Friday, May 12, 2006

"?" Incoherent Ramblings

Well, this episode held true to its title.

Here’s the sheer irony: most of what I predicted ending up being pretty accurate… or so I thought. The location of the Hatch, the information inside exposing the experiments, Libby hanging on to life and then dying – all played out the way I saw it in my mind when I wrote my preview post.

But this was one of those episodes that the more you think about; the more you look at what happened, the more puzzling it becomes. There were things on the surface that seemed very simple, but when you look a little deeper, don’t add up – which is why I took me a little longer than usual to get my recap together. But, after a second viewing (this time with pen and paper to jot stuff down and draw maps – you laugh but it’s true), I’m ready to type away. You’ll see how many portions of the episode seem to contradict each other as I go… I anxiously await your comments to help set me straight.

First off, I thought this was a great episode. The storylines definitely advanced, we had another major character death, and the stage is set for what will surely be the final storylines of the season. Also, it was nice to see the flashbacks feel like they fit in with the story, unlike some other recent ones. So why was this episode so hard to write about? Because it touched on some things that are fundamental to the underlying point and purpose of the entire season (and possibly series). Understanding them is tough (note how much I have to type about each episode, week in and week out). But that’s also what made the episode so great. It was meaty.

So what happened? Here we go… Be prepared for incoherent gibberish ahead!



Visions. This is one part of the episode that really confused me initially. We’ve now had multiple visions from the different Survivors on the Island. Are the visions good? Are the visions bad? What causes the visions in the first place?

Let’s break down the visions that our Survivors have had thus far:

  • Jack had visions of his Dad, which led him to the Caves and water, which was needed by the Survivors post-crash. Survey says: Good Vision
  • Locke had visions of Bloody Boone and the Beechcraft crashing, which led him to Boone’s death. Survey says: Bad Vision
  • Boone had visions of Shannon being eaten by the monster, which turned out to be pretty inconsequential. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
  • Claire had visions of Locke telling her “You gave your baby away. Everybody pays now” and a Bloody Crib, which led her to be somewhat paranoid about her baby. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
  • Shannon had visions of Walt, who may have been trying to warn her about the Hatch and the Button, but ended up getting her killed. Survey says: Bad Vision.
  • Sayid seemed to have the same vision of Walt, but didn’t really take any action on it. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
  • Charlie had the creepy religious vision telling him to protect Aaron, which led to him freaking out and getting outcast from the other Survivors and ruining his chances of hooking up with Claire. Survey says: Bad Vision.
  • Hurley had visions of Dave from the Mental Institution, who tried to get Hurley to jump off a cliff and kill himself. Survey says: Bad Vision.
  • Eko had visions telling him to get Locke to find the ? from Dead Ana-Lucia and Yemi, which led to Eko finding the ? Hatch, which gives him faith in pushing the button. Survey says: ?
  • Locke has visions of Eko falling when he climbed vines, which led to him to the ? Hatch, where he learned the 108 Numbers were the part of one big experiment. Survey says: ?

If you look at that track record, it would seem that more visions have led to bad things than to good things – but look more closely.

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It’s not fair to classify the visions as being good or bad based solely upon the outcome because there is still the human action involved, the free will to act upon these visions one way or the other. In the case of things like Locke seeing the Bloody Boone, he could have seen that as a warning that bad things were to come, but instead chalked them up to the Island demanding Boone’s sacrifice. Walt could have been trying to help Shannon and warn her about danger, even though his appearance unintentionally led to her getting shot. Hurley’s vision of Dave isn’t really attributable to the Island since he was having them prior to coming to the Island. Once you start looking at the visions from a purely objective point of view, they don’t seem so sinister anymore – even though they sometimes show disturbing visions.

So if this is the case, the visions in this episode would seemingly be a good thing. It’s a good thing that Locke and Eko found the ? Hatch. It’s a good thing that Eko is going to continue pushing the button, as Yemi told him in the vision. But if it’s all an experiment, as the Second Orientation Video claims, why?


More on that in a bit.


But what is causing all these visions? A good theory (that a lot of you have brought up) is that they are somehow tied to Smokey, who seems to be able to “read” the people he encounters on the Island (and then pass judgment on if they live or die).

The problem is, Smokey hasn’t come face to face with anyone else on the Island besides Eko and Locke (and the Pilot), so it doesn’t quite work.

Another good theory is that the kidnapped kids (like Walt) are being plugged into some machine that taps into their innate psychic ability, and the visions are all an attempt to lead the Survivors to where they are being kept, in an attempt to free them.

The problem is, although we’ve seen Walt having powers – these visions were happening long before he was kidnapped, and I find it hard to believe that every child (the Tail children, Alex, etc.) all have the power to do this.

A variation of that theory is tied to the Dharma Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Experiments, where it’s regular people who are “trained” to use these powers. That could explain how these visions were happening almost as soon as Flight 815 crashed.

The problem is, the very definition of “Remote Viewing” sounds like it’s about seeing things going on somewhere else or predicting it, rather than drawing out memories from people and projecting them upon them.

What about the easy answer? The visions are simply coming from the tortured souls of our Survivors. We’ve gone over time and time again how everyone on the Island has a very checkered past with a lot of demons and baggage – it’s only natural that one’s subconscious would continue to bring up these images until the person comes to terms with them and gains release.

The problem is, our people are sometimes seeing images of things that are in no way from their past (Locke seeing the Beechcraft and Yemi, Eko seeing the ?). As much as I hate to buy into the “collective subconscious” theory that Entertainment Weekly posed (way too “sci-fi”), it would go a long way to explaining these visions.

So you see my dilemma. I can think of all sorts of possible explanations for the visions, but none seem to fit quite right. I almost begin to wonder it the visions are just a technique the writers are using to advance storylines in a “mystical” sort of way, as if the Island itself is causing them.

Let’s move on for now.


Numbers. Regardless of what is causing the visions, the end product of them this episode is that Locke has given up on entering the 108 Numbers in the Hatch and Eko is now convinced they need to continue to enter them. So our question mark becomes, is this a good thing or a bad thing? It all goes back to the fundamental question of “What would happen if you didn’t enter the Numbers?”

Forget everything we learned this episode and think back to “Lockdown”. Locke is trapped under the Blast Doors and the 108 Timer is about to go off. HGI goes through the air duct and the timer resets. He tells Locke that he did nothing. There are only two choices here:

  1. HGI is telling the truth. He did nothing.
  2. HGI is lying. He entered the Numbers.

The problem is, if not entering the Numbers caused something catastrophic to happen (“the incident”), why would HGI lie to Locke about it, seeing as telling Locke this would cause him to stop entering them? If HGI’s purpose is to make another incident occur, he could have done it by not entering the Numbers during “Lockdown”. If HGI’s purpose was to get the Survivors to continue entering the Numbers, why would he tell the biggest believer of entering them (Locke) that entering them does nothing? Doesn’t make sense.

