental crock pot. Maybe they are waiting for the final box set for the final answers. But let's be real: TPTB concluded their series without any final answers.

As Lost's biggest proponent just said, in describing the show:

soulful - - - which denotes spirituality in life and death, even though TPTB claimed the show was not about purgatory or the afterlife, but ended the show there anyway;

sci-fi - - - science fiction is taking known facts and transforming them into realistic future applications, but without some explanation of the mysteries it is not science fiction but red herring diversion;

drama - - - the tension between human beings that results in conflict that is resolved in the end, which is still open to heated debate depending on one's own perspective.

There are fans who to this day still don’t quite know what to think about the show, and as Time lingers on, less and less people will actually Think about it.

There are reports that the special feature in the Lost DVD box was leaked on the net for a few hours. According to a few viewers, the epilogue promises to answer some, but not all, of those lingering questions that the fan base had once the series finale aired back in May.

This will bug some people. TPTB begged for an additional 20 minutes for the finale. They needed it to wrap up the story. Now, there is additional story to answer some "lingering" questions, that were raised in finale?!! If you could not tell your story in the allotted SIX seasons, it adds a measure of insult to the aggravation of disappointed viewers that it will cost them money to buy a DVD that may, or may not, help with the series resolution. That could be considered by some as a form of abuse.

DOES IT MATTER?

2010-08-03T17:00:00.002-05:00

Prying eyes in the LOST garage sale catalog have found MIB's cast chair indicating that the character's name is allegedly SAMUEL.

Another biblical name, for a Hebrew prophet and ruler. In the story, that would make Jacob and Samuel brothers. The oddity is that no one, not even his family members, ever called MIB by his alleged real name.

Man in Black was an attempt to add more mystery to the spirited Smoke Monster. It may go down in LOST lore as another convoluted back story question that will never be truly answered.

AN AFTERLIFE VIEW

2010-07-14T10:20:00.018-05:00

During Season 1, TPTB were adamant that the show was "not about purgatory" when many viewers realized that no one would have survived a mid-air separation plane crash. Purgatory is believed to be a place of moral redemption where souls are purified of evil in order to be saved. Semantics aside, the "afterlife" as depicted in the show may be a place without any moral consequences. Many viewers have concluded that MIB/Flocke was not necessarily good or evil. At the same time, they reflect that there were no adverse consequences for the killings on the island by Sayid, Jack or Kate, as they all wound up in the anteroom to heaven in Eloise's church.

A very simple explanation of the show's big premise is that the characters' souls were on personal quests or adventures missing in their past real lives until they found enough quality in spirit to let go of their regrets and move on. If the characters could create the sideways "reality" in the afterlife, certainly they could have collectively created the island adventure scenarios in another afterlife setting. As Christian explained in the afterlife, there is no concept of time (past, present or future, just "now.") No "real time" line would negate all the paradoxes in the time travel flash issues of the island events. The whole show could be viewed as a series of re-sets or modes in a video game. And as such, a character could "die" multiple times because even though it appears to be real, it is only an afterlife reality.

Let us focus on Jack. Jack came to the realization that he was "dead" dead in the end at Eloise's church. The context of how he "died" was the spliced scenes of Jack dying on the island after resetting the light source. However, Jack was also in Eloise's church in the O6 world which would be also be an afterlife creation. In that context, Jack's death to get to Eloise's church as a member of the O6 would mean he would have "died" either (a) with the helicopter crash landing in the ocean; or (b) if he "survived" that, then he would have at least died with everyone in the 815 crash.

Jin was awakened in the sideways world with Sun. The context of how they "died" was in the submarine explosion. Except, Sun was at Eloise's church in the O6 arc, which makes her demise prior to the submarine drowning, like Jack, either in a helicopter or Flight 815's crash. Concurrently, Jin would have "died" in the freighter explosion making his return to the island also an afterlife experience with those who remained on the island. The premise that the characters are merely spirits or souls in their own construct of an afterlife playground erases all the debates about continuity errors, factual inconsistencies, or unbelievable dead end story lines.

It would appear that in the characters afterlife, the collective memories can be used as powerful mental highways to bridge or bring lost souls back to each other during their personal (mis)adventures in the spirit world. No good, bad, right, wrong, moral, immoral, judgmental or punishment for the choices made by the souls because it is not our world perspective, but the world the souls created for themselves.

THE CHURCH

2010-07-05T11:19:00.017-05:00

It took a long time to make an obvious connection. It may put to rest what LOST was all about (or that TPTB just stumbled upon a coincidence that makes pure sense.)

The church. In "The End," Christian specifically told Jack that "this place" was created by all his friends so they could find each again in the afterlife. Christian also told Jack that this special place "they all created" was real, and the things that happened to him was also "real." Everyone takes away from this finale sideways twist that the Lost Souls met up in a form of purgatory, or an anteroom world prior to making the final journey to heaven.

Except, we forgot about the church! Eloise Hawking operated the Lamp Post out of the same sideways world church! As lostpedia describes it "Jack meets Christian in the back of Eloise's Church in Los Angeles. Together, the two join the rest of their friends in journeying on to the white light."

If the church was a sideways world creation by the departed, then one could rationally deduct that the church in the O6, off-island story line (the Lamp Post) was also a sideways world creation, too. And that makes perfect sense, as the nonsensical, inaccurate, hard to believe events in the sideways world (Jin & Sun English awakening) mirror the inaccurate, hard to believe events in the O6 world (Kate's trial errors). None of those events were really "real" in the sense of the character's original life times.

If the location of the church is sideways world in the afterlife, then the characters themselves who interacted in the off-island world were also in the afterlife. And if the O6 left the island to the off-island afterlife, and they did not "die" on the island, then it is logical to assume that the O6 were already dead on the island. Whether they died in the crash or before the boarding of Flight 815, the show takes on reincarnating "course correction" theme that Eloise Hawking talked about with Desmond. People may physically die in their real life, but just don't "die;" they go through a series of spiritual tests of character and redemption in order to move on. (There is strong evidence against certain characters never having a clear redemptive moment in the End; the Sayid story line for example, where he continued to kill because he was a born killer.)

If the church in the sideways story arc is in the afterlife, and the same church is present in the O6 off-island story line, that means that the O6 story arc was also set in the after life. In fact, the odd unnatural abilities of the characters in the off-island world is shown to be purgatory: example, Michael's inability to "kill" himself in NYC because "the island" won't let him. The island is the after life community of lost souls. When Michael's ghost appears to Hurley on the island, he says he is a spirit trapped on the island. In other words, Michael is trapped on the island because he has yet to get to the next level of redemption. It also makes more sense that Hurley and Miles can "speak" to dead people or see ghosts because they are also dead. The island represents the collective subconscious memories of lost souls in the after life seeking some sort of second chance to set the mistakes of their lives in perspective.

One of the quiet underlying themes of the show was "knowledge was power." In this situation, it appears that various levels of knowledge of the character's own demise, and the reluctant "acceptance" of it, is the key to "awakening" in the end.

The sense that the character's memories created the sideways afterlife world is also apparent in the island world, too. Hurley was reading a comic that featured a polar bear - - - and one turned up on the mysterious island. As a child, Locke drew a smoke monster - - - and one turned up on the mysterious island. It was the collective imaginations of the characters that created the Lost Worlds. It would also explain Ben's "magic box" comment when Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, suddenly showed up on the island, claiming he was dead from a car crash.

Look at the constant from both ends of the spectrum: the flashbacks (pre 815) and the sideways world - - - Eloise. In Desmond's back story, she was the one who told Desmond about "course correction" that people cannot change what will occur to them. She also told Desmond that he should not be with Penny. Fans knew that Eloise had special powers and knowledge beyond normal comprehension. In the sideways world, Eloise scolds Desmond not to contact Penny. Why? Because she knows that if Desmond is awakened to his past purgatory cycle with Penny, he would awaken the others, including her son, Daniel and Widmore, which could lead to Daniel leaving her. The whole Eloise story arc could be considered as an after life guardian over-protecting her son for her own selfish purposes (maybe penance for killing him on the island during a time flash.)

It would also give some insight on the inconsistent, paradoxical confusion of the concept of Time during the show. If we parse the show into its main parts (pre 815 flashbacks, 815 crash/ island events, the O6 off island, and the sideways), then the concept that these are all "acts in a death play" makes some sense. A course analogy: each main part is a deal in a poker game; the players (characters) have to deal with the hand they are dealt (missions, events, beatings, etc), and if you go "all in" on a matter and lose, you "die" and have to sit out for the next "deal." Even in Vegas, people shift around from table to table, trying to get a new dealer, or meet some new people. This may be why there were so many undercurrent connections between the passengers before 815 crashed on the island. However, there is a conscious barrier between the hands (cycles) that is only broken upon final "awakening." We may have only seen four or five of these after life "re-sets" or deck shuffles during the show, but not in chronological order.

If you believe that the show was all about lost souls from the very beginning, LOST makes more sense and all of the blatant inconsistencies, dead end story lines, continuity errors, and open ended questions fade away. Dharma, Jacob, the Smoke Monster, time travel and all the other prop story lines were all mere fantasy tools and props from the characters own imaginations and narcissistic view of themselves of how they thought their lives would be if they were not "dead." In the afterlife, their collective memories were used to create situations, interact with strangers, overcome adversity and personal fears, with the goal of individual enlightenment.

The sideways world was created by Jack's friends in the afterlife.
The world they created was "real" in the afterlife.
Eloise's church was in the sideways world.
Jack's friends first went to Eloise's church in the O6 story arc.
That means Jack and the O6 were in Eloise's church in the afterlife.
The O6 arc and the island events were on in the same world.
That means if the O6 were in the afterlife after leaving the island, they could be dead on the island (in the island after life).
This place was Death. What the characters died for was the chance to meet other lost souls in the afterlife for a chance to move on together instead of dying alone.

RE-WRITE

2010-06-26T09:59:00.003-05:00

After the finale, I read many reviews and blogs. I agreed with much of the disappointment about the show not answering dozens of critical questions that had been center pieces of the story since Season 1. I could understand the frustration from some elements of the fandom.

There are a brave few who are on the web trying to "re-write" the show (via fan fiction) to answer their questions. It may be a way to keep the series alive or to buffer the show's real dead ending with something more palatable within each fan's own show theories.

LOST, the show, appears to be more theoretical and than the reality showed in the finale. It is an odd mirror image where the fans invested "more time and research" into the show than the show's own producers.

After the finale, I spend two quiet evenings scratching out the unsolved mysteries, key plot elements and the key character back stories to see if there was a way to tie virtually everything together. In a few hours time, and some encyclopedia research hours, I had created a complete outline that could rationally explain the keys to LOST. I then found it quite disturbing; if I could have scratched this out in two nights, why, over six years, did TPTB not have it done?

So I had the story elements to "re-explain" the LOST world(s). And I was thinking of using this blog site to publish those ideas. But then I decided not to. It was not my place to correct the story that TPTB wanted to show the world. Any brilliance in making the puzzle pieces (concepts and ideas) fit would be better used in my own sci-fi story. And when I mean disjointed pieces, I include The Numbers, Egyptology, symbolic tangible items, the light and darkness, theology, quantum physics, core concepts of humanity, transportation incidents, the periodic chart, Hawking's pendulum construct, life forces and the debate between faith and science. Yes, Virginia, there is a coherent story within those diverse elements.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

2010-06-25T12:05:00.018-05:00

I can see why there is a growing trend in the analysis of the finale that critics find the whole ending badly constructed by the writers. It was like the saw horses were put in the lanes, but the workers were no where to be found to actually fix the roadway. Trying to map out any true cohesive concepts and character lessons in Lost is becoming harder and harder.

In construction, people plan out everything on blueprints and drawings to connect all the pieces to form one solid structure. The same holds true for story telling. If a writer creates a concept, he or she needs to make sure the action explains the concepts in a meaningful fashion. And if one fashions a concrete idea, it needs to be strong enough to hold the weight of criticism.

There was little foundation for the concept of the sideways ending. If the characters "created" the sideways world to "remember the most important thing" in their lives, why would they "forget" the island events in their own sideways world? It is a baffling contradiction.

Well, some would say they had to "remember" or be awakened in the sideways world. Then, if you "forgot" about the place to meet in the after life, then how could you "find" it? To become awakened presupposes that you know where to be at the right time; and the inference is that the sideways world was not the next normal place for souls to go after death.

Plus, if the characters created the sideways world as a fantasy holding tank until everyone else arrived, why did early arrivals make such stupid choices? Example, island dying Juliet's last words were to her love, Sawyer. But in the sideways world, she is Jack's ex-wife. Why is there no carry over of her emotional last moments on her soul into her sideways story line?

