Last minute LOST thoughts

As always, I’m not 100% committed to these ideas.

Jack (English) = Jacques (French) = Jacobus (Latin)
What if whatever Jack does in 1977 traps him somehow in that cabin (that hasn’t been built yet…?) until Locke sees him in 2004.  Which prompts Jack to say “Help me”, which loosely translates as “Kill me”.  Also, if Jacob = Jack, then Christian’s statement that he’s not Jacob but speaks on his behalf carries more weight.

Did anyone else get a vibe last week that maybe Richard Alpert isn’t entirely on the up-and-up?

Has anyone else tried to follow the pocket watch?  I think the watch itself is something of an analogy for our time-travelers, and it’s said that the path of the watch is on a mobius strip.  But my problem is if the compass is just a little rustier than when Locke is about to hand it right back to Richard 50 something years earlier…won’t this compass just disintegrate?  UNLESS, Whatever Happened Happened (WHH) is not true and somehow (this part I can’t figure out) this really is the first and only time these events transpired.   ????  I’m not a real believer in this, I prefer WHH, but I can’t account for rust on the compass.  And rest assured, that line was written intentionally.

One last thought before the closing bell.  Suppose Jack detonating Jughead really does alter time so that 815 doesn’t crash.  Then Jack never goes to the Island and certainly never returns to the Island to detonate Jughead causing 815 to crash in 2004.  I’m not saying this is a paradox that can’t happen.  Instead I am suggesting that instead of thinking about events happening in an infinite loop (WHH), what if events are happening in a double loop where 1/2 the time 815 crashes and the other 1/2 it doesn’t.  One event causes the other.  Each hand washes the other.

Glad I got that out.  I know most of you won’t read this until after the finale, but I wanted to get my time stamped on the small chance some of these things come true.

LOST post

I really don’t have time to do fully write this out, but I want to get this out there before I forget this theory.

From the past two episodes, “He’s Our You” and “Whatever Happened, Happened”, we’ve learned that our characters are largely repsonsible for much of the history of the Island and the Dharma Initiative from the ’50’s and ’70’s, specifically the burying of Jughead, and Ben Linus being shot and taken to the Others/Hostiles into their care.  Richard makes the point that from this point forward, Ben will always be one of Them.  And we can see the dawning apprehension on Kate and Sawyer’s face that they are ultimately responsible for saving the life of Ben and inserting him concretely in with the Others.  Because of this, he lives to become the man that torments? them their first 108 days on the Island and some of their (Oceanic 6) time off the Isalnd.  This reminds of a clip from the video in Room 23:  “We are the cause of our own suffering.”

The trheory that has me excited (but I may not buy wholesale just yet.)  Many have speculated that Kate’s booty call in “316″ leads to her getting pregnant.  With what we know now, what if that was her plan?  What if giving up Aaron caused her to realize she wanted a child of her own?  And what if she knew she needed to conceive off island to avoid the fertiltity issues that plague the pregnant women?  AND what if a child conceived in 2008 but born in 1977/1978 is the CAUSE of said fertitlity issues?  Think about that.  “We are the cause of our own suffering.”

Only nominally related to LOST

One of the side benefits of being obsessed with LOST is I now have at my disposal a quick list of character names to act as fake names for examples in class.  Today, I replaced 33 real names of my students in one class with names of people on LOST so I can show another class their grades.  I quickly came up with 33 new names and have more to spare!

A quickie

For those of you longing for the days when I posted things that weren’t LOST related, keep waiting.  Maybe something someday.

I was thoroughly pleased with last night’s episode for a multitude of reasons, but I want to draw your attention to one:  Kate.

I was tragically in love with Super Kate following Seasons 1 and 2 when she was an all-around badass, generally speaking.  While I continue to champion my beautiful Kate, I became bored with the weepy Sawyer-or-Jack Kate in Seasons 3 and 4.  But last night, in her scene with Locke, we saw Kate (while not exactly badass) return to strong form.  It was nice to see her playing the role of Mrs. Jack and refuse to cut Locke any slack.  Twice, we saw her launch personal and emotional attacks on John as her justification for not following him back to the Island.

Now, I think Kate will ultimately be proven wrong, and I suspect she will ultimately end up with Sawyer, but it was nice to see her in a stronger role last night.

Feeding that LOST addiction

Latest thoughts on LOST:

-I was so distraught over Aaron’s disappearance (and I don’t know why, because I’ve never cared about Turnip Head before) that I forgot why Ben might be bloodied, battered, bruised, and, um, delayed.  I completely forgot about “keeping his promise” to an old friend.  I have genuinely developed a crush on Penelope and hope she still ranks among the living, but I also feel it would be cheap of the writers for Ben to promise something then not deliver on it.