The only logical explanation is that entering the Numbers does nothing – it’s all part of the experiment. Not entering them causes no “incident”, and they just reset. But if this is the case, then the vision that Eko’s vision of Yemi is trying to mislead him… but not hurt him (remember, he specifically said “bring your axe”, without which Eko would have fallen while climbing the vines)… unless…


Visions (Revisited). Wait a minute – this means the visions must be caused by Dharma – someway, somehow. The purpose is still a little fuzzy, so maybe Dharma doesn’t quite have full control over whatever is going on (which would make sense given everything we seemingly know about them and their experiments in the Lost Experience). They’re not only giving the Survivors glimpses into the future (perhaps this is an unfortunate side effect they can’t control), but they’re also keeping them in line with the experiments that wish to carry out (pushing the button). Now the only question is… how? No explanation for this yet, per the reasons we went through above.

Anyone have any fresh suggestions?


Pearl. Here’s the other big question mark of the episode for me. According to the map on the Blast Door, there are SIX Hatches surrounding the big question mark is the mysterious middle of them all. Locke’s sketch seems to confirm the same. The question mark is not one of them.

Thus, it makes sense that there would be SIX Orientation videos, one for each Hatch, explaining the experiment that needs to be carried on inside. The Swan Orientation Video was labeled “Station 3 of 6”. The Pearl Orientation video was labeled “Station 5 of 6”. Excuse me? Back up.

If there is an Orientation Video, you are inside one of the Hatches, one of the places that experiments take place. Need proof? How about the fact that there is a camera inside the Pearl, to watch the people who are allegedly watching everyone else. It’s all part of another experiment.

Locke and Eko are not inside the ?. They’re inside “C4” on the Blast Door Map.

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Remember that Eko was following a map that was basically scribbled out based on what Locke saw for under ten seconds. He mentioned that they crossed a wavy line. Check. Note the words “The Pearl” written just to the right of C4 on the map. This stays true to the style of the Map, where “The Swan”, “The Flame”, and “The Staff” are all written just outside the octagon where they are located in the exact same fashion. Think about the fact that when you’re done, you move to a ferry to take you back to the Barracks (more on that later). Wouldn’t that mean you would need to be near the beach, not in the middle of the Island? Seems more like C4 than the ?, doesn’t it?

When you think about it, tricking Eko and Locke to think they found the ? instead of just another Hatch was as simple as clearing a small circle of plant life and throwing down some salty dirt.

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But why trick them? It makes Locke think he has found the key to it all, and give up his search for the real ?.

But how did they know Locke was looking for it in the first place? Given the cameras inside the Pearl, they’ve been watching (and hearing?) everything going on inside the Swan. I’m assuming the Rebel Dharmites are smart enough to have drawn their map on the back of the Blast Door (away from the camera), but I’m also willing to bet that some camera picked up a shot of Locke drawing his little map with a big ? in the middle. The cigarette but shown on the table inside the Pearl suggests that someone has been there recently – even though it looks like the place has been abandoned for years… just like the Staff Hatch and the beard – interesting…

(I’m so tempted to go back to the theory that there is some weird time-warp stuff going on, but I won’t rehash it again here. More important stuff to get to…)

So what’s the experiment?

Remember the Orientation Video told them to record everything that they saw. Remember that the Video says Karen Degroot said “Careful observation is the key to awareness”. Remember that camera sitting behind the two chairs that is observing them all along.


The experiment seems to be a test to see how close one can pay attention to what is going on. The Video mentions “8 hour shifts”. EIGHT hours, as opposed to the months that subjects spend in the Swan Hatch? Seems strange. I’m thinking the Pearl Hatch is used as a testing ground - a place to see how “worthy” the experiment subjects are, how well they do what Karen Degroot thought was such an important trait – carefully observing.

Perhaps a “passing grade” elevates you higher through the Hanso Organization (again, I’m picturing crazy Scientology levels), whereas a “failing grade” dooms you to mediocre Dharma tasks… like restocking the Swan Hatch. A system like this would go a long way in explaining the development of Rebel Dharmites… those who could never advance and got frustrated with the entire Dharma organization.

But here’s the other thing – in the video, the viewer is told to carefully monitor the STATION. Singular. Not “stations”, just “station”. We see that they are clearly monitoring the Swan Hatch:

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Is that the only one?

If you think about it, we’ve seen the inside of The Staff (which seemed to be purely a medical facility with no discernable experiments going on inside) and the Tailers initially set up shop inside The Arrow (pretty desolate in there too). Is it possible that the only remaining experiment on the Island is inside the Swan Hatch? We’re getting closer…


Orientation Videos. The Swan Video was on an old film reel, while the Pearl Video was on a VHS tape. What’s up with that?

One could surmise that the Pearl Video is newer than the Swan Video – but both feature the same copyright date of 1980. The only reason I can think of presenting the videos in two different formats is to give the impression that the Swan Video is older than it really is. When you think about it, this ties in nicely with the hieroglyphics that displayed on the 108 Timer upon expiration – it all gives the allusion that this “activity” is an ancient one, one that has been going on for a very, very long time – one that is important enough to keep doing in the future.

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But wait, there’s more. The Swan Orientation Video featured “Dr. Marvin Candle”. The Pearl Orientation Video featured a very similar looking “Dr. Mark Wickman.” The cute naming similarities (Mark and Marvin, Candle and Wick…man) hint that they’re similar, but not quite the same.

I immediately thought of the Season One Finale. Post-episode interviews revealed that the two men cloaked by darkness on the boat with Zeke were identical twins – a fact that the cast was surprised wasn’t shown in the televised finale, since it was supposed to have some meaning behind it.

Sounds like we’re venturing down the path of some cloning-type experiments going on in the Hanso Foundation as well…

One last thing – Wickman says “the test subjects believe what they are doing is of the utmost importance.” Note the word BELIEVE. If pushing button actually was important, I think he simply would have said “the test subjects are doing something of the utmost importance”, don’t you?


Printout. Back to the Pearl. Remember the “log” that Locke printed out (and Eko kept)? I’m sure we were all expecting to see our favorite numbers there – but instead were treated to these:

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What gives? These aren’t displays of what was entered on the computer in the Swan Hatch, but rather when it was entered. By the looks of things, each entry is an increment of one hour and eight minutes. The weird thing is, if you do the math – 401,602,122 hours (as shown on the printout) is roughly 5,000 years. While having the experiment going on for 5,000 years would help explain the Hieroglyphics inside, it doesn’t quite mesh with the whole “computer needed to enter the numbers” or “mechanical countdown clock.”

Very odd. Again trying to give the impression this experiment has been going for centuries?

The other big question is – will Eko be able to read through the log and see failed entries occurring in the past? Or will they be able to determine if HGI entered the Numbers or not? Figuring out the timeline will be the key.


