Complete Lost 2.1 Review and Analysis!

1. What Happened Last Week: So, let’s say you had some lame excuse for missing the Lost season premiere last week. I really can’t think of what sort of excuse this could be, but hey, maybe your priorities are way out of whack. At any rate, here’s the super brief summary!
   
   We find a mysterious stranger living inside the Hatch who has a full blown apartment with running water, electricity, and mysterious computers. Locke lowers Kate into the Hatch, only for her to disappear. Shannon sees Walt in the jungle (or did she imagine it?). Locke enters the Hatch to rescue Kate, Jack does the same later on. The episode ends with someone holding a gun to Locke’s head, with Jack pointing a gun at both of them. We discover the person living in the Hatch is Desmond, a mysterious man from Jack’s past.
   
   So what? So let’s dance…
   
   Through The Looking Glass: All the sudden, with the first scene of the second season, we are now through the looking glass. Think about it. Up until now, we were all hypothesizing about what was going on on the island and it really could have gone anywhere. But now, about half the far fetched theories about the island are out the window. No dinosaurs. No aliens. They’re probably not dead. While we got more questions from the appearance with Desmond than we did answers (so far…), he did put a lot of rumors to rest.
   
   I’m now much more comfortable with how last season ended. We had a whole summer to hypothesize about anything and everything – the sky was the limit when it came to the theories. A lot of people were worried that the inside of the Hatch would be a disappointment, or take forever to be revealed, but it wasn’t. The writers basically showed us the inside of the Hatch as soon as possible. While we don’t fully understand it, we now have a whole new set of theories and questions to work through, which is fun.
   
   Always leave them wanting more.
   
   Desmond: Remember all those wacky riddles about the inside of the Hatch? Well, they all turned out to be true… but only because they kinda referred to multiple things inside the Hatch (a small form of cheating). But really, we should have been able to figure this out. Check it:

• In a way, it's something you've never seen before. But in a way, it's something you see every day and are probably seeing right now = Apartment or Computer?
• It begins and ends with the same letter = Desmond
• Some of you were there this morning = Bed or Shower or Apartment?
• The word that begins and ends with the same letter is not a plural = Desmond
• One of the castaways has already seen this thing before. The others might have as well, but I know for sure that one of them, one of the MAAAAIIIIN ones, has seen it before = Jack
• This thing in the Hatch can be called by two different words: One is three letters and starts and ends with two letters that are right next to each other in the alphabet = Man
• The other is seven letters long and starts and ends with the same letter = Desmond

But really the reason we should have got it is because there are at least FOUR PEOPLE NAMED DESMOND WHO READ THIS EMAIL. Seriously, the first thing I did when I read the clues was think, “Maybe it’s me in the hatch? Nope, ‘Brian’ – that’s not it. What else could it be?” Very disappointing, Desmond clan.

But is Desmond one of the Others? I don’t think so. I think we could be looking at three or four distinct “groups” on the Island. The Others. The Fuselage. The Tail. Desmond. Why? The “Others” were clearly not afraid of being above ground, whereas Desmond is – plus, he was keeping in shape and didn’t look like a grizzled pirate.

Quarantine: The word “Quarantine” was written on the inside of the Hatch. Meaning that it was meant for Desmond (and whoever else was down there with him – Alex, anyone?) to warn them not to go outside. If this is the case, then all the Survivors are “infected” with something, which could explain why he would have grabbed Kate and put a gun to Locke’s head in this episode. If they’re “infected”, then he might need to kill them before they become crazy! But crazy with what…

Numbers: So, the numbers were all over this episode (on the walls inside the Hatch, all over Jack’s flashback, etc.) but what do they mean? Here’s my newest “Numbers theory”… did you notice that they were written on the side of the bottle that Desmond injected into his arm? Obviously that was some sort of steroid / drug. Based on the fact that there is a “quarantine” on the outside, let’s assume it’s a vaccine.

Well, what are vaccines made of? That’s right, weakened versions of the virus. Since the numbers were written on the side of the bottle, I’m thinking that the “name” of the “sickness” on the Island (the same sickness that made CFL’s crew go crazy and make you hear voices in the jungle) is “code-named” Virus 4-8-15-16-23-42. If that’s the case, are the numbers named for the Virus, or vice versa? Is one of the “symptoms” of the Virus that you repeat the numbers incessantly until you go crazy (like the guy in the mental institution with Hurley), or does saying / reading / using the numbers make you go crazy and bring about some wicca curse on you?


Amazing Race: When Desmond said he was “training for a race around the world”, it got me thinking one of two things:

He actually was speaking literally, and somehow on his race around the world he got stranded on the island. But that makes no sense, because how would he end up “working” inside the Hatch, and why would he have such a devilish grin on his face when he saw Jack? Plus, way too easy and convenient for a show like Lost.