The same goes for Kate. In her sideways world view, would she not have at least sought to rekindle the happy moments of living with Jack in the O6 time frame? Especially, since there emotional departure after killing Flocke on the island?!

And why would Jack's sideways story focus on a life and son with Juliet? One could rationally see Jack trying to make things right with his first true love, Sarah, in the sideways gambit. That would make more sense than a cordial divorce with a make-believe son with Juliet. If that is what his subconscious wanted, then why did he immediately move on with Kate?

The whole "love of one's own life" concept is totally destroyed by the Sayid choice. Shannon. Really? Every season Sayid's story centered around Nadia. She was center stage in his sideways story, too. But a two-week island fling with Shannon trumps a life time of yearning? For many, this was the most disappointing aspect of the church reunion resolution.

And there is a real core sadness, too. If Hurley's only love was Libby, whose only true romantic "quality" time was in the make believe sideways world, then Hurley lived a sad and lonely life. Then add to his story the fact that Boone and Locke showed up to the church with no one to share the moment - - - how sad was their lives? Dying in the island time frame was the "best" thing they had??

And how the show treated children was center to some people. Was Aaron's most important time of his life the island? Was he merely a "prop?" Was David just a figment of Jack's daddy-issue imagination. What ever happened to Emma and Zach?!

For the finale was supposed to be all about the characters, "character" was lacking in the end. Did they know it was fantasy land with no consequences? If the sideways world was purgatory, a place where one is to seek redemption, then it was a total failure. Example, Sayid kept killing people, Desmond severely injured people, and Ben kept scheming people. If you compare the island and sideways characters, there was no dramatic change in the personalities, their motivations, their sins. The end did not have a soul cleansing reunion but a mere show cast party.

So what were the BIG changes to the characters in the finale? What were their individual spiritual realignment moments? How were these lost souls found?!

Nothing. They just died at some point. That's all. Nothing changed in their collective behavior, conscious memory, or even in their dream fantasy world. Even though cloaked in religious overtones, there were no rewards for being "good" and no punishment for being "bad." The characters remained essentially the same, like raw materials being fed down a cosmic processing plant.

HOW IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED

2010-06-21T12:49:00.006-05:00

Since the finale, the negative reviews seem to be pounding the neutral-to-sweet "nice" ending for the characters reviews. The vile appears to be directly inserted into Season 6's bag of tricks: creating another new "story telling device" (the sideways world) while at the same time allowing all the important island events and mysteries to become meaningless. Some say the producers merely kept throwing "effects" at the audience for five seasons to keep the show alive. The critics howl that the producers had no legitimate story basis or "cause" for any of those "effects." Some have charted the unanswered questions as purely dead ends, throw out to the viewers with no preconceived answers. It is like Eloise, Faraday's lab rat, running a maze of dead ends; the only solution to the vexing story problems was the "sideways exit."

Some harsh critics view the last season and wrap up as the producers being "intellectually dishonest" to the fan base. If you are going to hoist science, science fiction or fantasy elements into a show, you should know the reason why 1 plus 2 equals 3. Otherwise, the even the charge "they are making it up as they go along" would be a sounder position than "they had no clue what they were doing; they were just throwing crazy twists against the wall to see if the viewers stuck to it." Like monkeys in a zoo throwing objects at each other for their own amusement. So, there is some bitterness in a growing number of hard core fans that they feel they were "conned" by TPTB into watching a unique sci-fi show that had no lasting "pay off" explanation.

If the producers and writers wanted to make a meaningful ending, they could have done so if they really wanted to do so . . . they could have tied all the elements into "their" sci-fi world, but in the end they did not even try that route. They decided to keep their story world vague and story line unexplained and confusing in order to not to answer the hundreds of burning questions from the fans.

For some fans, they are now looking for an external answer to disappointing conclusion. The most bitter question is "why?" Why create a new fabrication to end the show (dead limbo sideways purgatory)? Why throw out mysteries and events you had no answers to? Just to be smug? Just to mess with people's minds? Pure laziness?

The funny thing is that if those spiking questions are true, then TPTB could have played their hand better. In reading both sides of the Ending issue, there could be only one way to let the series live on with some vitality. They could have saved themselves the grief of the teeth grinding anger of Season 6 by merely ending the entire series with the Season 5 cliffhanger! Yes, the screaming Juliet fade to white light ending. It would have drawn comparisons to a Sopranos WTF? ending, but at least the fans could still rationally debate what it all means (or could mean). Season 6 flushed all rational debate down the toilet. After another season, we still really don't know if Jughead exploded; whether "it worked," whether the island was another sidecar rest stop in purgatory, whether it was just Jack's redemptive dream or plain shenanigans.

WHAT TO BELIEVE?

2010-06-14T08:05:00.005-05:00

For those souls wandering the Internet like lost travelers in a desert, searching for the Answers to LOST, take your time wandering around my miscellaneous ramblings from Season 6.

Since the conclusion of the series, it is becoming more evident that people will believe what they think "should" have happened than what really happened (or apparently happened) on the screen.

For example, in Doc Jensen's last epilogue, he tries to find closure on the Desmond symbolism with a show referenced novel entitled The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. " Now, the link seems pretty clear, at least to my eyes. The Third Policeman is the story of a nameless narrator who realizes at the end of the story that (1) He is stuck in a constantly repeating cycle of unchangeable history from which he can't escape; and (2) He is actually in hell, for he has been dead for the duration of the tale. The natural application of The Third Policeman to Lost would be as foreshadowing for the Sideways world twist."

It is an attempt to explain the Sideways afterlife as different than the Island real life; but one could take his evidence and conclude that both the Sideways and Island events were in the afterlife.

The critical church scene between Jack and his father actually re-enforces that everything was in the afterlife:

VOICE: Hey, kiddo.
[Jack turns around to see his father standing behind him.]
JACK: Dad?
CHRISTIAN: Hello, Jack.
JACK: I don't understand...you died.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah. Yes I did...
JACK: Then how are you here right now?
CHRISTIAN: How are you here?
JACK: I died too...
[Jack begins to cry as he remembers.]
CHRISTIAN: It's okay...it's okay. It's okay son.
[Christian approaches Jack and they hug each other.]
JACK: I love you, dad.
CHRISTIAN: I love you too, son.
JACK: You...are you real?
CHRISTIAN: I should hope so. Yeah, I'm real. You're real, everything that's ever happened to you is real. All those people in the church...they're real too.
JACK: They're all...they're all dead?
CHRISTIAN: Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of them before you, some...long after you.
JACK: But why are they all here now?
CHRISTIAN: Well there is no "now" here.
JACK: Where are we, dad?
CHRISTIAN: This is the place that you...that you all made together, so that you could find one another. The most...important part of your life, was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.
JACK: For what?
CHRISTIAN: To remember...and to...let go.
JACK: Kate...she said we were leaving.
CHRISTIAN: Not leaving, no. Moving on.
JACK: Where we going?
CHRISTIAN [smiling]: Let's go find out.

Christian's statements can be taken into the context of his definition of "real." He acknowledges he is dead, but he is "real" to Jack. And "everything that has happened " to Jack "was real." If being dead in the sideways world is "real," then so to can being dead in the Island world also be "real." It follows one notion that life is not a linear composite of birth, living, dying, death, and an afterlife in heaven or hell. It follows the pattern that once a person dies, he is "reborn" in an afterlife existence consisting of many layers, many attempts to redeem their souls, in order to find cosmic enlightenment.

An overall supernatural afterlife structure makes all the dead end island story lines easier to digest. In an afterlife SAT test, candidates often skip over questions they cannot answer. Some who fail, re-take the test until they get a passing score. Whether this one realm of the dead concept works for the average fan is open to debate.

Juliet's dying thought, "it worked," had nothing to do with Jughead exploding (it probably did not detonate). It is more likely she meant that she found an off-ramp on the afterlife highway, a rest stop, where she would wait for the other characters to finish their island tests, so they could move on together in the afterlife. It makes sense that only a dead person (on the island) could "make a place" in the afterlife where all of their souls could meet in the future (now).

POST ISLAND: ART

2010-06-04T16:34:00.001-05:00

FINAL REPORT CARD

2010-06-04T09:17:00.013-05:00

In less than two weeks, the buzz and reaction from the LOST finale has died down to the last ember in the campfire. The fan blog posters have said their peace and started to sever the ties that bound them for the past six years. The graduation of fan interaction is upon us. Time for the final report card for the show.

LOST was a television show that captured the hearts of minds of its viewers. Some became engaged, some confused, some adamant, some drifted away. The series needs to be judged as a television series as the sum of its parts.

CHARACTERS: There was a diverse group of characters; "good guys," villains, intriguing back stories, with different ideas and agendas. The compound qualities of the character base was much more than an average television series that recycle stereotypical characters. GRADE: A

ACTING: There have been some exceptional performances from Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson, to average fair of Matthew Fox, to some cardboard cut-out acting from some of the other characters. As a result, the overall ensemble performance was above average. GRADE: B

FORMAT: The use of new story telling techniques such as flashbacks, and flash forwards made the show different from average shows. However, the difference to some became an annoyance as the editing tricks were used more to create or maintain mysteries than advancing the main story. GRADE: B-

PACE: The pace of a show is an important component. Did the series "move along" crisply enough to maintain interest? The first season clearly had its legs underneath it as the viewer explored the island along with the survivors. But at times, the story seemed to bog down on back and forth understated missions. In the last season, there were times when the characters merely sat around and waited. With the conclusion of the sideways reveal, some people think most of the island elements were mere unexplained "filler." GRADE: C

STORY LINE: This category must be broken into three sub-parts: plot, climax and conclusion.

a) PLOT: The apparent survival of the plane crash was the hook that got most viewers attention in the pilot episode. Then, the sudden arrival of island mysteries (like the smoke monster) made survival story even more compelling. If you add in the plot twists, con games, and mysteries, the show was layered and complex. It lead to viewers researching elements of the show outside the (TV) box. GRADE: A

b) CLIMAX: Every good story needs to have a defining, heroic, action filled peak for the story to resolve itself and its main character(s) to find what they were looking for. In the beginning, the whole purpose of the characters was "to leave" the island; be rescued. When some did in fact get rescued, the purpose shifted to "going back" to the island. When they returned, the purpose then shifted from leaving the island, to taking sides in a mysterious conflict between Jacob and MIB. The unwinding of the characters appearances into mini-climatic actor show reels turned the build up into a soap opera formatted conclusion. GRADE: C

c) CONCLUSION: Even after a climax, there needs to be a final resolution for the characters. Something that ties all the loose ends together into one coherent package for the viewer. The series finale drew remarks from viewers of being satisfied with the ending, to down right anger-betrayal. Many were disappointed that the island mysteries were not resolved, or that the ending added more questions than answers. Many were okay with the ending but disappointed or underwhelmed by the conclusion of the series. GRADE: C-

PREMISE: The show's premise was hidden from the very beginning. What was the show about? Were the characters in purgatory? Did the plane crash have survivors? What was the Island?! After the show ended, no one can truly answer these basic questions with any 100 percent accuracy. The show producers ended the series in a vague sideways feel-good moment without answering the Island questions. GRADE: INCOMPLETE

If you add up the grades for a cumulative or comprehensive grade for LOST, the final over all Grade would be a B (minus). This means that the show was above average by television viewer standards, but not great. The steady decline in viewership has to be taken into account as well. A complaint that the show filled up on questions with little or inconsistent answers ("they are making up as they go") was never put to rest. It may have been part of the higher expectations, or the massive amount of hype for Season 6, that led to viewer angst, anxiety toward the end. As one TV critic remarked, "it could have been worse."

SIDEWAYS LOOK AT 06

2010-06-04T08:06:00.004-05:00

With the reveal that the "sideways" world was something created by the 815ers so they could be together when everyone arrived (awakened) for the next journey in the afterlife, we must ponder one last look at the other flashes. The sideways Season 6 story line was a dream like state, not reality (even though Christian said "everything was real"). This sideways world contained many miraculous, strange or unbelievable medical situations that resolved themselves quickly. In past seasons, we found numerous medical and legal factual errors. Most egregious were the elements of Kate's "trial" in LA after the O6 were rescued.

The resolution of the O6 character's issues mirrors the happy feeling church finale. It was all too good to be true. There were no true consequences for the past bad actions. It was not a reward, but in a way, a child's dream resolution of their problems.

If you take the similarities of the O6 off-island events and the sideways stories, one could conclude that they are one in the same.

When did the O6 turn into the sideways dream world to wait to be awakened?
1. They all could have died when the helicopter crashed in the ocean.
2. They all could have died in the original 815 plane crash. The island was their true purgatory.
3. They could have all died prior to Flight 815. The plane was the symbolic passage to the afterlife.

