Lost - "One of Them"

Episode Title: “One of Them”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Inevitably in life, sides are always drawn. No matter who you are or what you do – in the end, sides will form. You’re either going to be one of us or one of them. Philosophical discussions about stereotypes aside, what does it mean to us?

On the Island, the episode title clearly refers to this curious fellow:



Who is he? SAT-style multiple choice time!

a. A survivor of Flight 815 who somehow ended up on his own?
b. An ever-elusive “Other”?
c. Kelvin, the supposedly dead co-Hatch-dweller of Desmond?
d. A resident of another Hatch, not affiliated with any of the aforementioned parties?
e. None of the above.

See, it’s tricky because I threw in that “none of the above” answer. However, I’m leaning towards D. Why? One big clue. Remember the “timer” we saw in the preview, counting down to zero, causing gasps and little girl shrieks of joy from the Delta House viewing faithful (note: shrieks came from me, not any of the girls in attendance). Look closer:



They’re different. They seem to be doing the same thing – but they’re not even close in appearance. So (unless it appears in some dream sequence, which would anger me more than anything in the world) there’s obviously some other timer on the Island. Where better than inside another Hatch? Although back in the day, I originally thought that each Hatch would have its own “experiment” going on (since the Orientation video listed all the different “focuses” of Dharma), it now seems as though at least two have the same “push the button” action going on.

Strange.

A bigger question is why did this guy leave his Hatch? Assuming he’s anything like Desmond, he believes that he has to be there or else something terrible will happen. I can’t imagine that he would leave his post, unless he ran out of supplies?

In the end though, the important thing is that he doesn’t appear to be one of our Survivors. He’s not one of us, he’s one of them… and that’s the most dangerous thing someone can be at this point on the Island.

Fresh off the attempted Sun abduction (which remember, most still think was the work of an Other), any strangers to the Survivors are a potentially dangerous enemy. Let’s not forget that so far everyone they’ve met on the Island has either kidnapped them, murdered them, stole their children, or talked them into pressing a button every 108 minutes. Not a good track record.

But let’s not forget this is also a Sayid-centric ep, so I’m thinking the title also refers Sayid being “one of them”. Through his other flashbacks, we’ve seen that Sayid was a torturous Iraqi with a heart, a sucker for ladies with big brown eyes, and willing to do a little spying for the Great Satan of America if it means he can get closer to his one true love (not Shannon).

When we last left Sayid in his flashbacks, he was pretty much a good dude - so, I think we’re going to see Sayid thrown in with stereotypes of being a flag-burning Iraqi commie, “one of them” to Americans who don’t trust him no matter how much he helps them. There’s also a chance we see him as a traitor to his fellow Iraqi countrymen, since he’s helping the Americans spy rather than fighting them.

Look for the parallels between Sayid being persecuted for being an outsider or different in his flashbacks while the innocent stranger on the Island is being persecuted for being mysterious – likely ending with Sayid finding he can’t torture this person, because he feels his pain.

TV Guide Description: When Rousseau leads Sayid to a mysterious captive in the jungle, he becomes determined to find out if he is one of the "Others." Meanwhile, Sawyer discovers Hurley's potentially devastating breech of the survivors' trust and blackmails him into helping track an elusive island creature that won't leave Sawyer alone.

TV Guide Breakdown: Again, the real mystery for me is “how did this guy get captured”? If he were a true “Other”, he would have the catlike cunning to avoid the trap in the first place. But if he were a Hatcher like Desmond, what is he doing in the jungle where he would get trapped in the first place? Very confusing.

Hurley’s devastating breech of the survivors’ trust? The only thing I can think of is that he’s been hoarding food from the Hatch this whole time (thus explaining why he’s not losing weight). I can’t imagine any other situation that would involve Hurley losing the trust of the other Survivors. Sawyer likely stumbles upon Hurley’s food stash on the way to his own gun stash, then blackmails him into tracking that darn cat – er, boar – that’s been tormenting him for going on two seasons.

I agree, bringing the whole boar storyline back seems like an unnecessary rehash of last year’s storyline. I mean, didn’t we already resolve this when Sawyer let the boar go? Why is he suddenly being tormented again? I’m hoping for something different, but I fear this storyline will leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, I’m more excited for this episode than last week’s. The promise of a new character on the Island, the return of CFL, and a potential new Hatch are enough to make it a worthwhile episode that will actually advance the storyline on the Island.

Previously on Lost…

Locke Box. As predicted, Locke claims he’s keeping the Heroin as pain medication. Riiiiiight. I’m telling you, he’s evil! (Although it was pretty funny when Jack asked why he didn’t break the Virgin Mary statues…)



Vincent. Once again, Vincent seems to show up right before disaster strikes. This time, it’s before another freak rain storm and Charlie’s “Other” impersonation. Is this a coincidence? Does it represent how dogs can sense evil? Or could it be there is some sort of connection between Vincent and the seeming all-knowing Walt. Is Walt no longer appearing as a Ghost to warn about danger, but instead having Vincent go in his place? It might be a little too “Timmy in the Well” for Lost, but it’s better than Sully’s “Dog is God spelled backwards” theory…



Script. Did you see what Hurley was reading by the campfire?



Hello product placement! Guess what book is coming out on May 2nd?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302769/sr=8-1/qid=1139881978/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7105998-4498266?%5Fencoding=UTF8



So what’s the deal? This book, actually written by Lost writers, is authored under the pen name “Gary Troup” (FYI – rearrange the letters to spell “PURGATORY”!!!!). Here’s his bio:

Bad Twin is the highly-anticipated new novel by acclaimed mystery writer Gary Troup. Bad Twin was delivered to Hyperion just days before Troup boarded Oceanic Flight 815, which was lost in flight from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles in September 2004. He remains missing and is presumed dead.

Fun, huh?

The story in the book has nothing to do with the story on the Island, as it was “written” before the plane crashed. But I’d be willing to bet there’s some symbolism hidden in there that we can correlate to the Island. Needless to say, I’ll be buying it when it comes out and reading it. Stupid Lost Media Machine! I’m powerless in your grasp!

Kate. Did you catch the waitress in the diner in Sawyer’s flashback? That’s right, it was Kate’s mom. Again we see how the Survivor’s lives have all nearly criss-crossed (jump, jump) without their knowledge. Is there some master plan at work, or is this just an example of how we are all connected to one another without knowing it as we move through our day to day lives?

Love. Okay, so Sawyer turns out to return to his rebel roots. After thinking he was going soft by letting Kate cut his hair and altruistically going after Michael and Walt, he goes and totally turns on us. It definitely is a shake up to the balance of power on the Island, ripping it away from Jack / Locke, and making Sawyer king. Does this mean when Survivors start taking sides, it’ll be Jack or Locke or Sawyer? Or will Jack and Locke compete for Sawyer to join their side, knowing that it will give them all the power? At any rate, it doesn’t look like the army is going to be trained any time soon, not without any guns.

Here’s the part that I don’t get – Sawyer pretty much ruined any chance he had of hooking up with Kate. Con or no con, that’s a bad move on his part. She’s freakin’ hot!



Radio. Sometimes I think the Lost writers throw things in an episode just because they want me to type pages upon pages of pages of analysis about them, only to read them and laugh at how I’m their puppet. Not this time. During the Sayid and Hurley scene with the radio, Hurley comments on how the song seemed to be “from another time”, which instantly made me think the whole “time warp” theory was back… except Hurley instantly followed his comment with “or not”, as if to brush the whole thing off as a joke. A joke from the writers to me. Very funny. Stop toying with my emotions!


Owls. Lastly, something else you could chalk up to “intentionally messing with the viewer” is the intentional shot of the book that Locke was pulling off the bookshelf in the Hatch when Sawyer came in.



"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is the story of a man who is sentenced to death by hanging at the Owl Creek Bridge of the title. When he is hanged the rope breaks and the main character falls into the water, from which he begins a journey back to his home. During his journey, he starts to feel some strange physiological events that ultimately end with a searing pain in his neck. It turns out that the man never escaped; he imagined the entire thing during the time between being pushed off the bridge and the noose finally breaking his neck.