Psychic. More question marks here. The psychic in Eko’s flashback is the same psychic from Claire’s flashback, that warned her she must raise her baby. Since that was over a season and a half ago, let’s refresh our memories…

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Claire and her friend go to see a psychic, thinking it will be fun. The psychic seems legitimate when he asks Claire about her pregnancy, which no one else knows about. However, he refuses to go on with the reading when he sees something blurry in her future. With a look of panic on his face, he asks Claire to leave.

Claire re-visits the psychic, offering him more money and requesting that he continue her reading – and that she’s going to give her baby up for adoption. But the psychic tells her that it's crucial she raise this child herself, warning her that great danger will befall her if she gives it up. Claire runs out. But the psychic is persistent and calls her on the phone. He offers her money and a plane ticket to Los Angeles to meet a couple with whom the baby will be safe.

You know the rest.


Compare that with the speech the psychic gave in this week’s episode, telling Eko “I’m a fraud, I gather intelligence and exploit miracle seekers. But there are no such things as miracles… at least not in this world.”

His actions with Claire seem to contradict this 100%. For one, if you’re exploiting people, wouldn’t you want to take their money? He refuses Claire’s, even when she offers more. If you’re just tricking people, would you frantically call them at night, begging them to listen to you as you give them money and a plane ticket? No.

So why did he tell this to Eko? Simple – to get Eko to drop his investigation. Painting himself as an anti-believer paints his wife’s actions to try and prove a religious miracle seem more of a personal marital squabble than a true religious matter.

His daughter clearly recognized Eko as soon as he approached, from her “Vision” with Yemi when she was “between places”, and was about to talk to him before The Psychic came out and rushed her into the house. Remember, her talk with Eko at the airport was being done “without her father knowing she was there.”

Were his intentions to get Eko on Flight 815? Or was that just an unfortunate coincidence? Either way, it’s clear The Psychic didn’t want his daughter to give her message to Eko… but why?

It’s very easy to assume The Psychic is a Dharma / Hanso Employee working off the Island, and his job is to specifically orchestrate getting certain individuals onto that Island – but very hard to logically come up with explanations of how or why.


Michael. I found it interesting that Michael seemed to express both sorrow for what he did and worry that he would get found out when he learned Libby was still alive. They’re definitely painting his character as a tortured one, who had to make some tough decisions – rather than a mindless robot sent on a mission from Dharma. I’m leaning towards Michael agreeing to a “free HGI and kill Ana-Lucia (since she killed two of us) and we’ll give you Walt” arrangement now much more than any sort of brainwashing / drugging of Michael. I think the shooting of Libby was an unfortunate consequence that he honestly feels sorry for.


Locke. Locke’s faith-scale ran the gamut the past few episodes. He went from a man who fully believed his greater purpose was entering the Numbers (and believing he was saving humanity by doing so) to thinking he had no purpose (when HGI told him entering the Numbers did nothing) to finding new purpose (the ? – note how he insisted that he get to enter the alleged ? Hatch first – as if he was “chosen” to find it), to realizing it was all a sham (not wanting to watch the Pearl Video again vs. saying “We’re going to need to watch that again” after the Swan Video).

He’s back to rock bottom now, as evidenced by his speech that his whole life he’s been a nobody. This makes his character extremely dangerous, in that he’s due to do something stupid and irrational (like preventing the much bigger and stronger Eko from entering the Numbers, for example?).


Eko. Eko’s rationale for continuing to enter the Numbers doesn’t make much sense, until you look back at his history. He was a drug-lord who repented for his ways, and took up his brother’s path in life of becoming a priest. However, he remained a skeptic when it came to faith – the very reason he was assigned to the “Miracle Resurrection” case. If Eko believed the case, anyone would. After meeting with The Psychic, Eko was convinced it was a hoax, and remained his skeptic self. Then he had the encounter with the Semi-Creepy Looking Girl:

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The fact that she knew about Yemi, and told Eko he would see him soon (which he did, even though Yemi was dead) clearly gave Eko his faith back. He went from being a skeptic to being someone who blindly follows the visions he sees in his dreams.

So why continue to push the button? Well, I think it touches on his religious side. He says “It is work. We are being tested. You shouldn’t do it because you are told to do it, but because you believe in it.” Eko sees this as a test from God. God gave him his brother back on the other side of the world after two plane crashes (a miracle?), and in return, he is going to do his penance by pushing the button.

This is why Eko was building the church. Not because he felt the Island needed a place to get married and score some free wine, but because it was work that he could do as a way to pay back the Island (and God) for giving him his brother. Well, look for that building of the church to stop – Eko has new work to do.


"I believe the work being done in the hatch is more important than anything," he told Locke. "If you will not continue to push the button, I will."

His life on the Island now has meaning and purpose, even if it is just as a pawn in a 5,000 year old experiment…


Ending. I think the last thirty seconds of the episode were quite symbolic of what’s coming up in the next two episodes. The two major storylines, beautifully shot and edited together.

Michael, standing alone in the Hatch with the beeping of the 108 Timer going on.


Both will be resolved in the next two weeks.

73 comments:

erichapman said...

how sure are we that those were visions that boone had?

ok, they WERE visions... but i don't think they were caused by the hallucinogen on the back of his head.

i think it was a real vision caused by the island.

what do you think?

Brian said...

Well, Locke phrased it "Is that what the Island showed you?", as if it was somehow tied to something other than the goo he put on Boone's head.

Not sure. It's borderline.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate your insights. It looks like next weeks episode might be a Michael island flashback. It does look like he was capatured & eventually drugged or vaccinated with the "numbers" serum. Either way, why would the others want them to attack? Or is it not the others manipulating the "war" but the hanso people designing the experiments?
This episode raised more questions than answers but i think thats the name of the game...for the writers to keep us interested for years to come. Answer some but raise more questions.

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine said that a VHS tape/player won't work next to a giant magnet, but I don't know if that's true or what. It would explain why a newer film was played on a the projector instead of a cassete.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Locke is sold on the ? hatch just yet much like us. I think you're a genius for figuring out that The Pearl was really C4. That means that the true ? hatch is where the numatic tube leads. I think, while it looked like Locke was giving up by putting the map in the tube, that might come back in some sort of ah-ha moment for Locke as, like you said, he rediscovers his purpose.

While I think you're more then likely right about the final few seconds foreshadowing what is to come, I saw that shot of Michael in the cell as almost a parallel with HGI in the cell a few weeks ago. Kind of like, Michael has gone down a road he can't come back from kind of deal. It'll be interesting to see what happens to his character before the end of the season.

Real quick, in other TV news, how about the Office finale. Bout time huh?

Anonymous said...

