LOST Recap Memo

(My Everest...)

So this is it. I know, I know – this was due out last Wednesday. My apologies. But between the amount of information to cover and the new Oceanic Airlines website full of clues, I’ve been busy compiling this recap memo. Trust me, it will be worth it. Let’s get started.

REVIEW. There seem to be two popular opinions about the Season Finale of Lost:

It was fantastic – well acted, well directed, furthered the storylines without doing anything radically different.
It was a total letdown – nothing was revealed, we know nothing more about the monster, and the show is moving too slow.

So which is right? Neither. Here is my one sentence review: “It was a great episode, but not a great season finale.”

Here is my wordier review:

The episode actually did have some pretty big things happen:

The Hatch was opened (something we have been waiting for since mid-season)!
Walt was kidnapped!
We physically saw other people on the island and they had a freakin’ boat!
The Black Rock is revealed!
The Raft got blowed up!
Turnip Head got kidnapped!
The Monster reappears and we get a glimpse of it!

See all those exclamation points? That is some exciting stuff for the average Lost viewer. The problem is, there wasn’t much in terms of resolution to any of these issues. It’s like we were tempted with all these answers to the bigger questions on the show, without any of them being answered.

So what is in that Hatch?
Why was Walt kidnapped?
Were those the Others? How did they get the boat? Where did they come from?
How did a pirate ship end up in the middle of the island?
Are the Rafters all dead?
Is Turnip Head really the potential anti-Christ after all?
What is that Monster?!?!

And I think herein lies most people’s complaints about the finale. The thing is, this show has been about mystery all along and slowly revealing answers. If you want storylines neatly tied up in an hour, watch CSI. The show has never been about this – and never will be.

Also, from a writing point of view, right now the writers are able to sit on the fence about “what type of show this is.” Is it a sci-fi show? A fantasy show? A horror show? Is it about a government conspiracy, mythical monsters, traveling back in time, or crazy scientists experimenting? The second that they start answering some of those questions above, they will slowly reveal what type of show this is, and could potentially begin losing viewers who would say “Oh, I don’t want to watch another government conspiracy show – that’s too X-Files” or “Oh, it’s a sci-fi / fantasy show? I’m not a nerd, I can’t watch that.”

Yes, at some point they will have to reveal their hand, but the longer they can keep fans of all kinds watching, the more likely when they make their reveal, people are going to continue to watch because they have invested more in the show and still love it anyways.

In fact, in TV Guide interviews that were posted after the finale, the show’s creators said that they were in a constant struggle deciding how much to reveal in the finale. They continually cut down more and more – and now admit that maybe they cut down too much. In reading cast member interviews, they reference scenes that were not shown in the finale that could have major implications on some of the questions above (such as the Josh Halloway, who plays Sawyer saying: “We shot some scenes in the water after the Raft was destroyed. Hopefully they’ll use them in Season 2 – because filming them was miserable!” – that right there could have answered some questions about if they’re alive / what their plan is to get back to the island!)

But what was great?

The Walt storyline. If someone asked me “what happened in Exodus?” I would reply with “Walt got kidnapped” first. The fact that it happened didn’t really surprise me as much as the nature in which it happened. Creepy Gordon’s fishermen on a little tugboat? Who saw that coming?
The Rafters in general. Sawyer is shot and presumably bleeding in shark-infested waters, and Michael and Jin are floating in dark waters 15 miles from the island. How are they going to get back? Are they all dead meat?

What left something to be desired?

The flashbacks. Yes, they all had a very much “see how we all interact with each other in life but don’t realize it until we’re all thrown together on an island” feel to them. But the very strong underlying message of this episode was that “We are all on this island for a reason. There is a specific reason that we’re all here.” I was hoping to see something in the flashbacks that would illustrate that link that ties all these people together. And we didn’t get that. So, while the flashbacks were somewhat entertaining and added some more layers to the characters on the show – they could have had more impact.
The Hatchers. After their encounter with the creepy black smoke and tentacle, none of them discussed it. Yes, Kate said “Yeah, I saw it too.” But how about some dialogue people? Like, “So is that the monster? Are we all hallucinating?” They all continued on to the Hatch as if it never happened. Talking could have revealed how Locke’s view of the Monster / Island have changed, and made the event more “real.”

Unlike most people, I’m not furious they ended with a shot going down the Hatch, but not revealing anything. Season Finales are all about cliffhangers. You should have expected as much. To be honest with you, I was half expecting the dynamite to not even open the Hatch – then how mad would you have been!

What did I mean by “Great episode, but not a great season finale?” I’m of the opinion that season finales should always kick things up a notch from the average episode. Main characters die. People get married. Babies are born. Evil twins are revealed. Etc. There was none of that. For examples of great season finales of all time, please see 24 Season 1 or Buffy Season 2 (The two best season finales ever). Season finales should punch you in the gut, make you gasp, or make you cry. Lost didn’t do any of this.

How would I have wrapped it up? It’s easy to complain, but how would you fix it? Well…

Everything up to the last scene is fine, except the Hatchers actually go down inside the Hatch. Once there, they find a room full of computers and workstations – but no one is there. On the screens are images of all the castaways – both pictures of them BEFORE they landed on the island and of them ON the island. There is paperwork that has full biographies and write-ups on each of them. Each Hatcher is totally puzzled, flipping through the information, trying to make sense of it all. Jack stops and focuses on one screen – it’s Ana, the girl from the tail of the plane he met in the airport bar, and there are images of her both prior to the flight AND of her on the island! All the sudden, Jack starts counting the images of people on the island and realizes that there are much more than the 48 of them from the mid-section of the plane. Have Jack say some sort of simple dialogue like “Guys – we weren’t the only survivors.” Fade to black.