Are we to take this to mean that the whole Purgatory theory is alive and well, and that everyone on the Island is dead? Only imagining they are alive. JJ Abrams is on record saying this is not the case, but admits that it’s a good theory. I’d chalk this up to another Red Herring.

But fun nonetheless. That's all for this week.

Lost - "The Long Con"

Episode Title: “The Long Con”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: This is a Sawyer-centric episode, so “The Long Con” seems to be a fitting title. I’m sure this episode will involve some other scheme he was running back in the day, but the “long” part is intriguing. Granted, it could just be referring to a particular scheme that went on for a prolonged period of time (boring), but I’m thinking it’s more referring to some other aspect of Sawyer’s life, not tricking someone else, but rather himself.

Gibberish? Okay, let me rephrase – I’m thinking the episode will be about Sawyer lying to himself about who he is and the justification for his actions. Since his father murdered his mother and took his own life, he’s felt that he had the vindication – the right and authority – to do whatever it took to find the true Sawyer, the person responsible. He had the mindset that he could take whatever he wanted from the world because the same world took so much from him. But in reality, this is just him lying to himself about the nature of right and wrong.

Want more? How about the same theme of Sawyer’s flashback playing out on the Island, in a much more literal sense? “The Long Con” that’s been going on this whole time on the Island. Jack called Zeke out on having a spy two episodes back, “Ethan” – but based on Zeke’s reactions, Ethan wasn’t the spy he was thinking of. Libby you say? Well, given that she’s only been with our Survivors for the equivalent of eight Island days, I wouldn’t say that qualifies as a long con, but a short one.

So who is it? I’ll get there…

TV Guide Description: Survivors fear that "The Others" may have returned when Sun is injured during a failed kidnapping attempt. Meanwhile, Sawyer is an amused but highly interested bystander when tension escalates between Jack, Locke, Kate and Ana Lucia.

TV Guide Breakdown: The “failed kidnapping attempt” is somewhat disappointing. I would think that a true kidnapping of a pure, innocent Sun might be just what Jack needs to get his “army” rolling. However, judging from the previews and his confrontation with Locke, he’s still pretty fired up about the incident.

But the bigger question is - why Sun? Was she simply an easy target, since she was out in her garden away from anyone else? Or is there something more at play here. Goodwin said that The Others took the “good ones” and left those who weren’t so good. You could make a strong case that the only true “good ones” left in the Survivors are Sun and Claire. We’ve already seen Claire be kidnapped, so Sun seems to be the next logical choice. Or could it be that Sun is pregnant??? It’s entirely possible since she is all lovey-dovey with Jin again! The Others love the babies…

Tension escalating between Jack, Locke, Kate, Ana-Lucia isn’t surprising. You already have the tension between Jack and Kate (love lost), Jack and Locke (faith vs. science), Ana-Lucia and everyone (Shannon murderer), Jack and Ana-Lucia (sexual) and Kate and Ana-Lucia (hot!). Sawyer prefers to stay on the sidelines. He’s more than willing to help out, pick a fight, or make witty banter, but he’s no leader. His interest likely results from what is surely a debate between our core Island leaders over the guns / The Others. Sawyer will come down on whatever side wins, and will prove to be a tie-breaker – making him more important than he thinks… or wants.


Previously on Lost…

We learned more about Charlie’s troubled past and got a healthy does of religious symbolism. I was infinitely proud of calling the whole baptism theme in the title and the John the Baptist symbolism (did you catch the picture in the beginning when Hurley was coming down the steps?). But in the end, not a lot happened. Eko mysteriously marked trees that were his favorites, we saw images of Hurley as Jesus, Claire and Charlie’s mom as Virgin Mary / some other Biblical chica, and saw a flying dove interpolated with a crashing plane…


But what does it all mean? I’m thinking Charlie is going to end up being right – Aaron is in danger – but now that he’s viewed as a druggie, no one is going to believe him. It’s like The Boy Who Cried Wolf but without the wolf – “The Boy Who Cried Others”.

But perhaps the most important part of the episode for me was a scene at the very end…


My Locke Manifesto.

So here’s the thing – a funny thing happened during one of the last scenes of the last new episode, where Locke is showing locking up (pun intended, I’m hilarious) the Virgin Mary statues full of H. I thought to myself, “What the hell? Why wouldn’t he destroy them? This makes no sense.” But the more I thought about it, the more it began to make sense and I came to a realization. Although I had our “strips-to-change-the-subject” friend Libby (why aren’t all girls like that?!) pegged as the “Mole” in our group, she’s not. It’s John Locke. It’s been John Locke all along.



Shocked? Like many, John Locke has long been my favorite character on the show. That’s the point. The writers have creatively (or accidentally) kept his shadiness just under the surface – so that in watching a typical episode, you wouldn’t catch it.

Furthermore, they’ve developed this great sympathy for his character through the flashbacks, which makes you even less likely to view him as “bad”. Think about it. Through most characters’ flashbacks, we see crimes they committed, people they murdered, and lives they’ve messed up. Locke’s flashbacks always leave us with a feeling of “Awww! Poor Locke! His dad / mom / boss / everyone in his life are the meanest ever! I love Locke!” This makes him an even more unlikely traitor.

But in doing some research, I went back and isolated his actions in each episode so far. Once you do this and look at them critically, his actions become glaringly obvious.

So this is it – my John Locke Manifesto. Why now? Because I’m thinking the big reveal is coming soon and I want you to be prepared. Let’s start at the beginning. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…


The Plane Crash.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is some huge conspiracy on Locke’s part. He didn’t get onto Flight 815 with any malicious intent. He was just the perfect choice. Think about his life prior to the crash:

In flashbacks, we see an angry wheelchaired Locke shouting, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” We see his father telling him “Go away and don’t come back. You’re not wanted!” We see a broken man having imaginary relationships with telephone sex line operators, working at a box factory wishing he could be something else – do something more with his life. He had nothing going for him, and seemingly could do nothing about it. Then things changed.

His plane crashed. Locke could suddenly walk. Locke didn’t know why, but didn’t really question it.

After teaching Walt the history of backgammon, Locke asks Walt a very creepy question: "Do you want to know a secret?" In a later episode we find the secret is "a miracle happened."

At this point, Locke has already bought into the idea that the Island allows him to be something he’s not. However, as we see him attempting to hunt wild boar (and quickly getting knocked down), we see that he’s still not the man he wants to be. Which brings us to his encounter with “The Monster”.



The Monster.


Remember, we have no idea who or what this monster is. I think right now, knowing what we know from Eko’s episode, we’re assuming Locke encountered some version of the Smoke Monster – but we can’t be certain. I still don’t quite have this encountered figured out. Did he encounter the Smoke Monster? Did it show him something? Was Zeke / An Other there as well, who offered to spare his life if he worked with them? I’m not sure. But it’s really not that important for the argument. Here’s the thing:

When pressed about what he saw during his encounter with “The Monster”, Locke says, “I didn't see anything.” Obviously he saw SOMETHING. Is this the face of someone who sees nothing?



So obviously, he is LYING. Why would he lie about seeing some crazy Smoke Monster in the jungle? Fast forward a few episodes (days) on the Island…

Let me set the scene: Night has fallen at the caves and Hurley is roused from his sleep when Locke returns to camp with some additional luggage he and Ethan found while out tracking game. Locke and Ethan “hunting” at night? Pretty odd, and not in a Brokeback Mountain sort of way. Not coming back with anything from the hunt? Also pretty odd since Locke was a pretty sweet hunter. Granted, we know that Locke was “hunting for boars” during the whole Hatch escapade and repeatedly coming back empty handed, but this is before any of that. Clearly Locke uses “hunting for boars” as his excuse the same way I use to always be “studying in the library” in college.

So what was he doing? It’s pretty clear that through some combination of Locke’s encounter with “The Monster” and his meetings with Ethan, he was changed. He somehow gained his “powers”, those being knowledge of survival skills, ability to handle and use weapons, etc. – because he lacked all of them right after the crash. How? You’ve got me. But the important thing is they didn’t come for free.