He was on his way around the world to visit “potentials” to bring to the Island. He visited Jack this episode. Let’s say he visited the rest of the Castaways – Kate in Canada, Sun and Jin in Korea, Claire in Australia, Charlie in Europe… that sounds like around the world to me. Plus, there’s probably some other “potentials” that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another which probably took him to even more places.

Think about this: what would have been missing from these “potentials” 10-15 years ago when he was visiting? Well, Michael wouldn’t have had Walt and Claire wouldn’t have been pregnant with Aaron. Is it a coincidence that kids keep getting stolen on the island? I don’t think so! Maybe they’re immune to the virus, or maybe it would be cruel and unusual to subject them to whatever is going on. But whatever the “plan” is for these castaways, the children are not a part of it!

So what’s the “plan”? Some sort of experiment? Working with the virus and developing an antidote? Raising super-human soldiers in the fight against the mole people? I don’t know. But if you think about the circumstances of each character, it’s possible that Desmond could have manipulated them to get them on that flight… and then he could have brought that flight down.

I'm looking for Desmond to show up in at least some of the other characters' flashbacks this season, if not all of them!

Rutherford: Jack saved Sarah in his flashback, letting the other man die. That other man was Adam Rutherford. He died at 8:15. Shannon’s last name is Rutherford. Her rich father died when she was young and left her a lot of money. You might think she’d blame Jack for her dad’s death. Remember what happened when she blamed Locke for Boone’s death? She stole a gun and turned it on him! Watch your six, Jack-o.

Kate: There were rumors this summer that the next “big death” on the show would be a female. Locke said Kate was fine. You better not be lying to me, John Locke.


Mama Cass: “Make Your Own Kind of Music”. Once again, Lost teaches me a song I would have never otherwise known. Aside from being super creepy due to it blaring when Jack entered the Hatch, the lyrics look to have some deeper meaning:

Nobody can tell ya;
There's only one song worth singin',
They may try and sell ya,
Cause it hangs them up to see someone like you.

But you've gotta make your own music
Sing your own special song,
Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along.

You're gonna be knowing
The loneliest kind of lonely,
It may be rough goin',
Just to do your thing's the hardest thing to do.

But you've gotta make your own music
Sing your own special song,
Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along.

So if you cannot take my hand,
And if you must be goin',
I will understand.

But you've gotta make your own music
Sing your own special song,
Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along.


If you’re Desmond, the song seems to speak to your living alone in a Hatch underground on a mystery island in the middle of the Pacific. It’s lonely, and just doing his job is the hardest thing to do. But he’s jamming down there, even if no one else is there with him.

Pushing Buttons: The verdict is still out on the Creepy Walt that Shannon saw. I’m betting on “image projected by Vincent, who has some sort of super powers.” The last time we saw a dead person mirage on the island, it was Jack’s dad leading them to fresh water in the caves. This time? Playing Walt’s words backwards reveals he says “Don’t push the button, the button is bad.”

Coincidence that the “Execute” button on the keyboard inside the Hatch seems to bring forth the “Monster”? Coincidence that Desmond showed up with a gun just as Jack was about the press it? No – that’s a bad button, and Walt knows it. Now if we only knew if he was alive!

Monster: Did you catch the logo on Desmond’s shirt when he was running with Jack in the stadium? Or the logo on his Ghostbusters-like “jumpsuit” in the Hatch? No? Well, here it is:

What’s that pictured in the middle? The Loch Ness monster? A serpent of some kind? THE MONSTER THAT IS ON THE ISLAND?! Desmond is controlling the monster! Do the math and check out this timeline:

Desmond wakes up while Jack, Locke, Kate, and Hurley are at the Black Rock.
Desmond types something in his computer as they’re walking to the Hatch.

(oh, and what did he type?)

Desmond hits “Execute” as the Monster attacks Locke.
Desmond works out, showers, eats, the gang continues to walk and arrive at the Hatch.
Desmond is startled at a loud sound as the gang blows up the Hatch.

It matches! So the “Monster” must be something mechanical – but what is the purpose of it? Did Locke figure this all out long ago? Why did it kill the pilot? So many questions, but there’s one other thing…

See the word in the middle of the picture? My best guess at it is “Dharma”. At first I thought maybe he was just a big fan of Dharma and Greg, but then realized that was impossible, no one likes that show – so dictionary.com’d the word. Turns out, it also means…

“The undefineable everyting. The basis of life itself. Energy.”

Whoa. That’s pretty heavy. And blows my mind for a Blog post. It could pretty much sum up everything on the island in a way that I can’t even begin to wrap my head around.