The tape and the deck was 3/4" not VHS, but a big magnet could erase a tape within its vicinity.
Interesting how the camera is point DIRECTLY at the angle which would show Michael shooting Libby.
Is there a camera in the computer room? Did they watch Michael sit next to the computer, type that they were Walt and bait him out of the hatch as part of their master plan.
Offshore barracks... hmmmm

Anonymous said...

Interesting theory about the magnet and the VHS, but I don't think they're THAT detailed.
Isn't there some sort of tape or other magnetic media running on the larger computers in the hatch?
Doesn't this computer boot from something? It's got two external floppies(if memory serves)
Wouldn't this erase the media?

On the other hand, it could explain the Records intead of 8 tracks or cassettes. Still, I think it's a reach. More likely, giving them a video tape would be giving another form of entertainment. I think they left the TV out of the Swan for a reason. They wanted Books and Music. It's part of the experiement... maybe...

Anonymous said...

Fresh ideas to the visions?
The only thing I have is that Smokey reads the minds, and whatever powere there is
This could be the children, who I believe may be more "trainable" for psychic powers, perhaps because they're minds are still developing.(can't teach an old dog, new tricks). I do feel that it's possible that somehow these visions could be inserted into their mind.

BUT, there is a difference in the types of visions. Jack's dad, Walt, etc are daytime visions, they're not dreams like Locke, Eko and Charlie. We may need to separate this as it's the dreams are the ones that are revealing details about something they could no nothing about(the beach plane, the question Mark, Anna Lucia, etc.) The Daytime visions can be shared(Walt) or of people they know/follow(Jacks Dad, Dave)

Eko Charlie and Locke have these dream visions.. and this kills the Smoke Monster theory... and the fact that Yemi spoke with the girl prior to the island suggests that this may be more than Dharma influnence. Perhaps the experiements have created a "thin area" that allows these visions to happen, and Yemi to communicate with Eko. I don't know.. but it's fun to guess.

G'night

Anonymous said...

Why are we so sure that Shannon and Saeed's "visions" of Walt were actually vision? After all, he'd just been kidnapped from the raft and was creeping around like an Other. It would also explain why both Shannon and Saeed saw him - probably the first time that's happened. Although Walt spoke backwards, which was 'vision-esq'. Similarly when Sawyer and Kate saw the black horse I think that was actually real - the Hanso foundation experimented with polar bears, after all, and they both saw him.

The dreams are far easier to call visions.

I'm not sure about Jack's vision of his dad, though, because that was i) in the daytime, but ii) not seen by anyone else, yet iii) led him somewhere it could not possibl have known about - to the coffin and to the water caves.

Anonymous said...

Oooh yeh 3 more things:
1. Does anyone notice how often it changed from day to night in '?' - surely the Swan hatch isn't 4-5 hours from the beach?!

2. If the numbers are all just a Skinner box / psychological experiment, what is the big wurring noise we here when the hyrolgyphics come up? Why have a huge electromagnetic? Seems odd that's it all there to decieve the butter-pusher. Or perhaps the electromagnetic is there for some completely unrelated purpose e.g. the power station on the island.

3. I agree its difficult to believe Michael was suddenly drugged/vaccinated/infected/brainwashed to become evil, but then however much he wants Walt back, would he really be willing to kill 2 friends, shoot himself and let 1 of them go? I know he's a father who's lost his child, but why not tell the Losties what's going on so they can plan a rescue mission, or at least wait (after all Walt seems to be being kept alive and cared for by the Others, just like Alex)?

Anonymous said...

ok, so smokey isnt behind it all. I still think smokey will be very important later, but leave that for now. I dont think any theories about people purposefully being put on the plane by Dharma people is possible. Like the psychic getting Claire on the plane becuase he worked for Dharma, or making EKo getting on. This doesnt work because Dharma cant control who surivives the plane crash. If you want to go with some mystical power, destiny, fate, etc. brought them to the island, go ahead. But saying Dharma brought these people to the island cant be possible due to the fact that humans cant control who survives a plane crash. they could make the plane crash, and then just work with whoever survives.

One question, is next week's episode, the michael flashback, a complete flashback episode of Michael's time captured or are the flashbacks interjecting in the story line like normal?

Anonymous said...

I agree with you in regards to Michael that is more likely a situation of "do this and this and we will give you Walt" rather then a drug induced rampage or something. However I am also leaning towards a theory that perhaps Walt chose to remain with The Others thus giving Michael a chance to join them as well. His return to the Survivors and what may be the setting of a trap for them could be some kind of initiation in to The Others: proof that he won't betray them. I was just thinking about this because of the Walt/Michael conversation at the end of 'Born to Run'. Either way this next episode should shed some light on the situation and promises to be fascinating and tragic.

Honorest said...

"(this time with pen and paper to jot stuff down and draw maps – you laugh but it’s true)"

I'm so excited to know I'm not the only one that does this!. :)

Great recap. One of my favorites, because the information really lines up, yes there were contradictions but I have to say, the extensive research you put forth, puts my notepad to shame :)

Honorest said...

I hate double posting, but after rereading your Theories about the numbers, the visions, and the connections, It seems more evident now that this episode was created to ? us. Yes it answered questions, popularly unknown, but it also brinked questions, that haven't been provoked I think the main and most obvious recap to "?" episode, is just this

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."-Picasso.

Anonymous said...

It said on the pearl video that EVERYTHING is recorded. I feel that this will be the way that Michael gets caught out. Someone will look back at what has been recorded and see it all.

Anonymous said...

"Boone had visions of Shannon being eaten by the monster, which turned out to be pretty inconsequential. Survey says: Neutral Vision."

Ana Lucia = Bad Person = a threat to the "good people" on the island = the Monster

Connection?
Maybe Boone has the vision because the Island knows Shannon will be in danger, since she will be in danger because of other visions. The Island might be just giving the survivors a chance to save Shannon by letting them in on her being in danger. The threat that is used to put Shannon in said danger is just inconsequential.

/Nijo

Anonymous said...

Brian, again great analysis for a gripping episode.

--I hadn't caught onto the candle/wick connections to the characters in the videos.

-I wouldn't have been able to (or inclined to) work out that the timescale in the printouts ran back 5000 years

-I didn't spot the cigarette butt in the ashtray

So thanks!

Do we know that that smokey killed the pilot?

Personally I love how these recent episodes have drawn upon things that have only been hinted at previously (and theorised extensively on blogs and boards) and really fleshed them out. Especially the interconnectedness of everyone on the plane and the ESP/telepathic/premonition-ish abilities of individuals on the island. This is very satisfying, despite the fact that the plot seems to thicken with every new discovery.

The visions are beautifully shot in a way that's subtle but instantly lets you know they're not real. They sometimes feel like actual dreams. I remember reading once that every character in a dream represents an aspect of yourself (which is why when we saw saw eko limping we instantly knew it was a dream).