From this point on, Locke has been secretly working with some Others (be it the “Ethan Others” group, the “Zeke Others” group, some combination of the two, or a third party altogether. In Locke’s eyes, he has been chosen for a reason and needs to perform certain tasks for them, such as monitoring the Survivors, occasionally kidnapping people, etc. But he’s cool with it. After a lifetime spent of wishing he was important, and could make a difference – all the sudden he’s the Big Man on Island Campus.

Locke isn’t a bad guy – they have him convinced that he’s doing all of this for the greater good. Locke even believes it, telling Charlie, “have faith — this island will give you a great deal…if you are willing to give it something in return.” Clearly, Locke “has faith” and “gave something” to the Monster / The Others – his services as a liaison between the Others and the Survivors, a la Walt Cummings on 24.

The weird thing is, his abilities seemed to fade at a few points last season. Remember when he was having trouble walking when he and Boone found the plane? Well his inability to walk kept him from being the one in the plane when it fell from the tree. It’s almost as though the Island was protecting him from a certain doom, since it knows Locke is on its side. Locke protects the Island’s secrets and in return the Island protects Locke.

The only puzzling piece to this theory is the second time Locke encountered The Monster. Things were different, Locke was afraid, and it tried to take him. Why? Remember, it attacked as our fearless heroes worked their way through the jungle with TNT needed to blow open the Hatch. Clearly The Monster was trying to prevent this from happening. Yet even in this peril, Locke still knows that he’ll be fine. He implores Jack to let him go, saying “I’ll be okay”.

Later in that same episode, Jack says, "I don't believe in destiny." To which Locke replies, "Yes, you do, you just don't know it yet." Clearly, Locke knows the master plan, that they are all there for a reason, and someday Jack will too.



Locke’s Deceptions:

So what? So, ever since Locke turned, he’s been playing every single other person on the Island, lying to them and causing havoc right before our very eyes! Let’s check some examples:

Back in the beginning of Season One, there was a plan to triangulate a radio signal and try to send a distress signal. Remember, Sayid got hit on the head and the plan was ruined. Immediately afterwards, Sayid questions Locke on his whereabouts when he was attacked. Locke claims he was out hunting and points Sayid in Sawyer’s direction. This sets Sawyer up for an Iraqi-style beating and makes him the “bad guy”.

Cleverly, the writers finally reveal that it was indeed Locke – but not until so much later in the season, we’ve almost forgotten about it. Locke defends his actions by pointing out that the source of the distress call isn't really a place one would want to lead people. How does he know this unless he’s been there? Per CFL, the Black Rock is Others-central. Cahoots!

Then there was the attack on Claire. There was clearly a knife involved. Who has the most knives on the Island? One John Locke. It’s debatable if he had an accomplice role in the attack, or if he just helped Ethan. Once she eventually is kidnapped by Ethan, Locke did two very curious things. First, he sides with Sayid, saying they should not track him down – instead staying at the camp and building their defenses. Weird.

Later, once the search party leaves, Locke insists that Jack return to camp and look over Sayid, saying "You be the doctor, I'll be the hunter." Locke wants to follow Ethan - alone. He’s trying to ditch everyone else in the pursuit of Ethan so that the goals of The Others can be accomplished. After the search party is finally formed, right before they encounter Ethan, Locke wants to rest - but Jack insists they push on. It’s as if Locke knew they were getting too close… very similar to the scene two weeks ago!

Jack, Locke, and Sawyer are in pursuit of Michael when Jack and Locke argue about whether to turn back or keep searching – again, Locke wants to quit. Not ten seconds later, Zeke appears. Coincidence?



Locke’s Plan:

Last year, when I thought Locke was pure Kendall goodness, I thought his interactions with each character were to help them overcome their fears and weaknesses, in order to create a strong army to fight The Others. However, now that I look back, his interactions strike me far more sinister, as if he’s “winning everyone ever” so that they would never expect him of doing anything evil. But at the same time, he’s gaining knowledge about each of them, learning their strengths and weaknesses, and how to exploit them. Look at some examples:

Sayid - Locke makes peace with Sayid when the two could easily be enemies after the radio incident – he even counsels Boone not to make an enemy out of Sayid saying “we are going to need him on our side… later.” Sayid also admits that Locke is their best hope of surviving on the Island.

Sun – Remember when Sun was breaking down Jack Johnson style after she thought Jin was dead? Locke shows up, gives her the speech about “the only way to find something is to stop looking” and makes her feel better.

Claire - Locke made Claire a baby crib, knew it was her birthday when no one else did (how?!), and is now teaching her how to care for Aaron and keeping Charlie away.

Michael - Locke teaches Michael how to use a gun – combined with the bad directions being fed to Mike via the computer, this effectively gets Michael out of the picture, leading him to some sort of Others capture, keeping Walt safely wherever he is.

Sawyer - Locke reveals that he is aware of Sawyer's real name, James Ford. It’s interesting that no one else knew this, and the manifest reading took place over a month earlier. Locke knows too much…

Charlie - Charlie doesn't hesitate to say that Locke is the one man on the island that he would trust his life to. By taking possession of the Virgin Mary statues, Locke now controls the one thing that has power over Charlie.

Walt – Locke has taught Walt the nature of good and evil, how to throw a knife, given him support when Michael wouldn’t, and even covered up for him when Walt burned down the raft. That’s an awful lot of attention… but we’ve seen that Walt has some special powers, and is clearly worth stealing in The Others eyes – he was obviously prime target #1, so Locke kept him close and won him over.

Jack – For crying out loud, Locke convinced Jack to push the button, thus going against every scientifc fiber in Jack’s body. He plays on Jack’s weaknesses and turned him into a man of faith. The undisputed leader of the Island playing by his rules? That’s a pretty big win for Locke.

Remember the last line of Season One? It served as a sneak preview of Season Two, one we’re just now getting two. Jack says, "We're going to have a Locke problem."



Okay, enough ranting. Hopefully I’ve made my point. I guess I could have forgone the previous Manifesto by typing a simple “LOCKE = BAD”, but where’s the fun in that?



Here’s the thing that’ll really blow your mind. Now that we’ve established that Locke is in cahoots with The Others (“the bad guys”), what is going to happen when there’s finally a battle between them and our Survivors (“the good guys”)?

If Lost wants to be the coolest TV show ever, I’m banking on the good guys turn out to be bad, and the bad guys turn out to be good.

Remember - all along we’ve been told that The Others were taking the people who were good and that there is no need to worry about them because they’re fine. The good guys (and we as an audience) are convinced that none of this is true. Why?

Again, judging by the flashbacks – almost every good guy has a tortured past full of lies, murder, and criminal acts. How is that good?

Is it so hard to believe that Locke and The Others actually do have the best interests of everyone on the Island in mind, but the good guys just can’t see the big picture?

Remember the Comic Book in the first episode? The writers said they picked that comic book for a reason, because it had a deeper meaning that related to the whole show. The basic storyline of the comic is that a group of superheroes (read: “good guys”) fight and kill this alien (read: someone different that they don’t understand, like The Others), only to learn in the end that the alien was actually there to help save the world, and was a good guy.

If I’m a writer for Lost, I make the last scene of the last episode end with Jack and Co. finally defeating The Others only to realize in horror that they just killed the good guys, effectively ruining any chance of getting off the Island / dooming themselves / bringing about the end of the world – choose your adventure!

Fade to black.

LOST.


Okay, sorry for the Manifesto-heavy post. But at least it gave me something to write about after a fairly symbolism-weak episode followed by a repeat. Watch, this episode will reveal Locke to be good and Libby to be the traitor all along, meaning I spent the past four hours of my life for nothing. But if not, I expect your praise and adulation in the comments section.

I hate Pittsburgh.

Not The Same

(...no, not the Ben Folds song)

To those of you who asked, the Doctor at the Mental Institution in "Numbers" is not Dr. Marvin Candle, the narrator of the Orientation Film. Here is your photo evidence:

Dr. Marvin Candle:


Doctor at Mental Institution:



Also - they were played by completely different actors, according to imdb.com.

Theory debunked.