See, wouldn’t that have made you much happier? There would still be big questions about the Island, the Monster, and why they are all there – but it at least makes a “make you gasp” big reveal – the summer could be spent by people still pondering the questions of “Is this a government conspiracy?” and “How are they monitoring them?” etc. – but you would have had firm evidence that someone (The Others? Someone else?) had a master plan and that the people from the tail of the plane are alive somewhere on that island. All the sudden, we have our goals for Season 2 – uncover this mystery / find the tail of the plane. Booyah.

ANALYZE.

Okay, enough of me playing “TV critic” and back to a typical Lost Email full of intricate analysis and over thought…

DISCLAIMER. Before I get into some of the thoughts I have about the finale – I should make mention of the intriguing website that popped up shortly after the finale aired – www.oceanic-air.com – it looks and smells like a real airline website, seemingly giving you the ability to book flights and check on the status of flights – however, what it really is, is a website created by ABC that is full of hints, clues, and mystery surrounding the show and the failed flight. I’ll reference it a few times in my discussions, and then give the full blown analysis of the website later. Just so when I reference it, you’re not lost. (Pun intended)

BLACK ROCK. So what’s up with that Pirate Ship? Disney ride gone bad? Well, I think once again we’re looking at a connection to Africa…

The Black Rock is actually a known landmark on the Eastern shore of Mozambique. It’s home to one of the largest manganese deposits in the world. Couple this with the mining equipment that was found on the ship, and it all makes sense. So now we have a mining boat from Africa and a drug smuggling plane from Africa. Very weird. (The Bermuda Triangle / Super Mario Bros. “Warp Zone Theory” from a few Emails back might account for both of these.)

CLIQUES. Arzt hit the nail on the head. Why is it that everything happening on the island seems to concern our 13 favorite survivors? Is any weird stuff happening to the rest of the people on the island? A lot of people probably just viewed this as the show poking fun at itself, but I think there may be something more there. Locke says “We were all brought here for a reason.” Sayid said “Isn’t it weird that we all survived without a scratch?” Sun talks about the “Fate of being on the island.” What if all these non-major characters survived the crash by simply being near the “lucky 13” that had fate keeping them alive. If some force was preventing them from dying (Hurley’s luck / Walt’s powers), Arzt and these other redshirts simply survived by being near them. Are our major players somehow “blessed”? Hurley’s not gaining weight, they don’t get blown up by TNT, and the only reason Boone died was because it was at the hand of one of the other “Lucky 13” on the island (Locke). The island may have not only protected them from dying in the plane crash, but it is now protecting them from the dangers of living on the island as well.

SCRATCH. A quick, probably overlooked, flashback that could have a lot more to it than we realize is the one Claire had when she realizes that she was the one who scratched CFL when she was abducted. Does this mean that Ethan didn’t really abduct Claire, but CFL did? Ethan was crazy and threatened to kill the survivors, so I think a more likely scenario is that CFL and Ethan were working together. It seems that somehow, both of these characters are outside of the “Others”, but are trying to get a bargaining chip with them (the baby). Also, Locke seemed to let CFL run off after their discovery of the Black Rock pretty easily (saying “Let her go”) – is he in cahoots with them as well? Facts:

Locke used to go hunting at night with Ethan – where he could have been recruited.

Locke went face to face with the Monster – where he could have bargained his newfound hunting / walking ability in return for giving a child sacrifice.

Locke had the Hatch light up for him after he sacrificed Boone – he could have been approached by whoever / whatever is inside the Hatch at that point and discussed plans.

We’ve seen Locke playing games and making reference to them a LOT on this island. Operation. Backgammon. Mouse Trap. Jack asks “Do you like to play games Locke?” to which he replies “Absolutely.” Is this all a game to him?

The Locke Easter Egg on the Oceanic Airlines website shows him, a bunch of his knives, and then plays a very loud and very freaky sound, insinuating he’s evil!

In short, I think Jack hit the nail on the head – we are going to have a Locke problem in Season 2!

DRUGS. Before you all assume that Charlie is back on the smack due to the Virgin Mary being in his bag, remember this – Charlie was a very religious person prior to falling into drugs in his former life – maybe he just took the statue for the statue, not the contents inside of it. Having him slip back to the heroin habit seems a little cliché, doesn’t it?

MARLEY. What a coincidence that Sawyer was singing “Redemption Song” on the Raft (by Bob Marley) in an episode called “Exodus” (another Marley tune!). Looking at it deeper, is he singing because he thinks he has redeemed himself? Michael specifically says “You saved us all” by saving the rudder on the Raft. Was this his last good deed to redeem his soul before being shot and dying? This could easily feed into the “You die on the island when you let your past go” / Purgatory theories.

EXODUS. Speaking of the dreaded one, remember the episode title? Well, you know I can’t get through a Lost Email without looking for deeper meaning in the episode title one last time. Season One of Lost lasted 40 days. Series creators JJ Abrams & Damon Lindelof have stated that this is an intentional Biblical reference. The survivors have been on this island for forty days. In the book of Exodus, Moses (Locke) and his followers are "lost" in the desert for forty years. At the end of the journey, Moses does not enter the Promised Land (the Hatch? Or possibly escaping the island?), but instead the people are led by his brother Aaron (wait a minute, that the name of Claire's baby!).

AARON. So why did Claire finally break down and give Turnip Head a name? Well, if you work for the man and don’t have Tivo, you might have missed the “deleted scene” the morning after the finale on Good Morning America. I know I did – but luckily, I have a sweet girlfriend who called me to give the play by play (thank you KB!) In the scene, it showed Charlie and Claire talking, and CFL eating an egg. Claire tells Charlie the reason that she hasn’t named Turnip Head is because she was so sure that someone was going to take him away from her, so she didn’t want to become too attached to the baby. It’s the same reason that people on a farm don’t name their animals – because it is a lot creepier to be like “I’m eating Moo Moo” instead of saying “I’m eating the cow.” She finally gave up being afraid and named the baby – but then it got stolen anyways (so that didn’t really pay off!).