I think that in this respect eko and locke's dreams were very different. Eko's was certainly more of a premonition with information he could not possibley have known about. Locke's was a more conventional dream, there were already sleeping beneath the cliff with the creepers, it wasn't such a leap to think eko would have to climb it. The negative bent and abrupt end to it was much more dream-like don't you think? I think this indicates eko and locke are not in the same league extra-sensory wise. I think locke is definitely a sheep more than a shepherd.

....Hmmmm shephard? Jack seems less and less likeable the more driven he is. Burning sawyer's reading material last week seemed completely bullyish and unnecessary. He's interacting badly with everyone else but at least now sees the need to openly discuss events on the island.

Did you discuss the mention of 'pala' in the end? I've read aldous huxley's the island and it is rich with societal ideals, non-conventional (but blissfully sucessful) human interactions and a beautiful natural environment.

Has locke forgotten/spurned the island's healing gift to him?

It'll be frustrating if the quest to find the ? ends now they've discovered the pearl station. It's also spooky to think that someone wants them to think the pearl is the ?. Surely that can't be for Locke's benefit? that salt couldn't have cleared the plant life since the last episode could it? People have pointed out that the facilities in the pearl aren't sufficient for a three week stay. Unless there's some sort of dumb waiter arrangement?

Anyway, I loved this episode. Also, why do the dead always come with such vague messages?

-SJ

Anonymous said...

Did anyone catch the words Jack said under his breath to Kate while he was trying to revive Libby? Speaking of Jack, what about they way and timing of him manipulating Sawyer to get the herion? He addmitedly was willing to allow Libby to sufer if Jack didn't agree to allow Kate to accompany him to where the stash and guns were hidden.

Also, next week is a Michael flashback. Should be interesting to see.

Brian said...

About the day / night contradictions this episode. On my first viewing, this really confused me too. However, upon the second viewing it all sorta made sense.

The only parts that didn't quite check out were that the end of "Two For the Road" seemed to be the middle of the day, and the start of "?" seemed to be the middle of the night... which doesn't add up when you factor in Sawyer said he could get from the Hatch to the Beach and back in "20 minutes".

The other weird thing is this brief shot of a tree with clouds, appearing to signify the passing of day to night - but then they show Locke and Eko waking up in the morning.

Questionable editing, but I don't think there's anything deeper there.

Anonymous said...

OK, I know this isnt about Lost, but I know B likes Alias, and after Ep16 needed to speak!, is it too obvious to surmise:
Sloan will kill Sydney thinking she is still Anna Espinoza, he knows its his 'destiny', as he knew he would kill Nadia.
not sure where to post this yet, so wanted to get in fisrt somewhere I know has quality opinions.

Ellen said...

I just wanted to point out that we don't REALLY know if Smokie killed the pilot. It could've been something else. We never saw it.

Ellen said...

I just read the rest of the comments after my Smokie thought. Apologies the repeat comment.

Brian said...

As requested, here are my Alias thoughts:

I love that Fake Syndey (Anna Espinosa) is already dead. It's almost as if that is some storyline the writers wanted to do, but had to rush through once they found out the series was ending.

Why is it good news? It eliminates the possibility of the Page 47 prophecy being some "cop out" action taken by Fake Syndey, and rules out a "Good Syndey vs. Bad Sydney" final episode, which isn't very original.

It also puts Sydney totally undercover with the bad guys - which should make for a fun last three hours.

I don't see Sloane killing Sydney. In fact, I could see the two having to work together to bring down the Group of 12 from the inside.

The lines seem to be drawn.

One hand we have Sloane and Sark.

On the other hand we have the Group of 12.

Both are trying to achieve the same thing, but for very different purposes. Sloane still thinks he's working towards something altruistic, whereas I get the feeling the Group of 12 are working towards something sinister.

The big question mark is still Irina, and what side she will land on.

It looks like Jack and Syd were in on Vaughn's fake death all along - but this storyline smacks of being one totally re-worked once they found out the series was wrapping up.

I think Michael Vartan wanted out - so they killed him. Once he found out there were only five episodes left, they got him to sign back on for them, giving us our happy ending (potentially).

PS - The Office season finale? Holy cliffhanger. Pam + Jim 4-EVA!

Anonymous said...

What is the deal with the choppy, jumping around orientation videos. We know that portions of the Swan orientation video were deliberately cut out and seemingly hidden. Why? Other parts also seemed to jump around too leading me to believe there are other pieces to be found. I noticed the same thing with this video. It happened multiple times, but one specifically I noticed had to do the guy instructing the watcher to return to ???? afterwards they could return???? Return where? It seems these videos are tampered with to mislead further.

I agree about a time warp going on.

Another great entry, Brian!

Anonymous said...

I find it unnerving that both the "walt" vision and the "yemi" vision looked at the person having the vision and put their finger to their lips and said, "SHHHH, follow me into the jungle while I run ahead of you just out of your reach." This action seems to tie together the Yemi and Walt visions, and actually did Christian make the shh motion or did he just run into the jungle? Anyway, this seems to be the common thread of bad visions possible created by some manipulated force. I know Yemi ostensibly didn't want to wake Locke (But it was Locke's vision!!), but I think that was just a cover.
Why is it important to be quiet?

Anonymous said...

Two things:
Is it possible that the second orientation video was supposed to be originally on film which was later transferred to video? I can't remember if it "felt" like video or film. If it was originally film, it would explain the jumpiness and the missing footage, and sort of reconcile it with the first orientation film.

I'm beginning to think that the parents (ones we've been introduced to) of some of the losties had some kind of a connection to Dharma when they were younger, but perhaps broke from it when it became something other than was originally intended. This could include the Psychic, as he looked to be about the same generation (maybe a bit younger) as Kate's father, Jack's father, possibly Sawyer's father. This is kind of analogous to a secret organization wich someone would leave, but many years later it would come back to haunt them.

Anonymous said...

The second orientation video is definetely video.. see how the Dharma logo is superposed on the tv's?

That's because they can't shoot tv screens with video camera because of the flickering and refresh rate.

I think it's true the reason why the Swan video was on film is because of the magnetism in the hatch which would damage the tape, which again poses the question, wouldn't that screw up the computers too..

Anonymous said...

These are the real questions:

1) Why did Locke try to get out of the hatch during the lockdown, instead of going through the vent and waiting for the button? He would have known there is no way he could go outside and get help, and get back to push the button in time.

2) How did a self-starved, bruised, and isolated HGI overpower Ana Lucia, the ex-cop?

3) When Locke rescued her (soap opera), why did she not take her revenge right then? Why would she go get a gun?

4) How does Sawyer, a con man who has been around guns all his life and who has done the most seducing of anyone on the island, somehow forget that he had a gun?

Forget the fact that sleeping with him to steal the gun is cheap writing, but he keeps the gun in the back of his pants, which he had to put on after sleeping with Ana Lucia. So he somehow puts on his pants and forgets that he had a gun, which would be a big deal since he pretty much has all the guns.