Lost - "Numbers" Revisited

Sadly, Lost is a repeat this week - but that doesn't mean we can't look for deeper meaning! In this case, "Why would they choose to repeat a season one episode instead of a season two episode?" I'm thinking it's because they want to remind us of something that happened in "Numbers" that is going to relate to something that is coming up in future episodes.

Here are some theories, based on things you'll see in "Numbers" tonight:

1. The Numbers. 4 8 15 16 23 42. They're all over this episode, reminding us that they are cursed and bring bad things to those who use them. Now we have literally every Survivor entering them into the computer in the Hatch in shifts. Will this bring about bad fortune to all of them?

However, we haven't really seen these numbers show up in quite some time in flashbacks on the show - even though there have been plenty of opportunities to do so. While repeating this episode might be an attempt to bring them back to the forefront, it also makes me think of the comment from the show's creators about "I don't think we'll ever be able to answer what the Numbers are or what they mean." Maybe the show is trying to move away from them...

2. Love. In this episode, Hurley's mother is criticizing him for not going out and finding a girl - and we now have Hurley pursuing a relationship with Libby. Coincidence?

3. Crazy. We see Hurley enter a mental institution - where doctors and patients there seem to know him - and talk to Leonard about the Numbers. Did Hurley used to be in a mental institution? Is that how he knows Libby? Was she also in the institution, or was she just a psychologist working there? This has to be how Hurley knows Libby! Be on the lookout for Libby in the background when Hurley is in the hospital!

4. Wire. In Hurley's search for CFL in "Numbers", he again follows the strange wire that leads from somewhere in the ocean to her camp. What is this wire? Seemingly, CFL was getting the power for her bunker from this wire - so it must be connected to some sort of generator / power source / establishment under the water. There's either some sort of downed ship / submarine out there, or perhaps a Hatch that is located underwater?

Given that all the images we've seen of Ghost Walt have had him dripping wet, and he was kidnapped out at sea, I think it could be likely that he's being held captive at whatever this establishment is.

5. Black Rock. CFL mentions that there is a radio tower near the Black Rock which was broadcasting the Numbers - a broadcast she changed once "The Sickness" got to the rest of her crew. When we saw the Black Rock in "Exodus", I didn't see any sign of a radio tower - but perhaps we'll pay a visit to this location in a future episode?

6. CFL. Finally, we have CFL. We haven't seen her this season, but you know she's going to be back before we know it. This episode neatly reminds us of her whole story. This is also the episode where we learn she has moved away from her oringinal bunker (and blew it up). I'm betting she's now living somewhere around that radio tower and the Black Rock. I'm also betting she shows up again as part of the "build an army" storyline!

So there you have it. That should be reason enough to tune in for a repeat. And after tonight, we have three weeks of new episodes!

Feb. 8 - "The Long Con" (Sawyer-centric)
Feb. 15 - "One of Them" (Sayid-centric)
Feb. 22 - "Maternity Leave" (Claire-centric)

Plus it's sweeps, so you know they'll be good!

Libby is a Liar

Hurley: "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Libby: "I can't believe you don't remember stepping on my foot. I remember you because you were the last one on the flight, and you were all sweaty and you had your headphones on and crunch..."

Oh really Libby?

Exhibit A: Hurley getting on the airplane, sans headphones:



Exhibit B: Hurley putting on his headphones, after sitting in his seat and fastening his seatbelt:



(Granted, this could be nitpicking - I mean, she did get the sweaty and "last one on the plane" parts right - but there's something fishy with her. Although I'm working on a much larger manifesto on who I think the Big Bad on the Island really is... and it ain't Libby...)

Lost - "Fire + Water"

Episode Title: “Fire + Water”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Smoke on the water, fire in the sky!

Well, the previews seem to make this title seem quite literal. In fact, we see both a lot of fire and a lot of water.





Although this episode is Charlie-centric, it also seems to focus on his obsession with Aaron… as in the same Aaron that was with Moses through the Plagues of the Bible / Exodus, etc. After a little Bible Study action, it turns out that Aaron was right by Moses’ side for such things as “the burning bush” (fire) and “parting the Red Sea” (water), but also he was a pretty troubled dude. He’s the one who gave the people the golden calf while Moses was up getting the Ten Commandments, and even turned pseudo-Judas on Moses at some point.

What’s the point of all this religious mumbo-jumbo? Well, Charlie is clearly a troubled soul, much like Bible Aaron seemed to be. He seems to honestly want to do good, help Claire raise her baby, and peacefully exist on the Island, but he’s got the temptation of the Smack bringing him down. Likewise, fire and wire can also be representative of hot and cold, or good and bad. Two sides. He’s a conflicted soul.

But… why am I comparing Charlie to Bible Aaron? Shouldn’t I be comparing Bible Aaron to Island Aaron? Exactly.

In the end, I think the title is going to come down to this theme that I touched upon a few weeks back with Locke and Eko – but now want to switch to Eko and Aaron. A person can be baptized by either fire or water. Back to the Good Book:

In the Bible, John the Baptist said that he would baptize with water, but that the “Coming One” will baptize with fire. Although originally I thought that Eko could be the John the Baptist to Locke’s Jesus, now I’m thinking he’s going to be the John the Baptist to Aaron’s Jesus.

Think about it. Eko’s a pretty holy dude (now, after a sketchy past), carries the staff like J the B, and he’s shown a peculiar interest in Aaron in the past few episodes. We’ve seen Eko’s desire to save children after the tail split off of the plane – I wonder if he’s looking for the “chosen one” - someone who’s way more religious than he is – baby Aaron.

We’ve seen how important babies and children have been so far on this show. We might not know why, but the Others seem to think they are “special” and worth stealing. I wonder if the Others are waiting for some sort of supposed “Chosen One”. They’ve taken Alex (more on this later), they’ve taken Walt (more on this later), and I’m betting baby Aaron is gone before episode end as well.

Look for a ton of religious imagery in this episode. From Aaron floating in the ocean in his cradle (a la Moses in the Nile), to a burning bush (a la Moses talking to God), to Charlie dealing with temptation (a la lots of people in the Bible) – heck, the Heroin is stored inside the Virgin Mary! There’s gotta be some messed up symbolism there, right? I’m pretty sure watching this episode will be the equivalent of going to church this week. Researching Lost has once again made me read more Bible than any religion class I’ve ever taken. Awesome.


TV Guide Description: When Charlie's vividly surreal dreams lead him to believe Claire's baby, Aaron, is in danger, Locke suspects Charlie may be using again. Meanwhile, Sawyer encourages Hurley to act on his attraction to Libby.


TV Guide Breakdown: Regarding Charlie’s “vividly surreal dreams” – are we thinking he’s hopped up on goofballs, or are they going to play the whole “everyone thinks he’s using drugs again but in reality he’s not” angle? I’d bet on the latter. Charlie is going to be innocent, but in a case of “Boy Who Cried Wolf”, no one will believe him. Here’s how it will play out:

He’ll probably be warning everyone that Aaron is in danger, but no one will believe him. In the end, Aaron will be stolen away (on 55th and 3rd) and they’re realize Charlie was right and feel bad.

So is Charlie really over his H Habit? Two weeks ago, I would have said “absolutely”. I thought Charlie had kicked his habit… that is, until we saw his stash of Virgin Mary statues in the woods… and they played scary music when showing that scene. Now I’m not so sure. It’s hard to argue with scary music. Perhaps the fire scene from the previews is Charlie lighting up his stash so it won’t tempt him anymore? Here’s hoping. Didn’t we already go through the whole “Locke helping Charlie get over his addiction” storyline last year? I don’t need a re-hash of that (pun intended).

Then there are our newest potential lovebirds on the Island - Hurley and Libby. There’s something a little off here, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. But here’s my thought:

Remember last week when Jack said something to Zeke about “You sent someone to spy on us” and Zeke had a surprised expression on his face. Kinda like “Wait – they found the spy?” But then Jack follows up with “Yeah, Ethan” and Zeke kinda laughed it off? I’m thinking Ethan wasn’t their spy, perhaps Zeke has no idea who Ethan even is, and that their spy is still there. Libby looks to be a prime candidate, since she’s one of the few main characters on the show without a backstory.

