L_O_S_T…where the hell did it go?
Sorry…I couldnt come up with a catchy name for this one…
Lost…Ok…I get that some people didnt like it…I did. I wish more did…
Everyone wants more answers…I would have taken three more seasons…what are you going to do?
I feel the FSW is fairly self explanatory…it was the afterlife. Why were there kids, one who didnt exist?
Because it was a reflection of what these people saw themselves as…and what they wanted to be…or could have been in a perfect world.
They took everything that they were, and bunched it all together while waiting for everyone to get there that was most important to them. Why wasnt Helen there…I dont know…
This place showed that although some people gave their best efforts in life, things went awry, and they made mistakes. And going to the island allowed the possibility that they could change their ways…a place where the flawed, can heal and grow. A place where miracles happen.
There are tons of questions floating around, and although it seems that many will not/cannot be swayed…Im still going to try…
So to put it simply…what changed that we view the show differently?
Its always been up to interpretation…always.
Nobody but ABC PROMISED ALL the answers…if they even did.
We as theorists created a plethora of questions…and demand answers…what? Who does that?
Either way…the truth is, they gave a lot of answers. I wouldnt even say indirectly…I would say discretely.
Ive said before that people watching this show who dont go to theory sites dont even know half of the questions we are talking about, let alone answers to them…yet we expect Daniel Faraday to write them on a chalkboard and show them to us.
Some things are applied….some are flat out told, yet refuse to be accepted.
DaddyX posted something he read somewhere else with a pretty good summary…I liked the concept, and many of the things listed…but disagree with some of them too, mainly MIB and Jacob stuff…which goes to show that people can like the show and disagree…
The most aggravating thing about it is that the whole show…at least since I have been watching and theorizing…we have relied on sites like this for answers to questions that we ourselves asked.
And throughout the years, we have come to accept when we miss something, and someone else points out the overlooked…that if 2+2=4…then 4+4=8…I dont know why that changed now that the show is over.
I think its a matter of trusting our intelligence (please dont take that the wrong way), and believing our fellow theorists that we have for so long.
Im not saying that because someone writes a quality theory than they should be listened to…just that if someone explains something, and it makes sense…and there doesnt seem to be a better idea…than it is probably correct…even if its not the answer we want.
That has been a VITAL part of watching this show, believing things we didnt want to hear…or even harder to believe someone on the site that says they figured it out.
I dont want this to come off as a rant about “Lost haters”…I want people to understand some of the things we saw. And although some will probably come and say “I understood it, I just didnt like it”…thats fine…sucks for you…many people dont understand, and many people WANT to understand and like it…so shut up for one stupid post and let the people who want to learn…learn.
So Im asking two things…
1)Any questions you have, ask them here. Do I know all the answers…probably not.
Will I be able to tell you why the rock on the hole keeps the light in…no.
But simple things asking how someone related to the story…or what the FSW really is…even why some people are in the church and some are not…
Im all baout answering Jacob and MIB questions…I think many people are most lost on that subject.
But dont ask things relating to mythology such as how the light works, things like that…they are and will be island mythology…
2)Anyone who can chime in and answer questions, I ask for your help.
If you enjoyed the show…or even didnt, but feel there is an answer that I dont have, or am incorrect…jump in and tell us…Im not going to argue, maybe debate a little, but not argue.
Again, this is not to throw anything in anyones face about not liking the show…its just to help people better understand what they saw over the last four years.