If one recalls many elements of the island, they are part of the collective memories of the characters. Hurley was reading a comic on the plane that contained polar bears. Polar bears appeared on the island. Locke, as a child, drew a smoke monster picture. The smoke monster appeared on the island.

If you also look at the list of unexplained continuity errors, most could be erased not as factual errors but dream like perceptions of reality if the sideways concept is applied outside of Season 6.

THE BOMB OR THE DUD

2010-06-03T10:16:00.007-05:00

People are still confused on what to take from the enhanced episodes of LOST. Some believe that it is merely "marketing department" annotations and not canon material. Others believe that TPTB have to have some input into the screen crawls otherwise their work could be contaminated with non-canon material. TPTB never denounced any of the enhanced materials. However, ABC admitted that it added the plane crash scenes over the End credits.

Now, the sideways world was subtitled as "what if" time line if Flight 815 never crashed on the island. In the End, we find out that if "what if" was fantasy, then that is correct. The sideways world was a made-up construct from the 815ers collective memories as a place to meet in the afterlife. (Who, what, when, where and how this occurred is a complete mystery.)

Next, the enhanced episodes stated that Juliet died when Jughead, the h-bomb, "went off." This is the apparent "Incident" that changed the course of the island events. If one suspends disbelief that a hydrogen bomb can be detonated by a rock, then how did Juliet not vaporize? How did all of the 815ers survive radiation fall-out and the shock wave? Further, the blast door map said the Incident happened in 1985; not when Juliet hit the device in 1977. If the bomb did go off, then the island world was not "real," but the illusion of reality. No one would have survived. If the bomb did not go off, and the drill hit an EM pocket that caused the sky to turn purple (and time flashed back to 2007), based on past experiences, the 815ers could have survived the jump. But that itself, does not put the island in the real world.

The problem with the island world is that light source and EM was never explained to any degree to determine what exactly is the island. Is the light source and the EM part of the same energy pocket? What is the energy pocket? What causes the EM and its "unique" properties? Why would you need to release the EM build up in the Hatch, but not in the island cave (the heart of the island) near the bamboo grove? And if an atomic bomb did go off, what changed? The sideways "events" were not created by the bomb, but according to Christian, it was made up by memories.

The whole mission to detonate Jughead appears to be a story dead end. It is one of many story line dead ends: why the Egyptian sets? who were the Others? what was Dharma really doing? what was the smoke monster? what was the lighthouse? what were Hanso, Widmore and Paik industries roles in the island? None of these story elements had any true relevance or material implications in the LOST ending of the characters being reunited in the church.

FINAL POLLS

2010-06-03T09:05:00.013-05:00

The polls in the right hand column of this blog were closed about halfway through Season 6. It was to gauge the unscientific opinion of new readers. It was an effort to get people bridging the first season with the last one.

Did Flight 815 actually crash in S1E1 (the pilot episode)?
84 percent said yes; 15 percent said no.
After the first half of season one, one would have thought the yes answer would have been 99 percent. This was especially true after the show producers were adamant that the characters were not in purgatory.

But in the end, some are calling the sideways world purgatory (it is better named a waiting room to heaven than a place where people are working out their sins. Or in the hospital setting, a recovery room where characters were "awakened" by their past memories in order to "move on.") But the cross-over between the characters in the sideways world and the island world could mean that the worlds are connected in a single, spiritual realm where the sideways world is a repressed consciousness while the island is the conscious effort for redemption.

Did the plane crash? At the very least, there is the perception that a plane crashed and that certain souls survived it.

If Flight 815 crashed, where are the survivors?

Alive, on Earth: 30 percent
Alive, in a different realm: 30 percent
In limbo, purgatory: 30 percent
Dead, in the underworld: 7 percent

This may have been the most interesting aspect of the LOST Season 6 mid-point. Where the characters were was open to wide interpretation. In the end, the characters are "dead" in some afterlife realm, 37 percent would have been partially correct. If you believed the characters at some point were in a different realm, 67 percent would be partially correct. If you believed the characters were alive (especially on the island), 60 percent thought that was true. If you try to make a consensus out of these close opinions, it would seem that people believed the characters were "alive" but in a "different realm."

Then, if you factor in what Christian said, that everything Jack experienced was "real" including the sideways world, one could conclude that the show's unspoken definition of life and death does not have a normal definition. It could mean that the "reality" of human existence spans both being alive, being dead, then being "reborn."

Based on your (mid-season) expectations, how do you think LOST will end?

Great: 19 percent
Satisfactory: 28 percent
Underwhelming: 38 percent
Badly: 14 percent

Based on the reviews, comments and posts throughout the Internet, I think the vast majority of viewers found themselves in the Satisfactory or Underwhelming range. Many were satisfied with the sideways ending giving some happy-ending final resolution to the characters. But at the same time, there was major disappointment in the lack of answers to the island mysteries. Those who were satisfied with the ending have accepted the producer's premise that the show was not about answers but about the journey of the characters. In rebuttal, those underwhelmed (and the few really angry viewers) felt that if the writers were making a complex, layered storyline of events, mysteries and Easter egg clues, that they should have answered the questioned they posed to the viewers. Some felt conned or cheated in the end. Anyone can criticize the material presented to them; if this is how TPTB wanted to end their story, that is fine. But as some commentators said, "it could have been worse," or more to the point, "it could have been better."

PERCEPTION PERCENTAGES

2010-06-02T17:18:00.002-05:00

I was told that some one who watched LOST broke down the show as follows:

75% walking through the jungle;
5% of the time on off-island scenes;
5% of the time "waiting" for something to happen;
15% of the time something "happens."

S6E17 (ALMOST) MIRROR IMAGE

2010-06-01T14:48:00.002-05:00

I thought I had a Revelation about the End. Jack was wearing the same dark blue suit on the original S1E1 episode in the bamboo forest and during the church scene. If he was wearing the exact same suit and tie, that would have made for a very interesting speculative mind melt.

But, he was not. He was clearly wearing a different tie. If he had been wearing the exact same clothes, then one could reference that as the connection between the island and the sideways solution. Since he was not wearing the same clothes, one could reference that fact as stating that the island and sideways worlds were separate.

S6E17 WHAT CHRISTIAN SAID

2010-06-01T10:54:00.003-05:00

It was not what Christian said to Jack, but how he said it that continues to cause problems in understanding the whole show construct.

In the church, Christian tells Jack that everything that he went through was real. But he also says that Jack is real, he is real, and the sideways world is real. Everything is real.

But we know that is not logically true because we were told that the sideways world was made up by the castaways as a place to meet in order to move on in the afterlife. The sideways world was not a "what if" Flight 815 never crashed; it was a holding pen for souls until Jack was ready to join them in an "awakening."

Everyone in the church was dead. Everyone in the sideways world was dead. Dead is dead.
But Christian called those sideways experiences "real." If dead is real, and the island was real, then one can argue that the island was also "dead." The island was a Dead Reality just like in the sideways world.

If the island was a level of the afterlife (the cast was dead or died in the plane crash), all of the legal-medical-science inconsistencies in the past story lines become immaterial because the island itself was a purgatory test of each person to redeem themselves. The sideways world was not a purgatory setting as the characters mirrored their bad behavior without any consequences (like in a dream state).

S6E17 QUOTATION

2010-05-28T14:16:00.003-05:00

"At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one's lost self." --- Brendan Francis

As I have stated previously, the characters in LOST all were deeply lonely individuals.

Jack is an example of the disjointed loneliness. As his consciousness dies in the bamboo thicket, his subconscious is entering the back door of the church, to be joined back into one self (soul).

S6E17 LIGHT CAVE LESSON

2010-05-28T13:50:00.003-05:00

What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?

The light cave where Desmond pulled out the stone stopper, and where Jack replaced it was the heart of the island. This cave is the center of the LOST mythology and end game.

When the stopper was pulled out, the light source was turned off; evil was released (island began to have earthquakes); and the supernatural turned natural (Flocke into human form).

Likewise, when the stopper plugged the hole, the light source was turned back on; evil was trapped; so did the natural turn into supernatural(?)

The light was explained as being in everyone (is is "life, death, and rebirth.") The writers are referring to a universal soul concept, where everyone is connected by one giant life force.

However, we know from experience that darkness, evil is also in everyone. So why was there a need for a stone stopper on the island to keep evil at bay?

Once the evil was released, it appears to "consume" all the light (soul). It would turn everyone evil. As Flocke complained, it would take away "humanity."

So the lesson is that humanity is the balance between light and dark.

S6E17 HUMANITY LESSON

2010-05-28T11:38:00.007-05:00

What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?

Throughout the series, viewers were aghast at the total lack of communication between characters. Their ability not to ask basic questions of their colleagues after harrowing missions. It was quite frustrating to have no character demand answers.

Maybe everyone was dumb, dumber and dumber still.

People marched across the island multiple times with no clue on what they were doing. Putting a total plan together was quite the hard mental labor for most. And even if you had some one with a spark of a master mind (example, Ben), his plans normally blew up in ways he did not expect himself.

The real test of human intelligence came at the end. Flocke wants to find Desmond to use his "special properties" to destroy the island. How Desmond would actually be used to destroy the island is totally unknown. At the same time, Jack wants to take Desmond to the same place to "save" the island. One what basis of information? Jack does not have a clue. He does not even have a hunch. The problem solving of the characters lacked any common sense. It is arrogant assumption that is presented as intelligent fact by the characters.

So Flocke and Jack both work together to lower Desmond down the cave, not knowing what, if anything, was going to happen or why. It is not as bad as giving a teenager $1000, keys to a superfast sports car, and an errand to go pick up a six-pack of beer and some smokes at the local convenience store.

And when Desmond gets to the cave chamber, he has no clue what to do. So he uncorks the island. The light source goes away, and the evil heat and earthquakes start to tear the island a part. It took a while for them to realize that Desmond's action was a push. It did not save or destroy the island. The magic that was Flocke turned into human form. By releasing the evil contained in under the island, it allowed the evil smoke monster to take on human form so Flocke could be killed. (It is illogical that a release of more evil energy on an evil being would cause it change into a tame human being; unless the lesson is that all humans are evil.)

When Jack returns to the cave, he does not know what Desmond did, but has to go back to fix things. Everyone assumes electromagnetic man (Dez) is dead. Jack saves him and puts back the cork in the chamber. The light returns, the water returns, and in the end Jack is expelled from the cave like Jacob's brother (who was dead). But Jack is not quite dead, and he stumbles to the place of beginning to pass on, not knowing whether anything he did worked. The theme of shooting off the hip first and asking questions learning answers later came full cycle.

The characters never asked enough questions to make intelligent choices. Irrational behavior controlled logic. It is an indictment of sorts on the state of modern man. When modern man is stripped away of his tools, he does not revert back to alpha predator with keen instincts, but a bumbling yokel whose only saving grace is luck. The series did not show educated, modern, men and women in intellectually sound decision making moments. Rash decisions were the norm. Failure was always the first option.

S6E17 TIME LESSON

2010-05-28T09:18:00.005-05:00

What were the series creators trying to tell us in their story? What were the lessons we were supposed to glean from their tale?

In regard to the concept of time, probably an ancient philosophy over the modern industrial view. Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers believed that time itself was an illusion. Nature, and man being part of it, were part of seasonal cycles. The whole world was geared to cycles: seasons, tidal, celestial calendars that covered 24,000 year periods (which accuracy confirmed by modern computers). Ancient inventors made water clocks which help predict the star patterns and astrological events. The people of that time lived in the "now."

Only slackers, casinos and opium dens have need for just living in "the now" rather than being connected to other working individuals in society.

It was only when industrialization and railroad companies brought in "time zones," a division of the country into hour blocks in order to more efficiently move passengers and freight to long distance destinations. Time became a mathematical formula of set hours and minutes that was disconnected to the past agricultural sun dial observations. The mathematical time evolved into our normal cultural concept of linear time lines. Daily lives are now controlled by the hourly blocks of time. In fact, in some sense, we are slaves to time periods just as Desmond was a slave to imputing the Numbers into the Hatch computer.

In the sideways world, Christian tells Jack that there is "no past, present or future" only "now." Everyone in that existence was dead. Souls have no need for linear time frames. They are eternal.

The island was sort of a time transition zone. Once the 815ers arrived, no one really counted the days that they were stranded on the beach. The only key element of time was 108 minutes. After that element was eliminated, time became a logical illusion when people began to "skip" across different decades at random until the FDW was turned a second time. The true meaning of time may be that it is all in your head. That life is a cycle but you perceive your living time as an illusion.

S6E17 WHAT IS THE LIGHT CAVE?