Guns are heavy. Sawyer's gun would be fully loaded, making it heavier. And he had to have gone at least an hour until his confrontation with Jack. There is no way.

Now, my explanation for Ana Lucia deciding to go get a gun to kill HGI is that, one, this is sort of what she did in her flashback. And two, she didn't actually want to kill him.

But, if that was true, she wouldn't give Michael the gun. I think her character has grown to a place where she would say, No, we should wait for Jack.


Are you saying Locke thought they found the "?" hatch? Because I don't think he thinks that. Or at least, I didn't even consider it when I saw the episode. I think they think they just found another hatch. I didn't think someone tried to trick them into finding it, but, I think that the circle must be recent since all the rain would wash the salty dirt away pretty soon.

Also, I am certain that HGI did not press the button. The sound was different than when Locke almost didn't push it in time, and he wouldn't have been able to push it and get back in the vent in time, which he had to do because Locke would have seen him come out through the door.

As for the day/night stuff, the sun rises on their side of the beach right? If it does, it would set behind the mountain, which would make the night come sooner for them I think. Maybe.


My theory on the hatches/experiments: I think all the experiments interelate, so that one hatch pushes a button and are being watched by other subjects who fill notebooks that are read by other subjects etc. etc. until someone is doing something every time the button is being pushed. But I believe the ultimate purpose of it all is something we won't find out this season.

Also, I am pissed off that this isn't the final season of Lost. I want closure. I don't want to play this game anymore.

I enjoy your blog a lot Brian. But don't respect Lost as much as I used to.

Anonymous said...

About the Printout/Orientation Video

Look closely at the numbers.

The number that comes after the colon changes each time in the following order: 41, 29, 17, 05, 53.

A few frames before the screenshot you posted, the number 41602102:41 is followed by 41602104:29.

The increasing number goes up in increments of 2 every time EXCEPT for the numbers that end in :53. These go up by 1.

I think each number represents a different project under observation.

About the orientation video:

He says that Dharma Initiative projects can be observed. He said the tour is three weeks, and you do it in eight hour shifts. In three weeks, there are 63 total possible shifts.

If each of the numbers after the colon represents a different project that is being observed, then five groups of partners could have two shifts a week. But that doesn't seem useful at all.

I think the observers would only watch one station in their tour because of his wording, but I think his wording also makes it sound like not just one station is being observed.

Also, how do the Dharma participants go in and out of the hatch? Not through the shaft Locke and Eko uncovered, there has traditionally been a door. So I think next episode will explain this.

Anonymous said...

Hey Brian, I know this isnt about Lost but, How did you like The Office finale? I just finished watching it and it's about freaking time! I think I missed the last scene though, If you watched it on TV did it end with those two kissing or was there more after that?? 'Cause that's alllll I got!

P.S. - - Does smokey always sound mechanical?? ? I can't remmeber. Because the "thing" at the beginning of the show that killed the pilot did, yet when we have "seen" it the last few times it's been silent. And do you think that it can actually pull out trees?????

Anonymous said...

http://www.ew.com/ew/onlyonaol/report/0,17129,1193284_3||471611_0_,00.html

interesting article in EW.

Brian said...

Jules - did you not see my Pam + Jim 4-EVA! I wrote earlier? :)

A lot of people seem to be asking if their DVR cut off - but no, the last scene was the scene of Jim and Pam kissing and then they stop and are standing there looking at each other.

Talk about a cliffhanger.

My interpretation of the phone call Pam was having with her mom was that she actually had feelings for Jim too and didn't know what to do about them.

Anonymous said...

Another great web resource is

http://lostpedia.com

I tried to get through most of it yesturday and I gotta admit I am a little "Lost"-ed out. To much info and trying to connect it all together. Although it offers tons of detail and warns you before going into any potential spoiler info. It even helps sort out some of the misinformation out there (ie, bigspaceship1.com is just an over zealous fan site pretending to be legit).

Anonymous said...

Brian, great posts BTW. Some I disagree with but who can agrue with your effort; it's amazing.

As for Locke at this point in the game, if he doesn't start transposing more of the blastdoor map, take Sayid for backup and then start exploring everything inside the hatches, tunnels, pipes, everything. Then I'll have to think of him like a moth to the flame (candle\wickman).
It's like the point in a horror movie where the characters just start doing really dumb things and just end up getting killed.

As for the salting of the earth to make the question mark, that could have been done a long time ago. Funny thing about salt and vegetation they don't get along. Use enough and the effects can last a long time. On a side note, great technique for kids to make permanent lines for football fields in their backyards - ya Dad was pissed.

Anonymous said...

The Visions aren't good or evil as they are subjected to interpretation from the person who has them... they can't even be seen as comming from the same source/power...

frances: your friend makes a good point but if a computer can operate a vcr can also be just fine but the problem could be the casset (magnetic tape) as it can be transported and subject to the magnetic effects even if the other components are protected....

c4 or ?: the c4 theory just doen't stick, the door map showed a ?, Boone map also has a ? in the middle there is a huge ? on the ground and for a remote monitoring facility the best place to put it is in the midle of the network (star formation)

Ellen: makes a good point since we aren't given the chance to see the attacker and the MO of it seems to be different of what killed the pilot. Every other encounter, even Boone first encounter with an unknown entity can't be attributed to Smoke Monster if we can't see it we are just left guessing...

Great1: also makes a fine point the plane crash wasn't expected and the
Dharma experiment doen't seem to be running acording to prev. plans (even if they still drop supllies).

Michael seems to be doing actions agains it's will what compels him to do it is of course related with Walt and the Others...

HGI mission must be completed.

The Swan pushbutton was only a psychological test, the button didn't do anything, but Eko's hypothesis is that the tests have evolved beyond Dharma control.

Brian said...

In case you were curious, even though it's only 1/3 complete - Grey's Anatomy is easily the front runner for season finale of the year.

Holy expletive.

Anonymous said...

Brian, you seem worried that your latest post is incoherent. I wanted to assure you that it is great AS USUAL and I really appreciate your hard work. When I need a lost fix during the week between episodes, I love to come here and read your posts and user comments. Keep up the good work dude!

Anonymous said...

Brian- Absolutely, that episode was . . . amazing, to say the least.

Anonymous said...

I do NOT think that was a big question mark on the ground. It's a circle, that is left to LOOK like a question mark because the plane fell. Eko said that they had salted the ground in the form of a CIRCLE(and it IS a circle) so that it could be seen from the air. perhaps that CIRCLE was for a supply drop?

I think the ? was what was on the map.. not because it was a question mark on the ground, but because it was an unknown. We now know this is the Pearl... so I believe that this is NOT the big question mark.