After a 45 minute long conversation with someone at work over this exact thing…it ended with me getting to do something I rarely do…use a line from Lost…specifically a John Locke line…
After a debate that actually reached near shouting at times…My boss (terrible person to debate Lost with btw…your boss) asked me why I found it so easy to like the show after years of theorizing and expecting…
I told him that I never expected anything other than great storytelling, which is what I got…and that it took and understanding and acceptance that answers were not going to be as plentiful and precise as what I could ever wish…and got to say before I left that “Its never been easy…”
To which he called me an asshole and walked away…hopefully people here will be slightly more reasonable…(although later he did come and tell me what I though about MIB and jacob made sense…)
;]
Best thing to do, if anyone even cares, is ask questions in sets of 5, numbering each one for an easy response…again…anyone that would like to help out would be greatly appreciated…
I would really like to discuss some of the things along the way, and I am not on as much as I would like to be right now…so bear with me in response time…and slight indirectness at first…
Thank you for your time…
Okay AES (I am still half-convinced that you and Dabs may be Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff slumming among us and having us on. Take it as a compliment or call it my nod to all the great research and writing you two have done here over the years)
But I will take you up on your offer. For starters
1 Who was trapped in the cabin asking for help
2 how long was that “person” trapped there
3 Why was that person trapped there
4 Who built the cabin to trp that person there
5 who released that person from the cabin
You see I am keeping my questions grouped by theme and being specific. I am looking for consistency in the logic behind what we saw in seasons 1-6.
I take every good word you say to me as a compliment Andre…glad you asked about the cabin…it takes some thought…and imagination…but I think it makes sense.
1)MIB…
Many argued that it was Jacob…but what sense would that make?
MIB can be contained by the ash…Jacob is not worried about being killed by him, so there is no reason to trap himself in the cabin.
MIB looking like, and later admitting that he was Christian Shephard sells the point as well. I listened to the podcast of Cuse/Lindelof today from “The Candidate”.
They said that before “Across the Sea”, Hurley was the only one to see “dead people”…any dead seen by others…are MIB.
2)MIB would have most likely been trapped there by an “Other”, between the year of 1988 and 2004…or from the time Danielle got there, to when 815 crashed.
We never see the monster (or for that matter, much of the time period) between the two incidents of Daniells team getting killed, and Christian Shephard in White Rabbit…
But during the time, we see Desmond Hume arrive there, and Kelvin out and about without a care in the world.
I cant give a precise date…but sometime in that time period is about the best I can do…Ill try and dig a little deeper later and get back to you further.
3)MIB was trapped there to stop him from continuing what we know he does…manipulate, kill, and try to leave.
4)My bet is that the cabin was actually built by MIB, who posed as Horace during John Lockes dream. MIB directs Locke to go to the pit and he finds the map to the cabin, where he also finds Christian Shephards double…bad twin…or MIB…
The Cabin is and was always MIBs…Ben just thought it was Jacobs because he was not aware that the monster had a face and was capable of such things.
It very well could have been used as a place to manipulate “others” while he was trapped there…
I think its very possible that Dogens purpose was to trap MIB there, he is the only one we have seen thusfar “create” the ash type of substance that traps MIB.
Why isnt it Dharma, even though it looked like Horace? Because they use fancy fences…while the others use “ash/powder” to keep the monster at bay.
5)This is probably the only question that I would have liked to see answered…
I really think it was Claire. I think when she had her “dream” of Locke and the bloody carriage after her disappearance…she may have been introduced to the cabin during homecoming.
The fact that the cabin disappears makes it really hard to fully answer #2 and #5…
Im not sure if the cabin itself is separate and moves through time and space…or if it is more of a mythological structure that is controlled in a way by the islands EM/water/light…
The who and why questions are most important though. I cant see anyone else making sense other than MIB to be in there…and the others were obviously in contact with Jacob through Richard, and Dogen also had contact at some point off island…
If one can come to grips that it was in fact MIB…it makes the answers to the other questions make a hell of a lot more sense.
Good thoughts and organization Andre…dont be afraid to call BS…but at the very least, the Who and why answers I feel are correct.
So how on earth was MIB able to terrorise our losties for 4 whole seasons as the smoke monster if he was being trapped in by an ash circle!!
I have a ton of questions, but I’m going to just narrow it down to one subject – Walt:
1. Did Walt have any special abilities?
2. Why did birds die around him (this happened twice).
3. Why did the Others want him so badly?
4. What kind of tests did the Others make him do?
5. Why didn’t he want Locke to open the hatch?
If you want to take a stab at the rest of my questions, you can read them here:
http://lost-unanswered-questions.blogspot.com/2010/05/questions-rattling-around-in-my-head.html
go4broke – The ash was broken by the time the losties crashed in 2004. I know we didn’t see the ring broken the first time we saw the cabin, but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been broken at some other part of the circle. We kind of have to assume little things here and there.