2010-05-27T14:59:00.006-05:00

If the island is a cork that keeps evil inside the bottle called the universe, then we saw Jack lift and replace the stopper in the Light Cave. This cave looked like a ancient chamber. And upon closer examination of the stone stopper, there were hieroglyphs on it!

When the stone stopper in the chamber was removed, the water was absorbed (the light vanished) and we saw a fire and brimstone glow from the opening, with massive island wide earthquakes. Once the stopper was removed, Flocke was suddenly human again as if the magic spell of being an immortal smoke monster had been lifted. The light was the supernatural magic? The evil red fire actually consumes the light when released from the cave stopper?

During this earthquake period, Jack defeated Flocke with the help of Kate, thereby ending the saga of Jacob and his brother, who was created by his body floating into the cave of light after Jacob beat (killed?) him. The smoke monster was called the evil incarnate. If the light was the symbol for life, then the red lava fire must have been the symbol for death. If not bottled up, evil would consume all that is good, including life itself.

But this light cave chamber opens up another very hidden mystery. Besides the fact that TPTB put hieroglyphs on the actual stopper when there was no reason to, the translation really adds more questions:

BURY MY ENEMY

(Alternatively: Bury My Criminal, Traitor, or Prisoner)

Who or what is buried under the stopper?
Who or what put that person/thing underground?
Did the burial of the evil enemy create the Light Source, which is a part of everyone? If so, then the island light predates CrazyMom who raised Jacob and MIB.

S6E17 LIVE ALONE DIE TOGETHER

2010-05-27T09:27:00.017-05:00

In some unexplained way, the main characters in Season 1 made a subconscious psychic bond between themselves which created the sideways (fantasy) world, where their conscious souls after death could wait (in a timeless place of just constructed memories and dreams) until everyone had died and their full consciousness would be "awakened" by island memories.

This was done because the island time was the most important time of their real lives, according to Christian. They made a subconscious pact to not live together, but to die together.

If Christian's statement is true, it really means that our beloved characters had really sub-par to crappy real lives. Loneliness appears to be the largest theme of the show that was lurking in the shadows of every story line.

Why was the island time the "most" important to each character?

Locke: But for Jacob's life giving touch, he would have died a lonely and bitter man after his father pushed him out a high rise window. On the island, he found his first real purpose in life, to protect it. To be the person he wanted to be. But when he was murdered by Ben, all of Locke's aspirations had turned into pitiful loneliness and despair.

Jack: Jack had the job, social skills and status to have a fulfilling life as a California spinal surgeon. Jacob's touch accelerated Jack going off the rails by amplifying his unresolved father issues and personal faults. It is hard to see how his surgical miracles, colleagues and fulfilling career helping other people was nominal in relation to his eventual island sacrifice.

Kate: Jacob's touch actually kept tom boy Kate on the path of rebellious crime as a loner on the run. The cumulative acts of anti-social behavior were set aside when she landed in the island. She could truly start over fresh, and the castaways could see her real self hidden underneath all of her past emotional baggage.

Sayid: Once he left the island, Sayid would have had his desired life with Nadia. Jacob's intervention caused Sayid to lose his one true love, and let his dark side fully control his soul. The island experience was not Sayid's most important time in his life, it was his worst. None of his friends could save him.

Shannon: Shannon was killed on the island by accident. She was a self-centered, rich girl with a conscious disrespect for other people. She made no real difference on the island except for eye candy and Sayid's short term pillow. If this was the peak of her life, she really had a sad life. And why Sayid turned out to be her soul mate in the afterlife is marginalizing Sayid's longer term relationship with Nadia.

Bernard and Rose: The only thing the island brought this couple was peace. Their relationship was the same before the crash as it was after the crash. The other people on the island may have been interesting, kooky, and dangerous, but they felt no strong bonds once they decided "retirement rules" ("we don't get involved.") In fact, they butted heads with the group's leaders more often than not. Why they needed to move on with all of the other main characters appears to be unnecessary. (Yes, the inference is that they stayed on the island with Hurley during his guardianship and could have grown closer in nostalgic memory.)

Charlie: He died on the island trying to save Claire and Aaron, the only "family" unit he ever led.
His death was partially in vane because it was not Penny's boat. But one could see from ghost Charlie's interactions with Hurley, that the island bonds were strong in Charlie, who otherwise would have probably died a lonely, washed up guitar player drug addict.

Claire: One would think that her bonds with her mother and her sister in Australia would have been stronger than her eventual zombie brain death island existence. She had mentally given up her baby to be raised by another, which haunted her for most of her time on the island. We don't know what happened after she left, but we presume she re-bonded with Aaron.

Aaron: He is the person in the church that makes the least sense. The re-birth was used in the sideways world fiction in order to awaken Claire, Kate and Charlie so they could understand that they were dead and waiting with their island friends, the most important people and time of their lives, to move on together. Everyone in the church was dead. That includes new born Aaron. Why? He had no other life except for the island connections (most of people there he had no real contact with). Did Claire's return to him at age 3 scar the young boy with a "crazy" mother and the guilt that his birth caused her a lifetime of pain so when he died, his only happy moment was his infancy? That is really depressing at every level.

Jin and Sun: The island's other couple found themselves totally committed to each other after a long period of separation and loneliness. The island would have been the peak of their emotional bond to each other, especially in death. It is odd though, that their daughter plays no role in their moving on, while Aaron does for Claire.

Boone: He died on the island by trying to be some one he was not; he tried to break away to be someone different just like Locke. He did teach Jack that some times, you just have to let things go. Yet, it is hard to figure that a successful young man's most important part of his life was dying in an accident on the island. Or why the people in the church (except Shannon) were the most important people in his life. Was he totally devoid of friends in the real world?

Juliet: Her closest bond in the world was with her sister. There is no denying that fact. Her relationships with men was spotty at best. Her entire time on the island was focused on getting back to help her sister. She never got the chance to do that. She was a prisoner on the island, so how that negative emotion made her bond with the islanders over her own family is strange. She had many failed relationships on the island: Ben, Goodwin, the Dharma folks, Jack and Sawyer. In the end, she chose the time skip fantasy life with Sawyer.

Sawyer: He apparently leaves the island. We do not know whether he re-connects with Cassiday and his daughter (probably not). We do not think he joins up with Kate, because they are not together in the church. He had a lonely existence after his parents were killed, and his single minded revenge motivation for his life ended with the island. So, it is possible that Sawyer's life peaked with his island adventure.

Desmond and Penny: This is the problematic off-island couple. Their relationship had little to do with the island connections. In fact, it flourished outside the island. They had a child, little Charlie, who would have been the centerpiece of their strong family ties. This family unit would not have needed the other characters to move on. Penny had no deep attachment to anyone except Desmond. Like Jin & Sun, it is odd that Desmond's son was not part of the departure if these characters were waiting for the most important people in their lives to die and join them in the crossing over to eternity.

Libby: She is like Penny in some ways. Her only true connection with the island as being important in her life was her short relationship with Hurley. The unexplained and troubling aspect of Libby's story was that she was in the same mental hospital as Hurley, in the same day room. But Hurley never recognized her on the island. Now, Libby died on the island which left Hurley with a deep emotional void. And if Hurley remained the island guardian for a long period of time (as most people believe), Hurley had no special relationship in his entire life except for Libby.

Hurley: We can see why the island time was the most important for Hurley. People came to accept him for himself. They were not out to use him for his money. They were not shutting him out of their plans. He turned from introvert to extrovert; from follower to leader. A great deal of personal growth and responsibility happened as a direct result of his island time.

CONCLUSION: It appears the writers gave us a gallery of extremely lonely and troubled individuals whose high water mark in the real lives was the survival of a plane crash on a mysterious supernatural island. But the rationale for the gathering is inconsistent from character to character. Now, a few commentators have surmised that the sideways world was the construction solely for Jack; that this was Jack's purgatory - - - coming over party. That the other characters would have their own church reunions with other souls (such as being invited to multiple friends weddings over the course of your lifetime). If that is the case, why would the non-Jack characters have to be "awakened" in order to "move on." Moving on seems to be a singular event for all the characters sitting in the church pews.

SIDE NOTE: One of the perplexing aspects of the final scene was Christian's role. He was there to awaken his son. He said his friends had created this place so they could move on together. That infers that people can move on without an elaborate sideways world. Had Christian already "moved on" himself? We were told that Christian was not on the island; that his image was that of the smoke monster.

But Christian seemed to know more than he let on during that final scene. His appearance to Jack came from the direction of the church. He brought Jack to the main room. He was the one who walked down the aisle, between the two angel statues, and opened the doors to flood the room with white light (the final act of these souls moving to the next plane of existence). I had the sneaky suspicion that it was Christian who could have constructed this sideways world to help his son shed his guilt and unfinished business that tied down his soul so he could move on in peace. Of all the people in the church, Christian was the first person in the Lost saga to actually die in the real world. So he would be the only person who could have gathered the souls of his son's friends as they passed on (guardian angel style).

MORAL OF THE STORY: Jack's first island leadership speech to keep the survivors from falling a part was that they needed to "Live Together, or We'd Die Alone." Without a community effort, working together, no one would live. But even in this context of community, each character was still living alone, in some state of loneliness. However, the reward in the end was that the characters got to die together.

S6E17 CREDIT CONFUSION

2010-05-26T12:51:00.006-05:00

The images of the plane crash wreckage during the final credits were NOT part of the story, according to ABC. The network put those images in to allow viewers to "decompress" before their evening news casts.

Huh?

When did executives get final cut? Why would the producers of the show (who edited it) allow it to be re-edited? Let alone add graphic inference that had some fans sour to the prospect that it was all made up, they all died on impact, it was all purgatory, etc. (Some people thought that before the closing credits).

So the network's record "correction" has been labeled that the events on the island really happened (real human beings in supernatural world that included ghosts and monsters). As Christian Shephard told his son that he was dead, he said the sideways events happened too (dead souls having realistic lives in the after life). The sideways realm served as a transition point as the characters gradually met up again and "moved on."

This clears nothing up. It is a chicken or the egg argument: which was created first, the island events or the sideways holding world? Boone, Charlie and Lilly died on the island . . . so how did they "create" a sub-space in their deaths to gather the other people to the sideways world? And once you died, why would you need to be "awakened" by island events in order to stop the sideways world from continuing forward? Dead is dead. And if these main island characters who consciously created this sideways place "move on" does that mean the sub-space sideways world collapses? Is that why Eloise's spirit was so adamant that Desmond not awaken the 815ers? Then what happens to Ben's soul who is not ready to move on? Why did it take Jack so long (from a sideways perspective of literally re-writing his old life with a different ex-wife and a high school son) to make it to the church reunion? Why stuff a long, detailed, drawn out fantasy after life in order to somehow re-boot or sync an important event to force your soul to acknowledge your own demise?

The sideways world fantasy of collective memories really did not have a religious context. If it was purgatory, shouldn't the souls of the departed try to make better moral decisions than having affairs (Sun & Jin), killing people (Sayid), or bribing police officers (Hurley) in order to "move on?" Oh, the standard answer is "it doesn't matter."

If you accept the premise that the final survivors left the island on Frank's plane, it would mean they would have lived out fairly meaningless lives for the next 30-40 years if the island events were "the most important part of their lives." Sawyer and Kate would spend the rest of their natural lives pining for Juliet and Jack? They meet no one else who can fill their lives?

The more I think about the ending, the characters gathering happiness may have been an illusion.

S6E17 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2010-05-26T10:15:00.004-05:00

For all the disappointments, there were many great accomplishments for the series.

1. The barrage of science and literary references made people look up classic literature and physics text references. For a television show, it stimulated thought "outside" the show itself. In certain respects, it re-educated some viewers with their long lost high school and college courses. In other respects, it opened up new areas of study, such as my own new, ancient Egyptology degree.

2. The series opened the door to full internet connection between the show runners, the episodes and the fans. The fan boards were the life blood of the show. At it appeared that TPTB did have a pulse of the fan base as the show went forward, including killing off the unpopular Nikki and Paolo.

3. It was one of the few shows to weather extremely long hiatus periods. Most formatted television shows would have died on the re-run vine if new episodes were missing for almost a year because of work stoppages.

4. The series did show case the performance of several fine actors. The scenes between Locke and Ben will be considered great performances in the future. The series will also propel the cast into new acting ventures.

S6E17 DISAPPOINTMENTS

2010-05-26T08:23:00.011-05:00

LOST was the story written by its producers to be what they wanted to it to be. There is nothing any viewer or fan can do to change the story that was shown to us because it was not our story but the writers vision. It is like reading a book. At the end, every person has an opinion on whether the writer accomplished his/her goals.

