Lost Thoughts - Is it all determined, or can "the variables" changethings?

daniel-faraday_l
Originally uploaded by GoatimusPrime

What a fantastic episode this week of Lost was. I watched it a day late, but the benefit of that is that I could immediately read all the other Lost bloggers' thoughts on the episode.

This week was mostly Farraday. We now know Widmore is his dad, that Ellie Hawking pushed him to focus on science at the expense of everything else, that not only is Theresa hurt in the time-travel experiments that he does at Oxford, he himself begins losing his short-term memory. Ellie Hawking manipulates him into going to the island, saying it would make her proud and that he would be healed. He eventually leaves the island in the 70's to get to Ann Arbor and continue experiments, and he comes back to find his mother and attempt to change the incident and stop the spiral of events that leads to the crash of flight 815.

That is really what was interesting. Up until now, the producers and the message portrayed on the episodes themselves is that "what happened, happened." You can't change it. It's been a deterministic, at times fatalistic mentality in this past season. The characters react to the thing that happen, but they can't really change things, at least not big things.

Farraday thinks this is NOT true. He says that maybe anything can happen because the variable in the constant of time is the free will of thinking people. Hmm. As someone with a background in theology, it of course just brings up the Calvinism and Arminianism debate.

The question is, where does the end of the episode leave us? The other bloggers disagreed on this. My sense was that Farraday really was dead, and therefore, despite his best efforts, he couldn't change his own future, or that of what would happen on the island. And perhaps, like Sayid, by his very attempts he manages to set into motion the exact things he was trying to change or stop. I think the episode just reinforced that the future can't be changed. What do you think?

Now, I totally can't claim these thoughts, but these are some great thoughts and theories from some great Lost bloggers.

Everyday Mom has a great theory about why, for the first time, Ellie has no idea what will happen next.

"I am thinking that after she shot Daniel, Ellie took his journal that was stuffed inside his shirt. This, then, gave her all of the information that she needed to understand time travel and all of the events that were supposed to happen in her future son's life. That is why she was so adamant that even as a child he needed to put his scientific brain to its best use.This also would explain why she made the statement that for the first time in her life she didn't know what was going to happen next. Up until the point that Daniel died, she had all of that information spelled out for her in his journal. But when he died, the journal ended.So, the big question now is whether the Oceanic 6 really will be able to change the past by stopping the leak in the power source and reventing their own plane from crashing in the future. And if they are able to do this, what will that mean for them?"

Devastate Boredom disagrees, and doesn't believe Ellie actually knew she was going to shoot Daniel. She thinks that things are shifting, bit by bit.

I don't believe Eloise-in-the-present knew she shot Daniel. She tells Widmore that, having sent Jack, Kate, et al, back in time, she doesn't know what will happen now. Dan hops a sub back to the island from Ann Arbor *because* she sent them back in time and he saw the photo, and the whole hydrogen bomb we-can-change-the-past thing goes from there. I don't think that the Eloise in the present knows that she shot him in the past. So, is the present shifting for Eloise even as we watch? As she drives away in the taxi, and simultaneously in Daniel's present he's being shot, is she suddenly aware of it as a memory? I'm thinking of Desmond encountering Daniel in the past, and waking up suddenly remembering it... Same thing, or no?

Rocks in my Dryer speculates that the 815 gang doesn't REALLY want to stop the plane crash.

Furthermore, would any of our Oceanic 815 friends really want for that plane to have gone safely on to Los Angeles? Think about it. If the crash never happened, Jack and Kate would never have met, and Kate would be on her way to prison. Jin and Sun would be back in their dysfunctional marriage. Rose would have cancer. John would be in a wheelchair. I hope, at some point in next week's episode, Jack realizes this. I hope he looks at Kate and says, "Wait a minute, I don't want to prevent the plane crash. Because if the only way I can know you is to have gone through grungy Hostiles and flaming arrows and creepy cabins and undead fathers and talking birds, then sweetheart, I'd do it all over again in continuous time-loop fashion for all eternity." THAT is how you woo a woman, Jack.
But if Daniel is right and they do change the past, wouldn't that be a curious final episode? Can you imagine watching Oceanic 815 touching down in LA, and watching Jack, Kate, John, Sawyer and all the rest simply disembarking quietly, as total strangers? Somehow that seems like a terribly unsatisfying ending, and I hope the writers don't do that to us.