One other note, just because the map says that there is one ? in the middle and 6 stations, the map is not exact, so we don't know. My guess is that this is NOT the big question mark for the reasons Brian has stated.

-Steve

Anonymous said...

Short note on the office.
Stories such as Jim and Pam are driven by the lack of a 'solution'.
They're not going to solve this, but might postpone/cancel the wedding.

Anonymous said...

I think WE are the experiment. Similar to punching the numbers into the computer every 108 minutes we dutifully turn on our TVs every 7 days to watch the next episode of "Lost" whose storyline seems to be as equally non-sensical as punching in the same random numbers.

I think the producers are banking on our fear of what may happen if we don't systematically watch the next episode. Does this make Brian one of "The Others" by using this BLOG to further their cause?

Interesting!

Brian Leonard said...

Good thoughts, Brian--one thing: I don't think the log Locke printed out had anything to do with the button in the Swan. I think it was a log of when reports (or anything else...) were sent up the pneumatic tube. The time differences/number of entries make more sense that way. I could very well be wrong, of course.

Anonymous said...

Very well put anonymous, it does make you think.

Ang

Anonymous said...

The pearl video pretty much supports what I think is going on - Dharma were running five experiments - zoology, electromagnatism, psychology, parasychology, life extension - with one type of experiment going on in each hatch (you could argue which for days on end since the swan hatch could easily be about magnetism OR a pschology experiment). Whoever sat in the pearl with a partner for three week incriments (much shorter than the original swan assignment period). As the video stated, people believed what they were doing was extremely important (zoologists could be working on endangered species, medical hatch on life extension, etc) but they were really just there to be observed by whoever was in the pearl. Once a notebook was full, it was sent up that chute to god only knows where (how much you want to bet that Lock sending that drawing up there will be a major plot point in the future). This would continue on and on as new observation teams fufilled their three week assignments.

But I'm starting to think that even though all of the experiments were bogus setups for observation purposes, whatever happened in the swan hatch created a situation that was ACTUALLY important and had to be dealt with.

Mark Wickman has both of his arms... Marvin Candle does not. I don't think they're twins, it's just the same guy using a pseudonym every time he acts for an orientation video. But they're both from 1980, one on VHS, one on a reel, and he doesn't have both of his arms in the reel video.

"the station was originally designed to study the unique electromagnetic fluctuations eminating from this sector of the island."

...

"shortly after, there was an incident. Since that time the following protocol has been observed..."

Whatever was going on the hatch quickly turned into an actual, urgent, deadly serious containment situation. Maybe that "incident" is where Wickman/Candle lost his arm. Locke could have lost his leg during the lockdown, and who knows exactly what happens with the giant magnet when the countdown ends.

Add the fact that desmond asks if anyone is "sick" and the "make it stop" and "I'm sick" paintings in the hatch and you can see something went wrong, something even Dharma wasn't prepared for.

Desmond "didn't get out much" but he was not totally intimidated by the quarantine sign... he had to have dragged a food drop back to the hatch at some point (that pantry didn't hold three years worth of food). But maybe it's not what is on the outside of the hatch that he needed to be quaratined from, rather, what is INSIDE the hatch is what everyone else needs to be protected from.

Kelvin died, Wickman/Candle lost a limb, Rousseau's crew went crazy... some type of electromagnetic radiation could be the cause. What started as a "rat in a box" experiment became far more serious. The only TV that works in the pearl is the one planted in the swan hatch, and none of the other hatches seems to have been in use for a while, or at least since Claire escaped after being kidnapped. The swan hatch is probably critically important, despite the fact that John believes he was sucked into a pointless experiment. He doesn't realize that the pointless experiment became important well before they ever blew that hatch door open.

For more about EMP sickness check this out http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2004/Electromagnetic-Fields-EMF1jun04.htm

I don't think the magnet has anything to do with the plane going down. Planes are made of aluminum, and if the magnet was so strong that it caused the onboard navigation equipment to fail, than the computer right down the hall from the magnet would never work.

I am however starting to believe that more preperation went into getting certain people on to that plane than previous thought. The psychic admits to Eko he is a con-man, so that means somebody paid him to tell Claire about having the child be raised by a "good family" (remember what Ethan said when they were sitting on the log?). Hurley won with the numbers, but according to the Hanso site, they operate a number of mental hospitals. Do we really know that leonard was crazy and that woman was sam twomey's wife? maybe they were getting paid to say certain things. That's not to say many or most of the characters are vitcim of circumstance... that really appears to be the case of Sun/Jin, Sawyer (unless Hibbs was paid to fake him out...), Sayid decided to go a day later to bury his friend, Ana could have left days earlier if she wanted to. I think the idea of random coincidences is still very much alive, but at least in Claire's case, something more sinister is going on. The fact that she may be Jack's half-sister, and Aaron may be Christian Shepard's grandson is pretty damn interesting.

There's still a lot of vague points, but I think the EMP and illnesss are connected, and Brian made a brilliant point by pointing out how the pearl is not really the question mark. I'll have to see if there are references to this in the official lost podcast this week. They're starting to provide answers, but we don't really know which questions we're being given the answers to.

Brian said...

mike - I'm so torn on this.

On the one hand, it seems pretty illogical that not entering the Numbers would cause some disasterous "incident" to occur for two reasons:

1. The HGI logic I explained in this post.
2. If it was that important, wouldn't the Dharma people take care of doing it themselves, and not rely on some stranger who shipwrecked there?

On the other hand, I'm fully expecting something crazy (like another plane crash - more on this in my Season Finale post) to happen when they stop entering the Numbers (which they will do before the end of the Season).

How do the two theories coexist? Faith vs. Logic, my friend - the underlying theme of the entire show.

I'll get into this in-depth in the next few weeks!

Greg said...

Brian, great posts and analysis as always. You many think they are inchoerent ramblings, but I enjoy them!
I am about 100 pages into the "Bad Twin" book. Its a good read and has references to various Lost-related things like Widmore, the Hanso Foundation, etc. I don't expect any answers or clues in the book, but its fun to read anyway.
It is interesting, however, how it connects to the idea posted here of Candle/Wickman being twins. The premise of the book is that a Widmore foundation heir has hired a PI to look for his identical twin brother, who is presumably the "bad" twin.

Anonymous said...

You know what guys? I honestly hope LOSt doesnt last like 5 or 10 seasons! Its an awesome show but making it longer would only cause poeple gettin tired of it and I dont think the nature of the show may last that much.

A.J

Anonymous said...

So Brian, what's your take on the commercial/ad placements for Hanso?

Anonymous said...

Regarding the Hanso Foundation website...has anyone ever noticed the number sequence when each page is loading? It never loads up to 100%, around 74% it goes back to 16% or 4%. Anyone have any ideas?

Anonymous said...