Did TPTB accomplish their goals? Probably.
Did TPTB deliver a totally satisfying ending? Probably not.

A list of growing disappointments is a factor of the new, unanswered questions posed by the finale:

1. A vague explanation of the sideways world (as a construction by Jack's friends waiting for him to arrive so they can all move on; some sort of partitioned waiting room in heaven) was fine, but the ending did not clearly tie together the pre-island, island and post-island events. Were those events "real," partially real, or another "construction" by Jack's family or friends? What was real and what was imagined and what was mixed surreality? The current debates on whether the main characters died before, during or after the crash of 815 should have been settled by the writers in the last episode. It has been a focal issue from the first episode: did they survive the crash? It should have been clearly answered. Many point to Christian's comments in the sideways world that Jack's life was "real,: but he said the sideways world was also real.

2. There was no concept of "time." In the sideways world, Christian said there was no past, present or future, just "now." Except, throughout the season we saw a linear progression of days or weeks in a realistic world of Desmond running around trying to "awaken" people's minds so they could gather and leave together. If there is no concept of time, how can anyone be sure that the island events happened before the sideways world?

3. There was no explanation of why people needed to be "awakened" in the sideways world. They were all dead. Supposedly dead at different times, some before and some after Jack's demise. Was this just Jack's vision of purgatory? If so, can the characters cross over multiple times with different groups?

4. If the island was the most important bonds the 20 characters had during their real lifetimes, and that is the sole reason why their souls congregated for the journey to the after life, then our characters who left the island must have had no significant life experiences until their alleged natural deaths. Example, Aaron had no deep bonds with anybody so he was "re-born" as a baby in death? That seems profoundly unfair and sad. If people survived the island to lead real lives, their families, their children would have been greater bonds than the islanders. (Once combat soldiers who lived through hellish conditions go home, I don't see the overwhelming need to re-connect with their squads especially if they are dispersed over different places).

5. Why did Hurley, as the island protector, thank Ben for being a good "Number Two," when there was nothing shown. People have speculated that Jack died in the finale, but his soul was in limbo was decades to centuries. It is also speculated that the sideways world was Hurley and Ben's creation to hold their island friends spirits together until they "arrived" for their next journey. But that theory does not explain why Hurley and Ben themselves had to be "awakened" in the sideways world.

6. Many people were really disappointed to find Sayid's soul mate to be Shannon and not Nadia. People also observed that in the final gathering, Boone and Locke had no companions for the next journey. So there was no clarity on what it took to be "ready" to move on. It is interesting to note that the symbolic seating arrangement in the church mimicked the seating on Flight 815. That leads some to speculate that 815 was purgatory number one; sideways world purgatory number two; and the church scene the lift-off of eternal life.

7. One of the major criticisms of the story telling is that the ending left many, many questions with the answer "it did not matter." It is almost shocking that for the amount of time, energy, research and effort in making the Dharma stations, the temples, the hieroglyphs, the Blast Door map, the science fiction elements of time travel or moving a physical island were all immaterial or irrelevant as foundational facts for the story's resolution and explanation of character enlightenment. Those mysterious island elements were mere props or red herrings? The final explanation was that LOST was always about "character development." But that was only half of the overall story.

8. Another lip biting irritation was that the writers failed to explain "any of the rules." Jacob and MIB had unspoken rules which may or may not have been broken throughout the show. It seems that the island guardian can make up the rules. How is that possible if the island is a real physical place with natural and supernatural forces? "There are no rules" explanation for the island context is a weak way of not trying to explain all the contrary elements and actions the viewers saw for six season. Some could call it an intellectual cop-out.

9. In the same vein, what really was the smoke monster? Did it exist before MIB's body was tossed into the cave? What was it made of? Who were the skeletons in the life force cave? Who were the other children running around taunting Flocke? What was the island? Why did it need to be protected? Why were some characters deemed "special?" Why did Desmond's fail safe body fail when Jack's plugging the opening worked? Why did the cork need to be in place? What were the dynamics of the earthquake lava in the cave vs. the green light that reappeared once the hole was capped? And why didn't Jack turn into a smoke monster? Is Michael still a trapped soul (a whisper) on the island? What were the writers true visions of humanity: are we reincarnated? do we have only one soul? is there a heaven? is there a hell? what is the key to a person obtaining eternal happiness? TPTB did not have lecture us on theology to give us some explanation of why these characters found their way to that place. The ending was more a secular humanism vibe than any one religious context.

LOST was a roller coaster for fans to watch, debate, interact, speculate, and predict. From a television standpoint, it was a good show, highly entertaining. Many people found the end gathering emotional, touching . . . some compared it to a real funeral. For the amount of time invested with the characters, combined with the angst of the show concluding forever, there would be some emotional release. But for some, the ending was anti-climatic. The alleged "war" over the island turned into a mere duel. The the vast amount of unanswered questions muted the significance of the ending. There is plenty of room for a valid criticism that the show could have tied up more loose ends in a coherent way. But, if the writers had painted themselves into a corner by throwing so many conflicting elements at us as filler, then their decision of moving off quietly into the light was their best means of ending the story.

In summary, I felt underwhelmed by the ending. In my mind it could have a more dramatic and better ending. I am glad it resolved a major piece of the Big Premise. The fuzzy good feeling for the characters at the end was okay. Early in the episode I thought TPTB would not be able to pull off any good ending. I thought to myself they should have ended the series with the last episode of Season 5. (Now that would have kept the debates alive for a long time). But when sideways Jack pulled the x-ray over his face, I knew immediately that this was a symbol of his own death mask; that the show really was about death and the after life. So I let go and let the writers conclude their tale in their own way.

LOST was one of those shows that made you think outside the TV box. The on-line communities of commentators, bloggers and fans helped bridge the gap between episodes with their thoughts and theories which greatly added to the overall LOST experience.

S6E17 I'LL TAKE THE COMBO PLATTER

2010-05-25T14:09:00.008-05:00

After 200 posts during the last season of the show (which I never thought I would do), it came down to a little bit of this and a little bit of that theory as a partial Big Picture to LOST.

I change, tweaked, stumbled through, debated, defended, and questioned myself (like other viewers) who tried to connect the dots to figure It all Out. And in the End, we will never truly figure the whole thing out. Too many aspects of the show are left open to interpretation, speculation, head scratching or double meaning.

In the side game of trying to figure out where TPTB were heading with their story lines, I came close in guessing a few of the final elements. A summary of my personal chronology of theories of LOST finds elements of each rolled into one combination lock conclusion to the show:

1. PURGATORY

While watching the pilot, my first reaction was that the plane broke a part at altitude: there would be no survivors. So the show had to be about purgatory, with most of the characters
unaware of their plight, thinking that they had survived the crash. The themes of good-evil, character tests and personal redemption are strong plot lines.

When I re-watched the pilot episode, I also vividly recalled the one glaring element that called into question whether this was "real:" it was that huge turbine engine, still functioning at full bore, with no attached fuel (it was totally separated from the wing). It should not function. It should have blown up on impact.

The End: Christian confirms to Jack that the sideways world was an after life creation of his friends so they could keep their memories of each other when it was time to "move on." Many are calling the sideways world "purgatory" but we really did not see any mental anguish, punishment, penance or forgiveness in the characters. But everyone accepts that the characters in the sideways world were DEAD and the sideways story arc "not real."

2. INTERACTIVE DREAM

If purgatory was dismissed, what would be the other possible explanation for the characters sensing they crashed on a tropical island? The concept of powerful electromagnetic energy, and clues from what the passengers had on the plane (Hurley's polar bear comic book and Walt's game) lead me to theorize that tired passengers fall asleep during the long flight, and the turbulence and EM caused the sleepers to connect brain wave activity into a form of a
networked interactive game.

The End: The vague explanation of the sideways world is like an interactive, make-believe place where the characters would "hang out" until it was Time to Move On. It does not explain why bad things happened to people; but in the end nothing truly bad comes from it. Sun's bullet wound never meant anything; Locke's paralysis was never real; it was merely a holding area until the prior character's mind re-connected with its alternative self. In essence, the same mechanics could hold true for the island world. It had action, the feel of reality, bullets, sweat, blood, seeming consequences to actions, in an emotional roller coast among "new" friends. Just as the sideways world is the waiting room to heaven, why could not the island been the penance, realization, enlightenment in order to gain admission into the sideways room?

3. DUPLICATES IN ALT DIMENSION

Another prospect of the mysterious EM powers: the plane travels through a high energy electromagnetic field and like an office copy machine, scans everyone to create copies in an alternative universe. Since the duplicates retain all their memories and personality traits, they believe themselves to be their original selves. The show is about duplicates or twins in a different realm, but may or may not have a continual connection with their original selves (causing mental issues).

The End: The EM on the island was a byproduct of the Life Force (it is life, death, and rebirth), but it is clear that in the story construction, the characters did have "duplicates" on the island and in the sideways world (for which there was no past, present or future, just "now" - - - even though we saw an actual lineal time reference during this season). The concept of splitting souls or new bodies in the after life is a center piece of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. So on one level, the concept of character duplication was true.

4. ALIEN EXPERIMENT

Under the file folder that nothing is ever really new, was the prospect that the passengers were taken off the doomed plane and transported to an island (ship) for aliens to run experiments on humans ( i.e. Star Trek episode The Cage.) The various stations or hatches were mere experiments or puzzles constructed to see how humans could adapt, solve problems or crack under the pressure.

The End: No alien being references in the finale. In fact, a great number of fans were disappointed with the non-scientific explanation of the end. However, if the characters were dead before 815 crashed on the island, the island itself was a test, an experiment to make the characters confront their personal issues, work through them, literally "battle their own demons" to "see the light."

5. MENTAL INSTITUTION

The first cast member hired by TPTB was Hurley. It seems like an odd choice, but he always appears to be around the center of action. Hurley believes that he has been cursed by the Numbers, that he has imaginary friends, and that he can interact with dead people. Coupled with the factors that most of the cast has criminal behavior, daddy issues, alcohol, drug and psychotic problems, the fact that the island is a free form Mental Institution, a Santa Rosa
Club Med for the criminally insane, could explain a lot of the story line. Many believe that it would be a disappointing finale if this was merely one large Hurley mental meltdown.

The End: There was no reference to the characters being institutionalized and hooked up to machines. The end was not a theater Room 23 mind wash event. And it was not just the delusions of one person's fantasy running wild.

6. EGYPTIAN PORTAL

If the Egyptians were an advanced technological society, they would have used any and all technology to get closer to their gods, or to guarantee their Pharaohs place in the heavens.

The End: The island was clearly a means to the End for the characters, especially Jack. It was a place that the characters needed in order come to terms before "awakening" in the heaven's ante room with friends. The unknown element is how was the connection made from the island mind to the heavenly soul.

7. NEXUS BUFFER THEORY

This was most complex, mixed theory: that the island is the dimensional space between heaven and hell. The island Others were demons who could not reproduce or create life in hell. Ben's manic desire for women to have children on the island by capturing Juliet was his solution to create his own army of demons, who along with Sata, would attempt to recapture Heaven for themselves. Angels have been summoned to stop the War before it begins, and the souls of the 815ers have been caught in the middle of this pending epic struggle.

The End: It was clearly explained that the island was a "cork" that held evil at bay, so in one respect the concept of "buffer" between worlds was true. However, the foreshadowed "War" that Widmore pondered never got to the epic struggle and battles that I had envisioned. Not even close. The non-violent struggle between two supernatural beings, Jacob and MIB, was anti-climatic when viewed in the context of the final minutes of the show, where the characters finally wound up.

S6E17 SOULS IN THE CHURCH

2010-05-24T14:07:00.004-05:00

Here is how the lost souls, now ready through collective memory, are ready to "move on" after death:

FRONT ROW (left to right)

LOCKE (aisle) JACK KATE
SAYID SHANNON BERNARD ROSE (aisle) CHARLIE (with Aaron) CLAIRE SUN JIN
BOONE JULIET SAWYER (Christian in aisle) DESMOND PENNY HURLEY LIBBY

BEN remained outside because he was "not ready."

There were 20 "main" characters in the end scene, which means that only these characters had "found" their lost souls through redemption, realization, solution to their past lives' issues, enlightenment (or even just "letting go of the past,") in order to "awaken" spiritually to move onto eternity. Aaron with Charlie and Claire is the one odd element, for to be in the sideways world he would be dead. But at some point he "existed" in the real world prior to 815, while David did not. It does support the observation that only the pre-815 events were "real" and the island and sideway worlds were split views of the after life (how free will and different choices can change a person's humanity or spirit.) Total enlightenment comes with the realization of the black and white alternatives.