Based on the Bible lesson above, does this mean that this baby is going to eventually lead the survivors to the promised land? I would have to assume that would mean getting them off the island and back to civilization, right? Could it be that the psychic who put Claire on that plane did so for the benefit of the survivors of Flight 815? Did he somehow know that the baby would be necessary for them to survive or get off the island? I’m not really sure how this baby could do all this – but given the importance of children on the island, it’s not totally unreasonable.

DESIRE. If you think about it, the island seems grant everybody's innermost desires in a cruel way. For example, we saw in this episode that Michael wanted to give Walt away to his mother. Now, he lost Walt to the Others. Sawyer said he wanted to die. He ended up being shot by the Others. Sun didn’t want Jin to leave the island on the raft, and now the raft is destroyed. Walt told Locke that he wanted to stay on the island, and now it looks as though he is returning to the island, albeit with the Others.

There was also the Sun and Claire exchange in this episode where Sun says “It seems as though we’re all being punished for the lives we lived before, the secrets that we kept. It’s almost like it is fate.” To which Claire replies “There’s no such thing as fate.” Remember the expression, “Be careful what you wish for – it may come true”? Well, that seems to be the case on the island so far. If it’s not fate, perhaps some power on the island gives you the ability to make what you see in your mind’s eye come true. Perhaps everyone on the island actually has this power, but only Walt has been able to harness it thus far. Everyone else is just experiencing the consequences of their worst thoughts and fears coming true, without realizing that they may have the power to control them somewhat.

If this is the case, all the sudden it’s clear why everyone on the island is so keen on baby-napping! If children can harness this power but adults cannot – kids become the most valuable thing in the world! You could almost tie everything that’s happened on the show to this concept. Flying over the island (when the powers kick in) someone on the plane has a terrible fear of the plane crashing – and it does. It’s dark and scary, someone has a fear of a “monster” and it comes true. Speaking of which…


MONSTER. The “monster” finally reappeared in this episode after a few weeks’ absence. So what is it? From what we saw, there was a mysterious black smoke that quickly appeared and disappeared in a very unnatural way. It also looked to be some sort of “arm” that grabbed and dragged Locke through the forest, coming out of some hole in the ground. Lastly, one of the “Easter Eggs” hidden on the Oceanic Airlines website is the following “page of the Exodus Part 2 script”. See below.



Some people think this is some sort of “cut scenes” from the finale, but I’m pretty sure this was intentionally placed there as a red herring. For one, none of the scenes referenced on this page were even close to happening in the episode. Usually, if scenes get cut from an episode, you could at least see these cut scenes hypothetically happening based on other things that happen in the episode. Who would Sun be killing? Where did Sun get a knife? When were Sun and Kate even together in this episode? Why is Charlie running barefoot through the woods? If this really was an “early script”, then huge parts of the storyline were totally scrapped and re-written – not likely. Also, the paper is embossed with creator JJ Abrams name, trying to make us think the comments written on the page are his – that’s somewhat forced. Lastly, the “No! No! No! No Mapinguari! Not Yet!” just screams “The monster is a mapinguari but we aren’t going to show you yet!” And who would he be writing this to? Himself? It’s not as though he would use a super secret script as the medium to pass notes to his fellow writers about the direction of the show!

In my mind, all this adds up to this being totally fake, being put out there to get people thinking “Oh, so the monster really is something real!” And if you do a little research on a “mapinguari”, you’ll see a lot about it makes sense when you compare what we know about the “monster”…

The deep Amazon jungle of Brazil provides the backdrop for tales of the Mapinguari, a large nocturnal animal with a frightful screaming cry. Locals describe the Mapinguari as about two meters in height when standing on its hind legs. It is covered in red hair and emits a foul odor. Its feet are turned backwards and its claws are capable of ripping apart the palm trees upon which it feeds.

Possibly the Mapinguari, if it exists, is not a giant ground sloth but an unknown large species of anteater. Anteaters and sloths are related animals. The well-known giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla can reach a length of two meters and weigh nearly 40 kilograms. An anteater twice this size might be a candidate.Should the Mapinguari turn out to be a giant ground sloth it would not be the first such presumably extinct ice-age mammal to be found still alive in South America. In the early 1970s Ralph M. Wetzel and co-workers from the University of Connecticut discovered living specimens of the Chacoan Peccary, which he named Catagonus wagneri. Peccaries are close relatives of pigs and boars. Prior to Wetzel's find this type of peccary was known only from fossils and had been thought to have died out ten thousand years ago. Wetzel found the living specimens in Patagonia after hearing native stories. The natives called it the tagua. The Chacoan Peccary is the largest of the three known living species of peccary. There are significant differences in the chromosome numbers of the Chacoan peccary and the other two species, indicating they are not closely related. Very little is yet known of the Chacoan peccary's life cycle. It is considered to be an endangered species.


Tall? Check.
Frightful scream? Check.
Ripping tress out of the ground? Check.
Ice-Age Mammal, like the Polar Bears we’ve seen on the island? Check.
Discovered similarly to large boars, like we’ve seen on the island? Check.

So, seemingly the mystery is solved! Except…

We see the trees get blasted out of the ground two at a time, and we don’t see any feet or body of a mapinguari doing it. We’ve got two expert trackers on the island in Kate and Locke, and neither has found any giant Jurassic-Park-like tracks of this beast. And this doesn’t explain the weird black smoke, or the tentacle that grabbed Locke. Also, the “monster” now clearly sounds very mechanical in nature.