-I read earlier this season about people speculating that maybe the Numbers had changed.  The claim was the number 3 was appearing a bit more often than a normal number would.  From the top of my head, all the Numbers have appeared this season except for 4.  (I can’t think of an instance, at least.)  Why is this significant?  If you followed the Lost Experience in between Seasons 2 and 3, it was revealed that the Numbers were the core values to the Valenzetti Equation, an equation that predicts the demise of humanity.  The Dharma Intiative built the six stations to try to change the Numbers.  If 3 has replaced 4, then…?  [Appearances of 3:  Ben pulled the tag "342" the first time his visits Jill at the butcher shop, and the Oceanic 6 5 fly on Ajira Flight 316 much like Oceanic 815.  In both cases, "3" is paired with another Number.  I'm sure there are more instances of 3, I just can't remember any more.]

-Speaking of Ajira 316, I loved the entire sequence.  I loved Sayid’s reaction to everyone boarding the plane.  I love how each character acted as a substitute for an original 815′er.  Sayid = handcuffed Kate.  Hurley = instrument-ed Charlie.  Ben = late-boarding Hurley.  Sun = Sun wanting to rediscover her husband from whom she had been separated?  Okay, that one’s a stretch.  But what if Kate is substituting for a pregnant Claire, carrying someone of the Shepherd lineage?  And “We’re not going to Guam, are we?”

-I mentioned briefly something about Jacob and the Shepherd lineage.  My thoughts still aren’t fully formed, but they fall among these lines:  I think Jack was always destined to be leader of the Island’s indigenous people.  I think Locke is, to borrow a phrase, an accidental leader.  People think he’s the next leader because in 1954 he told Richard he was going to be leader.  I think Locke is very important to the Island somehow, just not as leader.  Meanwhile, Jack has always been the show’s hero and leader, and Locke has worked to support Jack in that role.  Plus, the introduction of Jack’s grandfather and his talk of going away and never being found has me feeling that MAYBE Christian’s been to the Island before, maybe Ray (Grandpa Shepherd) too.  It also makes me feel like Aaron being Christian’s grandson is a more relevant plot point than we might have first believed.  Like I said, my thoughts aren’t fully formed, but they’re swirling all around these things.

It’s 10:08 p.m. and I wanted to be in bed an hour and 38 39 minutes ago.  So no editing for spelling and grammar and typos.  Good night.

EDIT:  I couldn’t help it.  I proofread some and caught some stupid mistakes.  If you catch any others, let me know.

Another helping of LOST

First, something brought to my attention.  Rewatch the scene early in “This Place is Death” with Jin orienting himself on the beach.  In the background, you can hear the transmission of the Numbers.  People are speculating that the voice sounds like Hurley.  I didn’t think so at the first hearing, but the second time, especially when the voice says “23″, I could definitely make that connection.  If it’s true, I love this show even more.  What if Hurley somehow caused Rousseau’s research team to crash and Leonard’s insanity?

My thoughts are currently swirling around Jacob, Locke, and the Shepherd lineage (Claire, Jack, Christian, Aaron) and some theories are firming a little, but I don’t have time to talk about them now.  Just wanted to put that out there.

Thoughts on LOST

This is especially for Andy.

I cannot take credit for most of these thoughts, but these are a few of the thoughts I came across this week that captured my attention.

Why must Locke die for the others to return to the island?  Other than the christological reasons, perhaps a dead body is required for a plane to crash on the island.  A deceased Christian Shepherd was on Oceanic Flight 815 and Mr. Eko’s brother Yemi’s body was on the drug plane that crashed.

Or, for those that like a time loop theory, perhaps the empty coffin found by Jack in Season 1 was not Christian’s, but Locke’s, furthering the analogy of Empty Coffin:Empty Tomb as Locke:Jesus.

I’m glad the writers were able to quickly explain why Hurley did not want to see the other members of the Oceanic 6 in Season 4’s “Ji Yeon”.  He was never comfortable with the lie.

What was with the random story of Sawyer being stabbed in the foot by some bamboo?  Some are speculating that this will lead to an infection that will lead to a toe being removed that will ultimately lead to a four-toed statue.  Maybe.

It was pretty cool to hear Jack echo the sentiment “They aren’t my friends anymore.” that Locke expressed in Season 2’s finale “Live Together, Die Alone”.

I think Charlotte’s a goner.  A “constant” won’t work for her because she is physically jumping through time, not her consciousness like Desmond last year.

Neil Frogurt’s death-by-heartburn is in the Top 2 funny deaths on LOST.

Cheers and happy viewing tonight.

Dear Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse,

and the other writers of LOST,

Thank you for making me really intrigued about Claire’s story line for the first time ever. All season, I have had the same wish for her that I had for Charlie for the past two seasons: Just kill her already. She had no real tantalizing story line that I could imagine, so get her off the show so she doesn’t take up valuable air time. Then, either ironically or coincidentally (I can’t decide which is appropriate), the writers throw us such an interesting development that revolves around the fate of Claire. Is she still alive? Or has she been dead? Creepy either way.

LOST

Alex:  These people — you said they’re dangerous.  More dangerous than you?

Ben:  Yes.

Whose snipers are those at the end of the episode, then?  Would Ben kill his daughter’s mother and boyfriend just to get her back?

Miles:  He wants to survive.  And considering a week ago you had a gun pointed at his head and tonight he’s eating pound cake, I’d say he’s a guy who gets what he wants.