AES – That’s about as good of an explanation as I think we’re going to get about this. I remember we all had some major discussions regarding the cabin about a year ago. Funny how little things have actually changed.
Thanks AES, I really appreciate the attempt at answering my questions. You always do a creditable job.
I am interested in an answer that is corroborated by either something in the series (diagetical) or by a statement made by the producer-writers (non diagetical) explaining how things work in LOST. There is a certain amount of pure speculation on your part in your answer.
I actually have an answer for 5 that makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than Claire. We see Hurley discover the cabin in season 4 in a very scary sequence. He gets scared and thrashes around in the dark. We see him fall over some distance from the cabin. Perhaps he breaks the circle with his body. We do not see this clearly. This would make sense to me if it is Jacob trapped in the cabin, given the complete absence of Jacob on the island before that. This raises questions 2 and 3 again. We see manifestations of Jacob off island during the period you noted 1988 to 2005 when he touches John Locke and Sayid.
1 The producers have said Hurley is the ONLY person to have seen ghosts? Interesting. This is not completely born out by the evidence in the series. Would this mean Libby does not appear to Michael Dawson in a hospital in New York city? Is she just a hallucination or can MIB manifest himself off the island somehow (in post hypnotic suggestion?) Also, who appears to Michael just before he dies in the freighter explosion? MIB off shore? What would this thing’s range be?
Be reassured, I am not expecting you to answer these further questions. I am NOT expecting a blueprint to MIB. That was one aspect of the show I was satisfied with, if only because they created something so weird and magnificent that they are allowed to get away with a few inconsistencies.
I just wanted to point out that there are contradictions contained within the series that make our speculations all but impossible.
The only exit to this logjam is if we are provided with further explanation or data. Hence my frustration.
PS Go4Broke: You presented exactly the other question that arises if we are to accept that MIB is the one in the cabin.
The producers are careful to show fake John Locke disapear just before Smokey lets itself rip in season 6. Like Superman, he is never shown in two places at once.
This does not mean he does not have that ability. If MIB killed the Ajira passengers he would almost have to be on Hydra island and with Sawyer and the others at the same time. Is there a sort of mini-me smoke monster?
Again I can live with that. Smokey is, after all, something we have no direct knowledge of in the real world. You cannot download a user guide of the internet for smokey. As a LOST (TM) creation they have a certain license to play fast and loose.
Krystyne20: (I hope I am not stepping on AES’ toes here)
Walt has un-tapped special abilities. Not all of them are fully explored in the series.
2 He has a certain unconcious control over electromagnetism. Obviously this would affect the natural guidance system of birds (I remember someone wrote about this a couple of years ago. Fascinating.) This is shown on two seperate occasions in the series, once in a mobisode and once in an episode.
1 We see him apparently control the weather. Michael “I’ll go find your dog as soon as this rain stops” and the rain stops.
1 We see him apparently summon a polar bear. He is reading a comic book with the bear and the same day he is (coincidentally)attacked by a polar bear. God knows what would have attacked if there were no polar bears on the island. A mad squirel?
So Ben’s people are very interested in the electromagnetic properties of the island. Maybe in finding the light? They kidnap Walt in order to help him develop his abilities or to learn to suppress them (either one makes sense given the volatile nature of his abilities in this particular setting).
Again. Walt appears to Shannon and she does not appear to be sleep walking at that time. Walt appears to John Locke while he is in the pit of death. We are asked to believe that in both cases it is MIB showing himself to these two. I find his motivations perplexing.
When walt tells John Locke not to open the hatch he may be exhibiting another ability. Not a biggie, as far as I am concerned.
yeah, i like this Q&A thing. My questions are these (for now) :
– Who was the other man seen in the cabin?
– What was the importance of Black Rock journal?
I like the answers that you gave to Andre7s questions.well thought…
1.why was MIB allowed to kill eko ?
2.why was penny with desmond at the end?
3. further more why was helen not?
just a couple of simple ones for you.