S6E17 LOCKE, TV STOCK & BARREL

2010-05-24T12:40:00.011-05:00

Maybe the hype was too great; maybe the expectations were set too high; maybe the filler became more important than the actual angel food cake. There are many merely "satisfied" viewers, but underwhelmed to confused by the actual story construction. How one looked at the story as it unfolded created a bias on the reaction at the end. The angry fan thinks it was a long con by the producers to deny the fact in Season 1 that the show was about purgatory. Some in the middle just don't like that the time and resources to try to figure out the island's mythical quantum physics properties was nothing more than an illusion. In the end, it was a typical, stock television ending: happy trails to the cast, an emotional roller coaster for a few, and a big rug to sweep points under cover. As one reviewer said, "It could have been worse."

A quick review of the major points are in order.

Big premise of the show was clearly answered: it was all about DEATH.

Did Flight 815 actually crash in S1E1? Most now believe it did, resulting in all island events occuring in DEATH. (I believe the cast was dead before 815 crash; that the flight crash was a symbolic device to get lost souls to purgatory).

Where were the "survivors?" DEAD. Purgatory is a purification process. Each person on the island had to interact with other lost souls in order to move on to the next level. But there were two different levels or worlds: the island and the sideways. And there lies the confusion: how can you have two purgatories. The concept of the split soul was part of ancient Egyptian religion (the "ba" and the "ka"). The writers failed to adequately explain their viewpoint on the mechanism of their after life sojourn.

The ending was underwhelming even though my basic theories were nearly spot on. It was underwhelming because the writer's craft was missing in tying the various key elements together into one coherent thought process. TPTB kept the details vague (because they did not know how to explain everything without ticking off more viewers).

If one thought the island world was real, then finding out it was not was hard. Especially, when you see the conclusion of the sideways world as souls in the after life waiting to be "awakened" by the island "experiences" in order to move on to eternity.

Last week, I thought there were 7 possible story constructions to the show. See, Time Lines, May 19, 2010. There was one scenario that was a wild card:

Flashbacks were real
Island events were fake
Sideways events were fake.

Better terms would describe the ending:

Flashbacks were the REAL lives of the characters, the memories of the souls who had died with unresolved issues, that needed to have a means of resolution and redemption in order to be enlightened or saved.

Island events/time line were AFTER LIFE events constructed upon the memories, fantasy, nightmares and fears of the characters (which I theorize would have been Hurley and Ben).

Sideways events/time line (which chronologically were 3 years behind the island; but time does not matter according to Christian) were AFTER LIFE events constructed while the characters were waiting for their souls to re-merge after resolving their life issues.

ISLAND ART: THE ISLAND

2010-05-24T07:10:00.002-05:00

ISLAND ART: LOCKE

2010-05-24T07:09:00.002-05:00

ISLAND ART: FLOCKE

2010-05-24T07:07:00.001-05:00

FINAL PONDER

2010-05-21T15:40:00.008-05:00

A final ponder before the finale. . . .

On the island - - -
a plane crashes and survival, rescue are paramount.
a smoke monster appears signals danger.
they find strange places and a Dharma group that lead to deaths.
a turn of a wheel and the island moves
the O5 return to the island to reset the time splits with jughead; more deaths.
Jacob is killed.
candidates to replace the island guardian are chosen; Jack volunteers.
to be concluded: the smoke monster's destruction of the island.

In the sideways world - - -
there is no plane crash; everyone is living their own separate lives.
until Charlie begins to "leak" island memories in a mad state.
Desmond becomes a believer.
to be concluded: Desmond's quest to "awaken" memories of 815ers to ??????

How would Desmond's "awakening" of 815ers memories in the sideways world have any effect on the island events (especially since many sideways characters are DEAD there)?

How could island memories awakened three years behind current island events help stop the smoke monster from destroying the island?

At Jacob's camp fire meeting with the remaining candidates, Jacob states that they must do what he could not do: kill Flocke/Smokey. Jack asked if it was possible, and Jacob's reply was "he hopes so" because Flocke is certainly going to try to kill them. No instructions on how to defeat the monster who is going to destroy what Jacob has protected for thousands of years. A desperate Jacob, who claims near death in order to pass on his guardianship to Jack, does not seem that worried about the End. Odd. We have seen conventional weapons have no affect on it. Only a sonic fence allegedly keeps it at bay. For on-the-job training, Jack is put into a battle field situation with no weapons, no knowledge of the enemy, no plan and no intel. Have a nice day.

Why would the sideways world characters care about the island? It is already destroyed, under water, when their Flight 815 lands at LAX. The sideways characters lives don't need to change in order to go forward. Why would any one care about helping out their parallel universe selves?

"They're coming!" Does that mean the collective mind power of the sidewinders being awakened at the concert teleporting to the island world as a "weapon?" Could it be as simple as "mind over matter?" The destruction of the island boogie man, Smokey, by a collective mind melt? The confusion in Smokey's mind from sideways world of people it killed creates a mental paradox which short-circuits our EM monster? The mechanics of such a story device would be hard to explain within the known island mythology.

MERGING WORLDS

2010-05-21T11:38:00.008-05:00

The concept of merging the sideways world with the island world makes little sense. For if the sideways world was corporeal to the original intent and story line of Lost from Season 1, why did it turn up only in Season 6?

For some, the sideways world is the happy-happy land where our island characters can be re-born or have a better life. If the island explosion-implosion climax distorts the earth spatial time line to invert it back to 1970, with no Jacob "touch" interventions, and the characters lives were totally altered to "the way it was supposed to be," then that could be a plausible ending. From a story construction standpoint, I prefer a separation of church and state: there is no suitable purpose why the sideways world and the island world need to cross over and connect if they developed separately in time and space.

The sideways world is set in 2004. Flight 815 lands in LAX. None of the characters on the plane are aware of a mysterious island (for it is shown under water). The island world is currently set in 2007, and there are only a hand full of people left alive who know that the island exists. In the island situation, the main purpose is to keep the island secret, to avoid humans from trying to exploit (or destroy the light); basically allow it to disappear. If that is the over riding purpose in the island story line, there is no need for any action in the sideways world. If the sideways world is a different linear highway in time space than the island's time space, so its actions or non-actions should have no affect on the island events.

To have any affect between sideways and island worlds, they would have to be both on the same highway. It would mean the island car is three miles ahead of the sideways car, both speeding along the same highway. Again, the separation means no overlap. The sideways world is not chasing "history" or known events. The only way the sideways world and the island world could be together is if one is real and one is an illusion (like one sleeping kid and one loud, talking kid on the same school bus, a couple rows a part from each other. The talker could "disturb" the sleeper.) The problem is that our Lost bus would contain two of every character, who led different lives or made different choices to create contradictions (subtext: paradoxes). Slamming the two together would be like rooting for a school bus crash.

This season, the sideways Desmond has been hell bent on re-connecting the sideways characters from 815 to sideways irrelevant island world memories. How does the main characters knowledge of the island in the sideways world help or solve the Smokey problem that Jack and the other survivors now face? I grossly speculated that a possible writer angle would be that the only way to kill Flocke would be a conscious connection to the sideways world, in which, sideways Jack "kills" Locke on the operating table. How or why this would affect Flocke, I don't know. It seems too far out to be the final solution, from a story connection let alone quantum physics and sci-fi parallel universe principles.

This is why I cringe at the prospect that the final ending of the show is a merger between the time worlds. How does one take two independent people and fuse them into one body and soul? Does one die? Do both die? It creates too many new questions.

S6E16 RECAP

2010-05-20T10:55:00.003-05:00

L: Lo! - - - The most shocking twist was Richard being Capt. Frank'd by Smokey. So much for Jacob's "immortal touch." It appears when a character's usefulness is gone, they get "smoked" or killed off.

O: Obnoxious - - - Jacob's camp fire question and answer session never answered any of the Big Questions. Also the Jack guardian ceremony seemed very lame.

S: Story line - - - We are heading for a Jacob-Island v. Smokey show down, which really does not dove tail into any foundation in the S1E1 pilot episode. There is still no context to why this show down is so important, even to the Candidates, because Jacob's selection reasoning was flawed to bogus. Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are now officially red shirts because their candidacies have expired. The return of evil Ben helps his fans get some blood splatter closure. The season has been devoid of science to explain the events or back stories. It is relying on vague myth and fantasy elements in order to not explain the island world.

T: Time line - - - The sideways time line continues to make less and less sense. The factual errors about police procedures, escaping the van with a bribe, and Desmond gathering up all the people for "the concert," (or mutual agreement or coordination of the sideways consciousness to enlightenment), puts this time arc into the fantasy world perspective.

GNAWING ANSWERS

2010-05-20T09:44:00.007-05:00

Throughout Season 6, I kept a running list of gnawing questions from the show that I would have like answered and explained by the writers. Since the End is upon us, it is time to review those 20 QUESTIONS:

1. After being released by the Others at the ferry landing, why did not Hurley tell his comrades that Michael had left the island with Walt by boat?
No Answer (but part of the series non-communication issues between characters that have driven many viewers into madness.)

2. Why was Hurley let go by the Others?
The answer was probably to tell the survivors not to come after the captives, but why was Hurley taken in the first place is not clear.

3. Why do people on the island call Hurley "Hurley" when his name is Hugo?
No answer.
Update: another poster referenced the pilot episode. In it, the first reference to "Hurley" Hugo introducing himself to Sayid. Later, when Jack is attending the marshal with Hugo. Hugo gets sick from the blood and Jack thinks he is about to hurl. Jack calls him "Hurley" but we never see Hugo actually introducing himself to Jack. We still do not know why Hugo is called Hurley or why he wants to call himself Hurley on the island when he is Hugo in the flashbacks.

4. If WHH, when did it first happen?
It is debatable if the time lines will ever make sense.

5. Are flashbacks really flashbacks of real events?
Unknown, depends on the Big Premise of the show, which has not been clearly revealed to date.

6. Why were the Numbers required to be used to reset the Hatch timer when one could use a simple reset key?
This is another technical head scratcher, especially since the explanation of the Numbers were merely designations for the Candidates.

7. Why did Patchey seemingly "die" numerous times on the island but to return to reign havoc on the 815ers?
No clear answer. One could speculate that island people cannot commit "suicide" or the island itself controls life and death decisions.

8. How could the Island "stop" Michael from committing suicide in NY?
Unknown.

9. Is there a connection between having special powers if you arrive on the island in a suit and tie?
Apparently not, the key is if you are dead (Christian and Locke) then the smoke monster can use your possessions and fabricate a ghost.

10. Did Claire die when the Barrack house she was in exploded during the raid?
Open to speculation, but she did turn into a Flocke zombie afterward.
11. What was Ben's deal with Kate during their beach luncheon after she was captured? Unknown, but there is a weird loop in the sideways world that touches upon that: Desmond offering Kate a black cocktail dress after her escape from the prison wagon.

12. Who were the Other Others (the children) who were terrorizing the Tailies?
No clear answer. One of the blond jungle kids was young ghost Jacob, and another may have been ghost MIB. But there were other children lurking in the jungle and at the temple.

13. Why did Smokey scan Juliet then leave her alone?
No clear answer why the monster scanned people (to recreate visions of lost loved ones to manipulate behavior, or gather information.) Locke was scanned and saw the Light, then the second time Smokey tried to kill him.

14. Why did Horace repeat himself like a skipping record when talking to Locke at the cabin? The consensus was that was Locke's dream "skipping," but when do dreams skip?

15. Why did Ben use water to summon Smokey?
Ben claimed he used it to summon the monster, but in reality "it was summoning me." There was no explanation of how the water trap called or released Smokey into the camp.

16. Why does the Island heal some (Rose, Locke) but allow others to die?
Unknown and inconsistent.

17. What are the Rules that Ben and Widmore mentioned in their meeting?
If one takes Jacob and MIB's words, the guardian makes up the rules, so there really are No Rules.

18. "They're Coming!" What group of people (invaders?) are coming to the island in S6?
The plurality of the statement infers it was Widmore's people, but they were no threat to Jacob, Smokey or the castaways. It was probably a red herring panic cry to build tension or drama.

19. Why does Alpert never age?
The answer was that Jacob gave him immortal life to be his advisor on the island. For 140 years it worked, until the Smoke Monster Capt. Frank'd him in "What They Died For."

20. Why is it so difficult to locate the island?
Unknown. We still have no concrete explanation of what the island is, where the island is located, how the island operates, when it was created or why it exists. If the island is itself a main character in the show, it is the key to understanding the Big Premise.

So of the 20 questions posed,
4 were answered (20%)
6 were partially answered (30%)
10 were not answered (50%)

I think most viewers would agree that those percentages reflect the over all answers to everyone's questions and mysteries associated with the show. Whether having more than half of viewer questions remain unanswered could lead to some disappointment.