My other question is - Ellie Hawking does so much to keep Farraday on track to fulfill his destiny... simply so that he does what she knows he did? Is she worried that if he DOESN'T do it, then something would be off-kilter? Because really, if what happens happens, then she wouldn't have to try to make it happen... it just would. I don't really understand her motivation. Both she and Widmore mentioned the sacrifices they have made with great emotion - what are they sacrificing for? The future of the island? The salvation of its inhabitants? Their own personal desire to take control and get back on the island?

Edit - one more question. Why doesn't Richard recognize Faraday? Didn't he meet him in the .. umm... 50's?

Lost Reactions - Some Like it Hoth

First of all, if you missed it, I am now totally convinced that the resurrected John Locke is the monster. Read it here.

I'm not going to bother with a recap, but it was great. I do love a good character-centric episode, and Miles had a big blank spot in his background to fill. I'm left with several revelations and mysteries. The big one is:

The Shadow of the Statue Gang:
Ok, these people were following Miles, just as Widmore was. They are opposing Widmore. Last week when we saw these people on the beach I assumed they were working for Widmore, but I'm wrong. I have to begrudgingly bring up my hubby's suggestion that they might be the descendants of the original inhabitants of the island, the people that built the temple, the well that Locke went into to get to the donkey wheel, the statue, and probably all of the hieroglyphics. I would amend that though, and say that I'm wondering if the original inhabitants might be ageless (some electromagnetic funky time thing?). Richard Alpert is still a mystery to us because he doesn't age and clearly is different than the "Hostiles" that he's hanging out with. What if he is in league with these guys?

If they are ageless and these are the same people that were originally on the island, they would know both the past and the present and the workings of the island. The question is, why did they leave and what is their goal?

The other possibility is that they are working for Eloise Hawking, but what if Eloise is also an original inhabitant?

Anyways, I'm totally intrigued by those questions. We know that the group of "Shadow" people that are on the beach are headed on some sort of mission and that they're trying to move a big box that Ilana said had "supplies" in it. That could be anything...

So - what do you all think?

Rezinsky/Pierre Chang's secret work project:
I am not at all surprised to see Rezinsky at work on the hatch and in league with Pierre Chang, but I do wonder why it's a big secret. Who are they hiding this from? Since a guy was killed by his own filling shooting through his head and towards an electromagnetic source (I just know some guy LOVED thinking that up), we know that they are building the hatch because of the electromagnetism. Chang works at the Orchid, where we know he was doing time travel experiments. How much do you want to bet that he needed the electromagnetism for the experiments? I bet it's all linked somehow.

Widmore's recruitment of Miles: So Widmore had Miles followed and recruited, supposedly for his skills with talking to dead people. However, Widmore's surveillance is so detailed that I bet he knows that Miles was born on the island and that that has everything to do with his recruitment. Charlotte, too, was born on the island. Widmore was taking people back - for what purpose? We also now have confirmed that Widmore set up the fake plane crash.

Daniel Farraday's return!: Daniel is back! I love it. I totally didn't expect him to remember Miles, but I'm glad that he's in the right time loop to interact as an equal with our Losties. Now we need to know how he got off the island. It may be simple - he may have joined Dharma with the rest of our gang and returned to the mainland, joined up as a scientist, and made his way back to the island with the credentials to join Pierre Chang's experiments.

OR.... he was left in the jungle with "Ellie", his mom, and proceeded to use the hostiles' method of travel to get off the island. Hmmm..

*Addition to the list - The Island filled with dead people: People on message boards are asking what this meant. If you don't remember, Naomi told Miles they needed his services because the island had an increasing number of dead people living on it. It seems an obscure reference unless you believe, like I do, that Smokey inhabits the bodies of dead people and makes them seem alive and interacting with others.