So who was Ethan? I’ll go back to my theory of there being multiple groups of Others on the Island. Zeke is some sort of leader of the Scientist group (more on this later), whereas Ehtan was more of a rogue Other in the same vein as Goodwin.

So am I pumped for this episode? Not as much as in past weeks. I’m really fearful of the Locke-Charlie conflict being repeated, and having to deal with a screaming Claire (“They took my babay!”) for the next few weeks. Here’s hoping for the best though!


Previously on Lost…

Jack. Oh Jack, you forgot Rule #47 of Guy Code: If you ever accidentally kiss a girl other than your wife, you don’t tell your wife about it.



But in a deliciously shocking twist, Sarah confesses her own cheating ways. Hussie! Or was she? Was this just an excuse to get out of a lonely marriage where the man is basically married to his job instead of his wife? I’ve heard a few opinions on this that range from “Yes, she was cheating with Desmond” (see post below) to “No, but she was pregnant” and I really don’t think we have enough evidence to go one way or the other on it.

Depending on how intricately twisted Jack and Desmond are, Sarah could have potentially been cheating on Jack with Desmond, and been pregnant with a baby that she didn’t know if it was Jack’s or Desmond’s!

Ever since the pregnant Claire episodes last season, I’ve thought that Jack seemed a little too over-protective of preggo Claire and baby, as if he had some trauma in his past concerning a baby – this would explain it!

Or, Sarah could have been making up the affair, was truly un-preggo, and just left Jack because, as she put it “he always needs someone to fix”. At this point in her life, she was “fixed”, and that could have caused Jack to lose interest in her. I think the real question is, why does Jack have this need? We’ve still seen nothing in his backstory that would make this self-blame necessary, have we?

The good news is that I know we will be getting at least another Jack backstory this year. (Greedy! How about some more Locke or Sawyer?) I’m betting we get some answers to the questions above, especially if Desmond shows back up.

James Ford. I actually can’t bring myself to call him that, so he’ll remain Sawyer in my posts. This is a pretty interesting development because it shows that Locke knows exactly what is going on with everyone on the Island, as if he’s been monitoring them or studying them. Speaking of which…

Locke. Why did Locke try to get Jack and Sawyer to turn around right before their confrontation with Zeke? That seems very un-Locke-like. From day one, he’s been all about discovering things on the Island and exploring further. It’s almost as if he knew they were getting too close to Zeke and the Others. Or did he simply sense danger was close? Very interesting.

Sickness. I think Michael is down with the sickness.



I’m not exactly sure what the sickness is, or what the symptoms are, but Michael definitely looked different. Also, remember what CFL said, way back in Season One? (Cue Wayne’s World flashback sequence…)

From the Sayid-Centric Episode, “Solitary”, where we first met CFL…

Sayid: “And how did you come to be on this island, Danielle?”
CFL: “We were part of a science team.”
Sayid: “A science team armed with rifles? Was Robert on the team?”
CFL: “Yes.”
Sayid: “And Alex, was he, too?”
CFL: “Our vessel was 3 days out of Tahiti when our instruments malfunctioned. It was night, a storm, the sounds. The ship slammed into rocks, ran aground, the hull breached beyond repair. So, we made camp, dug out this temporary shelter. Temporary. Nearly 2 months we survived here, 2 months before…
Sayid: “Your distress signal? The message I heard, you said, "It killed them all."”
CFL: “We were coming back from the Black Rock. It was them. They were the carriers.”
Sayid: “Who were the carriers?”
CFL: “The Others.”
Sayid: “What others? What is the Black Rock? Have you seen other people on this island?”
CFL: “No, but I hear them. Out there, in the jungle. They whisper. You think I'm insane.”


…and then we had this exchange last week, from “The Hunting Party”...

Zeke: “Let me ask you something - How long you've been here on the Island?”
Jack: “50 days.”
Zeke: “That's almost 2 whole months.”


See the common theme? Whatever this “sickness” is, it seems like it has an incubation period of two months before it hits you. ? Perhaps the sickness causes you to see things and become paranoid about them – sort of like a drug “freak out”. One wonders is Mike ever actually talked to Walt, or if he was just having visions as a result of the sickness? But Michael seemed to be walking with a purpose, heading for a specific place on the Island rather than wandering around based on imaginary visions, making me think he got a message from someone.

What if the sickness somehow “connects you” with the thoughts of other individuals on the Island and he was having some sort of telepathic conversation with Walt? Here’s my theory on the sickness:

As part of the Hanso Foundation’s Accelerated Remote Viewing studies, they found a way to do so something much more - allow a person to hear the thoughts of others within a given radius. How? No idea. Leave that to the scientists. But imagine the power that you would render if you could hear the thoughts of an enemy, know their actions – almost before they did, and be able to react. You would be the ultimate warrior (and could wear florescent colored armbands!).

However, such a “power” would also have the potential to drive a person completely crazy. Your head would no longer be your own. Rather, your head would be an intersection of thoughts of everyone who was around you. Eventually, it would have to drive you into solitary confinement… or drive you insane.

Pretty deep. Too crazy for you? Think I’m the one with the sickness? Let’s look at the facts:

• We’ve seen characters hear “whispers” in the forest – probably the beginning of the sickness, where they can faintly hear things.
• CFL says “I had to kill them – what would have happened if they got back to the world?” – she’s either protecting the world from the weapon aspect of the sickness, or keeping herself from going insane. By making her the solitary person on the Island (or so she thinks), the voices stop.
• Remember Sam? The guy who brought the numbers back to the mainland, that Hurley tried to visit in Australia. He moved himself as far away from people as he could, yet still killed himself. Perhaps because his wife was still there, her thoughts occupying his head?
• It would explain how Zeke and the Others have such knowledge about everything happening on the Island – every time a Survivor passes near them, or they get near the Survivors, they could be gaining more knowledge.
• It would explain how the Others could avoid ever being seen unless they want to be seen – a person could travel as stealthily as they wanted, but unless they were also devoid of thoughts, they could hear them coming.

(Note: this would totally be a rip off of the classic season 3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Earshot”, but I think all the pieces add up, don’t they?)


So what about Michael?

Zeke. When questioned about Michael, Zeke states “Don’t worry about Michael, he won’t be finding us.”

This could mean a few things:

1. The Others, acting as Walt, intentionally fed Michael bad information through the computer, leading him away from them instead of towards them. (Not likely, since Locke was following Michael’s trail, and although it died shortly before their encounter with Zeke, it was heading in that direction.)
2. They have already killed Michael. (Possible - we heard gunshots, but I think more likely there was some sort of encounter and they captured him. They then ditched him somewhere or have him locked up somewhere).

Either way, the word on the street is that we won’t be seeing our buddy Michael on the Island for a while. I’d be tempted to say we won’t see Michael or Walt again until next season, but I’ve also heard the whole “Walt is Missing” situation will be resolved this season.

Hanso. Much more interesting for those Internet Nerds out there was this comment from our boy Zeke:

Zeke: “A man much smarter than any of us standing here said “From the dawn of our species, man has been blessed with curiosity.”

Sound familiar? Astute readers will remember that they’ve seen this before. Visit the Hanso Foundation website and check out their mission statement:

“From the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity. Our most precious gift, without exception, is the desire to know more - to look beyond what is accepted as the truth and to imagine what is possible.”
- Alvar Hanso, Address to the U.N. Security Council, 1967

Gasp! So Zeke is obviously a Hanso scientist, or a Hanso cult follower of some kind! Also, he says “smarter than any of us standing here” which means that Alfred Hanso isn’t one of the Others hidden in the forest, but it also seems to hint that Hanso is on the Island somewhere, just not standing there. Intrigue!

Podcast. This week’s podcast had two intriguing bits of information worth passing along.

The first involved Executive Producers Damon and Carlton (we’re on a first name basis) discussing the Monster from Eko’s episode two weeks back. They make this comment:

“We’ll leave it to the viewer to decipher what exactly we were seeing in the smoke. But it sure looked like the Monster was downloading Eko’s fears and anxieties. It almost seemed like it didn’t kill him because Eko wasn’t afraid of these fears. Maybe that’s the same reason Locke also survived his encounter.”