WHAT IS SMOKEY?

2010-05-20T09:29:00.002-05:00

What is the smoke monster?
It could have always existed on the island, as the original protector of the light source.
It could have been "awakened" or "released" when MIB's body was put into the light cave.
It could have been created from MIB's soul.

The monster appears to have electromagnetic properties (electric flashes; scanning).
It has the ability to shape shift matter into human forms but cannot create human beings (no blood when Flocke stabbed with knife, but Flocke "sweats" while in the jungle).

Things that do not affect it, either as the smoke monster or Flocke:
air, light, darkness, water, fire, earth, bullets, knives, electromagnetism, radiation (from the cave).

The only thing that does affect it: sonic fence (sound waves).

If the smoke monster is an electromagnetic being, electromagnetic waves is a part of its construction; sound waves must somehow "disrupt," "cancel" or "refract" its matter in a destructive manner. So the only possible solution would be blast Flocke at point blank range with a sonic boom? (Like a portable boom box playing Driveshaft??)

TIME LINES

2010-05-19T14:41:00.009-05:00

There are seven possible story constructions for LOST. Whether the flashbacks, island world or the sideways world are real or fake (imaginary). A chart is helpful:

(FB=I) means flashbacks are in sync with island
(I*SW) means the island and sideways are not in sync
(Wild Card) means island and sideways world are both correct.

The context of LOST can vary depending on the final Context. From this analysis, it is more probable that the flashbacks and island time lines correlate. Jacob infers such as he has watched the candidates, and the island characters have referenced their flashbacks.

It is interesting to note the wild card possibilities:

the Flashbacks and Sideways are real and the island is not; and
the Flashbacks are false but the Island and Sideways are real (but in different dimensions?)

The finale needs to confirm one of these story constructions otherwise the context of the characters actions cannot be considered in their true light.

S6E16 JACOB'S POW WOW

2010-05-19T10:44:00.006-05:00

Jacob's camp fire meeting with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer was disappointing on many levels. It was the perfect opportunity to answer the key questions about the island, the role of the guardian, and what roles need to be played out to allegedly safe guard the world from Flocke. But more vague answers than truths.

The use of young ghost Jacob to take Jacob's ashes from Hurley, then to have Hurley find adult ghost Jacob tending a fire makes little sense. Why would Jacob transform into a child to get the pouch when Hurley already knows who Jacob is and would readily give him what he wanted if told. It would seem that the inference is that young child ghost and adult ghost are two separate ghosts. Which puts a crazy twist on CrazyMom's statement that she made it possible that Jacob and MIB could not harm/kill each other, if she had in fact, already killed them and she was taking care of ghosts and not human beings.

Jacob's statement that his ashes were in the fire, and when the fire goes out, so does he. Except, in the statue, the fire with his ashes did go out. But he continued to run around the island in ghost form; a form which can actually manipulate objects like water and cups.

The whole reason he brought candidates to the island was flawed and untrue. He stated that each of the four remaining candidates were there because they had no real life to go back to. That is not true: Jack was a successful surgeon who had a mother to care for; Sawyer had a daughter; Hurley had his parents and his wealth (and potential charity giving to help others); and Kate also had an ill mother. I guess Jacob does not consider any kind of "family life" important.

Also, Jack's acceptance of the role of island guardian without any detailed information about the duties was unrealistic. There was nothing heroic about accepting an unknown challenge; it came off as a dumb move.

Then, the "ceremony" to transfer Jacob's "power" to Jack was also contrived. The director made sure we could not hear Jacob's mumblings (see, prior post on CrazyMom's translation). The expression of acknowledgment was more like "a deer in the head lights" moment. Then, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley sulking off to the side, in relief that they were not picked, was cowardly sad. In sum, the whole moment lacked any compassion for these characters.

What continues to irk me is that the characters continue to march around without a clue what they are supposed to do. Now, Jack has assumed official leadership. He has a quest to stop a smoke monster. From what? How? Why? That is not heroic, but suicidal based on Flocke's current behavior.

S6E16 BRAIN DEAD

2010-05-19T09:44:00.004-05:00

There was much to dislike about "What They Died For." First, and foremost, the question was not answered: everyone who died on the island, from Claudia, her group, through the Others, 815ers, to Widmore's people, died for no specific purpose. "The island" is not an answer, it still remains a vague question.

Second, the brain dead intelligence of the characters continues to frustrate. Example, Widmore's show down with Flocke. Widmore is threatened by Flocke, and knowing his end is near, he goes ahead and tells Flocke what he wants to know, that Desmond is a "fail safe." Ben blows Widmore away, but we all assume Widmore was not leaving that house alive. Ben, himself, turned illogical slug around Flocke. He was told that he would inherit the island once Flocke was done, but at the well, Ben knew Flocke's plan was to destroy the island (which means Ben would also die). Ben's reaction is to help Flocke finish his plan, including hunting down the survivors. Jack volunteering for a job with no description or purpose was also dumb. The idea of accepting a drink from the guardian suddenly opens you mind to vast knowledge has no basis in fact. Jacob gave Richard immortality; but that was false as Smokey Capt' Frank'd him in Dharmaville.

Third, in that vein, there are no rules. What people say is never the truth. Ben and Widmore stated in the past they could not kill each other; it was against the Rules; but Ben did so. CrazyMom said Jacob could not harm MIB, but Jacob killed his brother.

Fourth, the Jacob camp has come to the conclusion they have to "kill" the monster. But they have no idea how to do it. Widmore claims Desmond's special property to withstand EM energy is a "fail safe," except from a continuity standpoint MIB is made of EM energy. What is Desmond supposed to do? Bear hug Flocke and attempt to drown him in the pool? We know Flocke can withstand a dip in the lake from the dock scene (so he does not melt like a wicked witch). I continue to dislike the sideways story arc, but I think the writers may use it for one purpose: sideways Jack will screw up and kill Locke in surgery, and that death will transpose itself onto Flocke. It mirrors Jack's father's surgical screw up. How or why that would work on the island probably would never be explained.

Fifth, there has been a growing debate on whether one world is real and the other is not real. Is the sideways world the "real one" with the island as some subconscious testing ground? Is Smokey the real Boogie Man in people's nightmares? But it hard to fathom either world being all that real as the sideways fact errors continue to mount (example, Ana Lucia as a patrol officer would not be in charge of transporting prisoners to county jail, sheriffs would be; when Ben is beat up no call to the police? That school would have been in lock down with SWAT teams patrolling the hallways.) David Letterman joked that he felt the only viable ending in his mind is Jack being told to "wake up! The plane is landing in Cincinnati."

S6E15 THE KILL JAR

2010-05-18T16:58:00.002-05:00

The island family tree is quite the Kill Jar:

CRAZYMOM kills Claudia to take Jacob and MIB; kills Claudia's people

MIB kills CRAZYMOM

JACOB kills MIB and throws body into Light to create SMOKEY

SMOKEY kills Black Rock crew except RICHARD; kills Rousseau group except Rousseau; kills Others except WIDMORE & ELOISE (plus Cindy, Emma & Zach we think); kills misc. 815ers

ELOISE kills Faraday

WIDMORE's men kill Others, 815ers, Rousseau

BEN kills DHARMA in purge; kills LOCKE; then kills JACOB at SMOKEY-FLOCKE'S urging to create Ghost Jacob

815ers and Others kill each other.

I think the only person left on the island who has not directed killed someone may be RICHARD, except he was with the Others who helped BEN with the purge, and gave Locke the intel to have Sawyer kill Cooper. At this point we do not know whether ROSE and/or BERNARD are still alive on the island in 2007, so the only person without blood on her resume would be ROSE.

So everyone on the island has something in common: they have been part of a murder.

S6E15 DIAGRAM

2010-05-18T15:37:00.004-05:00

How can one diagram the known elements of the Island? We were told about the Life Force (Light) that is under the Island. We know the Island is represented as a land mass in a sea. We know that people have been "brought" to the Island by its guardian from the mainland. It creates its own weird eye ball effect.

TITLES

2010-05-18T08:49:00.002-05:00

If episode titles are the real clues to what LOST is all about, one could consider it is about Death.

Live Together, Die Alone (S2E23/24)
Tricia Tanaka is Dead (S3E10)
Confirmed Dead (S4E2)
This Place is Death (S5E5)
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham (S5E7)
Dead is Dead (S5E12)
What They Died For (S6E16)

Other titles referred to death:
Do No Harm (S1E20), the doctor's oath not to kill one's patients.
The 23rd Psalm (S2E10), widely quoted at funerals.
The Cost of Living (S3E5), where death is the answer to that question.
D.O.C. (S3E18), which some referred to as "Dead on Crash."
Some Like it Hoth (S5E13), a reference to the Egyptian after life god, Thoth.

The island could be purgatory, the Egyptian after life, a nexus point between heaven and hell, or the Garden of Eden. We won't know until the end.

S6E15 TRANSLATION

2010-05-17T11:48:00.003-05:00

Lostpedia tries to translate the words CrazyMom speaks when presenting the wine to Jacob to become the new island guardian:

"For we do not accept this just as a common drink, but as if that (he?) should be one with me."

This solemn statement gives us no insight on what, if anything, CrazyMom was giving Jacob. The symbolism, if any, is lost in that scene.

I had thought the words were a "magic spell" that would grant Jacob full powers over the island as its protector. But that is not the case. It is another non-answer to the question of what is the island.

S6E15 RECAP

2010-05-17T09:31:00.002-05:00

L: Lo! . . . was probably the reaction of half of the viewers who thought this back story episode was a stinker, when in fact it answered several daunting questions such as who were Jacob and MIB (brothers), who were Adam and Eve (CrazyMom and MIB), and who created the donkey wheel (MIB and the Roman Others).

O: Obnoxious . . . was probably the vagueness of the answer of what the island is all about. The mysterious "life force" pool which no one is to enter, but CrazyMom was the guardian of, had no context to the 815ers struggles on the island. It was a Star Wars type of answer, but without an application to the actual characters. It also does not explain where the island is located, why people want the light force, how they can get the light force, how they can harness the light force (since people can not add it to their own), and how to fight the smoke monster.

S: Story line . . . the concept of a standard mystery, or a science fiction genre, has started to stumble towards an awkward fantasy explanation for the previous five years of island stories. And this is why some viewers are growing weary and upset that the show is winding up for a major disappointment, with more weak or vague resolutions of the significant issues. It does add one twist to the relationship between Jacob and Smokey. They are not really brothers. Jacob buried his brother. Smokey was the unholy creation of MIB's dead soul and the island spiritual waters. There is no reason why Smokey could not have destroyed Jacob sooner, or why it is still attached to the island.

T: Time line . . . this episode put the island past back to the Roman era, around 250 BC. That means that the Jacob-Smokey conflict has lasted for more than 2000 years without a resolution. It also brought in no reference to "time travel" as a dynamic for Jacob or Smokey to prove their point about humanity.

S6E15 DHARMA LIGHT

2010-05-14T09:47:00.005-05:00

In Season 5, Dr. Chang was at the Orchid station during its construction. As the workers were nearing the pocket of energy, there was an accident and a worker was hurt. Chang came to the sight and told them to stop digging.

When asked what they were going to do with the EM, Chang said that it would be used for time travel experiments. A worker laughed about going back into time and killing Hitler to avoid World War II.

The Orchid station was constructed above the FDW chamber. We know that early island inhabitants made the donkey wheel during MIB's human life time. We are not sure whether MIB completed that project, or that new arrivals took up the cause to harness the light energy of the island. But at some point, someone finished the FDW and turned the wheel. It should have a) moved the island location and b) transported the turner in time and space. That is what we saw happen to Ben and Locke.

Unless, it is an illusion.

We are aware that the smoke monster can take memories of individuals are recreate matter (in the form of Kate's horse, Locke's body, poisonous spiders). Is it possible that the smoke monster can also mind control (from scans of people's brains like it did to Locke and Juliet)?

I wonder if MIB's memory of "clever" people with ideas about the life energy could use it to change the past. There are a few common things that both Jacob and MIB would jointly like to correct: a) MIB killing CrazyMom; b) Jacob killing his brother and turning him into Smokey; or c) CrazyMom killing Claudia. The search for time travel may have been the quest, "the progress" of the brothers to make amends with their own Past mistakes. Once they can achieve it, their misery ends.

We have only seen the ability of the island forces at most 140 years in the past (2004 to prior to Black Rock's 1867 crash) when the main castaways were flashing between time periods on the island. And maybe that was the real problem facing Jacob: how to use the light in order to go back 2200 years to his island birth. He does not have the technology or knowledge to use the light to fuel his time travel quest. And if the light force is finite, he may be actually running out of time and resources to accomplish his goal. Further complicating the matter, the ghost of his brother, MIB, has soured on the idea because of centuries of failure to "reclaim" his human body and humanity that Jacob took from him. MIB's soul now wants Jacob to suffer as much as he has on the island. If Dharma was the last, great hope of Jacob to find his time travel machine, then the purge may have been MIB's plan to thwart it.

