Lost - "Man of Science, Man of Faith"

Hello Again. It’s been too long.

Welcome back to Season Two! We’re new and improved with this new “Blog” method of writing, so get ready for pictures, hyperlinks, more frequent posts, and the ability for you to respond to the Emails via the comment section for everyone to read and debate. We’ll keep the general format of last year, with a few changes. Let’s get it started (ha)…

Episode Title: Man of Science, Man of Faith

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Part of me really hopes this is a Jack / Locke episode, but the more I think about it, it’s just going to be a Jack episode. I’m thinking that something happened in Jack’s past that caused him to lose his faith (losing a patient, his marriage breaking up with Sarah, Sarah having a miscarriage?) which is why he is so staunchly a man of science today. Expect the flashbacks to center around Jack and what happened that caused this dramatic character shift.

Also, in listening to the commentary on the DVDs (a must buy - $39.99 for SEVEN discs, are you kidding me? That’s like $5.71 per disc, and $1.66 per episode!), they mentioned that the tattoo Matthew Fox (Jack) has on the show are Fox’s real tattoos. They debated whether or not to cover them up with makeup when the show started, but decided to keep them.

If you look closely, the tattoo is a “5” with some symbols around it. It fits with Jack’s character due to his “I let the fear take over… but only for 5 seconds” speech. The creators mention “You’ll eventually find out why he gets the tattoo – and it represents a dramatic shift in Jack as a character” – could this be the episode where he loses his faith and gets a tattoo?



But of course, this is Lost – so it must be more complicated than all this. The title also refers to the emerging power struggle between Locke (Man of Faith) and Jack (Man of Science) on the Island. With the Hatch now open, Locke should be nuttier than ever, and whatever is inside that Hatch – he is going to view as a message from the Island with some huge deeper meaning. Jack, our Man of Faith, will view it in a totally scientific and logical way, and there should be some conflict as the two try to win the other castaways over to their side.

The Jack / Locke “war” I wrote about all last season? We could see the start of it. Brian might not be crazy after all!

TV Guide Description: “As the second season opens, one of the castaways enters the hatch and discovers its contents. Also, a survivor of the attack on the raft makes an appearance. As does Jack’s wife, Sarah (Julie Bowen), in a flashback. Meanwhile, Shannon runs into a familiar face in the jungle.”

TV Guide Breakdown: The first sentence is a big win for winning over people disappointed by the season finale’s lack of revelations: we discover the contents of the Hatch. Series Creator Damon Lindelhof has promised – “you don’t just see a flash of it – you get a good long look at the inside of the Hatch. You might not know what it means, but you’ll know what it is.” More on this later…

The second sentence is puzzling… a survivor of the raft attack makes an appearance. This has to be Walt, right? Because the other three were treading water five miles off the coast of the island together. Could Walt possibly have already escaped the Others? I mean, he has special powers, so in theory he could summon a polar bear to attack them, or cause a freak rainstorm, or clown to scare them away – but it’s a little doubtful, since so much of the storylines of the first season led to them kidnapping him. I’m thinking Walt is gone for a good chunk of this season… and when we see him again, he’s changed (more on this later too!)

Jack’s wife in the flashback – pretty much what made me accept this is a Jack-centric episode, but I’m still hopeful for the dual Jack / Locke flashbacks! I’m excited to see more of this “Sarah” storyline for two reasons:

1. We never got a clear indication of if Jack and Sarah got married or not!
2. Sara was hot!



Lastly, we have Shannon running into a familiar face in the jungle. Could it be Boone? Jack saw his dead dad in the jungle… could something similar happen to Shannon?


Okay, let’s set the stage for the new season before we start our insane obsessive hypothesizing…

Character State of the Union:

Walt
Last Seen: kidnapped by “The Others”, on their boat
Prediction: will remain disappeared until mid-way through the season, and will be very changed (either considerably older / brainwashed / evil) when he returns.

Michael
Last Seen: clinging to a piece of his blown up boat, screaming Walt’s name, 5 miles from the shore
Prediction: along with the rest of the Rafters, will spend first few episodes getting back to the rest of the Survivors, will then become totally crazy in his obsession to overtake the Others and find Walt.

Claire
Last Seen: with a freshly returned child (“Aaron”), thanks to Charlie and Sayid - at the caves
Prediction: winner of my “Most Likely To Die in Season 2” award.