So what are we dealing with? Another popular opinion is that the “monster” is actually a group of nanobots? I know what you’re thinking: What the heck is a nanobot?

A nanobot is a nanotechnological robot nanomachine, also called a nanite, which is a mechanical or electromechanical device whose dimensions are measured in nanometers (millionths of a millimeter).

Want the Cliff’s Notes version of that medical mumbo-jumbo? Nanobots are robots of the future that are microscopic in size. Hypothetically, this would answer all the questions surrounding the monster because these nanobots could become anything and everything depending on how many of them were working together. You can think about it like this – they’re basically like building blocks. Throw a bunch of them together and then can form a large tentacle to pull someone into a hole (Locke). Have a few scatter and they look like smoke in the woods (Jack and Kate).

But the whole concept of “nanobots” is way into the future. Who would have built these things? Those Pirate-looking scruffy Others? If they have access to this sweet technology, why are they chugging along in a tugboat after the Rafters? I don’t buy it either.

(Intrigued by “nanobots”? Check your local library for Michael Crichton’s book, “Prey”, which is all about them!)

So we’re back to square one. The monster probably isn’t a mapinguari, and it probably isn’t nanobots. It’s probably exactly what it sounds like – some sort of man-made, mechanical device. Going back to the first episode and listening to the monster, the “cranking” and “clicking” sounds of a roller-coaster or machine are definitely there. The “screams” it seems to make definitely sound like metal scraping on metal more than a beast crying out.

The smoke we saw? Assuming we have this large mechanical “security system” built into and around the island, it would need to release some exhaust – in the form of black smoke. Monster solved?

The one big problem with this is the smoke doesn’t move like normal smoke would. It’s almost as if the smoke has a mind of its own the way it moves and quickly retreats. (See the links I sent out two weeks ago that had animated images of the smoke for reference). The only way I can make sense of that is if the machine had some sort of cloaking device that made it invisible to the human eye (almost like a “stealth” technology for the human eye). If this were the case, the reason for the smoke seemingly moving unnaturally is that the “stealth monster” quickly sucks in the smoke after it is released to further conceal.

If you remember as the Raft was sailing away from the Island, Michael remarks “How does a place this big not get discovered?” Exactly. Unless there is some sort of Stealth Cloaking keeping it hidden!

Yeah – that’s way out there. And it’s probably not the answer. But that’s the best I got right now.

One more thing – Check out this image from the first episode of Lost:

(I’ve also attached it to this email, because it is actually an animated .gif, so if you open the .gif in a photo editor, you can see what I’m talking about much more clearly.)

See that black thing above the running girl’s head in the picture? Well, watch the video of it and you’ll see it swoops down and causes that turbine to blow up! It’s just a little flying “thing” but the video is pretty indisputable. Monster? A theory I’ve been kicking around is that the Monster truly is just a “Security System” for the Island. It viewed the plane that crashed into it as an enemy, and therefore blew it up in the above video. The pilot in the first episode could have been seen as the one responsible, so the monster killed him too. Since then, it hasn’t killed anyone because no one has really done the island any harm. It makes a lot of noise, it uproots some trees, but it’s not really doing anyone any harm – is this what Locke figured out? Is this why he’s not afraid of it?


OBSESS. 4 8 15 16 23 42. Our favorite numbers! I’ve made mention of times that they’ve popped up from episode to episode, but did you ever wish you had a complete list of every time each number has been used on the show? No, me neither. Lucky for us, our good friends “Wacko Internet People Who Have Nothing Else to Do With Their Free Time” not only asked this question - but answered it! Brace yourself, here we go:

4 - # of years Lock was in his wheelchair- # of guns in the Marshal’s Case- # of Aces on Boone’s shirt.- # of years since Hurley's grandfather got his pacemaker.- # of years since Sam Toome killed himself.- # of years since Sawyer made his "birthday wish".- # of people that will fit on Michael's raft.- # of months Michelangelo stared at marble "working" in Locke's story.- of months Boone asks if they're going to stare at the hatch.- # of miles due west back to camp from where Locke ties up Boone.- # of people Micheal needed to help did Jack out of the cave-in.- # of refills of Shannon's inhaler Boone brought with him.- # of days that pass before Jack decides to burn the fuselage & bodies for a signal.- # of kids the nurse taking care of Micheal has.- # of traps Locke sets up around camp to get Ethan.- # of times Hurley says Charlie shot Ethan.- # of months the psychic tried to convince Claire to raise her baby alone before giving her money and telling her of the couple in LA.- # of Oceanic planes on the mobile in Claire's dream.- # of dotted dice in a backgammon game.- # of weeks ago Locke says he wouldn't have believed his crazy talk either (while talking to Boone).- # of times Boone repeats Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs.- # of times Locke bangs on his car roof at the end of Deus Ex Machina.- # of shots that are fired by the male bank robbers in Whatever The Case May Be.- # of the machine that Locke has while waking up in the hospital after the kidney transplant in Deus Ex Machina.- # of times Locke bangs on the hatch before it lights up.- # of 4's that appear on Sarah's t-shirt in Do No Harm.- # of people Jack wonders if Charlie asked about their bloodtype.- # of times Jin hits the raft with the axe before running off to help Kate.- # that appears on Boone's shirt with the Chinese symbols.- # appears after Arista in the jukebox on the Driveshaft song.- Jack's dad's watch had the minute hand on 4.- Jack plays the key B4 on the piano.- Shannon asks Boone what him and Locke have been doing in the jungle for the past 4 days.- Sayid said the French signal could be a SAT 4.- Leonard was playing the game Connect 4.- Walt says he needs a 4 & a 3 in the backgammon game.- Plane hit turbulence at 40,000 feet.- Charlie jokes about Locke bringing 400 knives.- The guy with the beans was running that scam for 40 years.- "Adam and Eve" have been in the caves for 40 years.- Driveshaft is #234 on the jukebox (23 and 4).- A column appears on the papers about Locke's Mother. 555-0121. 0 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 4.- # of black dots that appear on Walt's ceiling in Special. [Thank you Ana]- # of letters Michael flips through when handed the box of letters by Walt's nanny.- There is a poster on the wall of the pool hall in Confidence Man, the date is January (1st month) 3rd. 1 + 3 = 4.- The pool ball 14 is on the pool table in Confidence Man.- The price on Walt's comic book in Argentina is $4.XX- # of stars in the DC logo on Walt's comic book.- LOST has 4 letters.- In White Rabbit, Locke's watch's minute hand is set to 4.- # of times Shannon touches Boone's hair before the camera cuts to Sayid and he goes over to console her in The Greater Good.- # on the explosives inside the boxes of the truck.- # of times Hurley says the word "good" while singing James Brown to the baby.- The types of explosives stolen were C4.- The license plate on the second truck Sayid and Essam get into is MRL 724. 7 + 2 + 4 = 13. 1 + 3 = 4.- The magazine description Sawyer reads says the car has 400 horsepower.- The magazine description says the car has a 4.4 liter power plant under the hood.- # of months Mr. Arzt says is the next time they can launch the raft.- Tom says his son Connor will be 22 months old. 2 + 2 = 4.-
# of bottles of water Hurley filled for his hike to see Danielle. - Hurley rides past a boy giving 2 peace signs to a camera while getting his picture taken. He's holding up 4 fingers.# of times the girl in the hotel room with Charlie tells him to let the heroin go before he knocks her to the floor. - Shannon asks Boone what a 4 letter word for "I don't care" is.