Quick revision…I took a look back at “Solitary” last night to help with this question.
Danielle catches Sayid and straps him down, using almost the same method Dogen used to “test” Sayid when he was at the temple after his resurrection.
We know Danielle has seen what happens with the people that the monster gets a hold of.
I think its very possible that danielle either learned from “the others” how to test people…or they learned from her.
Since the test was done at the same time the pill was given to Jack to give to Sayid…with what I feel is the same powder substance used to keep MIB away…Danielle may very well know about it too.
MIBs only trick isnt just taking over peoples form…
Its obvious that he in some way can control the peoples bodies as well as just take their form, as seen with Danielles team…so to answer your question go4broke…he controls peoples actual dead body as well…which is how he can haunt while he was “trapped”…
Although I dont think MIB was necessarily as trapped as he wanted “the others” to think he was…at least not the whole time.
Ben didnt know what was in the cabin…I truly believe he took John there possibly assuming it was Jacobs cabin at one point, and messing with John eventually getting him to the grave to kill him…or try to kill him at least. He was jealous because he thought Jacob spoke to John Locke, as God spoke to Moses…maybe a little deeper look into the line Ben delivered to Jacob about John being “marched” to him…
But it was Johns dream of Horace, who I believe was MIB, who directed him to the cabin, and told John to help him…which he eventually did…by turning the wheel and dying.
But when John is examining the circle around the cabin, Ben urges them to keep moving…it seems to imply that he isnt curious about the ash, but not knowledgeable to know exactly what or who its for…being an other…the leader at the time…it seems that he would know what it was though.
As for breaking the ring…Hurley may have done that when he ran away after seeing the eye…
Oh…on Ben and MIB…
Ben admits that he was taken by the monster with his “but it was summoning me” line. He realizes that he was manipulated because HE was also determined to be special…only unlike John Locke, Ben Linus would go to any length.
Ben Linus is ultimately the one who caused everything. He was hell bent on being special and getting back at Charles Widmore, that he took his eye off the prize…the island.
Widmore lost his right when he began to focus and play off island too much, which was when Ben first took the spot officially in my eye.
When John was trying to make a decision on whether to kill his father or not…Richard tells John, and now with our understanding of the role of island protector, us when he gives Locke sawyers profile, Ben has been sidetracked from the task…and his time as leader is over.
Benjamin Linus’ role as island leader was done right then and there.
Sorry, got a little sidetracked, but what else do I have to do…
I had another thought on the cabin that slipped my mind, Ill get back to it in a bit…
Thanks for the words, and yes this is definitely some interpretation on my part, but Im really trying to focus more on what fits together, and not just speculate.
Good questions about the cabin.
Chief, I do remember talking this subject to death…I never thought we would learn anything except who broke the ring…and no…not much has changed…
krystyne20…good questions…Ill start off by saying that I think Walt was a Hollywood casualty…not enough thought on his age and growth when casting him…most likely screwed up some plans…but Ill take a crack at this anyway…and explain how another favorite character came to be…possibly…
I think Walt was born or grew up in an area of high EM energy fields like the island, and places around the world that Ms Hawking talked about in the church with the Ajira Losties.
I think he possessed some sort of control of EM energy, that was only ever really used in a sub-conscious type of way for the character.
The birds didnt die from nothing, they flew into the house and windo where Walt was…
Compare that to the sonar fence used by Dharma and Widmore to keep the monster away…and you have a walking talking security system for smokie…
I have to believe that Michael and walt were allowed to leave the island by Ben Linus, and as I said above, he, himself, admits that he got played by the monster/MIB throughout his island life…
The others possibly tested him to make sure he wasnt MIB…or even tried to warp his mind to use him in their plan…so the best logic for the SHOW to use as why he wasnt brought back to the island, would be that he controls EM fields and affects sonar fields…whatever, I am not familiar with the terminology…(if there was only someone here that knew about that stuff…hmmm)…
Either way…I would assume that Walts specialness grants him some ability to not be manipulated easily through his sub-conscious, therefor, he could not be used by MIB, and was possibly a weapon against him…or couldnt be mind-Fd by the others to fight him off, like Karl was…so he was shipped off island to not be a threat to MIB ever again…maybe…unless they have something better…Im just trying to help them out on the whole Walt thing…
;]
Why didnt Walt want them to open the hatch, lol, because since he was growing too fast to make sense and be a weapon of EM energy resistance to fight off MIB on a TV show that couldnt keep up with his aging…he knew his replacement was inside…
Seriously…Id like to see a better reason for Walt leaving or Desmonds sudden season 2 purpose.