What do you all think?

John Locke is the Monster

** update - also read my theory that the "Shadow of the Statue" gang are the original inhabitants of the island, and that Alpert is one of them, and that they may all be ageless.


Isaac insisted that I write this down so that he can point back to it when he is proved right.

He is absolutely insistant after last week's Lost episode that our current resurrection John Locke is actually the monster.

Hmm.



Actually, after he said it I have to admit that I thought back quickly and thought - DUH, why didn't that occur to me?

Jacob is this shadowy, mysterious persona that we haven't actually seen but that everyone listens to and fears. Once when we saw a flash of him in the cabin, it was the figure of Christian Shepherd. Then there's Christian Shephard himself, who died in Australia and was transported via casket to the island. There his casket is found empty, and he suddenly starts showing up around the island. The producers have confirmed that Christian Shephard is physically dead. So, either there is some weird time warp thing that is playing with us all, or he is a ghost like Yemi was when he appeared to Eko.

It sure seems like the monster uses bodies that are empty of souls to appear to people on the island. He then speaks to them about their own history but also guides there actions. It's CREEPY.



So - our executed friend John Locke is transported to the island on the Ajira flight as the copy of Christian Shephard. He's in a casket, he's dead. Suddenly he's alive again, and that freaks everyone out. Now he seems to know a lot - he knows his own past but he also knows a lot about the island, what's supposed to happen, how to find the monster, etc. He's zen and stoic. He seems to be guiding Ben. During the last episode, the only time Locke disappeared was
1) when Ben pulled the plug on the water in the secret closet of his old house that apparently let the monster loose.
and
2) when Ben fell into a hole in the Temple and is confronted by the monster/the monster embodied in Alex.

AND the monster makes Ben promise to follow John.

So... who's with us? Do you think Ben is actually the monster?

What I don't know is what that means for people like Christian Shepherd, Locke, Alex, Yemi, etc... are they just dead and gone for good? That sort of makes me sad.... but I am really convinced that the Locke we are seeing in these episodes is not actually Locke.

And... is Jacob also just the monster, or is he someone/something else?

10 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries of Lost (as of 4/9/09)

I have been trying to order in my head what we have yet to discover about our mysterious island. I heard in some podcast or interview that even at the beginning of the first season, the producers knew WHAT the island was. They reordered characters and their backgrounds, but the island has been the point of the story all along.

So - here's what I don't know yet. Do you guys have any to add? Do you think you have the answer to any of these question?

1. What IS the smoke monster?
2. Who built the temple and the four-toed statue, and why?
3. Who/what is Christian Shepherd?
4. Who/what is Jacob?
5. What are the whispers?
6. How did the Black Rock get on the island?
7. How was/is Walt special?
8. Why did the Hostiles steal children, and what became of them?
9. What happened to Claire?
10. Why doesn't Richard Alpert age?

Runner up questions -
Who discovered the island's potential to travel through time, and what did they plan on using it for?
Dharma built their complex on top of the temple entry-way, so who first lived in Ben's room and what did they use it for?
Where are Rose, Bernard, Faradday, etc...
Why does Widmore want to go back to the island?

Lost Thoughts

Destiny Calls Lost
Originally uploaded by halilgokdal

* I managed to squeeze in watching Lost online before work this morning, which may or may not have been a good idea. I didn't watch American Idol, but I know Tattooed Mormon Joy went home, and at this point I have to say she deserved it. So - no surprises there. *

Anyways, back to Lost. It's a week without a lot of revelations. The producers seem to be trying to clarify some of the time questions and wrap up some of the Jack/Sawyer/Juliet/Kate stuff. I think they've gauged the reaction to Juliet and Sawyer and they're sticking with it - boooooo. I've always preferred it the other way around, but no one agrees with me. In any case, now we finally know what Sawyer whispered to Kate and we know where Aaron is, and that seems to be safe and somewhat unimportant to the rest of the plot.

I tried to listen closely to Miles and Hurley's hilarious discussion about time. The best line of the night came out when Miles asked asked Hurley what he was doing and Hurley says he's checking to see if he's disappearing.