8 - # of months Claire was pregnant when they crashed.- # of kilometers the hitman tells Jin to drive.- # of people that die in Hurley's shoe factory fire.- # of whiskey shots between Sawyer and Christian Shepherd.- # of hours Kate would spend in the woods with her father tracking deer.- # of years since Michael got hit by car.- # of years Michael's been writing Walt.- # of months Locke and Helen have been talking.- # of days since Charlie went without his guitar.- # of weeks Driveshaft was going to tour.- # of days after the crash Jack & the other survivors moved to the caves.- # of years Michael worked in construction.- # of months since farmer's wife died when he met Kate.- # that appears on Boone's shirt with the Chinese symbols.- # of times Jin punches the guy he was "giving the message" to for Sun's father.- # of beers Jack's best man says he should have before giving the speech.- Sawyer's age when his dad killed himself and his wife.- Shannon's age when her dad married Boone's mom.- News station at Hurley's Lotto interview was channel 8.- Walt born in August (8th month).- Claire was missing for 8 days since Ethan took her.- In the Pilot Part 2 when Charlie takes off his shoe, inside it says size 8.- # appears after Arista in the jukebox on the Driveshaft song.- A column appears on the papers about Locke's Mother. 555-0170. 1 + 7 = 8.- 323 is the area code of Locke's Mom's telephone number. 3 + 2 + 3 = 8.- 8 appears in Locke's license plate.- Charlie hits the jukebox keys 1 3 and 4 in Homecoming. 1 + 3 + 4 = 8.- The license plate on the detective's car who catches Kate in Tabula Rasa is ALK-125. 1 + 2 + 5 = 8.- # of sections in Walt's ceiling in Special.- The 8 ball is on the pool table in Confidence Man.- The pool balls 2 and 6 are shown on the pool table in Confidence Man. 2 + 6 = 8.- The price on Walt's comic book in Spain is $800.00- # of people kneeling in the second row of the mosque.- Sayid was kept for 18 hours in the holding cell.- In The Greater Good when it shows Boone's driving license we can see he was born in 1981.- The license plate on the truck Sayid and Essam were in was ALK 125. 1 + 2 + 5 = 8. - The CIA woman said Sayid has been out of Iraq for 7 years. 7 x 365 days = 2555. 2 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 17. 1 + 7 = 8.- The magazine description Sawyer reads says the car has a V8 engine.- When reading the magazine description Sawyer says the car delivers a 350 pound rear-wheel torque. 3 + 5 + 0 = 8.- Sawyer says the car has a 32 valve V8 engine. V = 22nd letter of the alphabet. 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 8 = 17. 1 + 7 = 8.- The magazine description says the car has a 4.4 liter power plant under the hood. 4 + 4 = 8.- A news reporter is holding a microphone in front of Hurley and it's from station 17. 1 + 7 = 8.- In Numbers when Hurley is flipping through the TV channels it goes to a hockey game and it shows the player with jersey number 17. 1 + 7 = 8.- In Exodus when Danielle arrives at camp she says a series of numbers. She mentions it was 16 years ago they arrived, there were 6 of them, then says she was 7 months pregnant, she said the baby were together 1 week, and the black smoke was 5 kilometers inland. 16 + 6 + 7 + 1 + 5 = 35. 3 + 5 = 8.- Jack and Ana's seat numbers were 23B and 42F. B = 2nd letter of the alphabet, F = 6th letter of the alphabet. 2 + 6 = 8.- Hurley says Twinkies stay fresh for 8,000 years.- The guy on the scooter that Hurley approaches has crazy 8's written on his hat.- Hurley looks up at a sign in the airport that says gates 14 thru 23. There are 8 numbers between 14 and 23.