AES, thank you so much for doing this post and taking up this challenge. You can bet on some very illuminating questions from me and my friends Malik, Dorn, Howard, and Celine.
Andre, just read your “Hurley broke the ring” comment…I agree that is the most likely scenario…spot on… but I always thought there may be an answer in even Ben Linus.
When he mentions being summoned by the monster when he thought he was in control has to lead me to ask exactly why he knows about the cabin, and what was happened other than his mother that may have caused him to believe whatever was in there was Jacob…?
“1,2,3,4,5…”…”Questions only lead to more questions…”
I keep trying not go that way, lol…
Hurley it is…good call…
I know, I know…speculative…but based on facts from what we know…timeframes, peoples arrival dates, event dates…things like that.
Someone chimes in, narrowing another person down…and the answer could very well be there…thats how many of the ideas have been figured out so far.
I think thet know…and we know that if they came out and went “BAM…there it is”, we would have nothing to do but debate if the show, season, and finale lived up to the hype…theory sites go down the drain…marketing goes down the drain…
Do you know the DVD release will supposedly have a “unanswered questions” feature…god only knows if it will be real, or like the “alternate endings” on Kimmel…
There is also supposed to be more footage added to the finale…again, who knows if its Jack Lost in the bamboo forest…or someone building and luring MIB into a canin through a flashback…
Is it completely fair…no…but its a damn good idea if you are trying to make money and keep a show alive after its gone.
I see how that can be bad, but I think the shows spirit is more important than the money in doing what they did with making us work for some of them…
Andre…lol, just read your Walt analysis…spot on with my line of thought on him…good call…
zaurakh…
The other man in the cabin I think was maybe just MIb kind of shape-shifting almost out of control for whatever reason when the light comes on…I dont think he is an essential character unfortunately though.
The Black Rock Journal is most important because it was a start for Charles Widmore in trying to find his beloved island.
I think it also intertwined the Magnus Hanso story from the internet site.
All in all, considering the research he helped out Daniel financially with, he was probably after both the info, and the last known coordinates of the ship to get one step closer to the island.
Thats my best bet on either of those.
-First of all, thank you A.E.S. for trying to answer our questions. 🙂 now, I am going to write about the points where i don’t agree with you, what i didn’t write about, at these point i agree with you.
-For #11 post:
-“its very possible that danielle either learned from “the others” how to test people…or they learned from her”
Danielle had never seen one of the others except Ben.
“-he controls peoples actual dead body as well”
If it is true, how these bodies could disappear in seconds after they were seen? So it is unlikely.So i believe that MIB was only shapeshifting and not shapeshift for 2 person at the same time (that would be ridiculous.
– “I truly believe he took John there possibly assuming it was Jacobs cabin at one point, and messing with John eventually getting him to the grave to kill him”
Before Ben taking Locke to the cabin, he did not want to kill him, he was only jealous about Locke being special. So he wanted to prove that he was not, he took him to the cabin. After Locke heard the voice, he wanted to kill him because the jealously and anger was unbearable for Ben.
-“As for breaking the ring…Hurley may have done that when he ran away after seeing the eye…”
The most important question about this event stars with “Why” rather than “who” or “when”. http://ncjl.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/516-ash-circle-01.jpg as we can see in this picture, writers wanted to tell us this ring of ash is broken on purpose.