Now, the show’s creators are infamous for making sarcastic remarks in their podcast to tease viewers (especially the kind that they know will over-analyze everything they say – i.e., myself) but this sounded like a legitimate statement. If this is the case, I’ll have to rethink my monster theory from a few posts ago... Give me some time to wrap my head around it…

The other interesting comment was that Dharma is actually an acronym, not an anagram. A quick visit to dictionary.com reveals the following:

Acronym: A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as NFL for National Football League, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.

First, this means that I, along with everyone I work with, incorrectly use the term “acronym” almost every day at our job. Second, it really reminds me of Vanilla Sky, where there was an acronym in front of us the whole time (“Ellie” à L.E. à Life Extension) that explained the whole story without us knowing it. Based on everything we know about the Hanso foundation and their mission, I’m leaning towards it meaning something like…

D egroot and
H anso
A ssociation for
R ebuilding
M an
A new

All the experiments on the Island seemingly deal with improving the human race / building a superior race. Or it could just be a homage to Jenna Elfman. Either way.


X-Factor. Check out the date on the X-Rays that Jack and his dad were looking at when the episode began… November 16, 2005! Since we know a lot happened after this flashback (Jack betraying his dad, his dad becoming an alcoholic, going to Australia, etc.) that means the “present day” we’re seeing on the Island must be in the future!

The really ironic thing is that a lot of the things we’ve seen on the Island seem out-of-date, as if they were from many years in the past. I still think there’s some weird Time Warp thing going on with the Island.

Alex. Did you catch who thrust the captured Kate into the foreground last week? Zeke said, “Bring her out, Alex.” This is all we saw…



But smart money is that this is CFL’s daughter Alex, raised by the Others! Tantalizing!
Speaking of which…

Doesn’t this look like Walt, from the scene where all the torches lit up in the forest? Check the top right corner. Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Geronimo Jackson. If you’re anything like me, as soon as you saw this record inside the Hatch last episode, you jumped on the Internet to research the band. What did you find? That’s right, the band doesn’t exist. Or if they did, they were so obscure that there isn’t a single mention of them anywhere on the Internet.

Although it’s pretty hilarious because everyone who tried to find them came upon this as the first search result:
http://www.newbabynews.net/hospitals/sh7/public/sacredheartbirthannouncement.pl?babyID=h7-7387

Check out the Message Board – full of Hispanic speaking well wishers from 2004, then nothing, then a huge influx of people asking about Lost last week. Pretty hilarious.

(Note: there seems to be an “official” Geronimo Jackson website that sprung up last night – but I’m not sure of the authenticity. There’s no ABC “Terms of Conditions” like on most Lost-related websites, so it might just be a rabid fan capitalizing on the show and domain-squatting. At any rate, the one interesting morsel of information there is that the band formed at University of Michigan… the same place that the Degroots were from.)

Army. Lastly, we leave the episode with a story which I have been begging for since midway through Season One – building an army to combat the Others. We’ve seen Locke getting people to get over their inner demons and fears, but let’s take an honest look at the strengths of this army:

Locke – can take care of himself, use weapons, has uncanny outdoor knowledge
Eko – really strong, knows how to use a weapon, talks fun
Jack – natural leader, doctor
Ana-Lucia – police officer, men struggle to hit a girl
Sayid – Iraqi National Guard, expert in torturing and computers
Sawyer – knows how to use a gun, make witty comments to enemies like a superhero
Jin – former mafia member, will probably kill anyone wearing a watch
Kate – can blow things up, handle a gun, rob a bank
Hurley – good shield, potentially indestructible

Granted, if they’re facing an army of Ethans, who whopped up on Jack and Co. they might be in bad shape – but if it’s an army of grizzled pirate scientists, I like our odds!

That’s all for this week!

(NOTE: Due to numerous requests, you can now leave comments anonymously! You no longer have to "log in" or "have a blog" (read: be a nerd). I expect the number of comments each week to increase exponentially. You have no excuse.)

"The Hunting Party" Poll Question

So, during "The Hunting Party", Jack's wife Sarah mentions that she has been cheating on Jack. But with who? Here was my immediate thought:

Remember the picture that Jack looked at inside the Hatch when they first met Desmond?



Is that Sarah?!

Per Currin's request, here is a picture of Sarah:



Per McCullough-Desmond's request, here are Jack's reactions to the picture from "Orientation".

Before:



After:



Let me know your thoughts.

COMPLETE SMOKE MONSTER IMAGES

(Thanks to the McCullough-Desmond clan, who relentlessly ridiculed me for missing some obvious images in the smoke monster in my analysis. As it turns out, there was more in there - a LOT more, especially when viewed in HD with the brightness turned way up. Is this the impteus that will finally force me to invest in an HD-TV? Time will tell. For now, I give you all the images...)






















Whoa.

Lost - "The Hunting Party" (plus "What Kate Did" and "The 23rd Psalm" Reactions)

Hello again, it’s been too long.

Yes, once again the evils of “social life” and “work” kept me from updating my Blog in a timely fashion last week, so this week I’ll have to pull double duty to discuss the two most recent episodes, “What Kate Did” and “The 23rd Psalm”. I apologize for my absence and any inconvenience it caused you. Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)…

Kate. What did she do? Well, she murdered “Wayne”, her mother’s abusive boyfriend and her biological father in a sweet house explosion.



Does this make her a bad person? I guess in the legal sense of the word, yes. But as I predicted, her crime was something that is easy to forgive her for, so in the viewer’s eyes, she’s still a “good guy”. The more interesting part of the murder, as she reveals later in the episode, was why she did it. It wasn’t because Wayne was hitting her mother, it was because every time she looked at him, she was disgusted by the thought that he was a part of her. His murder was her way of “killing” her “dark side”.

This goes a long way in explaining the “love triangle” we’ve seen on the show since the first episode. Let me explain. We have our resident island hottie, Kate – with her dark side uber-repressed, trying to be the good girl on the island, and she’s faced with two potential suitors…



Suitor Number One – Jack. He’s a doctor, he saves people, he’s the alpha male of the Survivors of Flight 815. Plus, he’s pretty hunky, and was on Party of Five. What’s not to like? Nothing, except that he doesn’t seem that into her, and there isn’t that pure electric attraction between the two of them. If she was thinking with her head, however – this would be the man for her.

The Second Suitor (not so subtle Mallrats reference) – Sawyer. He’s a bad boy with a dark past and long, rebellious hair. He gives people hilarious nicknames and deep down inside, you know he’d have your back if the going got tough. What’s not to like? Nothing, except that he awakens the “bad girl” side of Kate, which she blew up a house to try and rid herself of. But if she’s thinking with her heart, this is the boy that makes her feel all tingly inside.

So the root of Kate’s inner struggle all comes back to the common theme of “head vs. heart”. This episode saw her shift from one end of the spectrum to the other, and finally decide on which boy would become Mr. Kate Austen.

Early in the episode, she is visited by the spirit of Wayne, embodied in the sleeping Sawyer (very similar to how Sawyer was haunted by the spirit of the man he murdered embodied in the island boar that was torturing him). This freaks Kate out, and she runs, as it brings to the forefront the memories of her past and her dark side. In an attempt to say “I choose the light side”, she finds Jack in the forest and this results…



However, as soon as the moment has passed, she has this freakout expression:



Now, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t gotten that reaction a few times in my life after a sloppy makeout session – so I know what it means:

Although she tried her best to bury her dark past and side with her head, there’s no sparkage. She suddenly comes to the realization that despite her best efforts, she’s going to choose the “bad girl” side and freaks out.

(Note: This doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s a “bad guy” on the show, but just that she’s the female equivalent to Sawyer rather than the female equivalent of Jack.)

Put the love triangle to rest! Kate chooses Sawyer!

This decision is embodied in two things:

1. Cutting Sawyer’s hair in the next episode. Like so many girls who choose the “bad boy”, they think they can change them into a “good guy”. We all know that good guys have clean, conservative haircuts. So, once she realizes that Sawyer is the one for her, she begins to “work” on him.