15 - # of members on Danielle's research team.- # on whiskey bottle that Sawyer and Christian drink from.- # of hours Boone flew to rescue his sister "15 hours, I just spent 15 hours on a plane".- # of kilometers to nearest town from the Australian farm.- Sun was supposed to leave the airport at 11:15.- Hurley won 156 million dollars.- Locke's Mom's weight was 115 pounds.- 15347 Ocean Avenue is an address on the papers about Locke's Mother.- 584-243-15 appears on the papers about Locke's Mother.- The papers on Locke's Mother show that she was born on the 15th of October.- The numbers 12015 appear on one of the plane's meters.- 31803-A appears on the papers about Locke's Mother. 3 + 1 + 8 + 0 + 3 = 15.- The number 555 appears multiple times on the papers about Locke's Mother. 5 + 5 + 5 = 15.- The number sequence 4065434-87 appear on the papers about Locke's Mother. 8 + 7 = 15.- The last 2 digits of Locke's license plate is 8 and 7. 8 + 7 = 15.- Sawyer buys a compact 357 handgun from a man in Australia. 3 + 5 + 7 = 15.- Randy tells Locke he needs the reports in by noon, not 12:15.- In Special it shows a triangle on Danielle's maps. There are 3 degrees for the angles. 36º, 38º and 41º, when added = 115º.- While Locke is telling Boone the Michelangelo story, he says "3 years later that block of marble was the statue of David." 365 days a year x 3 = 1095. 1 + 0 + 9 + 5 = 15.- Sawyer had to be at the meeting for 3:30. The woman says it's 3:28. 3 + 2 + 8 = 13. 2 minutes left, 13 + 2 = 15.- In the Pilot Jack tells Kate he was only going to give the fear 5 seconds to take over. Later on, Kate is shown counting to 5 while hiding from the "Monster". 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15.- Kate's license plate was DPN 924A. 9 + 2 + 4 = 15.- Kate's license plate was 7 - C153M. 15 appears.- When Kate and Tom are in the kitchen there is a clock in the background showing 1:50 AM.- Hurley said his Grampa Tito worked 3 jobs, for 52 years, and he's 70 years old. 70 - 52 - 3 = 15. - Jack asks Ana why she's drinking tequila and tonics at 10 to noon. 11:50 AM.- The marshal said he was chasing Kate for 3 years. 3 x 365 = 1095 days. 1 + 0 + 9 + 5 = 15.- Shannon says she doesn't want to sit near a crying baby for the next 15 hours.- Hurley jokingly says he thinks TV dinners from the 1950's are in inside the hatch. 1 + 9 + 5 + 0 = 15.- The lady at the desk in the airport looks up the information for Hurley's flight. On the computer screen it says the departure time is 14:15.- Michael tells Sawyer the raft is 15 miles offshore.


16 - # of years Danielle's distress signal has been looping.- # of weeks since someone won the lottery before Hurley.- # of years since Sam and Lenny heard the numbers.- # on the numerical die in the backgammon game.- Jack, Kate, and Charlie found the pilot 16 hours after the crash.- Age of patient of Jack's first solo procedure.- Jack told the lady at the airport desk he had to land in LAX in 16 hours to bury his father & flight was 16 hours.- The 4 dotted dice in backgammon game are on 4, 6, 2, 4. When added = 16.- Sawyer got $160,000 from the girls husband as part of the scam.- Locke's Mom lives at 2248 Greenwood Avenue. 2 + 2 + 4 + 8 = 16.- The address 1258 Bendix Avenue appears on the papers about Locke's Mother. 1 + 2 + 5 + 8 = 16.- Locke's license plate is 2ABM487. If you take just the letters ABM, and give them a numerical value for where they stand in the alphabet, A = 1 B = 2 M = 13, 1 + 2 + 13 = 16.- Four 4's on Sarah's t-shirt. 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16.- The taxi cab a woman gets out of in Do No Harm is numbered 691. 6 + 9 + 1 = 16.- There is a poster on the wall of the pool hall in Confidence Man, the date is June 16th.- The price on Walt's comic book in Chile is $1,600.00- The CIA woman tells Sayid it's been 7 years since he's left Iraq. "6 months here, 3 months there". 7 + 6 + 3 = 16.- The license plate on the truck Sayid and Essam were in was ALK 125. A = 1 L = 12 K = 11. Then the 1 2 5. The total for the letters' side is 24. The total for the numbers' side (1 + 2 + 5) is 8. And 24 - 8 = 16.- The license plate on the second truck that Sayid and Essam get into was MRL 724. M = 13 R = 18 L = 12. 1 + 3 + 1 + 8 + 1 + 2 = 16.- Kate's license plate was 7 - C153M. 7 + 1 + 5 + 3 = 16.- Tom's license plate was 394 - GC2. 3 + 9 + 4 = 16.- # of years since Kate and Tom buried the time capsule until she took the flight.- Kate's license plate was 7 - C153M. If you take just the letters. C & M. C = 3 M = 13. 3 + 13 = 16.- Danielle says the black smoke appeared 5 kilometers inland. 1 kilometer = 3280 feet. 3280 x 5 = 16,400 feet.- The Black Rock ship in the jungle has the city Portsmouth written on the back. Portsmouth New Hampshire was founded in 1623. 1623 is in the direct order from the number sequence 4 8 15 16 23 42.- Sawyer was reading Hurley's letter to home and said he left his mom 160 million dollars.- Hurley gives the guy on the scooter $1,600 dollars for it.