-For #16 post:
I believe that we saw 2 persons in cabin in the show, except our characters; Ben,Locke,Claire etc.. One of these guys is Christian, who was MIB at that time and said “help me” to Locke. The other person was the magnificent Magnus Hanso. My reason to believe this was his clothes, hair and beard. Before the end of Lost, i did not understand why there were 2 persons and who hell the other one or why Magnus was there? Now i know the answer…
About the Black Rock Journal question. I asked this on purpose. Of course, the answer you gave is the one which comes into our minds first. And this answer leads us to other questions like, so why does Tovard want to sell the Journal? what is written in it? how is it found ? Who the hell are these people wants to buy the Journal other than Widmore? We asked these questions during the show, a mystery was created at that time, in the end what happened, all of these good questions become irrelevant. Because Widmore was enabled to come to the island by the help of Jacob.Now i know the answer…
Writers do not have answers to these question even today, they only gave us some sentences as answers which includes: special, Jacob, supposed to, island, the light, Kate … ( kidding for the last one, or maybe not ?!? 😉 )
the ultimate answer to all of our questions is “marketing”.. this is what i believe..
Hurley Bird…
Skip to why Penny was there…She was because of her importance with Des…I think that question is not as important as the one following, why was Helen NOT there?
It goes with why was Christian, but not Jacks mother…and I think its more along the lines of waking them up out of the “dream” of the FSW.
Helen was important to John, but never a constant. Remember…she was only with him for a short while in the real world, all the FSW stuff was created by John. John left her, chose his father and the island in the long run instead of her.
Of course he cared about her, but their relationship ended long before John arrived on the island, and although she may have meant something to John…the truth is that she was not most important to him…and he proved that by not picking her earlier in his life.
ALthough she died while they were on island, she and he had moved on…she is no more real in the FSW than David was to Jack in my opinion.
As for MIB killing Eko…I dont think he was ever not allowed to kill him persay. I dont think Jacob visited him as he did the candidates, and I think MIB knew Eko would never serve a purpose for him, was not afrain of him, and would simply never serve him.
MIB choose John because of his “blind faith”…although Eko does follow some things blindly, he also stands up to MIB, which is more than what John…or for that matter anyone did at that point.
Bottom line, no rules to stop him from killing Eko…he did so because in the long run he viewed him as a threat…I would have at least from MIBs perspective.
Thanks for the question HB, hope they make sense…
All right AES, what do you make of the numbers? I never did a theory about the Valenzetti equation because I never considered it canonical since it was never mentioned onscreen during any of the seasons that I am aware of. I am aware that the producers said that they considered the ARG canonical but I dealt with Lost the same way I have dealt with the mythology of any other tv show that I like (Doctor Who for example) and consider anything seen or heard during an episode trumps information from a different source; in this case the different source being the ARG.
Because of this my view of the numbers is that they were nothing more than a serial number and that any other meaning attached to them (by a character on the show)is a result of either apophenia, selection bias, or confirmation bias, or a combination of all three of these. Hurley was the only one who seemed to notice that those six numbers kept poping up, no other character made a reference to them other than to input them into the Swan computer.
Thoughts?
AES..great job at answering these, I just read all the way through comments..
On comment #18 you said “Helen was important to John, but never a constant.”
Got me thinking, wouldn’t that be cool if Daniel became totally “aware” when he saw Desmond (because he was supposedly Daniel’s constant)? We know that Des became aware when he met Penny, which we all know was his constant..
Bobt, its a good thought with Dan and Des, I forgot about him writing that in hhis journal.
I think Dan writes that knowing that he will come in contact with Des in his past as well as his present…a failsafe if you will in case something goes wrong…hmmm…
Good thoughts indeed Bobt…
Achalli, good question about the numbers.
We know there are more of a meaning than just Valenzetti now…I think he was more of just a backstory, which is why they never contributed more involving him on the show.
I know they have said that some of the internet sites and Lost fiction in general ruined some of the backstories they were going to use, but I think there was always a plan with people being related or represented by numbers.
Valenzetti may have very well been a madman like Leonard and almost Hurley trying to find the meaning of the numbers, they HAVE to mean something MORE right…?
No……and this is something we ourselves were MEANT to do…having no way of actually figuring anything out about them other than what we already knew…they represented people in some way, and the only reason we knew that is because of seat numbers…
The terrible truth with the numbers, and several other “mysteries” of Lost is…I dont think they were meant to actually be figured out…or mean anything close to what we thought.