S6E15 LIGHT POOL

2010-05-14T09:00:00.007-05:00

There are some viewers who are miffed by the concept of a magical light pool being the center piece of the island. It resorts to some sort of extraterrestrial location.

I have always thought that the best explanation for the unexplained would be the premise that the island was in a different realm like the underworld. TPTB were outspoken in Season 1 against the concept that the island was purgatory, but it could be a purgatory type setting without the religious connotations.

Maybe part of the viewer confusion is that the initial expectations of the show was presented in a style of a shipwreck-survival-adventure story which morphed into a science fiction now fantasy story line. The creators claim that all of these key elements were contained within the pilot episode, but besides the smoke monster, this is not accurate. The idea of "Jacob" did not get mentioned until late in Season 2, or any context until after Season 3.

People had hoped Season 6 was the light at the end of the tunnel, but they were not expecting the light to be a glowing pool of Life. The circumstances show that the special property of the island is not just strange electromagnetic energy, but the substance of Life itself. As stated in earlier posts, the Life force appears to be finite matter which can be "consumed" but not replaced. When MIB's body floated into the cave, the light diminished and the dark smoke monster appeared. If that is the case, then how is the Life force delivered to human beings?

When CrazyMom said the light was "life, death and re-birth," it could mean that the island is that nexus point between realms of life and death (after life). Not quite purgatory, but the light pool could a human soul recycling station. Except, the fact is that not very many people ever found the place; that its guardian's sole purpose was to guard the light pool from everyone.

S6E15 FORMULA PART TWO

2010-05-13T14:57:00.004-05:00

CrazyMom also noted that the life source was finite. She had each person has some in them, but others want more. And this light can go out.

After MIB was drifted into the light cave, the light did dim. And if one believes the cave is where Adam and Eve was found was the same, then the light did go out.

It does put into play the notion that the universe is not infinite but finite. Life as its own element is not replaceable. It can be depleted. Like a light, be extinguished. And maybe that is the warning that people will "cease to exist" if the EM energy, life source or the island is compromised by Smokey.

A gnawing question arises to why, if there is such grave danger of allowing the life force to escape or be compromised, did Jacob allow visitors to play with it?

Claudia's people were smart enough, according to MIB, to start digging for the substance, and theorized that using a wheel and water, they could use the energy to return to their home. How they figured that out is a mystery. These visitors were killed off before attempting the Turn.

Unless Jacob was really hands off, in total isolation, the other people brought to the island continued the work of Claudia's people. They continued to dig wells, and in one deep one (under the Orchid station) completed the FDW room. Based on the construction, it looked ancient, pre-Industrial revolution. That puts the inventors in the realm of the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians, whose advanced, ancient mechanical knowledge is just being understood by modern scientists.

So, some distant past group completed the FDW, and turned it. It had to work because Ben knew about it, how to operate it, and what the consequences of the turn was to the island and to the turner. (He originally said that turning the FDW would move the island and the turner would never be allowed to come back. We saw evidence of the island disappearing, and Hawking's station trying to re-locate it. However, Ben did return to the island.)

So the physics of the light in conjunction with the FDW were known by previous inhabitants. So why did not Smokey leave with the first or second turner? Apparently he cannot leave the island by that means. Maybe, because Smokey appears to be created from the soul of man and the life source radiated waters, it cancels itself out. MIB's memories, soul, essence is trapped in the smoke monster form, which is "worse than death."

But what is really strange is that Jacob and/or MIB allowed more people to come to the island and tinker with the EM light source. The Egyptians probably used a pool for some healing religion properties. The military may have come in order to compare it to hydrogen bombs. Dharma may have come to test its properties on animals, humans, and as a power source.

If you are supposed to protect the island (and the finite life source contained thereon), there is little reason to bring more and more destructive people to the island to mess with its equilibrium.

S6E15 FORMULA

2010-05-13T10:01:00.008-05:00

CrazyMom told Jacob that the lighted cave contained "life, death, and rebirth," that is in every living creature. This life force is a secular divinity. If one can postulate that the Big Bang created the ever expanding universe, it also created the basic building blocks for all life as we know it. Life depends on death, death depends on life; the circle of life is a closed system.

When MIB joined his mother's castaways, he found the people inventive and smart. They had ideas about how to use the EM energy to try to get home. MIB found the EM energy underground, so they dug wells and caves to find it. What was interesting in his final discussion with CrazyMom was that they were going to dig out a space in the wall, and use a wheel and water.

Now this space was not the frozen donkey wheel that Ben and Locke used to time travel. The cave which CrazyMom showed Jacob contained the green light energy and water.

I doubt if the writers thought this through as an explanation of the light, but the island could be the well spring for life, using the principles of photosynthesis as the scientific basis. Electromagnetic radiation (such as sunlight) interacts with carbon and water in plants to create chemical reactions for which fuels the plants and omits oxygen as a byproduct.

Taking this one step further, if this "light" is part of each person, it could be conceptually be considered a person's "soul." For each person's soul to be in balance with nature, a spiritual guardian would need to protect the source of the life force from imbalance. Therefore, the island guardian is like a tech operator at a nuclear generator - - - making sure that the life reactor is safely in balance with the universe. What is certain is that this pocket of energy and life force is probably not in the same dimension as Earth. It is more probable that the island is like a cell nucleus, transmitting the vital information the cell (universe). Messing with the nucleus could lead to problems, such as cell division (multiverses), clones, or the death of the universe itself.

After MIB's death, it is apparent that Jacob and/or Smokey continued to bring the intelligent individuals to the island in order to harness the power of the life force energy: Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, the military in the 1950s who developed the hydrogen bomb, to Dharma which was a diverse scientific research community. Apparently, each of these great intellectual civilizations failed to fathom or harness the power of the life force, as MIB refrained that they all fail in the end. Jacob called it progress to the end. So maybe Jacob and Smokey were on the same page for thousands of years, using human intellect to find a way to harness the power of the life force, to change their untenable lives.

S6E15 ADAM AND EVE

2010-05-12T11:37:00.013-05:00

We received an answer to a mystery which nobody could have guessed: "Adam and Eve" were MIB and CrazyMom.

CrazyMom was the island's enlightened guardian of the "life force" pool, who came across a shipwrecked pregnant Roman woman, Claudia. Claudia gives birth to Jacob, then unexpectedly, gives birth to a second unnamed son, MIB. CrazyMom immediately kills Claudia to take her two sons as her own.

CrazyMom keeps Jacob and MIB isolated and under her control. She claims to have made it so neither of them could kill each other. The boys have no concept of "death." They are unaware that anything exists on or off the island until they find other hunters in the jungle. When "people," a derogatory term she uses for other shipwrecked people on the island, she tells the boys that people are bad. But MIB was drawn to the people by seeing a vision of his late mother, who came to him in a strange spotlight. This was approximately 13 years after his mother's death. This one event leads MIB to rebel against CrazyMom and Jacob, to join forces with the other people as a way of finding a way home.

Now, who or what could project an apparition of a dead woman on the island? We are aware that the Smoke Monster is capable of changing forms and using the memories of individuals to create ghost interactions with the characters. It is also possible that CrazyMom also have the magical ability to project visions into individual's minds. She was the only one to "see" and interact with Claudia.

I don't know if the Smoke Monster existed before MIB body's was cast down the water into the life force pool. The boys were on the island for 13 years without any apparent encounter with anything strange. Jacob appeared surprised to see the smoke monster leave the cave for the first time.

So, the circumstances would lead one to believe that CrazyMom may have projected Claudia's ghost onto MIB. It could be part of her own End Game: how to create a successor guardian for the island life force. It made Jacob use his free will and "choose" to remain with her. Another 17 years pass until CrazyMom finds out of MIB's plan to manipulate the island energy to leave.

It is extremely interesting to note that MIB is in well chambers and in direct contact with the life force energy, but does not change into a smoke monster. When CrazyMom visits, he smashes MIB against the stone walls, knocking (or possibly) killing him. MIB "awakes" to find his village destroyed and his people dead. He seeks revenge.

But CrazyMom has planned ahead and convinced Jacob to take the role of island guardian. And through an incantation, Jacob receives full knowledge of the island and its properties. The literal torch of light was passed to him at that moment. Therefore, CrazyMom's duties to the island had ended and she could allow herself to die at the hands of MIB. In the end, she thanks him for killing her. Besides that pyschological scar, Jacob delivers a beat down to MIB. As part of the avenging CrazyMom's death, Jacob knocks out (or possibly) kills him, and lets his body drift into the life force cave. The place where CrazyMom described as giving life, death, rebirth. But she warned them never to enter it. It would be worse than death. And apparently, that is when the smoke monster was born.

We now know that in 1867, Jacob and MIB, at their beach scene before the Black Rock shipwreck, were guardian and smoke monster. For approximately 2072 years, the two beings had co-existed in a form of a truce. Jacob continued to bring people to the island, and MIB continued to eliminate them either directly or through manipulation to bring out their evil. It took more than 2000 years for MIB to make its first attempt to "kill" Jacob with Richard. Why the sudden change? Who were the people just before the Black Rock? Was there an event that caused MIB-Smokey to want to kill Jacob to leave the island? Or was this the point when Jacob got fed up with guarding the secrets of the island, and looked to find a successor like his CrazyMom did.

This back story tells us that the concept of time stands still on the island. That the only rules are those made by the person in charge. CrazyMom set the island rules. Then Jacob set the island rules. Now, Jacob's successor sets the island rules.

If there is a need of consistency in the story, the passing of the guardianship must be consistent. CrazyMom's magic and Jacob's acceptance of his role passed semi-god, supernatural powers on him to be the island guardian. Only then, could CrazyMom take human form and die by a knife blade. Likewise, Jacob died by a knife blade by Ben - - - which would logically mean that he already chose a successor and that person agreed to be the island guardian BEFORE Jacob was killed.

Much speculation can be had on the ceremony of succession. In Jacob's case, it had to do with drinking wine offered from the past guardian. The wine bottle was broken by MIB. So the act of drinking the wine is not a special precondition. Has there been any event that would lead us to believe Jacob passed on his powers to another being to run the island?

The only communion we saw Jacob have was in 1867 with Richard. There was no enchanted words given to Richard, just the touch of immortality. But again, Richard was "awakened" after Jacob's death outside the statue when Flocke appeared to him not as dead Locke, but as "Him." That had to be a reference to the MIB. Richard could be the successor, if not for the reason that he has lived on the island the longest, and did Jacob's bidding until very recently.

So the solution to the Adam and Eve discovery has created numerous answers to the dynamics of the island mythology. But one real disturbing problem is with Jack's discovery of the bodies in the caves. He was led to the caves by MIB as ghost Christian. The caves were the source of water (and this may be the same life force cave gone dormant.) But Jack said the bodies were a man and a woman, who died about 50 years ago. Except, Jack's medical conclusion was off by approximately 2000 years. That is a significant error.

INITIAL DESCRIPTION

2010-05-11T10:33:00.003-05:00

The series was originally described as follows:

The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were 1,000 miles off course when they crashed on a lush, mysterious island. Each person possesses a shocking secret, but they've got nothing on the island itself, which harbors a monstrous security system, a series of underground bunkers and a group of violent survivalists hidden in the shadows.

And the Pilot episode was described as follows:

The 48 survivors scavenge what they can from the wreckage of their plane; the survivors' pasts threaten their ability to survive as a group; a transceiver is discovered in the wreckage and hopes for rescue soar.

Today, we have only a handful of plane survivors left (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Claire). It is not the survivors pasts that threaten their ability to survive as a group, it is the island present. Any hope for "rescue" has been lost a long time ago. Even when six made it back to the main land, they decided to return with no plan on how to be rescued again.

Maybe the "shocking" secret of the island will be revealed before the End. Maybe not.

We may have to live with the prospect that the initial mysteries will never be answered by TPTB.
What is the mysterious security system? What were the underground bunkers? Who were the survivalists hiding in the shadows?

The years of speculative research into areas of science and fiction may have been for naught. Gone will be the explanations involving wormholes, event horizons, Egyptian religion, concepts of the after life, space portals into time, time machines, black magic, quantum physics, twin planets, parallel universes, inter-dimensional beings, nanotechnology, mind control, spirits hidden in plain sight.

QUOTATION COULD APPLY TO LOST

2010-05-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." --- Mark Twain in "Huckleberry Finn."