2. Her embrace of the black horse at the end. Which leads us to…


The Black Horse. Yeah, the whole “horse” deal was pretty weird. First, we have its appearance in her flashback, basically saving her from imprisonment by wrecking the car:



Then we have Kate seeing what appears to be the same horse on the island (but admittedly, all black horses look pretty alike to me). So is it the same black horse? Initially, I wanted to chalk this up to another Dharma animal experiment on the Island (along with the logo-branded shark and Walt’s polar bear), but after this week’s Eko episode, I’m less inclined to and more inclined to think that everyone on the Island has this “mind’s eye” power and is bringing things from their past to the Island. More on that later though, I need to stay focused on the horse…

When Kate first sees it, she assumes she’s hallucinating, and her conversation with Charlie would seem to confirm it:

Kate: “I saw a horse.”
Charlie: “Saw a horse? Yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t sleep.”
Kate: “Do you think there are horses here?”
Charlie: “Horses? No.”

But later when she sees it, Sawyer sees it as well – and she goes so far as to touch it. It’s very real, and not a product of sleep deprivation.

Symbolically, a black horse indicates impending death, destruction, Satan, and evil influences. Traitors, murderers, and the devil in disguise all ride black horses in mythology. (PS – also, in researching this, one Christian website claimed that “magicians” ride black horses, keeping with the “Harry Potter is the Devil” motif that the church likes to keep. Hilarious. Gob Bluth is the devil!)

While I can’t really explain where the black horse in her past came from, that saved her from prison, if you look at the symbolism involved, her seeing and embracing the horse falls right in line with her struggle with her dark side, and eventual embrace of it:



The fact that Sawyer sees the horse as well indicates a bond between the two of them, very similar to how Sayid saw Walt once he allegedly “loved” Shannon. More on this later as well…

I think that Jack senses Kate’s decision as well. First, there was this exchange between Jack and Hurley in the woods:



Hurley notes that Jack is cutting wood – like Sawyer used to do when he was angry. Does this represent Jack trying to “be like Sawyer” to try and win her back? Then, there’s the scene with Jack and Ana-Lucia at the end:



Where he shows up with the drinks he promised her before Flight 815 took off. Poor Jack, he’s basically settling for the next best thing on the Island since he knows Kate is taken.

Okay, enough psycho-analyzing of Kate Austen, her lovers, and her horse. On to the rest of the points:

Michael. There were some very interesting little scenes involving Michael, which intrigue me greatly. When he first sees the video, he is extremely skeptical of it, to the point where he’s like “Are you kidding me? You guys are continuing to push a button every 108 minutes because some old video told you so? Hello! I feel like everyone is taking crazy pills!” This paints Michael as a realist. With Jack now fully buying into the pushing of the button (and having “faith”), we need someone to question the system and bring a dose of reality to the situation.

However, as soon as I was ready to proclaim Michael the one to end the crazy button-pushing-experiment, he starts to see Walt talking to him through the computer:



Is Walt at some “Other Computer” elsewhere on the Island? When Jack looks at the screen during “The 23rd Psalm”, it’s blank. Is Michael imagining all of this, or do Walt / The Others have the ability to erase the screen on command? I’m leaning towards him going a little crazy, but it looks like these imaginary conversations have set him over the edge, and he’s going on a full fledged Walt hunt next episode.

Blast Doors. Before IMing with Walt, Michael also notes the blast doors inside the bunker. The real question, are they there to prevent something inside the Hatch from getting out, or prevent something from outside the Hatch from getting in? This kinda falls into the same category as the “Quarantine” sign that was on the inside of the Hatch, but given the Dr. Marvin Candle video talking of “the incident”, I almost wonder if the blast doors were put in place to prevent something from getting out. After the first incident, were the blast doors added in the event that if another incident ever happened, it would be contained? What is this “incident” he speaks of? I want answers!

Eko. Lastly, we have the very intriguing exchange between Locke and Eko where the story of Josiah is told. Now, if you’re anything like me, you had never heard this particular Bible story before, and had a very difficult time following it. Here’s a quick summary:

King Josiah was the last good thing that happened to the Israelites before their kingdom was destroyed.

Josiah became king as a child of only eight, and soon took an interest in the LORD, contrary to his father. Early in life he instituted reforms and took steps against idol worship.

At 25 years of age, Josiah decided to rebuild the LORD's temple, which had deteriorated with age. As the workers were cleaning, they found an obscure book that no one had ever heard of — the Bible, forgotten by previous generations. As the king listened to his secretary read the Bible, he was struck with grief and terror, certain the LORD was furious with Josiah and his people for their disobedience.

Immediately, Josiah set upon a sweeping program to eliminate pagan worship and renew the ancient covenant of the LORD. He toured the land, destroying pagan shrines, and celebrated the Passover for the first time in decades.

The revival was wonderful. But as soon as Josiah died, the people returned to their evil ways, and before his sons reached middle age, the LORD's judgment for centuries of evil practices came, and the kingdom was destroyed.

Heady stuff, right?

There are some obvious symbolically parallels that we can draw from this. Eko found the Bible in the Arrow Hatch, which looked to have been left and forgotten about long ago. Likewise, Eko himself represents the re-introduction of religion to our castaways that none have seen since the plane crash. If we assume that everyone on the Island has some sort of grave “sin” in their past, perhaps the only way that they can find redemption is through Eko… although seemingly John Locke was doing the exact same during the first season.

The only thing I can’t place is if there is any “idol worship” going on. I suppose you could relate this to them “worshipping” the timer by blindly pressing the combination every 108 minutes, but it seems to be a bit of stretch. I wonder if there isn’t some sort of idol worship going on with the Others somewhere else on the Island, perhaps even of the “monster”. We’ve seen the black smoke rising from the island, which makes these Others seem ritualistic – we’ll have to wait and see.

The way that Eko tells the story, he notes that the book is “the book of Law”, and “it was with that ancient book, not with the gold, that the temple was rebuilt”. Since a splice of the film was found inside the book that gives more knowledge about the Island itself, I wonder if in time we’ll find other Hatches, each with another piece of the film, and when they are all put together, we’ll finally have an understanding of what is going on with the Island. Perhaps it isn’t until you understand what’s happening that you can begin to rebuild civilization on the Island?



Okay, I think that’s all for “What Kate Did”. Now we move on to “The 23rd Psalm”. Want to hear something really ironic? I started writing my post for this episode last week, and the conclusion I came to, after doing my typical “preview analysis” was that Eko was a drug lord who turned religious after some sort of tragedy involving his family. I am the smartest man alive! Or I could by lying to you right now when I say that, how would you know? At any rate, let’s rock and roll on this, and then we’ll be all caught up!

The 23rd Psalm. Well, before we start, let’s make sure we all know the Psalm in question:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Some of that should sound familiar to you Coolio fans out there. But what does it mean?

Good vs. Evil. The main theme of the episode seemed to be the difference between good and evil, and how there often isn’t a clear distinction between the two. Rather than everything being black and white, right and wrong, in reality there is a lot of gray and maybe. Eko faced a tough decision at a very early age, basically sacrificing himself so that his brother could have a better life. But it seems that although he accepted his situation, he still had an aim of doing good on even his worse actions. He even justified transporting the drugs by saying he was “taking them out of Nigeria”. Were these justifications honest, or just something he told himself to clear his conscience?

Remember when we all thought that the Others were trying to steal Eko, since he was one of the “good ones”? Well, now that’s seeming less likely – he seems to be just like everyone else on the Island – his soul has a tortured past, he’s done some serious bad (perhaps the worst of anyone on the Island), yet he’s looking for redemption – and in his heart he is a good person.

So back to the Psalm.

At the end of the episode, as Charlie and Eko recite the words, you really feel like they both mean it. Both have had a rough go at some points in their life, but they both were religious at the start, and although both headed down a dark path, God stayed with them throughout. You can see the message of the Psalm applying to both, stressing the importance of having faith during the rough times.