I really think Valenzetti, and even Hanso were simply two people who became aware of the island and the numbers, and went mad/power hungry trying to control the light/island and discover uses of the islands energy.
They are in the long list of people who thought they were “supposed” to do something great…and just were not special.
I’d like to think the numbers were somehow related to Smokie. I truly believe that smokie was evil incarnate. I also truly believe that the numbers made Hurley’s life a living hell. His lottery winning life didn’t just become full of extreme coincidences. Death was constantly all around him, and a meteor landed on his chicken shack, killing Ms. Tanaka.
I see no possible way, or evidence, that 6 numbers can correspond to Smokie though. I guess that’s kind of a problem.
Im going to write a separate post about what the numbers and a few other mysteries are, basically stating that they are not supposed to be answered…and that they are less of a mystery, than a shaggy dog joke, which Achalli, you may know from the Illuminatus.
Basically subjects built up into being something much more than they are, and having the rug pulled out from under us in the end…
This is something used in many mysteries, specifically Iluminatus.
Its not a good joke if you are on the receiving end…unless its understood and appreciated.
Its really meant to be more of a distraction or misdirection…done quite well if that was the purpose…
I dont think the numbers ever had anything to do with MIB.
He told Sawyer that “Jacob had a thing for numbers”, and the DI was obviously using them for whatever reason on the hatch door.
The best part is that I think it was Hurley broadcasting them over the air once people were gone and he and Ben returned, and the island travels back in time at some point for Leonard and Danielle to hear them…hence it sounding like Hurley in the episodes when we hear the numbers…
If the numbers had something to do with the end of the world, and so did a potential MIB rampage off the island, I suppose that’s the only evidence I’d have to support a correlation between the two.
I see your point. Jacob had a thing for numbers. But does anyone have any clue as to what Jacob’s deal with the numbers was? Surely he didn’t just associate a number to people for no reason. He didn’t seem THAT rainmanish. I’d like to think there’s a pretty serious reason for the numbers considering the chaos that happened shortly after Hurley’s big winnings.
Lookin forward to your upcoming numbers post.
Me too AES, looking forward to your next post
Not only did I have Illuminatus in mind, but also the laundry list in Foulcault’s Pendulum.
There are so many aspects of Lost that are very similar to those two books that that’s the reason I have no problem with how Lost ended.
AES, this is a bit refreshing. I haven’t read all the comments because there are only a few that are most interesting (and simple) in my mind. (Perspective – nothing more, nothing less.)
1. Helen
I pretty much agree with you about Helen. I think another spin on your take (of how John chose the island over her) is that ultimately the island is how these people found each other in the first place, in their real, living lives. And I use the word “found” to imply many levels of meaning. In a profound yet simply stated way, the island ultimately is what brought them together in both lives. The power of their experiences, bonds, etc. is what united them…and their ability to move on together. They created it together for each other…the antithesis of living together and dying alone. Helen was a totally different part of Locke’s past. He wouldn’t have been the same Locke on the island if it hadn’t been for the absence of her in his life there. To me, that’s why it fits that she wasn’t there and why it also felt so strange to have her part of his life during the season leading up to the End.
1.b. Boone & Shannon
You might argue that Boone & Shannon were in the church and knew each other before the island, so perhaps that discredits my explanation about Helen. Ultimately, they became different people on the island.
2. Desmond & Penny
Penny and Des found each other, their ‘true’ selves, because of the island, their relationship pre-island had to be completely broken down and re-birthed in a way. Penny was the most significant off-island person to the rest of the people in the church. Yes, it could just be that she was Des’ constant, but I think the relationships in that church scene were to show us that our understanding of what a ‘constant’ was is actually much deeper. It would have been completely incomplete to not have Des AND Penny in there.