23 - # of times Jack hits Charlie on the chest while performing CPR before Kate tells him to stop.- # of times we hear Jin hit the axe on the raft.- # that appears on the waist measure that the tuxedo guy has around his neck.- The reward for turning Kate in is $23,000.- The digits 23 appear as part of a pin number on one of the crates found inside the drug plane.- The digits 23 appear on the license plate that hit Locke in Deus Ex Machina.- When Michael gives Jin the watch back in House Of The Rising Sun, the minute hand is on 23.- The watch on Jack's wrist when signaturing the papers his Dad gave him in All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues has the minute hand on 23.- The watch on Sun's father's wrist when signing a paper in ...In Translation has the minute hand on 23.- Driveshaft is # 234 on the jukebox.- A column appears on the papers about Locke's Mother. 555-0170. When added = 23.- Locke's Dad said he wasn't supposed to be there until 12. Locke said "I thought you said 11" 11 + 12 = 23.- The transceiver from the plane's model number is ABT-520. A = 1 B = 2 T = 20. 1 + 2 + 20 = 23.- There is a poster of the wall at the pool hall in Confidence Man, the date is May 23rd.- Kate's license plate was 7 - C153M. C = 3rd letter in the alphabet, M = 13th. 7 + 3 + 1 + 5 + 3 + 1 + 3 = 23.- When Michael looks at the clock in the hotel room it displays 5:23 AM.- Jack's seat number was 23B.- The Black Rock ship in the jungle has the city Portsmouth written on the back. Portsmouth New Hampshire was founded in 1623. 1623 is in the direct order from the number sequence 4 8 15 16 23 42.- The Black Rock ship in the jungle has the city Portsmouth written on the back. Portsmouth New Hampshire has a population of 23,100 people.- Right after Claire's baby is taken Charlie covers his mouth in shock. The time on his watch when he does this is 7:23 PM.- Hurley's hotel room was on floor 23.- Hurley looks up at a sign in the airport that says gates 14 thru 23.- Hurley's flight took off from gate 23.- Michael and Walt were sitting in row 23 on the airplane.- When they are at the caves Jack says 46 people need to drink about 1/2 a gallon of water everyday. 46 x .5 = 23 gallons of water everyday needed.


42 - # of spaces on a game of Connect 4.- # of numbers on the papers from Danielle. There were 7 rows of 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42.- # that appears on the waist measure that the tuxedo guy has around his neck.- Claire was 6 weeks late when she found out she was pregnant 6 weeks = 42 days.- The book number 742 appears behind the husband looking to adopt Claire's baby in Raised By Another.- The nurse who talks to Michael in Special is wearing a watch, the minute hand is on 42.- Jack's watch had the minute hand set on 42.- Sayid's watch in the Pilot Part 2 has it's minute hand set on 42.- There are two dice in the backgammon game. The highest number on a die is 6. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 21. 21 x 2 = 42.- The license plate on the farmer's car had the letters VHL. V = 22 H = 8 L = 12. 22 + 8 + 12 = 42.- There are 5 balls shown on the pool table in Confidence Man. 2, 6, 8, 12 and 14. When added 2 + 6 + 8 + 12 + 14 = 42.- Ana's seat number was 42F.- The lady at the desk in the airport looks up in the information for Hurley's flight. On the computer screen it says the arrival time in Los Angeles will be 10:42. * 815 * - # of the safety deposit box that Kate wanted to get into.- # of the issue for Entertainment Weekly that LOST is on the cover of.- Oceanic flight # 815.- The copier's Charlie was trying to sell were model # C-815.- When Claire had her dream about the baby being taken, the flight number of the plane hanging from the mobile was 815.- The airdate for Numbers was 3/2. When added = 5. 5, and episode 18. 815.- Hurley's lottery ticket contained the sequence 815.- The hatch has 815 in it's sequence of numbers.- 8 & 15 were the aisle numbers for the regulation & Nerf footballs.- 564815 appears on the papers about Locke's Mom.- Jack's watch when flipped and mirrored has the time 8:15.- The boots that Kate takes from the dead person in the Pilot Part 1 has 815 on them.- Sayid is walking by a building in The Greater Good. The building has the numbers 815 on the door.- Kate and Tom buried the time capsule on August 15 1989. (8/15).- When the cop in the police station lays down Sawyer's plane ticket, we can see on Sawyer's file it says ID No. 248-15 with some more numbers after the 815.- Charlie has a tattoo on his shoulder with the lyrics "living is easy with eyes closed". This is from The Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever. The song Strawberry Fields Forever was released on The Beatles' 15th US CD and was track number 8. 8/15. * MIXED * - 48 plane crash survivors. 4 & 8, the first two numbers from the number sequence.- Boone's shirt with the Chinese symbols stood for 84. 4 & 8. The number of survivors and also the first two numbers in the sequence.- If you add 4815162342 and Hurley's 156 million you get: 4 + 8 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 6 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 5 + 6 = 48. 4 & 8 and the first two numbers of the sequence.- The Oceanic Airlines logo contains 16 red dots, surrounding 4 circles, which make up the "O" in Oceanic. Which if combined with the word "airlines" makes 15 letters. "Airlines" itself is 8 letters.- If you add up the numbers, 4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42 = 108, and subtract that from Hurley's net worth ( 156 - 108 = 48 ). 4 & 8 and the first two numbers from the sequence, also the number of plane crash survivors.- The digits 48 appear in Locke's license plate. 4 & 8. The first two numbers of the sequence and the number of plane crash survivors.- Locke's Mom lives at 2248 Greenwood Avenue. 4 & 8. The first two numbers of the sequence and the number of plane crash survivors.- 2 columns appear on the papers about Locke's Mother. 555-0121 and 555-0170. 0121 1 + 2 + 1 = 4. 0170 1 + 7 = 8. 4 & 8. The first 2 numbers of the sequence and the number of plane crash survivors.- The number 48 appears as part of a pin number on one of the crates inside of the drug plane. 4 & 8. The first two numbers from the sequence. Also the number of survivors.- The nanny that Walt has in Special is wearing a watch while handing a box to Michael, the minute hand is on 48. 4 & 8. The first two numbers from the sequence. Also the number of survivors.- Sawyer is seen reading the book Watership Down. Episode 19 was titled Deus Ex Machina. A chapter of the book Watership Down is titled "Dea Ex Machina", that chapter is 48. 4 & 8. The first two numbers of the sequence and the number of plane crash survivors.- 300 pounds of C4 explosives were stolen. There are 16 ounces in a pound. 16 x 300 = 4800 ounces. 4 & 8. The first two numbers of the sequence. Also the number of survivors.- When reading off the magazine's description of a car, Sawyer mentions a lot of numbers. 32 valve V8 engine. 400 horsepower. 350 pounds. 4.4 liter powerplant. And 6 speed transmission. 32 + 8 + 400 + 350 + 4.4 + 6 = 800.4. 4 & 8. The first two numbers of the sequence and the original number of survivors.- Hurley's hotel room number was 2342. The last two numbers from the set.- On the dashboard in Hurley's car the speed goes from 16 KPH, 15 KPH, 8 KPH, and 4 KPH. It also displays 42 KM and 23ºC. This uses 4 8 15 16 23 & 42.- Riding through the airport on the scooter Hurley passes girls with soccer uniforms on. They're standing side by side and the numbers on their jerseys are 4 8 15 16 23 & 42.