Lastly, Eko carries a stick (or “rod”, or “staff”), and fears no evil - even big scary smokey monsters…

Smokey. Behold the Monster. Or at least part of it. Here are the facts, before I start hypothesizing on what they mean:

• The Monster comes up from the ground, and returns to the ground. In the process it uproots and knocks down trees.
• The Monster makes a “cicada-like” sound, as well as mechanical noises.
• The Monster is semi-transparent, appearing to be smoke, or made up of a multitude of small things – such as a swarm of bugs.
• The Monster is solid, at least some of the time, as it grabbed Locke last season.

I’ve re-watched the scene of the encounter with Eko about ten times, freeze framing the images where the camera swung through the cloud of the Monster. Here’s what I see:

• Flashes of light inside the smoke, like lightning inside a storm cloud.
• A flash of an image of a Virgin Mary statue

So what does this all mean?

To the best of our knowledge as a viewer, the Monster killed the Pilot in the first episode, and encountered both Locke and Eko without harming them. Locke seemed changed by his encounter, but Eko appears to remain the same. So is the Monster good or evil? What is it anyways?!

There are two ways I could understand this Monster, the scientific or the spiritual way:

Scientific. The monster is some sort of cloud of nanobots. Here’s a refresher for your nanobot neophytes:

Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or at or close to the scale of a millionth of a millimetre. More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely theoretical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanobots. Since nanorobots would be microscopic in size, it may be necessary for very large numbers of them to work together to perform macroscopic tasks. As no nanobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time.

Since the creators of Lost have said the show would always be based on science or “pseudo-science”, this seems like the most logical answer. Really, really small robots that the good people at Dharma were working on that somehow got released on the Island. Millions of them working together would have the power to uproot trees, tear apart a person, or drag Locke by the leg.

But what logic are they working under? Typically, a machine is built with specific instructions of what tasks it is supposed to be accomplishing. Why would they kill the Pilot but merely look at Eko? It doesn’t quite add up.

Spiritual. You could go a number of ways the spiritual route, seeing the Monster as…

• A collection of spirits of people the Survivors killed in their lives, reminding them of their sins, torturing them, etc.
• A “grim reaper” of sorts that takes people away from the Island once their sins have been repented, playing the “purgatory theory”.
• A magical cloud that is a living, thinking organism – judging good and evil, killing and sparing people as it sees fit.

You could make convincing arguments for any of these, but they wouldn’t be based in science or pseudo-science, and seem a little too “out there” for the show, don’t you think?

So what is the Monster? Here’s what I think:

Given the way that the Monster seemed to be “reading” Eko, and the flash of the Virgin Mary inside, it seems like the Monster is either different for each person, or that it has the ability to read the mind of the person it encounters and show them scenes from their past. Locke said he looked into the eye of the Island and it was beautiful. He also made the comment to Boone about “is that what the Monster showed you?”, as if knowing it would be different things for different people. But what did Locke see that was beautiful? His past is pretty tragic.

Perhaps the Monster isn’t showing you things from your past, but rather showing you things from the future.

Remember the Hanso Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Facility referenced in the video? It seemed to focus on the ability to see things in the future. Walt seemed to have this power, but what if the Hanso Scientists created some sort of mechanical device (say, out of Nanobots anyone?) that had the same ability and could “display” what it saw? The future looks bright for Locke (and let’s face it, he’s pretty much living out his dream on the Island), it showed Boone Shannon’s death (which happened shortly after), and it showed Eko the Virgin Mary statues (which he would come across in the crashed plane).

The only missing piece of the puzzle is why it killed the Pilot. Did he react violently to the images he saw and freak the Monster out, causing it to take him? Did he see his own death (he did have substantial wounds from the crash)? CFL referred to the Monster as a “Security System”. If we view the Monster as a machine, I guess it could be programmed to attack anyone who got too close to its core facility – such as the pilot in the nose of the plane – but if you’re a safe distance away, it just looks at you (Eko and Locke)? Perhaps this is simply a feature to protect its own existence. If you got to the core computer running the machine, maybe you could “turn it off”? Maybe the Monster was part of an experiment gone wrong (an “incident”, perhaps?) and now functions properly some of the time (Eko / Locke) and goes berserk some of the time (Pilot), and it’s just coincidence the two spiritual people survived their encounters?

I know there are some holes in this explanation, but it’s the one that makes the most sense to me right now.

Charlie. The really puzzling thing about the end of this episode was that Charlie had been stashing away Virgin Mary statues in the woods. Didn’t you really think that he was earnest when he told Claire that he was over his addiction? And after his spiritual journey with Eko, didn’t he seem to be above it? Is he keeping them around as a temptation, to prove that he doesn’t need them anymore? For medicinal purposes in case someone gets seriously hurt? Or does it just goes to show, that he is still weak, and not really over it?

Plane. Okay, seriously – how did the plane end up on the Island? There is no way that a plane that was just supposed to “cross the border” of Nigeria would end up in the South Pacific. They weren’t intending on going anywhere near there, the plane didn’t have the fuel to make it there, and the odds of that plane crashing on that Island are impossibly small. So what gives?

Well, if you think about it, more and more Survivors are seeing things from their past on the Island. The interesting thing is, you can’t chalk them up to hallucinations since there are other people involved in seeing them as well.

Shannon saw Walt, as did Sayid.
Kate saw the Black Horse, as did Sawyer.
Eko saw the Plane, as did Locke, Boone, Sayid, and Charlie.

These things are real.

So there’s two options here:

1. The Hanso Scientists have this experiment really planned out, it’s complex to the point where they have researched their test subjects lives and brought items to the Island that would make the Survivors have a reaction to, all for the purposes of their experiment. Not likely. How could they know about the Black Horse that wrecked the car Kate was in? Would they really go so far as to create a body that resembled Eko’s brother? Seems a little far fetched.
2. Everyone on the Island has a bit of this “mind’s eye” power, and are subconsciously bringing things from their past to the reality on the Island. Walt has demonstrated this ability with the polar bear, and seems to have the most control of the power – but what if everyone is actually doing it as we speak, without knowing it? The results could be catastrophic!

I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw each Survivor come into contact with something from their past that shouldn’t possibly be on the Island, or something from their thoughts that manifests itself as reality.

So there you have it. Two weeks worth of analysis in one super-sized post. But we’re not quite done yet. There’s a new episode this week! Here’s a brief analysis, because my fingers are exhausted.

Episode Title: “The Hunting Party”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: First the obvious. Last week, we saw Michael taking target practice. This week, it looks like he’s arming himself up and heading out to find his son. Likewise, we have another group of Survivors heading out to find Michael (and Walt, perhaps). Michael is “hunting” for Walt. Everyone else is “hunting” for Michael.

But remember the last scene of the preview last week? Ominous torches surrounding the Survivors, with a voice saying “This is our Island”? Could it be that these “Others” are hunting all of them as they trek through the jungle? The hunter becomes the hunted!

TV Guide Description: Jack, Locke and Sawyer pursue a determined Michael after he heads into the jungle toward the dreaded "Others" in search of Walt. Meanwhile, Sun has a surprising reaction to Jin's desire to join the search party, and Hurley and Charlie commiserate over the age-old conundrum of "what women want."

TV Guide Breakdown: First sentence… got it. My money is that we see the full sentence that Walt typed to Michael last week and he gives him a specific location to come. Hello, trap? This is Michael, I'm on my way. Second sentence – what would Sun’s reaction be? Surprise that Jin has a desire to save Michael? Perhaps she doesn’t understand the bonding they had when they were captured by Ana-Lucia and during the trek through the jungle. Perhaps now that she has her Jinny-poo safe and sound with her, she doesn’t want to let him out of her sight again? Last sentence… I think Hurley has a thing for Libby. Remember this little throwaway scene?

There was some chemistry there. Hurley needs some lovin’ too, after all. Plus, once Libby finds out he’s rich, she’ll like him. There’s no such thing an ugly rich guy (or girl). Hurley probably views Charlie as the biggest “ladies man” in the group, since he used to be a rock star.

I’m pretty excited for this week, it looks like the full out “Others vs. Survivors” war I talked about incessantly last year might finally be starting up!

So that’s it. Four and a half hours of analysis, research, and typing. I give and I give to you, loyal reader. Now I’m exhausted. Leave some love in the Comments section.

(PS - I never even discussed this, but here is a picture to discuss (check out the TV in the background):