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Side note: I think that “writer from Bad Robot” explanation floating around about the finale and specifically the church scene is pretty bogus. There’s some nice thought, but I disagree with many of the explanations. That’s just a little disclaimer so you know more of my perspective. 🙂
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3. About Walt
I am not going to get in any argument about Walt, I just find it fascinating that people are obsessed with wanting to know more about Walt and ‘why’ he was special and what it all meant when all along there have been plenty of other special people. Is it really just because he’s gone? So if Hurley didn’t make it through all 6 seasons would people be going mad in demanding to know why/how Hurley can see dead people? Same for Miles or Desmond? I don’t know, I guess I just have an easier time accepting that some things just were the way they were when it came to creating unique characters…
Which brings me to… I’m looking forward to your thoughts on other mysteries that are meant to remain mysteries.
I think Lost’s mysteries are much like pain…so go ahead and quote John Locke and fill in the blanks there. 😉
One last question AES: did you watch the Times Talks Live event?
Hi Kim…no…havent seen it yet. I will listen to it this week at work…
What was the give away they gave? The “spoiler” I heard about? Was it about death…I bet it was about death…
Let me know…damn…now I want to watch that…
Who is that with MIB?
1a…Glad you see that…it took me a bit to really understand that she wasnt nearly as big a part of his life in any way other than a regret…which was why he created being with her…
2b…agree…I think there are ways to not discredit it…not that important though…
Side note…BS…I dont care who wrote what…dont give an explanation that isnt an explanation…I can do that…hell, I am doing that…sign me up “Bad Robot”…
3…Yeah, Walt falls into some of the donat ask, dont tell questions.
If you want to speculate…read an explanation I wrote above about his EM abilities…if not, just understand the actor didnt fit the bill anymore…I cant believe Im about to say this, but its just a TV show…they cant actually magically make people NOT age…
I get some of the madness about answers…I really do, I just didnt care that much, especially the closer we got to the end.
I just wanted to know wtf happened.
Someone on another site told me I wasnt a true fan because I didnt want to know the answers…
“What?”
I replied that a true fan would accept the show for what it is, and to outcast the show for not getting answers would fit the bill more appropriately.
We have figured some of these things out…they have ALL but told us some of them…but we have talked our selves out of them, and found things such as “shoes” to obsess over in the mean time…
(whispers:cant say I didnt contribute to such things).
Sometimes when something was nailed to the wall, and things got slow…a place like this sometimes needed a useless scene to symbolize the meaning for the show…even if in the long run it was nothing but a shoe…know what I mean…I think you do.
Im interested in answering more question. I know there are some things twisted about, and other things that just dont make sense…Im not going to chase them anymore…too many negative posts out there for my taste right now.
I really think, that I have a fair understanding for the show and its purpose…and maybe even a few “unanswered questions”.
Some have to be based on speculation and perspective, but they come from narrowing down a field of candidates…damn, they should make a show about this…
Seriously though, we can get something down to a specific time frame, within three or four years, see who was on the island at times, and get a pretty good guess at “who done what”…
Oh…and thank you so much…I love to do this…you even threw in a “…” for me…
I think Lost’s mysteries are much like pain…and we needed that pain to get where we are now…and more-so to get where we are going…
Good to hear from you Kim…what did you think overall about the finale, ending, and show as a whole after its all done?
Dear Kimberly,
Let me tell you why we wanted to know more about Walt and ‘why’ he was special and what it all meant when all along there have been plenty of other special people. In first season, Walt was one of the most interesting character because writers showed some mysterious events by using Walt. For example, he found a Spanish comic which we saw the polar bear first time. He had a close relationship with Locke, etc.. But the most important, in the final of season 1, others kidnapped Walt, but they did not kidnap others on he boat. In the second season, Walt seen to Shannon right before her death. In season 2 or 3 someone chatted with Michael on the hatch computer, who was that, how ? Walt was killing birds. There were lots of things going on about Walt, so isn’t it normal that people interested more about Walt than other characters?
So if there are still some believers that writers wrote the whole story in the beginning, hear me: There was this TV show, millions of dolars were going to be spent, they wrote a great story which was going to take at least 4 seasons, they had a mysterious little guy in the story and they did not realized that he could grow up.. maybe they thought Malcolm David Kelley was a hobbit, sorry , my bad.. continue to believe what you believe now..