So - Miles is emphasizing that you CANNOT change the future. It is the way it is. It's all fate. The only break in that insistence comes when Hurley challenges him by asking why a grown up Ben didn't remember Sayid, particularly when Sayid goes to torture him. Miles seems genuinely stumped - which leads us to ask - Why doesn't Ben remember Sayid?

I think we have three options.

- Ben actually does remember Sayid, he just lets what happens happen because he is that much of a believer in fate. This makes sense to me because it sure seems to me like Ben remembers some of the others when they arrive at the island - he's sure of who they are as soon as he sees the plane crash! Still, that doesn't seem to be what they're hinting at here.

- Ben doesn't remember because time works in loops - so when they went back in time the universe adjusts itself so that things happen differently but with the same ultimate results. This - the way it worked the first time around without them in the story is not how it will work this time with them in the story, BUT the ultimate results will be the same. So - the first time around, there was no visit of Sayid to the island, so of course Ben doesn't remember it, it didn't happen. It's happening now, but in a different loop. Sorry, this is complicated, it's well explained on this site: Time Loop Theory

- Ben doesn't remember because it didn't happen. They are wrong and you really CAN change the future, so by going back in time they are changing the whole story. This is intriguing because anything could happen, but the producers have directly said that you can't change the future, so I don't buy it.

- Ben doesn't remember because he's been brainwashed - see a couple of paragraphs down.

There's still a lot of this lingo about fate and how things happen and characters do things "because I was supposed to". Watching all of this has been really interesting to think about questions of the sovereignty of God and how He is outside of time, and what that actually means. It's interesting!

It all got interesting when our new nice Sawyer helps Kate take the fading little Ben to Richard, leader of the Others, the Hostiles. Now we know how Ben got from Dharma to the Hostiles. What really got me was Richard's warning to Sawyer about what would happen if they gave Ben to them. "He'll forget this ever happened, his innocence will be gone, and he'll always be one of us."

Hmm.. what does THAT mean? Why will he forget? What makes him lose his innocence?

Richard's side-kick says, "If Charles finds out...", which leads me to say - is Charles Widmore leading the Others at this point? Is he a young or old Charles Widmore? And then I couldn't quite make it out, but I thought he mentioned "the healer", which I assume would be ghostly John Locke - aka Jacob? And maybe that's why there's all kinds of whispers when John went to see Jacob - because he's attempting to talk to himself through time?

*ahhh... other blogs clarified. He said "ellie" not "the healer", which is probably Faraday's mom. So - she and Widmore are working together, ON the island.

And, last of all.... Richard takes Harry Potter Ben into ..... dun dun dun.... THE TEMPLE! Did I not write about the temple last week? I knew it was significant! Looks like it's about to be de-mystified though!

Our last scene seems to be a jump into the future, where a resurrected John Locke looks at dusty Ben Linus and says "Hello Ben, welcome back to the land of living". Now, this begs the question - when Ben is healed, does he somehow jump into the future and adulthood, or is all of this the producers playing with our mind, and it's a completely modern day situation where creepy John is taking care of wounded Ben?

Your thoughts?

Lost thoughts - the smoke monster, the temple, kate's black horse

I won’t be able to watch Lost tonight, so I’ll try to watch it on Thursday night and blog my response then. However, I have a few questions and thoughts right now, since my office has “Lost for Lunch” days on Wednesday. We started it a good six months ago or so, and are near the beginning of the second season now. For dedicated Lost-watcher like myself, it’s great because I see so many things watching old episodes the second time around.

Today’s rerun was “What Kate Did”, which revealed a number of things – Kate killing her step-father who turns out to be her father, the missing clip in the orientation video, and Walt’s first contact with Michael through the computer in the Hatch, and the rather awkward combination of Kate kissing Jack right after he hears Sawyer saying he loves Kate.