Again, I take no credit for any of the above insanity!

EASTER! Okay, time to hit up some of the crazy stuff hidden away on the Oceanic Airlines sight. First off, there are messages overlaying the text in a few places like this one:

Robert D. West, of Santa Barbara, California, USA survived a horrific plane crash and is stranded on an island somewhere Northeast of Australia and Southwest of Hawaii. In the event that I am never found, please forward word of my fate to parents, Mr. and Mrs. John West, of Tucson Arizona.

Thank you.
Robert

What does that look like to me? It looks like a message someone would put in a bottle and send off the island! Just like we saw the castaways doing in the finale! Pretty interesting.

Also hidden away on the site is a picture of CFL’s map. The words are in French, but I believe it’s just the lyrics to “Beyond the Sea” as well as some descriptions of various locales on the Island. What is really interesting (and circled in red) is that there is the “Others” boat! French scholars out there, feel free to translate away!



But the real bread and butter of this Oceanic Airlines website is the Seating Chart – see below for the screenshots. Clicking on various seats on the plane causes other seats to light up – and then hovering on this colored squares, you are revealed who was sitting there, and then if you click on it – you are treated to a video / image that somehow relates to the characters. Here’s a breakdown of the seats I’ve found and what is revealed:





27G = Edward Mars = Flashes images of his ID with the standard picture of his face, then an ID with his head tilted to the side, as if he is dead, followed by this image in red. Creepy.

27H = Kate Ryan = Flashes her police photos with the name being “Katherine Dodd”.

9F = Shannon Rutherford = Flashes Sayid’s passport.

9E = Boone Carlyle = Flashes his face fading to black.

24D = John Locke = Flashes his knives, then shows Locke standing there looking creepy while a loud screeching sound plays and freaks out co-workers and roommates.

29C = Charlie Pace = Flashes a Driveshaft backstage pass, OR a Diary that has a picture of Claire in it.

23D = Rose = Flashes a falling wedding ring, with Rose saying “My husband always has me hold his ring when we fly.”

23A = Jack Shepherd = Flashes images of the airplane sized bottle of vodka, with Jack’s face slowly appearing inside the bottle.

Here’s where it gets weird. If you click on Jack’s seat, seat 23C lights up – but has no name associated with it, or any flash animation. When you click on it, the Flight Number at the bottom (that says “Oceanic 777”) flutters to “Oceanic 815”, then the whole thing goes dead.

Who is seating in that seat? Rewatching some of the episodes, you can’t clearly see any specific characters sitting there. And wait a minute, why does this say “Oceanic Flight 777” anyways?

Weren’t they on Flight 815? This is where the full power of my brain is working, and I’m not there yet. Something is seriously wrong here. We saw in Exodus Part 3 that the plane they were on left from Gate 23 – yet this website says Gate 15…



It also has a time when the PLANE LANDED!?! What?! It looks to have landed seven minutes late at Gate 42. Yet the status is “Alert” instead of “Landed”.

If this is just the webmaster’s typo, I’ll be furious because right now I’m working through a lot of different scenarios of what this means – and they’re ranging from “There were actually two flights and both crashed – which explains why not all the cast is showing up on the seating chart” to “There was some conspiracy to crash that plane and they setup a fake plane to land in LAX to avoid any suspicion.” Really heady, out there stuff that will keep me busy all summer, rest assured.

FAREWELL. The sad thing is, although I know I need to wrap this up – but I didn’t touch upon even half of what I wanted to. Such is the greatness of this show. I didn’t even touch upon the fact that two of the Others on the boat were identical twins, the submarine theory of the Hatch, the Canadian Flag flying on the Others’ boat, or the wire that leads from the ocean into the woods that Sayid found. If I figure out anything earth shattering through the website, or have a revelation at night while I sleep, I’ll send out another Email. Otherwise, you’re on your own until next season. Maybe I’ll take Mitch’s advice and have a full blown website put together at that time instead of sending mass Emails. We’ll see…

At any rate, thanks for reading – keep up the good work, and remember – Watching TV makes you smarter! If these Emails aren’t proof of that, I don’t know what is!

Brian


PS. Lost Season 1 comes out on DVD on September 6th. I’d highly recommend picking it up and watching every episode back-to-back in a row – I know that’s what I’ll be doing J