Sun
Last Seen: at the caves, comforting Shannon and giving Vincent water
Prediction: will become a leader and will rekindle relationship with Jin upon his return

Charlie
Last Seen: just returned to the caves after discovering the bonfire on the beach and retrieving Aaron from CFL
Prediction: will slip back into the H habit, until Claire dies. Claire possibly dies due to Charlie being strung out – then straightens up and flies straight, since he has to raise Aaron.

Jack
Last Seen: peering down the Hatch
Prediction: will lead “Science” faction of camp, being the logical “head” of that tribe, will be 1/4 of the “love rhombus” of Jack-Kate-Ana-Sawyer.

Kate
Last Seen: standing behind Jack, at the Hatch
Prediction: against all logic and odds, will continue to get hotter

Sawyer
Last Seen: shot (?), in the water five miles from land surrounded by boat wreckage
Prediction: will survive, continue to refer to other characters by funny nicknames

Sayid
Last Seen: hugging Shannon, at the caves, just returned from the Aaron rescue with Charlie
Prediction: will continue romance with Shannon

Shannon
Last Seen: hugging Sayid, still taking care of Vincent, at the caves
Prediction: will begin seeing dead Boone in the jungle, second most likely character to die this season

Hurley
Last Seen: freaking out after seeing the Numbers on the Hatch, at the Hatch
Prediction: will become the most important character on the show as we begin to realize the importance of the Numbers

Jin
Last Seen: in the water and boat wreckage, unharmed
Prediction: will be critical in getting Sawyer and Michael back to the mainland, will warmly embrace Sun upon return

Locke
Last Seen: peering down the Hatch, with crazy in his eyes!
Prediction: will be leader of the “Faith” faction of the Survivors, we’ll think he’s evil / crazy, only to find he’s really had our best interest at heart all along when Evil Walt returns and Locke is our only hope!


With that out of the way, let’s start the crazy thoughts and theories for this season!


Nigeria. Here’s the thing. We all know there is going to be a Nigerian character on the show this season, which means one of two things:

1. There’s some weird time warp thing going on on the island.
2. There’s some portal thing that connects the island to Nigeria.

Personally, I’m pulling for the first. Check out these clues:

1. Originally, the script said that CFL was studying “Time” when they found the island.

2. The other two Nigerians are skeletons, meaning they’ve been there for a while – how is the third alive and well? Time is either going very slow for him or very fast for the others.

3. CFL seemed very confused when they mention to her “your distress signal has been playing for 16 years” as if she has no concept of time / thinks it should be longer or shorter.

4. Everyone on the show is still wearing watches. I’ve noticed it a lot on the DVDs. Check it out. Weird.

5. The Others seem to fit well with the Black Rock, since they look like Pirates – but honestly, when did Pirates go extinct? They’d have to be a few hundred years old…

But then there’s the second theory, which is a little easier:

1. Time warp things are for science fiction nerds. Lost is cool.

2. Since there’s also a polar bear dead on the island, it seems that there could be multiple portals – one to the Arctic, one to Nigeria, etc.

I don’t want to get too crazy here, so I’ll just leave it as – I think the overall theme of the show, the whole point, it’s going to be something to do with time.

The Hatch. Some people on the Internet know what’s inside the Hatch. For one, somehow “television critics and writers” get preferential treatment from me, and get to see episodes early. Totally unfair. Also, they aired the season premiere in Hawaii last Wednesday. Again, totally unfair. These people get to live in paradise and see Lost early? Come on…

At any rate, there have been “hints” about what’s in the Hatch. Hints that will drive you crazy, keep you awake at night, and shake the very foundation of your being. I’ve given them a lot of thought, and I got NOTHING. But maybe you’re much smarter and attractive than me, and you can figure it out. Here are the clues:

1. 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.

2. It begins and ends with the same letter.

3. Some of you were there this morning.

4. The word that begins and ends with the same letter is not a plural

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. The other is seven letters long and starts and ends with the same letter.

Here’s the thing that bothers me – all the clues seem to cancel each other out. I originally thought that someone would be down there, but it’s constantly referred to as a “thing” in the clues. If it’s something that only one person on the show has seen, it makes me think of the monster or perhaps something medical that just Jack would have seen, since he’s a doctor? But if it’s something so obscure, how could I have been there this morning? How could I be seeing it right now? I really have no idea. Help?

Okay, with my new Blog format, I can post immediate responses after the episode, so be sure to check back throughout the week.

As always, the Delta House will be open for business for the Season Premiere on Wednesday. Take note, Lost is now on at 9:00 pm, an hour later than last year!

Official Season Two Prediction: Better than Season 1.