What confused me most about the episode was watching Kate’s “visions” of the black horse. She sees it several times in the episode, both on the island and off of it. Back when I saw the episode the first time I assumed it was a figment of her imagination, since everyone seemed to be having strange visions of people from their past. The weird thing about the black horse is that SAWYER SEES IT TOO. When Sawyer regains consciousness Kate takes him out of the hatch for some fresh air, he looks up sees the horse and comments that maybe he should go back inside. At that comment, Kate looks up and see the horse, and then Sawyer looks at her and asks, “You see it too?” Kate goes up and STROKES the horse, and Sawyer says, “Kate, do you know that horse?” Kate nods the affirmative.

So… here’s the thing. It’s not a figment of her imagination, because Sawyer sees it too. It could be just a horse on the island, because we see horses at other times and know that there’s random animals on the island. However, given that it stands there and responds to her calmly, it really does seem to know her. So… is this a time travelling horse?

The other thing is – some of the “apparitions” seem to have actually been the smoke monster. Is the horse one of these?

Speaking of the smoke monster, I just cannot figure it out. There seem to be two things that appear as a smoke monster, but sometimes I think it’s just little explosions that either Dharma or the hostiles are setting off to scare people. Other times… there is definitely a smoke monster, known as Smokey to the fans and Cerberus to the Dharma initiative. The appearance of Yemi in particular seems to embody the monster. Yemi/Smokey challenges Eko’s belief that he is really his brother, and then suddenly the smoke monster appears and kills Eko. It would appear that Eko WAS the smoke monster.

Danielle says that the monster is a security system, and it’s interesting that the Dharma Initiative’s security system seems to be built partly to keep the monster out. And, at one point when Ben is trying to repel the invading forces from the Dharma compound, he disappears into a secret door in his house that reveals a stone doorway covered with hieroglyphics. When he reappears, covered in dust, the monster shows up and decimates Keamy and his mercenaries. Ben seems to either control or know how to unleash the monster, and he’s doing it through a tunnel that seems connected to the same stone and hieroglyphics that we see in the Temple, which is where the monster sucked a member of the French team into.



What IS the temple?? It seems like it was there before Dharma, perhaps from the four-toed statue days? The temple seems to recognize some sort of power and it must be significant, because at the end of Season III Ben told all of the Others to head to the Temple, saying it might be the last safe place on the Island. At that point, most of the Others didn’t know where it was, only Ben and Richard, and Ben said the Losties shouldn’t go there, just the Others. Hmmm. It’s also in a territory that Rousseau has dubbed “The Dark Territory”, and it holds her camp, the Black Rock, and the area where the Monster is most active. On the Island map on the blast door, the area is labeled "Primary nexus of Cerberus related activity",

Will the temple end of being the source of the mystical/spiritual aspect of the show? They’ve definitely emphasized that scientific aspect this season, but the Monster and the Temple still hold a lot of mystery.

Lost - "Namaste"

I have loved the last few weeks and getting so many answers so quickly, but it's nice to have time slow down and to have most of our friends back on the island.

*oh dang, I just wrote "our friends" without even thinking about it. I'm too into this show*

The other thing I LOVE is finally getting to see Sawyer at the forefront. He's been my favorite character since season one, and while I love him as a snarky rebel, it's interesting to see him as the guy who knows what's going on. He's sure testy with Jack, though, so the rough edges are most certainly not smoothed over. Any votes as to how the dynamics of Sawyer and Juliet and Jack and Kate will play out? Given that I'm a Sawyer fan, I vote for a complicated switcheroo so that Juliet and Jack end up together, and the two cons keep each other company.

My question is, since we have just met young Ben, is older Ben acting off of the things that younger Ben learned from our Losties in the 70's? This also reveals why Ben knows so much about the Losties when they arrive on the island. Initially I thought he received full life bios from outside the island, but it may just be that he met them all when he was young and knows their whole stories already. I think it's quite likely that in the rest of this season we see some sort of complicated involvement between the Losties and little Ben - who looks strikingly like the young Harry Potter.

Another big question is - why didn't Sun get sucked through time like the rest of our people? Hmm... I don't get that.

And finally, this question was asked by the What's Alan Watching Lost recap. Where are Bernard and Rose and the dog?