"I am however starting to believe that more preperation went into getting certain people on to that plane than previous thought." - Mike

I see the reasoning for all the people who believe in this theory, but its not possible. you r all missing my point. Im saying that getting certain people on the plane means nothing, because Dharma or watever cannot ensure their surving of a plane crash. You cant say Dharma wanted to get certain people to the island, because they cannot control if those people survive the plane crash.

Anonymous said...

PRISON BREAK FINALE!!!

Anonymous said...

Well I wonder which of the two films came first. I tend to believe that the first orientation film came first (The Swan) then the pearl film if this is the case it would support even more the twin theory / clone. The dr in the pearl film said that this was an ongoing experiment if it is the same man as in the Swan film how did he grow an arm? But not every thing is as what it seems on this Island.

Brian said...

...and the high and low bars have been set for this year's season finales in one single night.

LOW BAR - Prison Break. Seriously, I can only take being yanked along for so long - is it unreasonable to think that you would actually complete the escape in the SEASON FINALE? I guess so.

HIGH BAR - Grey's Anatomy. When I finally write my book entitled "How to make a good season finale", I'll list this as Exhibit C. Everything a season finale should be without being absurd.

24, Alias, and Lost - you have your work cut out for you.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the pearl hatch orientation film was on VHS because the writters wanted to make it clear to the viewers (or survivors) that there isnt anything missing (like a section of the film that has been spliced out).

It could be their way of basically saying "Whats here is here, theres nothing more to the picture."

Anonymous said...

"You know what guys? I honestly hope LOST doesnt last like 5 or 10 seasons! Its an awesome show but making it longer would only cause poeple gettin tired of it and I dont think the nature of the show may last that much."

I read somewhere a long time ago (when the show first came on the air) that Lost was SUPPOSED to be only 4 seasons long, and i loved that idea. Whether or not the writters stuck to their original plan of 4 seasons is beyond me, but i hope they did, cause in my opinion 4 seasons is the perfect length for an awesome TV show (maybe 5 or 6 seasons at max).

After that things just get drug out and people lose interest, then the writting usually starts to get shitty, and a once great show goes down the drain.

Also, sorry for the double post!

Anonymous said...

The reason I have a hard time believing that Dharma is causing the visions to occur is that Charlotte had visions of Yemi. Charlotte obviously had no prior knowledge of who Eko or Yemi were and was still able to relay a relevant message to Mr. Eko.

I guess in theory that proves that she did infact die, Eko's new vision seems to pick up right where that left off.

Anonymous said...

in the trailer for tomorrow's episode, what do you think the Lostee's see when looking out to the ocean? A ship?? Any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

You missed the weird stuff written on Michaels forehead:
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6673/vlcsnap471784bis2ki.jpg

Anonymous said...

Info on the libby death from Damon is posted here:

http://www.evankroberts.com/2006/01/lost-season-3-starts-this-wed.html

I hate spoilers, and it is kind of a spoiler, so don't read it if you have the willpower.

Marie-Claude said...

Alright let me go back on the Psychic, maybe someone else have brought it, but I think the psychic told him to not to do the 'research' on the miracle only to send him immediately on the plane 815 to Los Angeles, since that's where he was/had to go.

Meridith said...

Aside from Hurley (who has visions due to mental illness), whenever someone on the island had a vision of a person who interacted with them in some way, that person was dead (Jack's father, Eko's brother, & Ana-Lucia). If this pattern is consistent, then Walt is also dead.

Anonymous said...

What about Yemi sitting in the wheelchair in the vision?

Anonymous said...

I dont think Walt is dead. Not for a second. I think it would be too cruel to KILL a kid in tv dont you think? Unless I am the one LOST here!

Anonymous said...

Good point about Yemi in the wheel chair. Could this be a reminder that his faith in the island also gives him his ability to walk?

Michelle

melodrama said...

Rolf: Your link didn't work, here's the correct link:

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6673/vlcsnap471784bis2ki.jpg

I don't know if that's writing exactly. It may be a wound. I would think the other Survivors would have noticed if it had words. It is a strange wound though...


As for my vision hypothesis, this is what I think:

I think there are 2 types of visions:

1. Caused by uncontrollable experiments on the Island/Smokey
2. Caused by the Dharmites

The thing that got me like this is because this time, Locke had a strange vision didn't he? He wasn't in his vision at all. Remember when he woke up, he said that the dream was different/strange? It wasn't like the other ones... and when I watched it, it felt kind of like it was Eko's vision, until I saw Locke wake up!

Also, as some of you mentioned before, some of the visions mentioned by brian seem to happen when the Survivors are dreaming, while other visions occur when they are seemingly awake. If this is an experiment, I don't think they would use both visions and dreams to manipulate them, because that broadens the scope of the experiment a little too much. Also I think it's much harder to make someone dream something that to see something. Remote viewing sounds more like you're awake than asleep.

I haven't quite put it together because I don't have access to watch all of the episodes now, but some of you who have them may want to look into this.

Also I think the real Dharmites are in the ? building. That's why they're trying to lead them away from the middle. I don't think the Rebel Dharmites have to do with it... I think the Dharma people are still on the island, and watching all of the stations (including the Pearl).

melodrama said...

that's funny, the link cuts off at the end again... let's see if this works:

Picture of Michael

Brian said...

Does Michael's head say "Sad"?

Anonymous said...

Brian - that prison break episode sucked!!! What the hell, i was so ready to see them escape!! Why the hell do they need to keep dragging it out?!!

Marie-Claude said...

Great1: If they 'break' out the tve show will end... they need to pull some more on events...

Anonymous said...

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the Grey's Anatomy season finale. The first hour was way better than the last two. Not enough cliffhangers, I think .

Anonymous said...

HEY I THINK I SAW SOMETHING NOONE ELSE SAW APPARENTLY..if you look at the pic of upper view of the zone u can see that it's not really a FULL CIRCLE...and tilting ur head to the right u could see that the plane forms a 4!
nice work man i think ur right about it being C4 and not the "?"
PEACE YALL
JAY

Anonymous said...

I don't know but Michael's head wound just looks like a messed up scare, a little scabby. Probably got shwacked in the head before he ran into Kate and Jack. Notice the fat lip?

Melodrama:
In respects to remote viewing I tend to suspect it is easier to influence someone while they are asleep. When you are awake for example and going about your day, your eyes and other senses tend to dominate your brain functions. While you are asleep that sensory input is essentially off, thus (possibly anyway) your mind is perhaps more open to the unconscious input of "visions".

But I think it's worth whiloe to note the differences between the "awake" visions and the sleeping ones.

Side note: Hurley's ordeal with imaginary Dave, I tend to think it was simply another example of how everyone seems to be able to resolve their past issues now they are on the island. As Eko said "People are saved in different ways". Hurley was saved, possibly even healed from his trauma & mental issues.

Anonymous said...

To further:
By tuning out your traditional sensory input you are able to increase your awareness through non-convential means.